A Sight as Clear as a Hittite

As Abraham walked through the land of Canaan, he knew it was his.

God had promised as much.

Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. (Gen. 13:14)

But when Sarah died, meekly he went to the elders of the Hittites and declared:

I am a stranger and an alien residing among you.  

Here again is that word, גֵּר (ger).

Give me property among you for a burying place.

What follows is an exchange unparalleled in Scripture in which two groups of people, foreign to each other ... other to each other ... out do one another in showing honor.  Give it a read and you will know what I'm speaking about.

One thing screams to me.  For both the Hittites and the clan of Abraham, it was a given that each had much to learn and benefit from the other.  Honor was appropriate because their hearts told them that the other was not one to be demeaned or dismissed but rather embraced and blessed.  Honor was fitting because the inherent worth of the other was obvious. 

And asserting ones legal rights to land? Just didn't seem to be as important as the treasure seen in the stranger's face.

Can I see as clearly as the Hittites when I meet a stranger, alien, immigrant, or foreigner?

Oh, what treasures am I missing in the face of the other?

I'm an Alien

The very first occurence in the Bible of the Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) is quite illuminating.

The word means alien, stranger, foreigner, migrant.  

But, in Genesis 15, it doesn't refer to someone else. It's not a term used to describe the "other".  Rather, it is a word used by God to describe what will soon happen to his own people.

Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years. (Gen. 15:13)

Referring, of course, to the generations spent by Israel in Egypt, this time as aliens was to be formative -- it would, along with their deliverance, form the two sides of their identity as God's chosen people.  To this day, celebrate a Passover Sedar with observant Jews and you will quickly learn that the "land not theirs" still leaves a mark on who they are.

Actually, a follower of Jesus has only to celebrate the Lord's Supper to know the same.  God's people are still very much those that have been brought up out of Egypt.

It is the normal way of speaking to use the word alien, stranger, foreigner or migrant to refer to someone else -- the other.  But we are not supposed to be normal.  From a Biblical perspective, from Genesis 15:13 to 1 Peter 2:11, God's people have always been "aliens and strangers".  Indeed, it is the definitive way of faith according to Hebrews 11:13-16.

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

Those who speak this way make it clear what they are seeking.  I wonder if my words provide the same kind of clarity.  

What are you seeking? What kind of homeland? What do you mean when you say refugee, immigrant, alien, stranger, foreigner? 

Do you realize that you are the stranger?

Do you understand what it means that this is not your home?

Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology

It was a tremendous honor to be a part of a truly landmark text on missiology that has just recently been released from Regnum Books and the Global Diaspora Network.  Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology is a monumental work of some 600 pages that seeks to provide a broad treatment of a subject that is absolutely critical for 21st mission thinkers and leaders.

In my section, I was able to work with a number of authors from around the world to treat the subject of "The Mission of the Church in Global Diaspora."  My co-editor was Grant McClung and joining me as authors were Lachi Adhikari, P. Rajendran, Sam George, Carol Mack-Lacey, Chandler Im, John Oh, Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Ken Baker, T.V. Thomas, and Lawrence Ko.

As a contributor, I am certainly not unbiased in my commendation of this book, but I am very proud of it.  There is no question that I will be referring people to it for years to come.  I'm even beginning to plan some follow up book projects that I think will be very exciting.

You can order it online through Amazon.com.  

KEY LEADERS GATHERED IN SINGAPORE RESOLVE TO ACCELERATE GLOBAL TRAINING IN DIASPORA MISSION

Key evangelical educators, business leaders, and mission agency directors from around the world gathered last month in Singapore to discuss diaspora training for the global church and to prepare for the forthcoming Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology from Regnum Books. Deliberations focused on setting priorities and developing strategies for effective institutional and informal training in diaspora missiology and culminated in the crafting of the Singapore Resolution which reflects several areas of consensus about the way forward in equipping the next generation of researchers and practitioners of diaspora mission. Dr. Tetsunao Yamamori, President Emeritus of Food for the Hungry and former International Director of the Lausanne Movement, was among those at the consultation. He concluded:

“Those gathered in Singapore affirmed the importance of advancing diaspora missiology to grapple with the issues facing the church today. In the coming decade, churches will experience the fruit of God’s blessing among the peoples on the move beyond belief.”

The consultation of some 40 participants were convened by the Global Diaspora Network (GDN), an international body of leaders originally commissioned by the Lausanne Movement at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa in 2010 to lead the global Church in fulfilling God’s missional purposes among diaspora peoples. Participants characterized the gathering as a strategic follow-up to the Manila 2015: Global Diaspora Forum which brought together hundreds of leaders from around the world. Dr. Miyon Chung, theologian and professor at Morling College (Australia), was among those who left Singapore with a clearer sense of vision and strategy:

I found the consultation in Singapore and the upcoming compendium, Scattered and Gathered, to be powerfully relevant and significant. The greatness of the Church can no longer be assessed by the magnificence and opulence of cathedrals but in the effective utilization of God’s people on the move. In Singapore, I gained valuable insights and tools on how to nurture and equip the Church for missions in the 21st century.

Dr. Joanna Felciano-Soberano, Academic Dean of Asian Theological Seminary (Philippines) echoed this sentiment:

The first thing that I have done upon my return from Singapore is to reflect on the conversations and action plans within my own seminary context. I have been more conscious to include diaspora conversations in my own classes and now must work on the diaspora missiology curriculum template for our missions department. I am now more aware of the critical role of the Church and the seminary in orienting and informing the community of faith on the compelling challenge of reaching the diasporas with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hosting the consultation was the Singapore Centre for Global Mission and its National Director, Lawrence Ko. Ko said that churches must embrace the “new thinking” known as diaspora missiology and begin to understand and engage “the people on the move in our borderless world.”

The official meetings of the consultation were held from 2-5 March 2016 in Singapore and moderated by Dr. Sadiri Joy Tira, Lausanne Movement Catalyst for Diasporas. Dr. Tira often referred participants to the Seoul Declaration on Diaspora Missiology and the Cape Town Commitment call to action on diaspora, explaining that the Singapore Resolution is following up on the mandates of those statements.

In addition to crafting the Singapore Resolution, participants reviewed the forthcoming Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology, considered sample syllabi from diaspora mission courses being taught around the world, provided feedback on the Lausanne Global Classroom curriculum on diaspora mission, and developed a basic curriculum framework for training in diaspora missiology.

[In addition to my official report above, let me add a word of thanks to those who supported me and Borderless in our participation in this event.  I was able to personally attend as well as help three other participants from the majority world to come as well thanks to your generosity.  While in Sinapore, I used down time to have a number of very fruitful meetings with other partners.  Thanks so much for standing with us! -- Cody]

Brewing a Better World (Part 4): The 10/40 Window & The Coffee Belt

Now into part four of this series of musings about how magical beans are going to usher in the millennial reign of Christ . . . well, that's not it exactly, but you know, something big and lofty and mission-y and such . . . I want to begin to muse specifically about the commodity of coffee.  I hereby introduce a phrase sure to take the world by storm, "Great Commission Commodity" and ask:

Is coffee the perfect Great Commission Commodity for 21st century missions?

I will dedicate a couple posts to this question but begin today with a very intriguing image:

Original image by Coffeeforless.com, modified by C. Lorance

Intriguing, isn't it? Or is it just me? 

The "10/40 Window" has long been associated with the world's least reached peoples.  If this is a totally new concept for you, please read up on it at Joshua Project here. Of course, one of the great passions of my life is to travel around and spread the news that God has "opened the window" and scattered unreached peoples from there to everywhere else in the world.  And most of time time when I talk about this, I am addressing people in the West who need to be awakened to the presence of 10/40 Window peoples in their own cities and thereby mobilized to reach out to them with the hope and wholeness of Lord Jesus.  BUT, it is also true that global migration occurs as much on a "South-to-South" trajectory as it does "South-to-North".  What that means is simply that as much as the world's least reached peoples are moving to the great cities of the Western world, they are also moving to Manila, Bolivia, Lima, Accra, Dubai, and Nairobi.  The Kampala skyline is now dotted with many Hindu temples, groups of Arab businessmen can be found in every major airport in Southeast Asia, and Addis Ababa is being rebuilt practically from the ground up by the Chinese. The reverse is also true, East Africans travel down the Nile to North Africa.  Filipinos work as mariners on cargo vessels which travel to every port in the Global South. Girls from Indonesia and India are trafficked into China and elsewhere.  And everyone seems to eventually pass through Dubai.

The phenomenon of South-to-South migration is an ever-increasing force in the world today that inextricably links the destinies of peoples of the 10/40 Window and those living in the Coffee Belt - the region of the world in which all coffee is grown. This geographic juxtaposition means, among other things, that the unreached billions in the Window have close, regular, normal commerce with scores of potential lay-missionaries living in the Belt. 

If we have come to embrace the notion that we now live in the era of missions from everywhere to everywhere (and I know that many in my country have not embraced this) then we must begin expecting and planning for the raising up of countless missionaries from the majority world.  Indeed this is already happening on a large, albeit difficult-to-measure scale.  The Coffee Belt is home to most of these would-be missionaries as it passes through the most populated portions of Latin America, Africa and Asia.  Here is a major "what if":

What if we found a way to pair coffee as a positive, sustainable and profitable business presence with not only evangelism and disciple-making but full-on mission mobilization?  

This is what I mean by musing and pushing yourself to the "what if" questions.  I don't know what those questions are for you and your mission context.  I can only tell you where they are - further.  And I can tell you that the Holy Spirit is waiting for you there.

Brewing a Better World (Part 1): Musings and Mission and Transforming the World

Photo by Jake Liefer

I remain obsessed with bringing the hope and wholeness of Lord Jesus to those who have been the least-reached by his message, least-reachable by his followers, and least in reach of his reign in this world.  This obsession has manifest itself in many strange ways over the years. I have become strange, and I'm okay with that.

[Read the whole Brewing a Better World Series here.]

Coffee is the latest, perhaps most surprising, new dimension of my strangeness as I try to discover new ways of . . . not sure what exactly.  Bosch said mission is about transforming reality.  That's true and that's what I care about.  That's the passion to which I've devoted the last 18 years of my life.  I have gradually discovered about myself that when I see problems of lostness, brokenness, oppression, injustice and the like I don't want to raise awareness about them.  I don't want to help out.  I want to change it.  I want to end it.  What is worse, I tend to believe that transformation is wholly possible.  

So, all this to say that I've stepped into a more active and significant role with Endiro Coffee - which my sister founded a few years back and which officially became a part of the Trinity family a couple years after that.  I spend about half my time now thinking about (and drinking) coffee.  I've dusted off and refurbished old creative, marketing and branding skills and am even trying to develop my palate so that can tell you with authority if a certain coffee bean is malty, earthy, fruity, honey-toned, or all of the above. And it's all crazy as heck because I had never even consumed a cup of coffee before I went to Cape Town in 2010 - but this all seems to reek of the Holy Spirit.  Indeed the more I meditate upon coffee and its role in my life as a missions leader (particularly while propped up the magical brown substance) the more I find myself in awe of the potential these mighty little beans have for the Kingdom of God in the 21st century.

So, over the next week or so, I want to muse over coffee and mission and do a lot of "what if"-ing - which I suppose is what muse means.  Here are the questions I'll be pondering:

1. Can coffee become a financial engine for world mission? 

2. Can the business of coffee itself transform reality for the sake of the Kingdom?

3. Is coffee the perfect Great Commission commodity for the 21st century? 

4. How do I put the terms "south-to-south migration", "10/40 Window" and "Coffee belt" into the same sentence and somehow articulate how big and awesome is the potential of this grouping of ideas for the sake of mission? (hee-hee)

5. Can coffee-business based in coffee producing nations be used for the mobilization of missionaries from the Global South?

6. Can coffee business put us on the front line of bringing justice to bear where it is needed most?

7. If I have only 6 questions will I seem like I'm not a very good Baptist?

I want to encourage you to muse also.  About coffee or whatever.  Muse about something.  Especially if you care about God and his Kingdom and its advance in your community and the world - you should definitely muse.  Because when you muse and dream and ask "what if" you join the faithful company of protesting saints and prophets who have from the beginning always been at the forefront of God's ever encroaching reign.  Intentionally think outside the box this week.  If mission is about transforming reality, it may very well begin with transforming your mind.

David Bosch on an Eschatology of Mission

"We need an eschatology of mission which is both future-directed and oriented to the here and now.  It must be an eschatology that holds in creative and redemptive tension the already and the not yet; the world of sin and rebellion, and the world God loves; the new age that has already begun and the old that has not yet ended; justice as well as justification; the gospel of liberation and the gospel of salvation.  Christian hope does not spring from despair about the present.  We hope because of what we have already experienced.  Christian hope is both possession and yearning, repose and activity, arrival and being on the way."

David Bosch, Transforming Mission

On Muslims Coming to Christ

I've recently read through a wonderful series of posts over on the Circumpolar blog (one of my absolute favorites).  In the series, Warrick Farah, one of the brightest missiological minds hiding out with me in cyberspace*, explores the phenomenon of Muslims coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  His series is super insightful and a true must-read for those involved in missions among Muslim peoples.  Rest-assured, I will be passing it around to my teammates.

Here are few of my favorite insights from the Circumpolar Series:

1. "Conversion" to Christ tends to be a gradual and incremental process for Muslims.  Here's a quote from part 1 of the series: 

The overall experience of Muslims, however, is that conversion is a gradual process that takes place over many years (Haney 2010, 68; Larson 1996a;Teeter 1990, 307-308). Gordon Smith notes that Muslim conversions to Christ “do not tend to rest or pivot on a decision or a particular act of acceptance. Rather, it has been well documented that these conversions are slow and incremental” (2010, 84). Qaasid cannot point to the moment of his conversion, but he knows he is a disciple of the Messiah. Thus, conversion is a process that transpires over months or years. The sometimes apparently sudden decision to “follow Christ” is only one essential step in this process.

I hope that this insight will be an encouragement to those who have become discouraged because they haven't seen "fruit" in their ministry among Muslims.

2. Farah points out in part 5 of the series that identity is a much more complicated issue that the typical debate surrounding "insider movements" and contextualization.  I think there is a lot of room to develop this idea further, but the fact that the series at least raises the issue is very helpful.  Here's a potent quote:

Identity is far more complex and dynamic than is unfortunately portrayed by many evangelicals on all sides of the issues. Layers of identity abound for people in every culture, and belonging to multiple traditions is a reality in today’s globalized world.

I would hesitate more than Farah does in quoting Rebecca Lewis and Georges Houssney in a way that makes them appear to be equal opposites in the debate on insider movements.  Positions aside, the level of argumentation and research simply isn't the same between these two.  I'll leave it at that.

3. I love the insights related to Muslim women coming to Christ.  Farah guesses that 80% of Muslims who come to know Christ are men and calls for much more research and evangelistic emphasis to be directed towards Muslim women.  Wow! That should deeply encourage all kinds of women who have been considering missions.  You are needed!  I should also point out that the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today is the Syrian refugee crisis (expected to total 4 million externally displaced refugees by the end of 2014) and that this has heavily resulted in the displacement of Muslim women.  There is a heavily female human tidal wave of Syrian refugees now flooding the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere.

Farah's most compelling insight in part 7 of his series is that Muslim women who come to Christ are greatly influenced by stories of Jesus's affirmation and positive treatment of women.  This clearly calls for missionaries to emphasize such stories in their evangelism of Muslim women.  

[*By the way, if you haven't noticed, there is a tremendous amount of really great missiology that is being done in the non-traditional realms of blogs and other social media outlets.  As traditional missiology publishers struggle to transition from print to digital/online formats to keep up with the times, a solid cadre of excellent missiologists have produced and are producing truly top-notch resources that are being heavily consumed by all manner of missionary practitioners.  Besides ... ah hem ... myself ;-) ... I love reading Circumpolar, Indigenous Jesus, TallSkinnyKiwi, The Long View, The World is Our Neighborhood, Acrossculture, Faithful Witness and Missiologically Thinking.  You have any favorites that I've missed?] 

[Photo by Rifqi Dalgren]

Reflections on the Past Decade of Missiological Research

Recently the International Bulletin of Missionary Research came out with their latest review of doctoral dissertations for the field of missiology.  This is something that they try to do every decade in order to try to understand trends and possibly to identify gaps in missiological research.

Okay ... so most of you are probably asleep right now.  Sorry.  This is something that I'm interested in and ... well ... ultimately, that's what I write about.  It's not like any of you are paying for this.  ;-)

Anyway, I read through IBMR's review and had some random thoughts that I felt like sharing.  Here you go:

1.  I notice that it is still the case that the overwhelming majority of doctoral projects focus on the past hundred or so years of missions.  Roughly 85% of "historically-oriented" dissertations focus on the period of time since 1800 meaning that we continue to understand very little about the first 1,800 years of mission history.  That's a problem, I think. Because, you know, history is really important.

2. There are a couple interesting nuggets about gender in IBMR's report.  In particular, three-quarters of the dissertation authors were men.  The article points out that with about half of all missionaries and more than half of the world's church members being women, this signifies an important under-representation in the field of missiology.  I want to register my personal surprise given the fact that most of my classmates at Wheaton College who were earning the MA in missions and intercultural studies were women.  It was like 4 out of 5!  But then again, whenever I'm hanging around at missiology society meetings, it tends to be a bit of a boys club.  I'm not sure what exactly is going on here.  Are women just more interested in getting to work than in research and lecturing?  Thoughts?

3. Only 3% of dissertations had a primary focus on the unevangelized world -- i.e., where missions and missionaries are needed most.  That seems sad to me and kind of wasteful.  We've long been saying that only 1 in 10 missionaries works among the unreached and this research fact makes me wonder if part of the reason for that is that too few teachers of mission are focused on pioneer missions.  If there is a hidden bright light here, it is that a number of dissertations were focused on the unevangelized living in diaspora in the so-called "World C" (evangelized) nations.  Does this reflect the fact that diaspora missiology is catching on as a new pioneer missions priority?  Does it reflect a move of the Spirit in the Church and the world to complete the Great Commission through the movement of people from everywhere to everywhere?

4. Finally, I was kind of surprised to see that over 1500 missiology dissertations were written during the past decade (roughly the same period of time that I have been involved in missiology).  Of course this doesn't count missiology dissertations completed as a part of a D. Miss or D. Min degree.  Does this mean that there are about 2000 new missiology "doctors" out there?  And if so, what are they doing?  Are they all battling for the seemingly small number of teaching positions available?  Since I still don't have a doctorate, should I be nervous that when I finally do get around to it that I won't be able to land a professorship?

Read the full IBMR report here.

[Photo by AstronomyBlog]

United Nations Reports: 232 Million International Migrants Globally (And other random thoughts)

Random Picture of Me Performing a Naamkaran Ceremony for a Nepali Family.
Has little to do with the article.

Okay, first, take a look at this press release from the United Nations:

http://esa.un.org/unmigration/wallchart2013.htm

They are reporting that the total number of people living in diaspora as first generation, international migrants is now 232 million!  That's huge.  That's 3.2% of the world! 

The same report says that while the United States remains the most population destination country, Global South to Global South migration is now on an equal footing with "southerners" going to the Northern nations. And there is now a new top ten list for host nations (replacing the now outdated one I posted here recently):

In 2013, half of all international migrants lived in 10 countries, with the US hosting the largest number (45.8 million), followed by the Russian Federation (11 million); Germany (9.8 million); Saudi Arabia (9.1 million); United Arab Emirates (7.8 million); United Kingdom (7.8 million); France (7.4 million); Canada (7.3 million); Australia (6.5 million); and Spain (6.5 million).

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So, it is exciting stuff, to be sure.  People are on the move like never before and God is on the move among them.  During the next few days, I will be speaking on diaspora missiology first at a Dallas-Ft. Worth Diaspora Leaders Roundtable and then at the annual gathering of the International Society of Frontier Missiology.  I am excited about the opportunity to share and pray that God uses the time to influence these leaders for the sake of missions among scattered people.  I hope you will pray.

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Also, if you have been tracking with us, you will have noticed that MoveIn and Trinity International Baptist Mission have just announced today that they are joining forces to launch MoveIn in the United States.  TIBM has two "MoveIn" teams that have already moved into "patches" and are engaging those communities with prayer and the gospel.  You will hear more about this development in coming days and weeks, but for now, I hope you will check out MoveIn and learn more about the vision.

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By the way, when I'm on the road, I like to post to my "Scatterings" blog which is on Tumblr.  So, if you haven't added me on Facebook, you can check out that blog for pictures and updates from my travels.  Usually.  

Master-less Plans of Global Evangelism

Image Courtesy of EMQ

In case you have missed it, my article from the July 2013 issue of Evangelical Missions Quarterly is now available for free at the Billy Graham Center website.  It is always an honor to be published in EMQ, and a double blessing to see that the BGC felt it was important for a broader audience to read.

I think this brief article can be described as the inner wranglings of a 30-something missionary who is perhaps seeing the last vestiges of his naivety die away. I am not, however, losing my idealism and conviction that we can and should do better.

So, the article is called "Master-less Plans of Global Evangelism" and you can check it out at the link below.

Hot Off the Evangelism & Missional Presses | Wheaton:
EXCERPT: To what extent can mission leaders today say that if God doesn’t keep his promises, then our plans and ministries will utterly fail? Have we created strategic fail-safes that allow us to progress toward or even accomplish our organizational goals even if our prayers go unanswered and God does not do anything particularly interesting? Have we become functionally atheistic in our mission praxis today?

Ten Mission Priorities and Nine Urgent Needs

Photo by GlynLowe

By anyone's estimation, the task before us in world missions is a daunting one.  Even when one narrows it down to a single nation or city or if you look only one dimension of the gospel task like church planting, evangelism, or world hunger -- even then, it is very difficult to know where to begin.

Personally, I have been wrestling with the idea of priorities for some time.  How do we establish missionary priorities?  How does a mission agency, denomination, or church decide where to engage in missions first?  In coming days, I hope to share some thoughts on this and how we've made some specific application in Chicagoland.  For today, however, I wish to commend to you the work of a couple great missiological thinkers and friends who have attempted to create their own global mission priority lists.  Here they are with some commentary:

1. Mission Top Ten - by Tim Schultz
Tim provides a list of 10 nations or regions of the world most in need of "apostolic missionary work".  His list is heavily inspired by Operation World and includes places like Japan, Bangladesh, and Russia.  Tim also includes the United States especially because of diaspora movement which is bringing in large numbers of unreached peoples into the country.

2. Nine Urgent Needs for Additional Missionaries - by Doug Nichols
Doug has provided us with a different kind of priority list which focuses on various types or categories of peoples rather than specific geographical regions.  Here we see his call for more missionaries among unreached peoples, orphans, trafficking victims, Bibleless peoples and more.  Doug also lists diasporas as one of his top nine urgent needs.

You can find other lists like these around the web, but I have a great appreciation for these two examples.  Whether we are looking at the entire globe or a local city, missionary leaders must be able to look at their fields and prayerfully analyze them in this way.  Consider the following:

Who are the people groups who currently have the least access to the gospel?  Who have the fewest churches or believers?  Whom no one is trying to reach?

What parts (geographical) of your mission field are least-engaged?

In which parts of society are sin and Satan causing the most destruction?  How are people hurting?  How are they being oppressed?

The Frontier of Mission Advance is Shifting

By pam's pics-

During my recent tour through Michigan teaching the infamous "Lesson 14" of Perspectives ("Pioneer Church Planting"), one of my primary emphases was that in the 21st century, the frontiers of mission are shifting radically.  In the latter part of the 20th century, Ralph Winter (following McGavaran and Townsend) opened the eyes of the Church to the reality of unreached and unengaged people groups.  Frontier missiology was thought of as primarily a discussion of how to get the gospel to unreached peoples who had never heard.  It was critical in those days to de-emphasize geography in order to help mission leaders and practioners realize that the "unfinished task" was about reaching peoples rather than about merely establishing the church in every geo-political country.  As Winter said strongly, "Geography is not as important as peoples."

Today, frontier missions is still about unreached peoples and this has become the overwhelming majority opinion of the evangelical world.  But Winter had also seemed to believe that understanding what was happening to peoples geographically was key for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.  So, to quote Winter with a bit more context, “Geography is not as important as peoples.  Once that is clear, the question of where they are is a very exciting one." (Unreached Peoples: What Are They and Where Are They?, 1984) 

Today, we must ask afresh the geographical question of where are the unreached peoples of the world.  Indeed, it may be more appropriate to ask where they are going.  In a new era of mission history, we see a borderless and wireless world of instant communication, high-speed travel, and ever-accelerating mass migration.  People are on the move like never before.  My friend, Joy Tira, likes to refer to this as a "Human Tidal Wave" which is an image that captures well the magnitude and power of diaspora phenomena.

I have much more to say on this issue.  But today, I would rather you take a look at an excellent post by another friend, Justin Long.   In "Shifts in the Remaining Task", Justin writes about the traditional understanding of "World A, B, and C" or "evangelized" and "unevangelized" and reflects upon how migration and urbanization totally transforming the mission field in our day.

Here's an excerpt:

Most World A (unevangelized) individuals are found in heavily World B peoples, cities and countries. And more and more, we are seeing World B provinces and cities in World C countries. This is especially the case because of the movements of diaspora peoples into World C countries. Europe today, according to the Atlas of Global Christianity, is home to 28 million unevangelized individuals. I know some will think the number is far higher. My point is only that the West is not 100% Christian, and there’s plenty of room for work. One can’t say that Europe or America is completely evangelized–only that it is largely evangelized.

Please take careful look at Justin's entire article.  He has done a great job of  helping us to understand the exciting and complex nature of today's shifting mission frontiers.  Now consider:

1. Do the mission structures of your church reflect the realities of these shifting frontiers? 

2. Who are the "World A" peoples and the "unreached people groups" that live near you?

3. How do you see the "Human Tidal Wave" powerfully changing the dynamics of your city?

A Prayer Request and a Warning: Is Your Church on the Right Side?

I appreciate deeply those of you who have been in prayer for our ministry among scattered people.  We've just recently had some very discouraging news that will dramatically impact our work.  I will share details as soon as I can so that you can pray with more insight.  Also, I am aware that many of you could have significant ways of helping us work through the new challenges before us.  For now, I must simply ask you to remain in prayer for the Trinity International Baptist Mission family, our churches, leaders, and the hundreds of Christ-followers among us.

Recently, I have been with the people of Crosstown Church in OKC and Mission Adelante in Kansas City.  I also had great fellowship with leaders from across the country who came together for the People Group Discovery Workshop and the Ethnic America Summit in Chicago.  Then there was the three night tour of Michigan, meeting believers in three different Perspectives classes.  I rejoice that so many of God's people are getting to know His heart and are giving their lives to immigrant peoples and diasporas right in their own cities.  Gradually, the Lord is opening the eyes of many of His people to understand what frontier mission really means in the 21st century and what He is doing to conclude His global plan of redemption.

However, far too many are still suffering from people blindness.  Too many in the American church are completely out-of-step with the movement of the Spirit who is shifting peoples from everywhere to everywhere for the sake of mission.  I am dismayed to see this and to watch Christians shut out and ignore the poor, the oppressed, the alien and stranger among us -- and to do this while still convincing themselves that they are being led by God to do so.  It is a great shame and I can't imagine that the Lord will allow His lampstand to long burn in such a church.  The landscape of Chicagoland is dotted with so many former church buildings that now serve as Mosques, Hindu temples, night clubs, and more -- and this while immigrant churches cannot find places to worship and while unreached people groups remain unevangelized in our cities.  May the Lord grant us repentance!

Let me encourage you to read and reflect upon and even to pray through the following.  It is an excerpt from a book that I have been in the process of writing (don't get excited, I write very, very slowly).  I then invite you to look up the referenced passages and again pray through those.  When we consider the vast umbrella of diaspora mission and all that it encompasses (e.g. human trafficking, refugee crises, immigration reform, poverty, ethnocentrism, and more), it is very easy to see which side the Lord takes.  The only question that remains is whose side are you on?

Psalm 9:9-10:18 – Here as in many other places, we learn of God’s heart for the oppressed.  He is, by nature, a stronghold and a refuge for the afflicted.  In diaspora mission, we think often of refugees, victims of human trafficking, the migrant poor, and others.  Here in Chicagoland are victims of some of the worst human crimes and natural disasters.  The heart of God is toward such people and he hears their cries (9:12).  God is a just judge who avenges violence (9:12).  The needy and poor will not always be forgotten (9:18).  The Psalmist is adamant, “Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed . . . . but you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan (Ps. 10:12-14).  God does justice for the orphan and the oppressed (Ps. 10:18).  But the oppressors? They shall be wiped out (Ps. 10:16).  It is only safe that we who wish to bring the gospel to the people groups of Chicagoland be on the winning side of this great confrontation.  The gospel we preach should be good news for the poor, relief for the oppressed, liberty to captives (Isa. 61:1).  The gospel of Christ’s Kingdom should be more than merely a tract.  It must be a home for those who have been forced to flee their countries; it must be a gospel that seeks out and liberates women and children who have been forced into modern-day slavery; it must be a gospel that provides food, clothes, education, jobs and love to those who have lost everything.  In short, our gospel to the scattered should ring as good news where they need it most.  Indeed, we may say that if our engagement with scattered peoples is not marked by a passionate pursuit of justice for the oppressed, we should not expect to experience victory at all (Isa. 58:6-12).

In Memory of Richard Twiss

I did not know Richard Twiss personally.

I had been around him a few times during the past several years, but doubt very seriously that he would have known who I was.  We were both a part of the United States delegation at Cape Town for the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. I remember Twiss then begin associated with some other world Christian leaders who were striving to hold the Lausanne leadership's feet to the fire on diversity issues.  My impression of Twiss was that he was ever a prophetic voice to the Church, seeking to ensure that ethnic minorities and majority world voices were not silenced by those who are used to being in charge.

I also have a faint recollection of Twiss leading a too-brief time of prayer and worship at an American Society of Missiology gathering several years ago.  As I said, it was far too brief and the context was extremely limiting.  However I remember feeling like this was a man who was a friend to the kinds of things that were only just beginning to stir in my heart regarding indigenous art forms, contextualizaiton, and the like.

What stands out most in my mind, strangely enough, is that I've thought for some time that Richard Twiss made more sense than anyone else on the issue of syncretism.  I believe firmly that a definition that Twiss wrote back in 2005 deserves to be the standard definition of the term in all missiological conversation on the matter.  In fact, I've been using as such for a while now.  Wrote Twiss:

“Syncretism can be described as a way of thinking that says by performing or participating in a particular religious ceremony or practice, you can alter the essential human spiritual condition in the same way that Jesus does, through His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection from the dead, because they are parallel truths.”

So, my thinking in writing today is that this was a man who made a positive impact on my life for Christ's sake.  It is up to those who knew him well to truly eulogize him.  [Red Letter Christians has a couple great examples here and here.]. For my part, I simply wanted to say that while I'm certain Twiss and I wouldn't have seen eye-to-eye on every issue, I nevertheless feel blessed to have encountered him.  I rejoice that he leaves behind a legacy of writings that I can continue to work through.  And I am sad that he has died.  I heard first from Dr. Soong-Chan Rah and had no hesitation in retweeting something that I couldn't help agreeing with:

RT @profrah: Christianity lost a spiritual giant today. Please pray for the family of Richard Twiss.

Farewell, Richard Twiss.  You are someone that I had hoped to get the chance to know and interact with more in-depth.  Lord willing, I will get some coffee with you one day when I also get home.

Money and Missions: We Steal More than we Give

In the process of writing a chapter for a forthcoming book, I have come across a rather troubling statistic.  Here's the situation, or perhaps I'll ease you into it ...

1. In 1995, the International Journal of Missionary Research reported that the total amount of money embezzled globally from churches and Christian organization for the year totaled US$2 billion. (International Bulletin of Missionary Research, January 1996)

2. By the year 2000, the total amount of donations misappropriated (i.e. stolen) had surged to US$13.2 billion. (IBMR, January 2000) 

2. By 2009, that figure had risen to US$27 billion and was reportedly growing at a rate of 5.77% annually.  (IBMR, January 2009)

3. The latest figures show that "ecclesiastical crime" has now surpassed US$37 billion.  (IBMR, January 2013)

By comparison, the same reports showed total foreign mission giving in 1995 at US$12 billion, 600% greater than ecclesiastical crime total.  By 2000, Christians were still spending the same amount on foreign mission (US$12 billion), but were by then embezzling a billion dollars more per year from their churches and organizations. In 2009, we gave US$25 billion to foreign missions and now we reportedly give about US$33 billion.  Forget the fact that this amounts to only about 0.09% of our total personal income (by the way, this percentage has remained flat since 1995), more startling is that this is fully US$4 billion less than the amount of money that we steal from donors!!!  To put it another way, while our giving to foreign missions has grown since 1995 by 275% (yay!), the amount we've burgled from ourselves has grown by a whopping 1,850% during that same period (boo!).

What that heck, people?!?! That's just really, really shameful. I'm pondering now how way back in 1818, some Christian leaders were convinced that we'd be able to complete the task of world evangelization within 20 years (Hall & Newell, The Conversion of the World, 1818).  A century later, Mott and the SVMers believed it was "entirely possible to fill the earth with the knowledge of Christ before the present generation passes away" (J.R. Mott, The Evangelization of the World in this Generation, 1902).  More recently so many thought that surely we'd be done by A.D. 2000 (or just a little beyond).  Here's what Ralph Winter wrote in 1989:

"It does not seem impossible for the evangelical congregations of the world to adopt by name all of the remaining unreached peoples by the end of 1991.  This, at least, is a good goal to shoot for.  Then, the agencies need to try to engage every group by the year 1995.  That means for missionaries to be at work, either on the spot or as non-residents.  As the world Christian movement gains momentum, every remaining unreached group becomes closer and closer to other groups where the gospel is already being preached . . . . There does not seem to be any overarching obstacle which would make it impossible for there to be a church for every people by the year 2000." (Winter, "Unreached Peoples: Recent Developments in the Concept", 1989)

It begs the question as to how much our thievery may be hindering our ability to faithfully carry out our God-given mission.  I mean we are certainly robbing God (i.e. not tithing), but then we are robbing his Church in the manner of Hophni and Phineas.  What indeed should we expect from the Lord in the face of this?

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (Mal 3:8-10 ESV)


Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD. The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw." And if the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish," he would say, "No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force." Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt. 
(1Sa 2:12-17 ESV)

Christopher's Presentation on Diaspora in Africa

I told you yesterday about my son's debut lecture on diaspora missiology.  Well, as promised, I wanted to make available his presentation and a little video that we shot that night (cuts off at the end, so you miss the last few minutes).  Let me stress that this is more than mere scrapbooking. Christopher's presentation actually contains some really good information and models pretty well the kind of missiological thinking we need much more of.  Consider his pattern which involves:

1. Defining key terms and concepts
2. Theological reflection
3. Data gathering and analysis
4. Missiological conclusions drawn and practical actions suggested

Nice work, eh?

Well, without further ado, here is the video.  You can also download his PowerPoint here.

My Son's 1st Lecture on Diaspora Missiology

Our ten-year-old, Christopher, made his missiological debut last night at Trinity International Baptist Mission with his first ever presentation/lecture on diaspora missions. His presentation focused on diasporas in Africa. (update here)

Christopher did a stellar job, conducting a bunch of research in order to create lists of African nations based on largest percentage of diaspora population, largest total diaspora population, and most unevangelized people. In the end he created country profiles for six nations he deemed most strategic for diaspora mission work and made a number of suggestions for future mission work.

I will share a link to the presentation when I get a chance. For now I'm just a proud dad. Several comments made following his presentation were along the lines of how similar Christopher's way of presenting was like A. Scott Moreau. I would agree. Christopher is very methodical, a big fan of gathering data and making lists. That's great because I'm not really like that at all. I'm more of a pondering and prophetic type. Lord willing, we'll make a great team going forward.

PeopleMov.In - Terrific Diaspora Resource!

Photo By archer10 (Dennis)

Creating cool visualizations is all the rage these days.  I'm constantly seeing them on RSS feeds that I follow.  Most of them really don't seem all that helpful to me.  However, what Carlo Zapponi has created over at PeopleMov.In is something truly special.  Essentially, he has provided an interactive visualization that allows you to see A=>B and B=>A diaspora movement.  Want to know where Albanians in diaspora are moving to?  How about Turks or Nepalis? Just a click away from a very helpful visual portrayal.

As a bonus, Zapponi has listed what he calls the top migration "corridors".  Here's a sneak peak:

Top migration corridorssee more

• MEXICO-USA11,635,995
• RUSSIAN FED.-UKRAINE3,684,217
• UKRAINE-RUSSIAN FED.3,647,234
• BANGLADESH-INDIA3,299,268
• TURKEY-GERMANY2,733,109
• KAZAKHSTAN-RUSSIAN FED.2,648,315
• RUSSIAN FED.-KAZAKHSTAN2,226,706
• CHINA-HONG KONG2,224,503
• INDIA-UNITED ARAB EMIRATES2,185,919
• CHINA-USA1,736,314

He also lists that top nations people are moving to and from.  Great stuff! So, for those of you who have a heart for the "people on the move", do yourself a favor and check out PeopleMov.in today.

What is wrong with Biblical Missiology's Critique of the Insider Movement?

Photo By JD Hancock

I had made a note to myself that I should eventually get around to responding to an article that I often see tweeted and retweeted related to contextualization.  The article appears on the website Biblical Missiology and was written by Georges Houssney.  You can find it here if you like: "What is Wrong with the Insider Movement".

Let me begin by saying that the article itself is difficult to take seriously. It offers no citations (I'll return to this point in a moment) and is very poorly edited.  I understand that Houssney is not a native English speaker, but it is still incumbent upon Biblical Missiology to raise their standards of editing and research if they are to present the most reliable and helpful information and debate possible to the Church.

Further, it is very difficult to respond point-by-point to this article.  Let me explain why:

1. There is no such thing as "The Insider Movement" -- A very, very common mistake (or tactic) made by proponents of "outsider movement" methodologies is to refer to those who pursue contextualization in mission as "The Insider Movement".  We are supposed to all share the same views, values, approaches, etc.  Houssney's article is entirely built upon this completely false premise.  There are in fact many different insider movements among different people groups which take different positions on many issues.

By using a term like "The Insider Movement", Houssney and others seem to be trying to foment opposition towards all insider approaches (i.e. contextualization) by attributing all the high-shock-value positions to all proponents of contextualization.  As a case in point, in this article Houssney wants his audience to believe the following:

- The Insider Movement affirms the Quran as God's word.
- The Insider Movement believes that the Quran contains the message of salvation and has the power to transform.
- The Insider Movement holds Muhammad in high regard.
- The Insider Movement relies on a purely cognitive approach to evangelism which effectively denies the role of the Holy Spirit.
- The Insider Movement has a low view of the universality of the Church.

The fact of the matter is that those who pursue contextualization among Muslims have a number of different views on these and other issues.  Houssney should take the approach of arguing against specific practices or forms instead of simply trying to oppose an entity which doesn't actually exist.

2. There are no citations!  Houssney at various times charges certain entities (e.g. "Common Ground", "Camel Method") with advocating particular practices or taking certain positions.  However, we are given no information about the specific details of these nor are their links to articles or resources that we can examine.  It is really pretty impossible to engage meaningfully with Houssney on these points as a result.  We aren't, for example, given specific information about who "Common Ground" is nor do we know what they actually have to say.  We are left essentially having to take Houssney's word for it.  This is not acceptable.  I strongly encourage Brother Houssney to do the hard work of providing specific quotations and citations that allow us the opportunity to fully engage this debate.

3. There is no substantial interaction with Scripture.  With all of Houssney's charging "insiders" of failing to give proper place to the Bible in their evangelism, it is ironic that he himself utilized it so sparingly in his article.  His central charge is that "the Insider Movement is unbiblical", but he doesn't actually demonstrate this from Scripture.  Note:

- In his first three points he doesn't use the Bible at all to support his positions.
- In point two he suggests that "insiders" incorrectly use Acts 17 to support their approach but doesn't explain how this is done nor provide a counter-exegesis to support his own view.
- His references to Bible verses in points 4 and 5 are decorative at best (not that it is surprising for "outsiders" to neglect context). Houssney does not demonstrate exegetically how these verses are supposed to support the points he is trying to make.

Thus, Houssney has failed to provide meaningful support of his claim that insider approaches are unbiblical. Without a clear, biblically-based argument, it is impossible to have a real exchange as to whether or not contextualization is biblical.

Conclusion
In the end, I am left once again feeling that Biblical Missiology is still not an organization worthy of serious attention.  My own position on contextualization aside, it baffles me that they would publish an article that is so inadequately conceived, written, edited and researched.  It further puzzles me that individuals would actually consider it worthy of a "retweet".  My hope is that BM will remove the article and ask Houssney to go back to the drawing board. There cannot be progress made in the Body of Christ on the issue of contextualization unless we are all committed to high-standards of debate, research, mutual understanding, and communication.  I humbly call my brothers and sisters in Christ at Biblical Missiology to rise up to this higher standard for Christ's sake.  I am certain that they are capable of doing so.