December 01, 1990 by Rick Wood

A New Dimension of the Adopt-A-People Campaign

"A Church For Every People By The Year 2000" is the task that has captured the heart and soul of the U.S. Center for World Mission. It is the task of the Mobilization Division of the U.S. Center to help raise up an army of believers who will help accomplish this task. This job of mobilization is analogous to the efforts of the United States in World War II and recently in Operation Desert Shield.Mobilizing for Victory
At the start of World War II the U.S. was suffering badly from a series of terrible defeats. We had lost many men and much equipment at Pearl Harbor and things were getting worse. The Japanese were overrunning the islands of the South Pacific and General MacArthur had suffered a series of defeats that eventually forced him to leave the Philippines with the promise,"I shall return."

How did the U.S. turn this terrible situation around to win the war? The tide in the war began to turn when the whole country, including the home-front, was thoroughly mobilized for war. Factories that once produced cars began to turn out the latest battle tank. Hollywood produced films to stir patriotic hearts for support of the cause. Mothers grew victory gardens to release more food for the front-lines. Tin and gas were rationed and everyone was urged to buy war savings bonds. And perhaps the greatest impact came from people mobilized for prayer as people passed around photos of their sons and daughters who labored in the armed forces

Two years after MacArthurâs retreat the tide had turned and the general kept his promise by returning victoriously to the Philippines.

General MacArthur and the frontline troops had been forced to retreat until the homefront was mobilized. Recently, the U.S. mobilized nearly a half-million troops into position in the morass of Persian Gulf tensions within a matter of months.

Likewise today, we must mobilize the church for strategic involvement in frontier missions if we are to be successful in planting a church in every unreached people group by the year 2000. The awareness and involvement of local churches in completing the Great Commission must be expanded. This will require a grassroots mobilization effort of many believers across this country who will become Advocates for the unreached people groups and frontier missions.

Adopt-A-People Advocates
In order to ra,ise up these grassroots Advocates the Adopt-A-People Advocates movement is being launched. This new movement will enlist hundreds and eventually thousands of believers across this country to join hands in promoting the "Adopt-A-People Campaign" and encouraging his or her own church and other churches to adopt an unreached people group.

The goal is to get 6,000 of the 12,000 unreached people groups adopted by North American churches by year-end 1993. Action must be taken now if this goal is to be achieved. But is it achievable? Yes, but it will take many more churches and individuals getting actively involved. There are over 500 Bible-believing churches in the world for every one of the 12,000 unreached people groups. The Church has the resources to finish the Great Commission. But the vision must be shared with thousands of churches individually and personally. Help is needed from people like you who have caught the vision. Would you consider being an Adopt-A-People Advocate?

What is an Advocate?

An Advocate is a person who believes that adopting a people is a strategic step in the process of planting a church in each of the unreached people groups. An Advocate will also commit him or herself to actively working with his or her own church and other fellowships to encourage the adoption of an unreached people group. This commitment would include an ongoing effort to share the vision of the Adopt-A-People campaign with his or her pastor, church leaders, Bible study groups and prayer groups as well as the pastors and leaders of other churches and fellowships.

A pastor or church leader working as an Advocate can have a great impact in his own church and in other churches of his own association or denomination in seeing the adoption of unreached people groups. But you donât have to be a pastor or church leader to be an Advocate or to have an impact in your denomination. There is no quota that each Advocate has to meet. It is hoped, however, that with prayer and determination each Advocate should be able to promote the adoption of at least two people groups, These Adopt-A-People Advocates could be the key to the success of the entire Adopt-A-People campaign. Right where you are, you can have a major impact, on whether the goal of seeing "A Church For Every People By The Year 2000" is reached. You donât need to go overseas or get a seminary degree in order to be used greatly by God in helping to complete the Great Commission. You can be available as an Advocate though.

A unique new set of resources has been developed to aid those who join the team as Advocates. Its called the Adopt-A-People Advocatesâ Kit. It is now available for you to order through the William Carey Library. With these resources you will have all you need to get started.

The Adopt-A-People Advocates Kit Includes:

• An all-new video presentation describing the Adopt-A-People vision.
• A script to help you present the program to the people of your church.
• Overhead transparencies to give an added visual punch to a verbal presentation.
• Two How to Run a Successful Adopt-A-People Program manuals
• Two 10-packs of the Adopt-A-People Introductory brochure
• One 10-pack of the Catch the Vision brochure
• Two sample copies of the Global Prayer Digest.
• One 10-pack of the "Amazing Countdown Facts" brochure
• One 10-pack of the Year of Vision Introductory brochure.
• The Mission Resource Catalog describing hundreds of mission resources available through William Carey Library at reduced prices.
• Overall instructions on how to be an effective Advocate.

At Your Service!

The Mobilization Division of the U.S. Center will be available to help and serve those who join the Advocates team. We will be here to answer your questions and provide you with ongoing support in your efforts to help churches adopt an unreached people group. We are planning on putting out a quarterly newsletter exclusively for Adopt-A-People Advocates to help you keep up on the latest news and provide tips on how to be successful in your efforts. Write to us at Mobilization Division, USCWM, 1605 Elizabeth St., Pasadena CA 91104 or call (818/ 398-2200)

To Become An Advocate

If you would like to be an Advocate you can start by ordering the Adopt-A-People Advocatesâ Kit from William Carey Library. See page 46 for price and order information. Fill out the order form on page 47 and send it to William Carey Library, Be a part of the team that is working to finish the Great Commission!