January 01, 1989 by

January 8, 1989 Singapore

We, the 314 participants from 50 nations gathered for the Global Consultation for World Evangelisation by A.D. 2000 and Beyond, come from many different churches, denominations and ministries under the direction of the Holy Spirit for what we consider to be a singular moment in the history of the Church.

We identify ourselves as a gathering of Christians who by faith alone have accepted Jesus Christ, true God and true man, revealed in the infallible and holy Scriptures as our Lord and Savior. We are committed to biblical righteousness in our behavior and to growth in holiness.

We gratefully acknowledge the worldwide witness and ministry of faithful men and women throughout the previous twenty centuries.

We humbly confess our pride, prejudice, competition and disobedience that have hindered our generation from effectively working at the task of world evangelisation. These sins have impeded God’s desire to spread abroad His gracious provision of eternal salvation through the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

We turn from these sins and failures to express our belief that God has graciously opened to us a window of opportunity for completing the magnificent task He has given us. We boldly seize this crucial moment, more impressed with God’s great power than any force arrayed against us.

Cooperation and Partnership

We have listened to each other and rejoice at what God is doing through many plans for world evangelisation. We learned that there are over 2000 separate plans relating to world evangelisation.

We see afresh that cooperation and partnership are absolute necessities if the Great Commission is going to be fulfilled by the Year 2000. For the sake of those who are lost and eternally separated from God, we have dared to pray and dream of what might happen if appropriate autonomy of churches and ministries could be balanced with significant partnership.

Empowerment

We acknowledge that the evangelisation of the world can be carried out only in the power of the Holy Spirit. Listening and ready, we declare our dependence upon the Holy Spirit and commit to undergird all efforts for world evangelisation with personal and corporate prayer. We recognize that human energy cannot replace divine activity nor can spiritual success be measured in terms of human achievement. The effectiveness of our endeavours does not lie in human expertise but in the sovereign activity of the Holy Spirit.

Compassion

The Good News of Jesus Christ brings special meaning to suffering humanity. God’s love brings hope to those who live under the bondage of sin, and who are victims of poverty and injustice. We believe that Christians involved in world evangelisation should live among people as servants and minister to the needs of the whole person.

Toward Fulfillment

The revelation of God in Christ is plain. The commission to His Church is clear. The unfinished task is apparent.* The opportunity to work together is ours. We believe that it is possible to bring the Gospel to all people by the year 2000. This can be accomplished with sufficient dedication, unity, and mobilisation of available resources, powered and directed by God.

To accomplish this objective, it will be necessary to:

1. Focus particularly on those who have not yet heard the Gospel.
2. Provide every people and population on earth with a valid opportunity to hear the Gospel in a language they can understand. It is our fervent prayer that at least half of humanity will profess allegiance to the Lord Jesus.
3. Establish a mission-minded church-planting movement within every unreached people group so that the Gospel is accessible to all people.
4. Establish a Christian community of worship, instruction in the word, healing, fellowship, prayer, disciple-making, evangelism, and missionary concern in every human community.

To God be the glory for all he enables us to do by the end of this millennium!

* These were our documents of reference:

Seven Hundred Plans to Evangelize the World: The Rise of a Global Evangelization Movement, by David B. Barrett and James W. Reapsome, New Hope Publishers, 1988

Countdown to 1900: World Evangelization at the End of the Nineteenth Century, by Todd M. Johnson, New Hope Publishers, 1988

Towards AD 2000 and Beyond: A Reader, edited by Luis Bush, Jay Gary and Mike Roberts for the Global Consultation on World Evangelization by AD 2000 and Beyond, 1989

“Two Thousand Plans Toward AD 2000: a Kaleidoscopic Global Plan to See the World Evangelized by AD 2000 and Beyond,” 1988

“AD 2000 Global Goals: A Selection of 168 Proposed Great Commission Goals,” 1988