January 01, 1995 by Dan Krause

On May 17-26, 1995, over 4,000 grassroots mission- minded Christian leaders from over 200 countries of the world will gather in Seoul, Korea, for the Global Consultation on World Evangelization. GCOWE '95 is neither a congress nor a conference, but rather a working assessment and strategy planning meeting towards the goal of "A Church for Every People, and the Gospel for Every Person, by the Year 2000." Prayerfully, GCOWE '95 will add to the momentum building already in process towards world evangelization.

Attendees were carefully chosen by their peers in each country through a multi-year process. Selection criteria included ministry credentials, personal faith, bridge building and communication ability, spiritual maturity, faith, vision, team building and leadership skills. Because participants are already highly motivated, GCOWE's primary purpose will not be inspirational, but a working consultation--a mid-decadal assessment and chance to refocus evangelistic strategies for the rest of this decade.

In each country, participants are presently hard at work preparing for GCOWE '95. Each country has been asked to consider these questions:

What are the current realities in your country?

What are the current trends?

What is the God-given vision/dream for the country and its role in the world?

What are the factors bearing upon whether the dream(s) can be fulfilled?

What are the priority tasks to fulfill the dreams?

What is the long range plan (Five years--from Jan. 1, 1996 to Dec. 31, 2000, Including specific steps and measurable goals)

What are the action plans (annual strategy summary statement)?

What is the best structure to carry out the five- year plan?

A global survey process is presently underway to shed important light on these questions. Included are country-by-country surveys, people group research, field surveys, and city surveys. Results of these surveys will be summarized geographically by region and country, then compiled for a global picture.

Students of change have long known of the powerful "unfreezing" effect of collectively answering the question "What is the problem?" By collectively assessing, at a grassroots level, the realities and trends in their own countries, participants and their

networks will be more open to God's "new wineskins," new methods and vision to be considered at GCOWE.

The time at GCOWE '95 is partitioned into three roughly equal portions:

(1) Plenary session time together,

(2) Assessment and planning by interest track and task force, and

(3) Assessment and planning by country and region.

Many attendees will represent both their country and a specific interest area. For example, the delegation from Brazil will include leaders in church planting, saturation evangelism, prayer, research, mobilization of women, mobilization of youth, radio, as well as the other tracks and special task forces.

In the morning these Brazilian leaders could be learning specifically what God is doing around the world in their area of expertise. In the afternoon they would be considering and adjusting Brazil's national goals while networking with other Latin American leaders over issues in their country or region. In the evening, they could be learning about new resource networks (e.g. race reconciliation, Islamic Outreach) springing forth around the world, seeking to better understand and utilize these new resources to strengthen regional and country goals.

Such powerful cross-pollination of new ideas and vision, as well as networking by gifting across continents, is only possible at a Global Consultation like GCOWE '95. Above it all, the Holy Spirit seems to work in powerful ways in large international gatherings. God loves such unity of purpose and prayer in the huge diversity of peoples from over 200 countries!

Undergirding all planning for GCOWE '95--as well as that of the ongoing AD 2000 and Beyond Movement--is the principle of indigenization. Participants bring their own contextualized view of the challenges they face to GCOWE '95, and bring away vision, tools, and network contacts appropriate for their own homeland.

However, attendees will not go away from GCOWE '95 with "solutions" to impose upon the rest of their country. Instead, through a process of key meetings and continued networking, new inputs from GCOWE '95 will be contextualized and owned down to leadership at the local level. This is why a major criterion for participant selection is the ability to serve on a team and collaborate. Participants bring national plans to GCOWE, to consider new strategic input. Then, the bulk of plan revision happens after GCOWE, with the local leadership in each country.

Thus GCOWE '95 is not the end of the planning process for the AD 2000 and Beyond Movement, but the beginning of the end. Important work will remain for many of those Christian leaders who could not go to GCOWE, as they participate in their ongoing national plan. These plans will be far better and far more effective with the spiritual and cross-pollination enhancement opportunities provided by such an international gathering.

Global consultations are highly visible. In the case of GCOWE '95, the bulk of the work happens before and after the event. Both the event itself, as well as processes before and after, are based on the movement's principles of leadership, vision-lifting through consultation, networking, and communication. It is possible to have "A Church for Every People, the Gospel for Every Person by AD 2000" if we have the courage to go forth, and the will to do so. The unity and resources of the church at large is unprecedented. May the power and inspiration of the Spirit be upon us to get the job done!