February 2019
Upcoming Mission and Ministry Schedule
February 15-17: Campaign and first anniversary, Pleasant Valley Iglesia de Cristo, Van Buren, AR
February 24, March 3, March 31: Teach Cornerstone class, Park, Tulsa, OK
March 14-18: Dominican Republic (teach, preach, leadership seminar)
March 24: Preach and Mission Report, Fort Gibson, OK
Listings with specific dates are confirmed. I hope you will attend an event when I am in your area. Contact me for specific details of events listed or to schedule an event. A few open dates for shorter activities remain on my 2019 calendar.
The Third Wave of Mission Work (Part 2)
In the previous article I wrote about three waves of mission work: (1) New Testament missions, (2) the renewed focus on missions in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, and (3) a renewed national mission movement that is taking hold in many countries at the beginning of the 21st century. If you do an internet search for "Third Wave of Missions," you will find differing ideas about how to characterize the stages of mission work. The term "third wave" has various interpretations and understandings.
Some describe mission work in terms of globalization. They observe that the first wave of mission developed out of the first round of globalization when Europeans in the 15th century developed sailing skills to reach Africa, Asia and the Americas. They brought along the first missionaries from various religious orders. The advent of the steam engine introduced a second wave of globalization allowing nations to penetrate further into their colonies. Missionary societies developed to plant the church in those areas in the second wave of mission. Today the third wave of globalization includes air travel, internet, and cell phones. With enhanced communication and travel, it is easier to form relationships and partnership between US Christians and those in other countries, resulting in more short-term mission trips, short-term missionary work (10 years or less), and church partnerships.
With increasing frequency, the "third wave" of mission work refers to situations where indigenous "nationals" become the primary workers rather than "foreign missionaries." The work of the church is developed around national Christians. "Third wave" is also used to refer to the increased opportunities, demands, challenges, and pitfalls of the church's mission work, resulting from the "third wave of globalization."
In this article, I look briefly at the present state of mission work from the point of view of the mission field (receiving churches) rather than from the point of view of the North American (sending churches). I hope we can grasp the tremendous potential of the "third wave of mission work."
It is not inaccurate to say that a new day is dawning in mission work, characterized by new dynamics. This "new day dawning" urges us to revisit and restate our mission principles, thinking in reverse, beginning with the receivers rather than the senders. The new day of mission work that is accelerating the spread of the gospel in nation and after nation is based on these eight principles:
- The first priority is always evangelism so that Christians are formed and churches are planted
- New Christians and new churches must be strengthened and edified, the work of evangelism must be balanced with healthy spiritual development and discipleship
- Local indigenous, national church leaders and teachers are developed and trained, learning by doing
- Healthy growing congregations select and support their own leaders, teachers, and evangelists
- The local indigenous church assumes primary financial responsibility for its work and ministry, thus becoming self-sustaining
- "Every-member" evangelism and ministry are facilitated so that the local church functions as a healthy body of Christ with a minimum of external assistance
- Non-Christians in the mission field interact primarily with indigenous church members, leaders and workers so that the gospel spreads through the natural networks of Christians in their own countries
- Missionary churches are developed, capable of duplicating themselves, planting more churches, and multiplying in extraordinary places
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The above is from Part 2 of the series. The entire series of four articles can be accessed and downloaded at: The Third Wave of Mission Work
