This video is several years old, but it's really, really good.

A few years ago, reports coming in from the field to the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptists were showing something new. An rapid and seemingly almost spontaneous multiplication of new disciples and new churches was occurring in several unrelated parts of the world. As they examined these movements, which they called church planting movements, they found several features common to each.

This video documents some of what they are seeing. For a longer, 12 minute version of the video exploring the principles involved, check out their site and find the video, Like and Mighty Wave in their search engine. 

I am privileged to have Ed Waken, an evangelist, write this outstanding post on evangelism. What could happen if we didn't view spreading the good news as a chore, a somewhat socially embarrassing spiritual duty to be performed, but instead an adventure with Jesus. You can read part 1 of this post here. Ed is a leader in a network of organic churches in Phoenix, AZ, and works closely with Neil Cole in CMA.

The Adventure

The church needs to rediscover what has been stolen from them.  We need to give back the cold, distanced and dutiful methodologies[1] of evangelism for the more adventurous, risky and romantic renditions that only Jesus can create and place in our souls.  The church needs some fresh adventures in understanding how serious Jesus is at getting the message into the souls of people.  When we think about engaging people with the truth we should capture the understanding that Jesus is a customizer of methods, not a cookie cutter. 

Jesus will take a believer with all their experiences and fears and have them cross the paths of not-yet-believing people who are a perfect fit for the customized approach Jesus gives the believer, at the perfect time.  This requires trust and obedience but it is exactly what Jesus promised.  Jesus said He will give us the right words at the right time, every time (Luke 21:13-15).  This takes the level of our faith and evangelism to a whole new meaning of adventure. 

The Mystery

I can count fifteen people who shared Jesus with me in some form or fashion before Ralph shared the same truth with me and my life was transformed radically.  Who was more important in my choosing to follow Jesus, the fifteen or Ralph?  Was Ralph more gifted or skilled or persuasive than the others?  Did Ralph ‘close the deal‘ because he has an anointing?  I believe that all sixteen of those who told me about Jesus are equally vital to my process of turning to Jesus.  All salvation experiences are mysterious.  Some are dramatic, some are mundane, others cannot be marked by an event.  Salvation is always a supernatural event where the God of the universe enters the life of a human being permanently.  When the rich young ruler heard what was required by Jesus to gain eternal life, he became very sad.  Jesus’ disciples asked him if a rich man can’t be saved “...then who can be saved?”.  Jesus answered, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” (Luke 18:18-27). 

Enjoy the freedom of not knowing what God is doing in a soul - enjoy the mystery.  Be assured, however, that God is doing something in the souls of those with whom you share His truth.  Trust in His God perfect and powerful ability to draw people to repentance in the way they need.  Obediently follow His lead, even when it doesn’t make sense because most mysteries do not make sense. 

The bottom line regarding evangelism is to enjoy it (weird huh?).  Jesus is an artist of the soul.  He created you specifically to engage the people He brings in your life with His truth.  Enjoy His adjusting the delivery of the message to fit the current need of the one listening to your words. 

If we learn to enjoy sharing the life of Jesus with others as He leads us, we will most assuredly share that life more often and with more passion.  The Scriptures teach that the more we sow, the more we will reap.  The power behind people coming to Jesus is not in any delivery, method or medium.  The power behind people coming to Jesus is always in message (Rom. 1:16) so give away the message often and with joy and enjoy watching God at work.

[1] God can, has and will continue to use a more formal, methodological approach to giving out the Gospel.  It is not wrong to do so; however, it has robbed the fun of spiritual reproduction from the ordinary believer.  The giving out of the Word will never return without an effect on the one hearing the truth.  

I am privileged to have Ed Waken, an evangelist, write this outstanding post on evangelism. What could happen if we didn't view spreading the good news as a chore, a somewhat socially embarrassing spiritual duty to be performed, but instead an adventure with Jesus. You can read part 1 of this post here. Ed is a leader in a network of organic churches in Phoenix, AZ, and works closely with Neil Cole in CMA.

The Adventure

The church needs to rediscover what has been stolen from them.  We need to give back the cold, distanced and dutiful methodologies[1] of evangelism for the more adventurous, risky and romantic renditions that only Jesus can create and place in our souls.  The church needs some fresh adventures in understanding how serious Jesus is at getting the message into the souls of people.  When we think about engaging people with the truth we should capture the understanding that Jesus is a customizer of methods, not a cookie cutter. 

Jesus will take a believer with all their experiences and fears and have them cross the paths of not-yet-believing people who are a perfect fit for the customized approach Jesus gives the believer, at the perfect time.  This requires trust and obedience but it is exactly what Jesus promised.  Jesus said He will give us the right words at the right time, every time (Luke 21:13-15).  This takes the level of our faith and evangelism to a whole new meaning of adventure. 

The Mystery

I can count fifteen people who shared Jesus with me in some form or fashion before Ralph shared the same truth with me and my life was transformed radically.  Who was more important in my choosing to follow Jesus, the fifteen or Ralph?  Was Ralph more gifted or skilled or persuasive than the others?  Did Ralph ‘close the deal‘ because he has an anointing?  I believe that all sixteen of those who told me about Jesus are equally vital to my process of turning to Jesus.  All salvation experiences are mysterious.  Some are dramatic, some are mundane, others cannot be marked by an event.  Salvation is always a supernatural event where the God of the universe enters the life of a human being permanently.  When the rich young ruler heard what was required by Jesus to gain eternal life, he became very sad.  Jesus’ disciples asked him if a rich man can’t be saved “...then who can be saved?”.  Jesus answered, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” (Luke 18:18-27). 

Enjoy the freedom of not knowing what God is doing in a soul - enjoy the mystery.  Be assured, however, that God is doing something in the souls of those with whom you share His truth.  Trust in His God perfect and powerful ability to draw people to repentance in the way they need.  Obediently follow His lead, even when it doesn’t make sense because most mysteries do not make sense. 

The bottom line regarding evangelism is to enjoy it (weird huh?).  Jesus is an artist of the soul.  He created you specifically to engage the people He brings in your life with His truth.  Enjoy His adjusting the delivery of the message to fit the current need of the one listening to your words. 

If we learn to enjoy sharing the life of Jesus with others as He leads us, we will most assuredly share that life more often and with more passion.  The Scriptures teach that the more we sow, the more we will reap.  The power behind people coming to Jesus is not in any delivery, method or medium.  The power behind people coming to Jesus is always in message (Rom. 1:16) so give away the message often and with joy and enjoy watching God at work.

[1] God can, has and will continue to use a more formal, methodological approach to giving out the Gospel.  It is not wrong to do so; however, it has robbed the fun of spiritual reproduction from the ordinary believer.  The giving out of the Word will never return without an effect on the one hearing the truth.  

Are all of us called to evangelize? This series of blog posts has been on simple/organic mission and evangelism. It has provoked a slew of questions. I am blessed to know Ed, an evangelist who is involved in organic churches. Here is his unique take on some of the questions.

Ed is a leader in a network of organic churches in Phoenix Arizona.  He also serves with Church Multiplication Associates on their leadership team as an Evangelist.  Ed mentors and coaches a variety of leaders around the world in areas of leadership, discipleship, evangelism and organic church principles.  Ed and Debbie have been married since 1978 and they have three grown children and two grandsons. 

Web Links: edwaken.blogspot.com, 

                         valleylifechurch.org

For too long the truth, adventure, mystery and joy that comes with giving away the life of Jesus has been stolen from the ordinary believer.  We have been taught methods of sharing Jesus that feel more cold, distanced and dutiful than life giving.  We have heard that just a few gifted ones will really be successful at evangelism.  This is yet another blow designed to sideline the ordinary person from engaging in the supernatural act of sharing the life of Jesus with those who are so thirsty to taste the goodness of God. 

The Truth

The great commission is often seen as Jesus’ marching orders to make disciples which must include the initial and ongoing sharing of Jesus’ good news with those who have not yet heard.  The great commission and Jesus’ similar instructions to the twelve in Acts 1:8 were delivered directly to His twelve Apostles.  This has caused some to believe that not every follower of Jesus is responsible to engage in giving away the life of Christ; it simply is not their gift.  This is not the truth.  There is an often overlooked statement in the great commission that instructs the Twelve to be teaching their disciples “...to obey everything I have commanded you”.  The Twelve were to teach the ordinary believer to obey everything Jesus taught them which includes the making of disciples or the being a witness to all the world.  Everyone is responsible to be intentionally sharing the life of Jesus with the world. 

The truth is that the ordinary person is a competent minister of the good news (2 Cor. 3:6).  The truth is that success in evangelism should be measured by conversations about Jesus not conversions to Jesus.  Ordinary people are only responsible to tell about and demonstrate the love of Jesus.  Only Supernatural beings are responsible for the results, “I planted, Apollos watered but God was causing the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:6-7).  Everyone is an evangelizer and success is measured by obedience to share.  

Photo credit: James Jordan (Creative Commons)

What principles allow rapid multiplication on the mission field?

Traditionally, follow up from an evangelistic meeting is done by taking people's names and addresses and asking them to attend church or go through some materials. This is usually remarkably ineffective.

In the context I described in the last post this would have been impossible because of security issues as well as illiteracy. Instead, a Luke 10/simple church pattern enabled the harvest to be conserved and then multiplied. 

Here are some of the reasons (apart from a sovereign move of God) that I believe this happened.

1. Prayer. The local church sponsoring the meetings has a 24 hour prayer room and much prayer was raised. Spiritual warfare was essential and very, very real.
2. A large, local church handled practical arrangements.
3. The local pastor was 100% involved and was willing to lose some of his best people (and their finance) to start churches in people's homes. Building the Kingdom of God was far more important to him than increasing the size of his church.
4. In a nation where there is much persecution of believers, disciples are often far more passionate about their faith than in countries where Christianity is acceptable. The harvest workers were "on fire" for Jesus.
5. The harvest workers responsible for follow up were trained in Luke 10 principles. They were taught how to pray for the sick and how to find people of peace.  
6. Follow up was done at a local level by gathering new believers in the homes of people of peace. The new believers were not expected to attend a church or even to go to the homes of existing believers (extremely dangerous in their context). For similar reasons, the groups were kept very small--family gatherings. 
7. People were trained in simple patterns that were easily duplicatable--for example, what to do when they gathered together. They were also geared towards oral learners.
8. The meetings were culturally relevant. They didn't appear Western.
9. The Gospel was sown widely--huge numbers attended. The new believers then gossipped the Gospel along relational lines. They have an uncle in the neighboring village? They go to him, tell him how Jesus touched them and offer to pray for his needs. When Jesus answers their prayer, they start something in his home.
10. Miracles, healings and testimonies were featured prominently.
11. Christian terminology wasn't used. People were invited to become "followers of Jesus"  rather than to become Christians. (Actually, the name of Jesus in that language was used). There was no implication of changing culture.
12. The evangelist, a Westerner, has a deep, committed, ongoing relationship to that nation and to the pastor he worked with. He has faith to see the nation changed. He doesn't live in that nation, but visits as the Lord provides opportunity.

Photo credit: williamcho (Creative Commons)

Simple/organic church is a great way to not only conserve the harvest, but also to multiply it.

We have a friend who is an evangelist in countries that are hostile to the Gospel. We originally contacted him because we were interested in the large healing/evangelistic meetings that, amazingly, he is able to hold in these countries. When he discovered we are involved in simple church, he asked to spend some time with Tony and me because the Lord had told him that he was to be involved in a different kind of church. So we spent a weekend with him, explained the principles of Luke 10 and answered his myriad questions.

A few weeks later he conducted a major meeting again, but this time, instead of his usual training for the church workers who were going to be involved in follow up of those who responded to the message, he trained them in Luke 10 principles, teaching them to look for people of peace, to pray for the sick and to start churches in homes.

The people came to the meeting in buses, often 150 to a bus. The harvest workers looked for people of peace in the buses on the way home after the meeting.

A few months after this meeting we traveled with him to this country to discover what had happened. The results were extraordinary.

A typical story went like this: "I started four churches following the meeting, but the people have told their friends and relatives in other villages about Jesus and now I have eight."

Two young men, aged 24 and 26, were so excited after one of the subsequent trainings that they didn't wait for the next harvest meeting. They started spreading the Good News right away, and six months later had 700 new believers in 25 churches.

The typical results of an evangelistic crusade in the West is that around 1% of those who respond are going on with the Lord a year later. In the nation we visited, thousands of churches have started.

What might happen if new believers were followed up using Luke 10 principles? 

Photo credit: Gravitywave (Creative Commons)

Over the past few months, we have had several people from a more traditional church background and who are in the process of leaving for the mission field visit the church that meets in our home.

The exchange has been valuable. Our "Jesus family" has rubbed shoulders with people sold out for the Kingdom who are literally giving up everything they know in order to take the good news into cultures that may be hostile to the Gospel. And those visiting us have tasted a simpler, relational style of church that seeks to follow the Holy Spirit when they come together and that is reaching out using Luke 10 principles into the different spheres of influence that people represent.

Many churches and mission agencies are using simple/organic church patterns on the mission field. These days, mega-churches and denominations do not ususally plan to replicate traditional Western styles of church when they get into a cross-cultural context. Mission sending agencies recognize that the most effective evangelism uses a simple/organic model of church that multiplies along relational lines. 

Current experience shows that simple/organic patterns of church are less likely to provoke persecution in environments hostile to the Gospel.

The problem for many of the people going abroad as missionaries is that they have no experience of simple/organic church, even though that is what they plan to do on the field. So when they arrive on the mission field, they not only have to cope with a totally new cultural environment--language, customs, lifestyle; they also expect to work within an unfamiliar style of both evangelism and gathering.

This leads me to two conclusions:

1. People who have been involved in simple/organic expressions of church in their home countries are well-suited to involve in cross-cultural mission. If they have been involved in a healthy expression of organic/simple church, they are already accustomed to Luke 10 principles of mission and an informal, home-based style of gathering. But a single simple church or even network of simple churches, even though they may be able to provide financially, may not have the resources or experience to provide the cross-cultural training and support on the field necessary for someone going out as a missionary.
2. One of the contributions that the simple/organic movement can make towards global missions is to willingly work with mission-sending agencies, giving prospective missionaries a taste of what they are likely to experience on the field.

Are there ways we can partner together?

Photo Credit: Jon...in 3D (Creative Commons)

Yesterday evening church met at our home. Rosaura had brought along a young man, maybe 16 or 17 years old, a relative. He gave his heart to Jesus last night. This was his story.

"All my life I've felt as though I'm in a dark tunnel. I could see the light at the end, but it didn't matter what I did, I couldn't get any closer to the light, no matter how hard I tried. Tonight the light is right in front of me."

He walked into the light with Jesus and a smile from ear to ear.

Our friend, Steve Lyzenga of www.House2Harvest.org did his doctoral dissertation on releasing resources (both financial and personnel) towards completing the Great Commission. He compared how resources are used within a traditional church set up and house/simple/organic churches. I had the honor of being on his doctoral board, and so was closely involved in the whole process. His results (not large enough to be statistically significant, but giving some idea of what is going on) were very revealing.

Here's a couple of the interesting results:

Of those surveyed, 51.6%  of those involved in organic/simple church gave 11%-25% of their income to charity, and 7.5% gave greater than 25%.  In other words, almost 60% of people are giving more than a tithe. (The typical American Christian gives less than 3%.)

The money spent on the internal administration of simple/organic churches is very low:  59.1% of the participant's house/simple church spent less than 1% of their total annual proceeds on internal needs, and 15.1%  spent 2%-5%. In other words, more than 70% say their simple church spends less than 5% on administration costs. (The typical institutional church spends 85% of all church activity and funds directly toward the internal operations of the congregation, such as staff salaries, building payments, utility and operating expenses.)

People in simple/organic churches are giving more, but their churches are spending less on internal needs, so more money is made available for Kingdom purposes. Their money goes towards benevolence and missions.

One of the verses that motivates Christians to mission is Matthew 24:14. Jesus tells his disciples, "And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come." They believe that Jesus will return when every nation or people group has heard the Gospel.

 The New Testament Greek word for “nations,” comes from the Greek word ethne. A "nation" or “people group” is a group of individuals who share common ethnic, linguistic, or cultural traits. It's the largest group within which the gospel can spread without encountering barriers of understanding due to culture, language, or geography. When there is no representation of the body of Christ within that people group, they are known as "an unreached people group (UPG)."

According to the Joshua Project, of the 16,690 people groups in the world, 6,955 are still considered to be unreached, totalling approaching 3 billion people. The majority of these are in the 10/40 window.

So how are simple/organic churches doing when it comes to UPGs? Fifty percent of the participants surveyed by Steve give 5% of their total annual giving to UPGs. (Compare this to the typical annual giving of 0.07% to UPGs by the typical evangelical Christian.)

What are the best ways to use the money that is being given?

Photo credit: Themikelee (Creative Commons)

How are people in simple/organic churches currently actively engaging in cross-cultural missions?

1. People move with their job. Because they already are familiar with simple church principles of mission (find a person of peace and start something around them), it is natural for them to make disciples and start churches in their new location.
2. People go with a traditional denominational entity or other mission sending agency. They are supported financially in full or in part by their local simple/organic church or network of home churches. Again, they understand missional principles from their experience at home.
3. People within organic church organize teams to go on short-term mission trips. This provides invaluable experience to those who have never had cross-cultural experience, particularly of third world countries.
4. There are a number of us who go to other nations and train local people in disicple-making and simple church principles. These people then train and work with others. This is the most effective missions I have seen. If someone local spreads the Gospel, it is not seen as a foreign religion and the news about Jesus can spread rapidly and widely. (Obviously, the Holy Spirit is the one responsible.)

What other ways are you aware of that simple/organic churches involve in mission?  (I'll cover finances in a separate post.)

Photo credit: Gary Wilmore (Creative Commons)

There is a saying that the British and Americans are two nations separated by a common language.

That proved very true when we moved from the UK to the States in 1987.  We naively anticipated that with a common language, the transition would be an easy one. How wrong we were! After about a  year, we realized that, even though we were holding what we thought were reasonably intelligent conversations with people, we were actually miscommunicating. The reason? People were filtering what they heard through the background of their own culture. It might even have been easier if there was a language difference because at least we'd expect a culture shock.

Take a phrase like "body ministry" in the church context. Within the British house church tradition I came from, this meant that the whole body was supposed to minister. If someone had a need, anyone could pray with them or minister to that need in some way. When we moved here to participate in a more traditional church, that same phrase meant that anyone who had been specifically chosen and trained could come up after the pastor's sermon to minister to someone who had come to the front in response. When we held a conversation on that topic, we were misunderstood.

Even today, 24 years later, I sometimes pronounce or spell words the British way. I use British vocabulary and idioms. I still occasionally miss the nuances of, for example, American humor. American humor is much more physical than verbal and often alludes to things I'm totally unfamiliar with like old TV shows. We never saw those shows and so have nothing to peg the humor on. The same would apply in the other direction. British humor is more verbal and subtle. I remember visiting England after we moved here and listening to a speaker that had all of us in fits of laughter. I turned to Tony and said, "Our American friends wouldn't find this funny at all!"

Even with a common language, culture has to be taken into account.

What does this have to do with mission? 

The best person to reach a group of people who don't yet know the Lord is someone from within that culture. The best person to reach a group of skateboarders is another skateboarder--or maybe someone from a very similar subculture like a rollerblader.

The best person to reach someone from an unreached people group is someone who is culturally very close to them.

My parents-in-law were wonderful missionaries who made quite an impact in Taiwan where they ministered for many years. They moved to a foreign nation in obedience to the Lord's call on their lives and had to spend years in language study before they could communicate with the local people. This is old-style missions; it obviously still has its place.

With the advent of easy communications and travel, I believe a new type of missions is potentially more effective. We can train local believers in the principles of discipleship and mission and they then reach their own people.

What do you think?

Photo credit: Amy Lloyd (Creative Commons)

Jesus was sent by the Father to fallen mankind because of God's love for people. (John 3:16)

Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has sent me, so I'm sending you." (John 20:21)

As we connect with the Father's heart, he will send us out to touch the lives of others and bring them to him. This is the heart of mission--the love of the Father's heart for people. We are called to be ambassadors of the Kingdom demonstrating that love to others.

I'm reminded of a story about D.L. Moody. Someone once criticized him for the way he brought everyone to the front to respond to the Gospel.

"Well, how do you do it?" Moody asked.

The man had no answer because he wasn't leading anyone to the Lord.

Moody's response: "I prefer the way I do it badly to the way you don't do it at all."

There's much I don't like about the way the Gospel is preached in this country--for example, televangelism. But can I criticize if I am doing nothing myself?

Another story, this time about John Wesley.

John Wesley was an intinerant evangelist traveling widely in order to preach the Gospel. One day, someone challenged him that he should only speak to people about the Lord when he sensed God prompting him. He tried it for one week. During that time he spoke to virtually no one because he never sensed the Lords' prompting. At the end of the week he concluded this didn't work and went back to speaking to everyone he met.

I speak to myself: we have lost the art of abundant Gospel sowing. 

Photo credit: Pete Reed (Creative Commons)

The principle of sowing and reaping applies. The harvest we reap is directly proportional to the amount of seed we sow. (Obviously other factors such as quality of soil, water etc. need to be taken into account). In general, we reap little because we sow little. Are we trying to harvest in fields where little or no seed has been sown?

The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptists have produced a wonderful video called Like a Mighty Wave. It can be downloaded from their video resource section  It examines the ten common practices of movements where many people are finding Christ and many new churches are starting. One of these practices is abundant Gospel sowing.

What does it look like for us to sow abundantly in a way that fits our simple/organic principles? If we cannot do it here in our own culture, how do we expect to do it on the mission field?

Photo credit: david a lea (Creative Commons)

When I was a new Christian, the group of believers I was part of participated in many forms of evangelism. We were trained by some of the best organizations in the Christian world. We went door-to-door, we distributed tracts, we told people about the Four Spiritual Laws, we witnessed to our friends. And we saw fruit. We sowed abundantly and we reaped accordingly. Certainly some of those whose lives were touched are still going on with the Lord. Our lives were centered on mission.

We have lost the skill of sowing abundantly.

We were motivated by things like the story in the last post tthat tells how most Christians are "making daisy chains" rather than caring about the lost. My question; is this a good motivation for mission? provoked an instinctive response from most of the people who responded.They recognized that the message most people will receive through the story, despite the truths being portrayed is this: "Many people are going to hell. You are not doing enough about it. You are not good enough; you are guilty."

Guilt is not the motivation that Jesus wants us to have.

So how do we gain a heart to sow abundantly while not being motivated by guilt and obligation? I think part of the answer lies in these verses in 2 Corinthians 5 which I have abbreviated to clarify the message.

Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others.  Christ’s love controls us.  He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

 God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 

What motivates us for mission? Mission originates in the heart of God: For God so loved the world that he gavie his son. As we draw closer to God and get to know his heart, his love for others will motivate us. 

This story used to motivate me to reach out to my friends who didn't know the Lord. It comes from Things as They are: Mission work in southern India by Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), a missionary from Ireland who opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She worked for 55 years without a furlough, and wrote many inspiring books.

The tom-toms thumped straight on all night and the darkness shuddered round me like a living, feeling thing. I could not go to sleep, so I lay awake and looked; and I saw, as it seemed, this:

That I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space. I looked, but saw no bottom; only cloud shapes, black and furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows, and unfathomable depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth.

Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She lifted her foot for the next step . . . it trod air. She was over, and the children over with her. Oh, the cry as they went over!

Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters. All were blind, stone blind; all made straight for the precipice edge. There were shrieks, as they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing up of helpless arms, catching, clutching at empty air. But some went over quietly, and fell without a sound.

Then I wondered, with a wonder that was simply agony, why no one stopped them at the edge. I could not. I was glued to the ground, and I could only call; though I strained and tried, only a whisper would come.

Then I saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals. But the intervals were too great; there were wide, unguarded gaps between. And over these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite unwarned; and the green grass seemed blood-red to me, and the gulf yawned like the mouth of hell.

Then I saw, like a little picture of peace, a group of people under some trees with their backs turned toward the gulf. They were making daisy chains. Sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them, it disturbed them and they thought it a rather vulgar noise. And if one of their number started up and wanted to go and do something to help, then all the others would pull that one down. "Why should you get so excited about it? You must wait for a definite call to go! You haven't finished your daisy chain yet. It would be really selfish," they said, "to leave us to finish the work alone."

There was another group. It was made up of people whose great desire was to get more sentries out; but they found that very few wanted to go, and sometimes there were no sentries set for miles and miles of the edge.

Once a girl stood alone in her place, waving the people back; but her mother and other relations called and reminded her that her furlough was due; she must not break the rules. And being tired and needing a change, she had to go and rest for awhile; but no one was sent to guard her gap, and over and over the people fell, like a waterfall of souls.

Once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf; it clung convulsively, and it called-but nobody seemed to hear. Then the roots of the grass gave way, and with a cry the child went over, its two little hands still holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass. And the girl who longed to be back in her gap thought she heard the little one cry, and she sprang up and wanted to go; at which they reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary anywhere; the gap would be well taken care of, they knew. And then they sang a hymn.

Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken hearts wrung out in one full drop, one sob. And a horror of great darkness was upon me, for I knew what it was-the Cry of the Blood.

Then thundered a voice, the voice of the Lord. "And He said, 'What hast thou done, The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.'"

The tom-toms still beat heavily, the darkness still shuddered and shivered about me; I heard the yells of the devil-dancers and weird, wild shriek of the devil-possessed just outside the gate.

What does it matter, after all? It has gone on for years; it will go on for years. Why make such a fuss about it?

God forgive us! God arouse us! Shame us out of our callousness! Shame us out of our sin!

What do you think? The story is compelling and emotional; most Christians are "making daisy chains" in a spiritual sense.  Is this the right motivation for misson?

Photo credit: masochismtango (Creative Commons)

This compelling story is typical of the motivation I had to be involved in reaching out to others.  It comes from Things as They are: Mission work in southern India by Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), a missionary from Ireland who opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She worked for 55 years without a furlough, and wrote many inspiring books.

The tom-toms thumped straight on all night and the darkness shuddered round me like a living, feeling thing. I could not go to sleep, so I lay awake and looked; and I saw, as it seemed, this:

That I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space. I looked, but saw no bottom; only cloud shapes, black and furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows, and unfathomable depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth.

Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She lifted her foot for the next step . . . it trod air. She was over, and the children over with her. Oh, the cry as they went over!

Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters. All were blind, stone blind; all made straight for the precipice edge. There were shrieks, as they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing up of helpless arms, catching, clutching at empty air. But some went over quietly, and fell without a sound.

Then I wondered, with a wonder that was simply agony, why no one stopped them at the edge. I could not. I was glued to the ground, and I could only call; though I strained and tried, only a whisper would come.

Then I saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals. But the intervals were too great; there were wide, unguarded gaps between. And over these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite unwarned; and the green grass seemed blood-red to me, and the gulf yawned like the mouth of hell.

Then I saw, like a little picture of peace, a group of people under some trees with their backs turned toward the gulf. They were making daisy chains. Sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them, it disturbed them and they thought it a rather vulgar noise. And if one of their number started up and wanted to go and do something to help, then all the others would pull that one down. "Why should you get so excited about it? You must wait for a definite call to go! You haven't finished your daisy chain yet. It would be really selfish," they said, "to leave us to finish the work alone."

There was another group. It was made up of people whose great desire was to get more sentries out; but they found that very few wanted to go, and sometimes there were no sentries set for miles and miles of the edge.

Once a girl stood alone in her place, waving the people back; but her mother and other relations called and reminded her that her furlough was due; she must not break the rules. And being tired and needing a change, she had to go and rest for awhile; but no one was sent to guard her gap, and over and over the people fell, like a waterfall of souls.

Once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf; it clung convulsively, and it called-but nobody seemed to hear. Then the roots of the grass gave way, and with a cry the child went over, its two little hands still holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass. And the girl who longed to be back in her gap thought she heard the little one cry, and she sprang up and wanted to go; at which they reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary anywhere; the gap would be well taken care of, they knew. And then they sang a hymn.

Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken hearts wrung out in one full drop, one sob. And a horror of great darkness was upon me, for I knew what it was-the Cry of the Blood.

Then thundered a voice, the voice of the Lord. "And He said, 'What hast thou done, The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.'"

The tom-toms still beat heavily, the darkness still shuddered and shivered about me; I heard the yells of the devil-dancers and weird, wild shriek of the devil-possessed just outside the gate.

What does it matter, after all? It has gone on for years; it will go on for years. Why make such a fuss about it?

God forgive us! God arouse us! Shame us out of our callousness! Shame us out of our sin!

What do you think? The story is both compelling and emotional; most Christians are "making daisy chains" in a spiritual sense.  

Is this the right motivation for mission?

Roger and Brooks Thoman train and coach leaders in several developing countries, to multiply disciples and simple churches.  The poor are empowered as part of the process of disciplemaking assisted by strategic investments in projects that are pioneered and managed by national leaders.

Their ministry site can be found here, and Roger's blog, Simple Church Journal, is here.

A few days ago I received an email from Roger Thoman in response to some of the posts I'm writing on missions. His thoughts were so relevant I asked permission to use them as a guest post. Here they are:

Felicity, I love these posts on missions.  I definitely believe that the organic/simple church movement has the potential for transforming missions, and thus the world, because it supports planting the pure seed of the Gospel which has in it that transformative power and ability to naturally reproduce.  However, as you shared, there are many pitfall we have seen in missions and, unfortunately, many of these mistakes are easy to propagate even with those who have the ‘organic’ message.

You mentioned well the issue of exporting our native culture and our religious culture.  Though, with the organic message, we are not exporting our traditional buildings and church models, we still often export our western cultural norms and our Christian religious culture without realizing it.  You pointed this out when you spoke about the church of Nepalese needed to look like the Nepalese. 

Here are some additional pitfalls that, unfortunately, I see all the time in the mission field.

1. An attitude that our culture is inherently better than the culture we are serving in.  This causes us to try to export our culture, as already mentioned, and it also causes us to take on a better-than-thou attitude among those we are seeking to serve.  We can find ourselves trying to change ideas or behaviors that the Holy Spirit is not working on.
2. An attitude of paternalism which some have referred to as the ‘poison of paternalism.’  This is the attitude and motivation that comes from thinking that we are somehow above those we are ministering to because we come from a more ‘developed’ country serving those who live in a less ‘developed’ country.  This causes us to act like benefactors rather than partners and to believe that we are there with something to give while those who live in that country are meant to receive from us.  This pride keeps us from giving and receiving mutually which is essential for a beneficial, Biblical partnership. 
3. We make the mistake of going to teach knowledge rather than learn from, support, and come under the movement within that culture.  The only thing we have to offer others is to call them back to the pure Word of God so that they can embrace it and adapt it to their life and culture themselves.  We can confess the mistakes the church has made (that we have made), but the truth of how to go forward and walk out becoming the true church must come from those who live in that culture.  So, we can call them back to the Word and then we must take the position of learners to see how they take the Word of truth and apply it into their own lives and situations.  Ninety-nine percent of what I have learned about ministering in the context of Africa I have learned from Africans.  Too many cross-cultural missionaries do not understand this and imagine that those they are serving are in need of their endless teachings.
4. We go to have our own ministry built up and to feel good about ‘our’ ministry rather than to serve the ministries of the nationals.  As already mentioned, only those who are native to a culture can fully adapt the Word to their culture.  Our role must be fully to support and serve them, not the other way around.  Our goal must be to stand in the background and to give away whatever is in our hands until we are no longer needed which is usually sooner rather than later.
5. We give finances in a way that creates dependency.  We feel good about giving but we do not understand the importance of first empowering people spiritually through discipleship that brings about worldview change and then partnering financially in projects that are owned by them.  

I could go on but let me just say that I am more excited about God’s purposes in the world than ever before because of the organic/simple movement.  But we must realize that the potential is in the Word of God and the Spirit of God organically taking root allowing the church to take its own shape in the culture it’s planted in.  As outsiders in a given culture we must learn how to support what God is doing in others and truly serve the movements, along with the national leaders of those movements, that He is currently birthing throughout the world.

Photo credit: maudandoscar

In India a few years ago, we were taken to visit a church building that had twelve paintings, each portraying  the death of one of the 12 apostles. (I think it was St. Thomas Mount in Chennai, but I've been unable to verify that via the Internet.) Those images have never left me, in part because of their graphic representation, but more because they spoke of a faith worth dying for.

Would I willingly lay down my life in order to tell others about Jesus.

There are various different traditions as to what happened to the original twelve apostles. Here's a compilation of several versions: 

• Andrew: Preached in modern day Georgia (Eastern Europe) and Bulgaria and was crucified in Patrae in Greece. 
• Bartholomew: Spent time in India. Crucified in Georgia. 
• James, Son of Alphaeus: was stoned and clubbed to death in Jerusalem.
• James, Son of Zebedee: was beheaded by Herod.
• John, Son of Zebedee: Was exiled to the Island of Patmos and died a natural death in Ephesus.
• Matthew/Levi: Preached and was killed (with an axe) in Ethiopia. 
• Simon/Peter: Was put to death (crucified) under Nero in Rome. 
• Philip: preached and was executed in eastern Turkey. 
• Simon the Zealot: Became Bishop of Jerusalem. Crucified. 
• Thaddaeus/Judas son of James: Preached in Edessa and Mesopotamia. Was crucified.
• Thomas: Was a missionary in India where he was killed with a spear. 
• Matthias: Judas' replacement. Spread the Gospel into Syria and was stoned and beheaded.

(Sources: here, here, and here).

If these traditions are true, after the book of Acts, nearly all traveled widely in order to spread the Gospel. They also, with the exception of John, died violent deaths.

What does this say to us today? Do we have a message so compelling we would risk our lives to give it to others? 

Photo credit: Alvaro Canivell (Creative Commons)

What does Jesus think about missions?

The Great Commission was given by Jesus to the eleven disciples after his resurrection. Here's the Matthew version:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:18-20)

The Mark version:

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.  Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.  These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe...:  (Mark 16:15-18)

I've heard some people say that the Great Commission was only given to the eleven disciples. It doesn't include us. Our lifestyle together should be enough to attract others. The verses that people use for this argument are ones such as John 17: 23

I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

There is something incredibly attractive about a group of Christians relating well together. But if we believe that is all that is necessary, it gives us a great cop out. We are no longer commissioned to reach out to those who don't yet know him. 

It is dangerous to selectively omit verses that were given only to the disciples. If we applied that principle consistently, we would lose many of the teachings of Jesus recorded in the Gospels.

Personally I  I believe we need to be witnesses too. Here is some of my reasoning:

1. Earlier in the passage in John 17, Jesus says this:  Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world...  I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.  I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 

            It is clear that Jesus is sending not just the eleven disciples into the world but also those who             believe in him through their presentation of the Good News.

          2.  In Peter's exposition of the Gospel, he says this: Then you will receive the gift of the Holy           Spirit.  This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who                 have been called by the Lord our God.”  (Acts 2:38-39)

According to Jesus, one of the reasons the Holy Spirit is given: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere— in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

I believe that all of us are called to be ambassadors, those who represent the Kingdom of God to the rest of the world. Obviously, how we do it, and what motivates us is important too.

What do you think?

Here's another amazing video. Enjoy!

Enjoy the video: if it doesn't show within the post, you can find it here