When it comes to movements, there is still an element of mystery and God’s timing. But experience has shown us that without the essential elements, movements will not happen. The impact of employing movement principles in our day could easily be far bigger than the impact of movements seen in the book of Acts. God has given us everything we need. The choice of obedience to His command to reach all peoples is now ours. In this issue we want to give you the foundational basics of what make movements possible so you can go and do likewise. According to the latest count listed on our cover, there are at least 1,491 Kingdom Movements currently taking place around the world. We would like to see a whole lot more of these. But for that to happen, we will need to change the way we have traditionally thought about doing the mission of the Church and implement the essential elements of movements. That’s what this edition of Mission Frontiers is all about.
EditorialHow many parts can you remove from your car’s engine before it stops working? One? Two? Most likely, it would not be very many. Virtually all the parts of a car’s engine are essential for its operation. The same is true with Kingdom Movements. There are certain essential elements that enable movements to move. If you remove those elements, movements simply do not happen. In this issue of MF we present a number of these essential elements
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FeatureThe principles in this article are gleaned from experience in planting rapidly reproducing churches in China. They were then tested through training, coaching and mentoring church-planters serving in over one hundred nations, mostly working among Unreached People Groups. In recent years, they have been used successfully in the USA.
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FeatureBy following Jesus’ 10 transferable and reproducible movement strategies, indigenous churches can reproduce multiple movements. Jesus applied a few basic strategies and principles throughout His ministry. Knowing these things helps us tremendously in obeying the Great Commission and reaching out to UUPGs (Unengaged Unreached People Groups) around the world.
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FeatureWe’ve learned our ministry principles mostly through field experimentation. When we found a little bit of fruit (individuals who came to Christ, groups of believers or other indicators of spiritual growth), we tried to examine: Why was that? What helped us progress? How can we increase those practices that were more fruitful? How can we decrease those practices that were not proving fruitful?
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DMM Extra“2021 was a demanding year. I can’t anticipate what 2022 will bring, but of one thing I’m certain: God will be with us in whatever comes our way.” These words slipped across my lips this morning as I sat around our kitchen table drinking a steaming cup of coffee with a friend who had come by for an unexpected chat.
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FeatureIs it biblical to ask a non-believer, without the Holy Spirit, to obey in response to God’s word? One role of the Holy Spirit is to convict unbelievers concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). We should not doubt that the Spirit uses the word of God to do his work in unbelievers. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
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FeatureWhat are some of the challenges and obstacles you’ve experienced? How do you remove the obstacles? Challenges must be considered in relation to fruit. Christ intended that we bear much fruit, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit” (John 15:8). Much fruit comes with challenges, for He prunes us to prepare us for more fruitfulness. “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). Challenges and obstacles are part of God’s pathway to more fruit. But there is much joy on this pathway, for we share His joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). We must see God behind the challenges and His desire that we bear much fruit.
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FeatureIn our previous article in the January-February issue we considered the vital need of clarifying a biblical missiology of mobilization, a core area of kingdom contribution often overlooked in today’s mission movement. We also looked briefly at the potential of an explosion of focused mission mobilization emphasis across denominations, organizations and individual local ministries as the global Church rightly views mobilization from its bigger-picture, biblical perspective.
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Toward the EdgesDear Reader, As you know if you have been reading Mission Frontiers for any period of time, one of our consistent themes is “movements.” We track the number of known movements on our cover. We talk about movements and what promotes or hinders them; and in this edition, we talk about the “essential elements” of movements.
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24:14 UpdateA 24:14 panel discussion with Victor John, David Broodryk and Curtis Sergeant Moderator: Urban areas have been perceived as harder to penetrate than rural areas. I’ll start by asking Victor: “What are you seeing in South Asia, related to movements in urban areas?” Victor: The Bhojpuri work was basically semi-rural and semi-urban work. Then we moved to the urban areas. One problem was that in our urban areas, most Christian organizations have tended to focus on slums. Of course, compassion played a big role, but those are marginalized groups; not decision-makers. So, we chose to do something different in the urban areas. But urban people are not a homogeneous group, so it’s very difficult. They are so separate and generally not open to the gospel. There are a lot of challenges, but we have seen a breakthrough.
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Further ReflectionsMy wife and I arrived here in the summer of 1982. We took an intensive version of the course Perspectives on the World Christian Movement and then attended the staff orientation/recruiting week of the U.S. Center for World Mission (now Frontier Ventures). In August of that year, Ralph D. Winter invited us to join the team. As we drove away to raise our support team, we were filled with vision. We shared that vision with anyone who would listen—and a few who probably didn’t want to! Faithful brothers and sisters joined our team for prayer and giving—many of whom are still with us!
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Unreached of the DayClick on the attached .pdf icon within this article to read the Unreached of the Day.
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