August 01, 1981 by

"Let's get on with the business of sowing the good seed,  and get out of the darnel pulling business! Everything else is endless exhaustion. . . Jesus will deal with the evil when He returns. It's not a matter of trying to shovel out the darkness from our society, but of turning on the light where there is not yet the light of the gospel."

So spoke Dr. Stan Mooneyham, at the Second Annual Southern California Missions Festival on July 12 at the U.S Center for World Mission. Dr. Mooneyham, president of World Vision, International referred to the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13. He presented the controversial image of sowing the Word of God where it has never yet been sown, instead of just spending our time and energies trying to root out the evil in the world.

In response to Dr. Mooneyham's comments, Ralph Winter added that it was necessary to plant the 'wheat" in the regions where there is not yet any indigenous church and that will require cross cultural missions.

The stirring climax of the evening occured as Ben Jennings

presented the challenge of the 75th anniversary of the Laymen's Missionary Movement which itself was a recognition of the 100th anniversary of the "Haystack Prayer Meeting."

The Festival was the kickoff for the entire Christian Leaders Institute of International Studies, July 12 16. This program, an intensive IIS experience, attracted 125 participants from as far away as Washington, South Carolina, Washington DC, and Canada. Some participants were from Austria, Germany, Singapore, and Australia.

Evening speakers provided challenges concerning the world's major blocs of hidden peoples. Don McCurry asked: "Does your eschatology hinder the evangelism of the Muslims, and hence the coming of Jesus Christ?"

Sam Kamaleson pointed out that, within each Hindu, there is the desire to see God.

Ben Jennings presents Laymens Missionary Movement challenge

Jim Ziervogel, on the Chinese world, observed that even though China is closed to traditional missions, there are still 40 million Chinese people living outside the Peoples Republic.

Clarence Church commented that cultures do change when missionaries come, and churches are planted. When a tribal group comes to the Lord, there is an ending to murders, drunkenness, and the like, because the Lord changes people's hearts.

Participants were pleased with the experience, and remarked that the time was: .action¬packed,"

"thought provoking and heart searching,"

"The Lord is using my time here to see in a new way and to open my heart afresh to Him,"

"I was impressed by your displays... just talking with the various missionaries at the booths was very helpful."

A judge from Singapore attended, and shared: "It has been excellent. I have attended so many conferences, all over the world, and I can say with a great deep sense of affection, this has been the greatest conference, the greatest seminar that I've ever attended in my whole life... I have been so challenged."

One came from Washington, who said, "It gave me a whole new perspective on the Bible. It inspires me to action. I plan to shift my lifestyle from peacetime to wartime, and evaluate expenses in terms of the [frontier] cause."

And, one from Minneapolis shared, "It had incredible scholarship. What incredible heart these people have for the lost. It was awesome.., at times, I felt I've been looking at the heart of God."