Current.
Retired.
Aiming2B.
A revolution in missions taking place
| In the last few decades a profound yet quiet revolution has taken place in mission which is best observed from a field perspective. There are many facets of this shift, which is accelerating in speed and intensity as the timing of our Lord Jesus is coming closer.
The first change, according to The Bridge International’s RK Ulrich, is the pulling back of the Western church as torch-bearers of the Gospel to the unreached, and the merging of national churches with strong leaders who effectively are reaching their own. It is interesting to note that the Church-at-large is presently growing far more rapidly in the third world and emerging nations than in the West (Europe and North America) Secondly, Ulrich says, “The definition of who is a missionary is changing. Traditionally, it was the person with a life-long call, trained through mission-school and sent out by a church or mission organization to one geographical field where they lived and died.” […] And finally, the rapidly increasing availability and use of the internet and satellite television is changing outreach. Ulrich says, “These media are already blanketing every square inch of our globe with an unfathomable amount of information. It’s said that the paradigm shift caused by the coming of the information highway is causing as profoundly revolutionary changes in our present global community as the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press did to the world culture at the time.” |
Generally speaking, I think the pulling back in the first change is unfortunate. Why pull back? If the national churches overtake us, praise God! But pull back…?
Anyway, I enjoyed this short article. Sure, I grew up in Mexico as an MK. Sure, I served in Mexico as an adult missionary. Sure, I’m chairman of a mission board. But I hope I enjoyed the article as a Christian and not just because of my involvement in foreign missions.