April 01, 1989 by Ralph D. Winter

Dear Friends,

I am aghast. Only 15 minutes ago did I see the material in this month’s special insert following page 10—a copy of the new Paraclete Magazine.

Wow, I thought: “This stuff is really zingy. Exciting. Written with the flair of a real pro. It was Bill Stearns, I guess. What a guy!”

Then I came to the three pages about me. “Oh, no! Here it is. All these ‘inside’ stories about my personality.” Why this strong tendency to make leaders out to be something so unusual?

But enough musing. I must get back to work.

I have never heard a sermon in my life linking missions and the Second Coming of Christ as simple, compelling, and powerful. You’ll see what I mean in the brief excerpts on pages 11-13. You are encouraged to get the cassette of the much longer verson, with all the human warmth and edification of the original presentation. See page 13 for that.

Recently, I was profoundly moved. I was asked to speak to a church group on the ninth article of the Lausanne Covenant. I looked at it, looked again more closely, and began to be staggered by the many changes that would have to be made if the document were being written now, 15 years later. I began writing words and phrases in between the lines (see page 4). To compare two statements 15 years apart… What a fantastic means of measuring the mighty work of God, and of discovering that He is outmoding such perceptive, magnificent statements as the Lausanne Covenant—at least this ninth article. No statement in modern times, perhaps in all of history, is a more eloquent and foundational statement of the Christian mission. Yet the very dynamism of the Lausanne movement has helped to outmode its own famous Covenant!

Right along with this is the potent combination of facts amassed for your reference on pages 16 and 17. These underlie the gorgeous, new Unreached Peoples Poster described on pages 14 and 15. Our staff, along with technical experts, have worked for three years on this new, resplendent version of the earlier charts we have produced.

But, back to Paraclete Magazine. Read the sample here. I hope you send in the card in order to get it regularly. The Paraclete folks will focus specifically on the U.S. Center, and promote understanding of its activities. Mission Frontiers, more than ever, will be free to focus on the entire world—from a mission perspective.