This is an article from the July-August 1998 issue: Mongolia

Sleepless in Seattle

Field Workers, Mobilizers and Advocates Meet to Find Ways to Improve Strategic Evangelism Partnerships

Sleepless in Seattle

Ezekiel Calling!

Unsettled by what he's seen applied in the name of Frontier Mission and the Adopt-a-People campaign, Lawrence Radcliffe proposed a constructive and challenging evaluation of the global church's push to reach all peoples (MF, Jan.-Feb. 98). Reading Stephen Neill's A History of Christian Missions reminded me that the challenges set before us are not really new--they've just never really been adequately handled. Yet we are compelled to keep trying! And trying we are! The North American Frontier Mission "industry" took a huge step forward on April 3-4, 1998.

Sleepless In Seattle

On the evening of April 3rd, 1998 in Seattle, WA, mobilizers met together to discuss roadblocks that have hindered mobilization effectiveness. Some reported a sleepless night which turned into a mini Concert of Prayer in the hotel! The next day, field workers joined with the mobilizers and advocates to discuss and distill a constructive way forward in light of gaps revealed in today's approach to Frontier Mission.

Eighteen people, serving 15 North American mobilization ministries, met with 14 field workers who serve to catalyze some of the 40 field-based Strategic Evangelism/Church Planting Partnerships which focus on 29 Gateway People Groups. The discussion moderator, Phill Butler, International President of Interdev, began the day by giving a compelling overview of global trends, and reminding us of the incredible possibility of completing the Great Commission in our generation.

A Time For Venting & Repenting

It was as if Ezekiel had a direct line to our hearts! Though emotionally taxing, we heard and discussed case studies on how NOT to mobilize and employ the global church. The focus kept coming back to the need to properly give glory to God and several reminders that we can't do God's work apart from doing it God's way. As if paraphrasing Ezekiel 36: 21-23, one mission pastor summarized by saying, "If you give monkeys machine guns, you don't need malicious intent to do damage." Self-conscious laughter turned to aching as we reflected on how powerful mission tools have been misused by unprepared hands, leading to profaning God's name among some unreached peoples.

One field worker emphatically cautioned against McMission--using drive-through, drive-by-relationship approaches to reach anyone. Two video testimonies highlighted examples of information abuse by some ministries. In their zeal to be the most notable, they became promotion and donor-driven, and skewed conversion/church statistics. Credit was taken where credit was not due. The result: a fertile harvest dried up. The missionaries were asked to leave. God's glory was robbed. Some of us cried. We stopped to pray together. We asked God to show us the way.

A Time For Distilling

The hours together became intense and focused. Our mental models were really being pushed. God was shaking us. We prayed together. We shared lunch and dinner together. As field workers and mobilizers began to really understand one another, key issues emerged:

  1. Fundamental to all that we think, say, and do, we must give God the glory due to His name. Simple? Maybe. But God's message to us was: Evaluate! Are we really doing God's work God's way?
  2. Our Frontier Mission models must combat the Western vacuous theology of individualism. Today's Frontier Mission paradigms are too often caught up in the sociological implications of the individualistic nature of the Western church.
  3. Our Frontier Mission process must bridge the relational gaps between the mobilizing, resourcing, advocating Church and those who have been set apart by the Church to serve as missionaries to the unreached peoples. We must continue to bridge the gaps between the emerging Church and the established Church. We must bridge the gaps between the Church and specialty ministries born to serve the Church by reaching into the world in ways the local church can't.

A Time For Solutions

We concluded we must integrate lessons learned through the crucible of field experience and the study of the history of Christian mission. Following heart-to-heart discussions bathed in prayer, participants distilled some practical ways forward:

  1. Create an annual forum for mobilization and advocacy networks to connect with each other and with appropriate representation from field-based partnerships. (For more information on this forum, contact Interdev at: [email protected])
  2. Build from what has worked well: partnership-integrated mobilization/advocacy/church alliances. Proven outcomes are 1) more strategic resources transferred in appropriate ways to the field, meeting real needs; and 2) the most accurate mobilization, advocacy and prayer tools available! Strategic evangelism partnerships effectively link mobilization and advocacy to field realities. Appropriate mobilization does not propagate information for information's sake, but for the sake of those who truly need to know.
  3. Correct what hasn't worked well: independent, non-linked, non-sensitive, non-personal efforts.
  4. Evaluate our basic assumptions. Evaluate what we teach and propagate in our ministry promotional materials, videos and curriculum. What message are we really sending those in, and not yet in, the Church?

"Where The River Flows, Everything Will Live..."

We were exhausted and spent. The coffee pot was empty, the tea bags discarded. Some sat on the floor. Some stood, leaning against the wall. Our final waning time together was spent in prayer and meditating on summary thoughts: God has made clear to us that the ends do not justify the means. God modeled for us His incarnational witness of suffering, listening, patience, waiting, and loving through long-term relationship. We must dare to love one another so that God's good news will be credible (Psalm 133, John 17: 15-26). As servants of the Church, whatever our ministry focus, we must dare to build life-long, Godly relationships with one another, and with those for whom we send our missionaries, resources and prayer. As we prayed, God took us to Ezekial 47: 9-10. And then to Ezekiel 37...will these dry bones live?? YES! "Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes" (Ez 36: 23).

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