GCPN - Global Connection Partnership Network

2011-10-21T13:35:00.015-05:00

If you are reading this blog post expecting to see the familiar logo of GCPN, you may be wondering, What is Kinexxus and how did I get on this mailing list? It’s a rather long story – much too long to hold your attention in a blog post– so I’ll skip a lot of the nuts and bolts and just give you the brief of it. Do you remember when Henry Blackaby shook your world by highlighting lots of truths from the scripture in Experiencing God back in the 80’s? Among Blackaby’s principles for knowing God’s will was this - watch and see what God the Father is doing and then join God in what He is doing. Jesus said, My Father is always at work to this very day and I too am working…the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing… (John 5:17-19). So what is the Father doing?

God is working in the Church. He is working in the churches. In the last 10 years we have watched God bring about a revival and commitment of the local church to reclaim her Christ-given role of witnesses to Christ in the lost world. We have watched as some particular denominations struggled to re-embrace the responsibility of the mission’s task after decades of missional atrophy. We have watched churches go through phases of frenzied mission activity that finally matured into a desire to do mission strategically. We are all growing up.

But one of the most encouraging recent observations is that God is leading churches to link with other churches around common affinities. Maybe it’s just the age of networking. Maybe it’s the fact that churches across the world – due to technology and connectivity – can now work effectively together around common affinities. Perhaps the affinity they form around is a common people group. Perhaps they are focusing their mission efforts on a common geographic region. Sometimes the affinity that draws churches together is a common cause such as orphan ministry, water resourcing or human trafficking. Leaders of these affinity networks have begun asking another question – What can we all share that will make the task easier for everyone?

This question is rooted in multiple conclusions:

•We want to be good stewards of Kingdom resources. This conviction is rooted in the desire to reduce duplication and live out authentic Kingdom collaboration. There is much that can be shared among churches and affinity networks – resources, knowledge, information, and practices.

•We are called to Kingdom Community. We simply cannot help ourselves. We authentically love each other and want to be a family. It’s a part of our make-up as relational beings possessing a common Lord and a common faith. We like to share with one another.

•The remaining task is hard. Affinity networks are many times highly dependent on a local church to implement missions and ministry on behalf of an affinity group of churches. The logistical weight of this can be very cumbersome for one local church.

•God is shaping us for missional effectiveness in this kairos. Every age of mission history has possessed unique expressions of order for the sake of effectiveness. In an age in which sweeping movements can be ignited through communities and networks via electronic and wireless technology, God is leading his church to utilize all possible means of igniting movements among unreached peoples of this world.

It is in this medium that Kinexxus has been formed. Affinity network leaders have come together around a common catalytic center. GCPN, the non-profit corporation has been identified as the common center that will be utilized to assist various mission networks in achieving their missional goals. Kinexxus will serve churches and affinity networks by providing the following:

•An Information Gateway - Information is empowerment. Whether your church is seeking
best missional practice or security information on your mission point, having access to the right people with the right information is crucial. Creating forums for communication and sharing of information is the nature of Kinexxus.

•Catalytic Services- Kinexxus offers a broad range of catalytic services to collaborative churches and affiliates.

•Strategic Networking - Churches in the Kinexxus network have access to mission expertise which allows for the formation of healthy mission practices. For those seeking an affinity connection, a resource or strategic guidance, Kinexxus links people and churches to others on the journey.

·A Common Table - Unity is our ethos. Respecting the beauty and strength of diversity, Kinexxus is committed to the autonomy of local churches and affinity networks in Great Commission efforts. Yet we strive for the unity of spirit and collaboration Jesus described in John17 – that all of them may be one…to let the world know that you sent me. We view our global network as our missions home and seek to encourage and strengthen those who sit at our table.

Learn more about Kinexxus and how your church can be a part at remey.kinexxus@fbca.org.

PANORAMA - living toward a wider vista

2011-06-22T12:00:00.002-05:00

For those of us who are ministers and leaders in the local church, there is a long list of things that we do. Included are activities such as preaching and teaching, praying for the distressed and sick, visiting people in the hospital, providing activities for children and students, planning worship, dealing with personnel matters, creating opportunities for fellowship, managing finances, and the list goes on and on. While good, worthy, and necessary, these 'must do's' can at times become ends in themselves, unless broader and ultimate purposes are kept clearly in view.

All good and worthy activity can lapse into training people in how to exist for the sake of the church. We can subtly communicate that one's highest calling is to support the organizational objectives of the church, to show up at every church event, and to speak and behave in a churchly manner. The objectives can become getting people into the church building and then teaching them our language, disconnecting them from old friends, reconnecting them to us, re-arranging their schedule around church events, and instructing them to give time, money and service to support the church. In so doing, we risk reorienting their lives solely toward church, and thus, making them into churchly Christians. In the end, they become ghettoized.

To ensure that means remains means and not become ends, we must continually ask - Does our activity lead toward the formation of character and the development of competencies that will move people toward faithful presence and clear witness in the world? If we only teach people how to be morally good and to behave in church, then we have failed. They must be formed in such a way that they can live - fully, faithfully live - in the world - at work, school, home, on the road, at the sporting event, on vacation, at the family reunion, at the funeral, in the hospital, during elections, in job loss, at news of cancer, in an earthquake, or in a national disaster.

In Letters and Papers from Prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer conceives the Christian life as one not lived toward religion but toward the world. "The 'religious act' is always something partial; 'faith' is something whole, involving the whole of one's life. Jesus calls men, not to a new religion, but to life" (362). Christianity for the sake of Christianity, holiness for the sake of holiness, and church for the sake of church are insufficient aims. As Christ came for others, loved others, and suffered and died for others, we are called to do the same. Christians, according to Bonhoeffer, "must live a 'secular' life and thereby share in God's suffering. ... It is not the religious act that makes the Christian, but participation in the sufferings of God in the secular life" (361). To be alive in Christ is to be alive to the world; to give our lives to Christ is to give ourselves to the world.

Among actions that ghettoize Christians, two are probably most common. First, we demonize culture, and thereby, encourage Christians to withdraw from the world. When culture is named as the enemy, we explicitly communicate that people should oppose or fear 'the culture'. The truth is that the gospel cannot be separated from 'the culture', as it is always clothed in culture of some sort - language, technology, structures, music, processes, forms, etc. Thus, the gospel happens in the stream of life, and must continually intersect with culture, speak into it, and become party to it (contextualization). This is not the weakness of the gospel but its power. The gospel must dress itself in 'the culture', or it is not present and at work. And by being present and at work in the culture, gospel mends and restores culture to its higher purposes. But by naming 'the culture' as the enemy, we merely urge people to join a ghettoized religious culture and rob the wider culture of the salt and light of the gospel.

Second, we segregate mission from evangelism. We have made mission what groups of specialized, highly trained professionals do in Japan, Cambodia, or Peru (the world). On the other hand, evangelism is what the rest of us do occasionally as part of our church obligation. Thus, missionaries go to the world and become like the world to which they are called. Church members go to church and go out from the church now and then to evangelize people into the church.

Divides between church and world, mission and evangelism are artificial and unfortunate. There should not be two opposing cultures - church and world, two activities - mission and evangelism, or two kinds of people - missionaries and church members. The church exists in and for the world. Every Christ follower is meant to participate in God's mission in and to the world. Whenever the church exists for its own growth, its programs, and its success, the church looses sight of its essential purpose of forming and equipping Christ followers to be a faithful presence in and a clear witness to the world.

The aim of forming people toward the world has caused a group of pastors, missionaries, and educators to create a unique, church-based, world-focused learning experience called Panorama. Panorama is forty plus web-based lessons designed to be facilitated in a local church setting. The lessons address issues related to faithful presence and clear witness, such as approaching people of other faiths, cross-cultural living, contextualization of the gospel, language learning, teamwork, etc. We believe these approaches and skills, once thought to be only necessary for missionaries in international settings, are essential for the formation of believers who live in such places as Waco, Tulsa, and Little Rock.

Panorama has been developed with three premises in mind: life transformation is the goal, facilitated group learning is the means, and reflective practice is the dynamic. Therefore, those who facilitate Panorama in their local church must understand these aims and processes. Thus far, approximately seventy people from twenty churches have participated in seven Facilitators Workshops. I invite you to join us for the next workshop on August 5-6, 2011 or September 9-10, 2011. To learn more about Panorama and to register for one of the upcoming workshops, go to www.gcpn.org/missional_formation.html, or contact Remey Terrell at remey.terrell@fbca.org.

The presence of the church in the world must be more than its facilities or programs, and the witness of the church must be more than what is spoken from the pulpit or in a Sunday School class. The church is those of us who have been captured by Jesus Christ and are continually being formed to live and speak in such a way that those with whom we work, play, eat, weep, celebrate, listen to music, view movies, drink coffee, and live life may see truth and experience love. In this manner, we - the church - live toward a wider vista, join a greater mission.

Which Mission? Whose Mission?

2011-01-31T14:55:00.007-06:00

by Mike Stroope
The world as we know it is rapidly changing. Current economic, demographic, technological, and political changes can cause our heads to spin. Yet, one change that may not be as obvious is that the American context is becoming less and less Christian, especially in the way Christianity has been traditionally understood and followed. People are asking such questions as “Why bother with church?” “What has the Christian faith to do with the real problems of life?” In some quarters, the questions are not as benign. These people aggressively ask, "Why are Christians so bigoted, narrow-minded, and anti-everything?" Studies show that while there is a growing interest in matters spiritual, Christianity and the church are increasingly viewed as irrelevant or passé, especially when it comes to our collective lives as Americans.

So, how are Christians to respond to this new reality? The response of some is to do whatever they can to mimic their surroundings. Thus, they feel they must forgo distinctions that are out of step with the wider culture in order for Christianity to remain viable and relevant. So, in speech and action, they seek to excise exclusive language and to avoid an uncomfortable stance on issues related to morality, gender, and eternal destiny. Their mission, they say, is to accompany society in such a way that they have a voice in the national/cultural conversation.

Fear is one of the motivators for these Christians. They fear being marginalized by society, so they carefully measure their words and actions in order not to alienate. The result is that society determines what the concerns, priorities, and sensibilities of the church are to look and sound like. And while this is in many ways appropriate and healthy, a line can easily be crossed and the church loose its distinct voice and its agenda begin looking no different than any other club or cause. An indication that this line has been crossed is when the standards for the kind of music used in worship, the way the church markets itself, the services it offers, the subject matter of sermons, and the causes that the church undertakes are set chiefly by external forces rather than internal convictions.

The tendency of other Christians in the face of the new reality is to mount a vigorous defense of the church, to reiterate its rightful place within American society, or to redouble efforts to bolster it’s reputation and profile. The shift underway threatens the existence of the church, and thus, these Christian feel compelled do whatever they can to secure the church's place, protect its interests, and ensure that Christians get what they need. The end result is that much of the church’s mission becomes the garnering of resources necessary to perpetuate who it is and to protect its interests.

Fear is likewise a motivator for these Christians. Specifically they fear being taken advantage of by the wider society or losing what they feel rightfully belongs to them. These fears also impact their speech and action. They employ insider language in order to create a sense of belonging for those on the inside and exclude those on the outside. And while this language provides a secure connection and identity for brothers and sisters on the inside, it also categorically defines the outsider.

As a result, these Christians act out their faith in sacred rather than public space. They travel to a specific building called church to do Christian kinds of things. They gather within havens of agreed beliefs about morality, politics, and gender. The safety of these havens protects them from threatening, worldly influences and forces. And while they must make necessary forays into the world to work, shop, and attend public events, it is in the sacred space that life makes sense. Thus, mission for these Christians means attracting those on the outside to the sacred space and then convincing them to defect.

In both cases, response is not a matter of conservative versus liberal, mega versus small, rural versus urban, or Baptists versus Methodists. Rather, in both we find two ways in which Christians of all theological persuasions and denominational affiliations and churches of all sizes and locations deal with the changing context. At one extreme, the mission of the church is to accommodate. On the other side, mission is to attract.

There is a third response. Rather than being for or against society, Christians set themselves toward the mission of God. Orientation and response are not ultimately determined by changes in society but by the unchanging and relentless purposes of God. The mission of God rises above mere accommodation and attraction to a way of being in and for the world defined by who God is and how God acts toward the world.
Mission and missional are used by both those who accommodate and those who attract in order to describe and justify what they do. And yet, before describing mission as what we do, mission must be understood as divine being and action. Mission does not belong to us, rather it originates from and is defined by who God is and what God does. Rather than accommodating the spirit and patterns of society, God is distinctively other. Rather than submitting to a temporal, local agenda, God's ways are higher than any person or society's ways. Rather than seeking to be relevant or current, God makes all things new. Rather than protecting what is his, God gives. Rather than looking out for his own interests, God loves. Rather than pulling everything to himself, God sends. God, who creates and sustains all things, so loves the world, that He gives his only begotten Son. This is mission; this is the mission of God.

For our response to the current shift in American society to be faithful and true, it must begin with an acknowledgment of God's mission and an alignment of our minds and hearts, words and actions with this mission. Christopher Wright says, "it is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world. Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission--God's mission" (The Mission of God, 62). Missions goes awry when the church acts as though mission begins and ends with it.
The mission of God encompasses more than a few verses in the New Testament and includes more than missionaries who live and work in cross-cultural settings. How it impacts the whole of the church is a longer conversation than this article, but I will suggest four ways in which we might acknowledge and align our lives with it.

•Interpretation. The mission of God should guide the way in which we read and interpret scripture. Reading the Bible, both Old and New Testament, as a missionary text about a missionary God changes everything - the way we view our purpose, God's action in history, the end of all creation, etc.

•Inversion. The mission of God should critique the manner in which we speak, act, and love. If we allow it, the mission of God provides a lens through which everything is turned upside down - is inverted.

•Imagination. The mission of God should frame the way we imagine the world - economics, race, politics, relationships, vocation - and only then will it affect our actions. As a missional reading of scripture inverts our way of seeing reality, we can begin imagining what could be, what should be.

•Implementation. The mission of God calls us to action. If acknowledged and understood, the mission of God will not allow us to passively acquiesce to or quietly retreat from our culture but will demand that we respond as Christ did - with our lives.

We do not live above God's mission, as if it is ours to control and manage. His mission is not a program to run or resources to manage. Mission is his words and actions of love and grace toward the world. And while we are always the object of this mission and never the subject of its design and intent, we can become participants through God’s gracious invitation and by his empowerment. But in order to do so, we must set aside our fears and re-read scripture, re-think our lives, re-imagine the world, and re-enact God's glory, passion and love, in light of the mission of God.

Two defining questions ...
Which mission guides my response to the changing society around me?
Whose mission gives definition to who I am and how I act?

Healthy Mission Practices

2010-08-19T10:05:00.004-05:00

If your life and ministry is anything like mine it is likely that you are constantly evaluating your ministry and mission practices to insure that the fruits you are producing have a lasting effect that glorifies God and produces true transformation in the lives of people, families, communities and cultures. That is one reason I love to hear from practitioners who are implementing effective ministries and movements. As I listen to the ideas and examine the practices of others I find that I may not totally agree with or be able to apply everything I hear – but I can definitely learn from the experience of those who are faithfully living with their boots on the ground and producing spiritual fruit among unreached cultures. So, today I am sharing with you the first in a series of articles entitled, Healthy Mission Practices. You will be receiving one article at a time from practitioners who wish to share with you the wisdom they have learned.

The first article below is written by Ron Hill. Ron and his wife, Sharon, have served in West Africa for over 30 years with a large sending organization. After retirement, their home church commissioned them to serve in the war-torn nation of Sierra Leone as Senior Leaders of Project Restore Hope: Sierra Leone www.restorehopeproject.org . My prayer is that you learn from Ron some wisdom regarding best practices in a third world context. While he speaks from an African perspective, I think you will find that there is great knowledge to be gained for any cross-cultural setting.

I am praying for you as you read Ron’s words below.

Together in the Kingdom,
Cindy

Empowering African Partners

2010-08-19T09:46:00.007-05:00

As I write this article, I am looking out my African window and seeing the fine dust of a sub-Saharan Harmattan mist settling on the lush tropical forest of the Peninsula Mountains. These are the same mountains from which Portuguese traders, sitting in their ships in what is now the Freetown harbor, heard what they thought was the roaring of lions They gave the land its name—Sierra Leone or lion mountain. Whether the Portuguese traders actually heard lions or the thunder claps of rainy season storms is the subject of historical debates. Other Europeans followed instituting colonial systems that would foster prejudice toward the “uncivilized” indigenous peoples and eventually crush their self-reliant spirit.

In the centuries that followed, the superiority of all things European became so ingrained in the minds of Sierra Leoneans that they began to think of themselves as inferior-incapable of charting their own destiny. African ways were relegated to the status of “uncivilized” and forced to give way to “civilized” society. Survival required subservience. The quicker one could adapt to these new realities, the sooner one could experience the benefits of the new world order. Even after Britain granted Sierra Leone its independence, financial aid from donor governments would continue to drive its internal policies and infrastructural development with limited input from its citizens, creating and perpetuating a “receivership” mentality. Such a mentality holds to the belief that a person or community can only “receive” from others because that person or community lacks the material, intellectual or spiritual resources to contribute anything of value to others.

Mission organizations and humanitarian agencies that operate from the same misguided assumptions that Africans are too poor or incapable of doing anything significant to bring about development to their communities only reinforce a receivership mentality. They come to Africa with a heart of compassion and noble intentions to alleviate the suffering of an impoverished people. But if they don’t take the time to understand the community and cultural worldview they are entering or attempt to learn even simple greetings in the local language, these well-intentioned “do-gooders” run the risk of rushing in and unconsciously imposing their will - utilizing material resources to gain control so they can make their project “happen.” The results will be short-lived and often counterproductive. The local community will not own the project, nor will they feel any obligation to maintain it.

Steve Saint, on returning to the Waodani people years after his father, a missionary pilot, was killed by them, found Waodani church buildings in disrepair. When Steve asked his Waodani friends why they had not been maintaining the nice buildings that kind-hearted foreign Christians had helped them construct, they responded that the only structures they knew how to build were made of thatch roofs and bamboo floors. Since foreigners came to construct buildings of superior materials, they concluded that the churches they built were not acceptable as houses of worship and that only foreigners knew how to build and maintain true God houses. Sadly, they thought of themselves as inferior and unqualified to build their own churches.

The task orientation of North Americans can overpower the efforts of West Africans who value relationships and maintaining unity in the community over completing a particular project. An African church, struggling to depend on the Lord to provide basic resources for ministry, can find it easier to surrender their responsibility for reaching their community to their wealthier Western Christian brothers who are eager to assume control. Westerners link up with local Christians to ‘fix up’ their buildings, do their evangelism, preach in their services, lead vacation Bible schools—all things indigenous church members are better equipped to do because they are cultural insiders. A pattern of dependency and paternalism begins to emerge as local congregations come to depend on outsiders to do what they could do themselves.

Creating an Environment of Empowerment

Empowered partnerships accomplish their mission more effectively and increase the potential for lasting results. They will nurture the kind of fertile environment in which true partnership can grow:

1. Examine personal attitudes and motivation: How will we see our African [indigenous] partner—as poor and in constant need of material and spiritual resources or endowed with true riches and essential spiritual gifts as a follower of Christ? Do we believe that our African counterpart can be a true partner and contribute significantly to the success of the project? What meaningful resources will our African partner bring to the table? Are we motivated by guilt or a need to be needed? Do we want the immediate gratification of making something happen in the short term or will we focus on building capacity in our African partner for long term sustainability and reproduction?

2. Watch for where God is working: A group of destitute widows who have a concern for helping orphans; an indigenous believer who is willing to become a cross-cultural worker because his/her heart is broken for the spiritual condition of another ethnic group; a respected community leader searching for truth-- all have one thing in common—they have unselfish hearts softened by the Holy Spirit from which credible ministry flows. Join African efforts by encouraging and equipping Africans who are sensitive to God’s leadership.

3. Model Kingdom Values: Missional Christians are called to be light in the world. The kingdom values humility, servant leadership, sacrifice, faith and complete dependence on God. This involves a willingness to deny self and the grace to become a perpetual learner of language and culture.

4. Simplify: Those things which are simple and doable at the lowest levels will be the most effective. Any person in the congregation or community should be able to evaluate and reproduce any task that is beneficial and modify it in a way that will make it his/her own. Elaborate programs with big budgets and complicated strategies will eventually die from a lack of outside resourcing to keep them alive. Improve capacity through culturally relevant training programs.

5. Find projects that contribute to encouraging ongoing local ministries. Ministries and projects Africans are already attempting to undertake at personal sacrifice and meager resources are good indicators of real needs that are not being met. Be discerning and ask questions about the vision of leadership and the history of the ministry or project before making a commitment.

6. Be transparent about personal shortcomings. Cultural blunders are inevitable. Mistakes may result from a lack of cultural information or misinformation about indigenous worldviews. Too often pride and fear create cultural discomfort that keeps Westerners from being integrated into African society. A missional mindset embraces vulnerability. Rather than hide faults and problems, transparency permits them to be openly addressed. Fortunately, many Africans are quick to forgive mistakes when the offending party admits his/her fault and asks for forgiveness.

7. Forge partnerships built on mutual trust and respect. Seek and highly value the input of all partners.

8. Set up systems of mutual accountability: All partners minister in the context of community in which the stewardship of resources means partners are accountable to each other to operate in the most effective way possible. Explain clearly any expectations for handling money and making regular reports. Avoid using money as a tool to control partners or as a strategy to create or prop up programs or projects that would collapse without a continuous flow of outside funding.

9. Think Indigenous: The word “indigenous” means “home-grown” --something native to its environment. It also describes those things that are characteristic of the way people do things in their society. Non-indigenous things are the things people "borrow" from another society—foreign structure, foreign music, foreign money. Indigenous things flourish and reproduce naturally in their environment.

10. Have an exit strategy: From the beginning (and with the assistance of indigenous partners) develop an end vision—a description of what the project will look like when it is fully completed. Determine the point at which a phase out will begin and the responsibility for leadership will be completely assumed by local leaders. Throughout the project local leaders should assume greater and greater responsibility while foreign leaders will diminish in their leadership role until local leaders have full responsibility.

The End Vision

“Let’s build something together.” Partnership development is an essential mechanism for building capacity in people and building the high performance organizations necessary to impact the needs of communities in Africa. Capacity shortcomings can be overcome through partners working together. The healthiest partnerships grow out of a shared vision, a common purpose, and mutual respect for the giftedness of each partner. They learn and grow together. A good Western partner learns to navigate between doing for African partners and empowering African partners to do for themselves. African partners learn that they become healthier by growing out of their own indigenous resources and teaching their people to become reliant upon God for their every need. The end vision is African partners who are proactive in identifying the priority physical, social, and spiritual needs of their communities and who are equipped to take the initiative in developing community capacity that enables members of the community to draw on the skills and resources needed to take control and improve their own lives.

Church Planting Movements

2010-06-02T08:58:00.001-05:00

by Stan Parks

Jesus' last words show that we are to make disciples of all ethne (ethnic-linguistic groups) (Matthew 28); go into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone (Mark 16); preach repentance to all ethne (Luke 24); and be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1).

We are painfully aware of our failure to do this. If reaching the world is the charge Jesus gave us as His disciples, then we cannot defend the vast amounts of money and time spent on ourselves while we pray and go and spend so little to reach those most in need of the gospel. 2000 years after Jesus came 28% of the people in the world have never heard the gospel and 40% of the people in the world are members of ethne with no indigenous church.

The Great Commissions mentioned above were given to the entire Body of Christ; all of us have a part to play in reaching the world. Each church has a vital role to play because each local church body is an important part of the worldwide body and each of us can and must fulfill our role. This is not just a task for professional missionaries and mission agencies. In fact, the world of the first century was turned upside down because believers realized that reaching the world was their responsibility, not that of a few leaders and/or missionaries.

In the early days of the church, disciples reproduced disciples and churches reproduced churches so that within eight years Paul could say he had "finished spreading the Good News about Christ from Jerusalem to Illyricum (modern day Albania)." Today we are seeing the same sort of explosive growth in Church Planting Movements (CPMs) around the world. CPMs could be called by a variety of terms, but in essence they are churches rapidly planting new churches that turn their people group's population segments upside down because people are being taught to obey Christ's commands and as a result they expect every believer and every church to take responsibility for going next door and to the ends of the earth.

Church Planting Movements are:

Rapid - Just like the early church in Acts, these modern day CPMs multiply rapidly. Partially this is a speed derived from a powerful movement of the spirit but partially this is due to design. For instance daily discipleship will increase a movement much more rapidly than weekly discipleship. Another key is the emphasis on "average person" leadership which avoids long training periods for "clergy". And above all it is consistent. The average church in a CPM just plants one new church a year, but that means each church is planting a new church each and every year which continue the reproductive cycle.

Multiplying - As people are discipled before and after they become believers, they are told that multiplication of individuals, families, groups, communities and churches are not only a natural expression of their faith, but a mandatory expression of their faith.

Indigenous - Unless a movement fits the socio-cultural environment, it will fail. This begins with the initial contacts into a people group, where the outsider looks for a man or woman of peace who then becomes the church planter. If the outsider is the church planter, then they will introduce a foreign pattern of faith. If the insider is the church planter then the gospel seeds planted from the outside will be given freedom to grow in a way that is natural to that culture and be more likely to rapidly multiply.

Obedience-based - All too often we have emphasized knowledge instead of following Jesus' priorities. Jesus said if we love Him we will obey Him and if we obey Him we will live in His love. In the Mathew Great Commission Jesus emphasizes that we are to teach new believers to obey all He commanded. In these CPMs, the focus on obedience is an essential element.

Churches planting Churches - Churches are taught that one of their main functions is to plant other churches as soon and as often as possible, and they have a burning desire to pass on the spiritual blessings they have received

Within a people group or other population segment - There are an estimated 6965 unreached people groups in the world that do not have access to the gospel. Additionally, there are countless cities and regions and nations that are also unreached. Most CPMs today are taking place in places where there has been little or no gospel partially because more indigenous movements can arise in places that have not been given a westernized gospel which often thwarts indigenous movements. But while CPMs are more possible in these areas, these areas are also more in need of gospel movements.

In a recent meeting, CPM trainers from around the world identified 80+ CPMs which are located on every continent around the world. Some had hundreds, some thousands, and some tens of thousands of new churches. All of these have begun in the last 20 years of work among those most gospel-neglected. For God to go from zero to such amazing gospel movements in such a short time is a testimony of a current day book of Acts.

CPMs are not a new fad or trend, but rather modern examples of what God has always done in history: bringing individuals, families and groups into relationship with Him in a powerful way which makes these new communities of faith want to reach more people with the Good News. CPM training is not focused on new methods, but rather partially focused on helping remove mindsets and traditions that hinder the natural expansion of the Gospel. CPM training also helps us re-discover Gospel truths such as Jesus' key instructions in Matthew 10 and Luke 10 to bring the Gospel to a new community by finding the "person of peace".

So, if your church is involved in missions, this is the kind of missions you need to express. The key question is not if your church should be involved, but how should your church be involved in initiating and supporting CPMs for the Glory of God.

Default Buttons and Missions

2010-02-22T14:42:00.002-06:00

by Mike Fritscher

Twenty five years ago my wife and I moved three miles east of Dublin, Texas to pastor a Southern Baptist church called Cottonwood. In the late 1800s the site serviced a Baptist congregation one week and a Presbyterian one the next. Chartered in 1908, I became her 30th pastor in January of 1985, with an expected stint of 18 months. In the days before and after our arrival, the church serviced about 35 people and on any given Sunday would see about 15 in Sunday School and 20-25 in worship. It was a small, far away, country church with a group of people who loved the Lord and their neighbors.

I must confess, driving up to the place on that first Sunday to "supply", (my thought was), "What could God do in a place like this?"

Today, not much has changed in the surrounding area of Cottonwood. It is still a far away, country church with a group of people who love the Lord and who desire to love their neighbors. Through the years we have come to define more clearly what that love looks like and who our neighbors are. Our neighbors today indeed are those that live in the surrounding area of the church. But the reach of "neighborly love" has extended to unreached peoples in South East Asia, Eastern Africa, Northern Mexico, the Navajo of Arizona and the Mexican community in our area.

What began as an "adoption" of an un-reached people group, partnering with a sending agency, has grown into a mission that now sees the church as setting apart, training, sending and supporting our own people in the various areas of the world God has called us. In recent years the term "church based sending" has gained interest as churches no longer default to sending organizations to train, fund and send their people to the unreached of the world. In recent centuries, the church has abdicated her role, responsibility and privilege to equip and send to organizations that "specialize" in the Great Commission.

Cottonwood, like many churches has had three "default" buttons of mission sending. By using the first, the church defaults to an organization by simply sending money to do missions. This was a very convenient way for Cottonwood to "do missions." And make no mistake about it-there is a belief in many circles that "This is the way you do missions! Send us your money and we will do the rest!" Some churches will not only send their money to a specific denomination, but will also send money on behalf of "missionaries" who come through churches to raise support for their livelihood on the field. Of course there is nothing wrong with this. Matter of fact, we still send money to the denomination, as well as other organizations on behalf of missionaries. Two of our families ministering abroad are serving with a large mission agency. It's just no longer our default button!

Eleven years ago, we adopted an unreached people group in South East Asia. This animistic "nation" was 1.4 million strong with no access to the gospel. Not long after "the adoption" we defaulted to sending three families to target this people group through a large mission sending agency. What we found in those years was a bit disheartening. We lost intimacy and community with our people. There was really no accountability to or from the local church. Don't get me wrong. We sent hundreds of our people on short term trips where we ministered in ESL camps, prayer walks, medical services and Christmas parties. We saw and were a part of the wonderful things God was doing in this part of the world. We just found certain disconnects with our people that we felt were unnecessary and grievous.

Did not God call the Church - the local body of believers - to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the world? Does He not place people with distinct gifts and callings to see the church reach "their slice of the world?" What is a sending church supposed to look like?

We grappled with questions like these and in the midst of these questions we developed a new "default" button- Church Based Sending.

There was a family in our church that had come to love our neighbors in SE Asia and who felt that God was calling them to this distant land and people. In the process of moving them toward this place of mission, they asked that Cottonwood send them. This new model was a bit frightening for me as a pastor. Even with all the disappointments in the agency model, it seemed to me that the easiest thing was to let the sending agency do all the work and spend all their money. But our friend had moved to the conviction that his church needed to send his family. God led us to agree. So we began the year and half long process of training, raising funds, taking care of logistics, putting together a strategy and plan to be a part of continuing to reach our "slice of the world".

Today, they, along with a family on the east coast of Africa, are finishing their first terms of service, having been sent by Cottonwood. We have been allowed to be a part of seeing our neighbors in SE Asia come to Christ in large numbers, gathering in a few hundred churches. Our family in Africa has seen two church starts in their work in recent months. There are now two other couples who are beginning their training piece as they are being prepared to be sent to SE Asia and to South Asia, a new area of the world Cottonwood will find herself in!

Has it been easy? No! It's been difficult in many ways. But as our Mission Pastor, Dave Bollenbacher says, "God doesn't call us to the easy; He calls us to that which is worthy."

Last month at our last GCPN board meeting, I made a statement to the board members that Cottonwood no longer defaults to a mission agency to do missions. They, knowing full well the story of our church, asked what we default to. My reply was that I would hope that we neither default to a sending organization or to a "church based sending" model. My hope is that we would always default to only default button - the Spirit of God and His leadership - where I believe the heart of Nations and sending is at Cottonwood! And that is another topic for another article in a not too distant Communiqué!

GCPN in 2010

2010-01-05T10:38:00.014-06:00

Three years have passed since official steps were taken to assemble the bare-bones infrastructure of a church network called GCPN. Our ideals were founded upon Biblical evidence and suggestion regarding how the Church and the churches did, ought and ought not function in carrying out the commission of Christ. Those foundational ideals which shaped our thinking were not simply ideas, but rather were a design rooted in observation of the effective and loose nature of the 1st Century Christian movement. While some structure was emerging, the power of 1st Century movement appears to be the Spirit of God moving in the loose and fluid nature of authentic faith which intersected real life in real relationships. While the early church had a strong appreciation for the foundational truths that preceded the re-birth of God's people, loyalty to Old Covenant institutions or practices did not define their future. It seemed more common that the Sprit of God was leading the Church just a little ahead of its most orthodox representative body - the Jerusalem church. As Greeks were being transformed and exercising the gifting of the Spirit of God, the Jerusalem church was constantly challenged to embrace the new realities of the new covenant.

And the followers of Christ pressed on. By means of commerce, family, friend, persecution and connection the Gospel penetrated Europe and north and east Africa. The Good News infiltrated kings' palaces, philosophical forums, academic institutions, prisons, families, businesses, communities, the hearts of prostitutes and centurions and others. It's really an amazing story. In fact it is so amazing that even today, the speed of the Christian movement is analyzed and pondered. In a November 20, 2010 article in USA Today, Dan Vergano approaches this amazing phenomenon. He quotes Adam Schor of Long Island University, in Brookville, N.Y., in the current Journal of Religious History who analyzes the exponential growth of the Christian movement in the early centuries from three perspectives - the missions model, the values model and the social model. Yet Schor states that none of them adequately describes the nature of the movement. Schor then proposes a new model to explain the phenomenon -

A new approach, he [Schor] suggests, might borrow a kind

of model popular with epidemiologists studying

disease outbreaks called "network" analysis.

Network analysis mathematically models each person

as a node connected to others by bonds whose strength

can vary by any number of factors,

from family relationship to social status. That might account for life

in the complicated Roman era, where status varied with wealth,

citizenship, rank, occupation and reputation.

"Network-based modeling thus offers a new (though still limited) path

in the study of religious change," Schor concludes.

Introduced into networks, the authentic gospel should be uncontrollably infectious. It is passed through relationship, through sharing and handling, through touch, communication and through the powerful silence of heartfelt prayer. It permeates societies like...you know...like yeast in bread - rising in a transformational force that alters the state of the whole of society by infecting individual lives.

GCPN's focus in 2010 will be a continued commitment to the core values that have defined us to this point. We will continue to emphasize:

Spiritual and missional formation in the community context of the local church
Collaboration
The development of strategic networks

Spiritual and Missional Formation
We believe the church is the base for mission. In the context and community of the local church, Christ has equipped us with everything we need to be prepared to take the gospel to a lost world. When the responsibility for mission sending is extracted from the local body, there is an immediate sigh of relief. Sending is a messy and challenging business. However, this extraction of the church's responsibility is to the long-term detriment of the church and to those who are sent by the church. When relieved of the responsibility of sending, the church becomes crippled, the missionary becomes a professional employee and the lost world remains for the most part untouched. GCPN will continue to develop formational equipping experiences for local churches which will be web-based, community-oriented and network-accessible.

Collaboration
In the parable of the talents, Christ clearly states his mind on the issue of responsible handling of resources. It appears that even those who have little resource are expected to invest in such a way that results in productive and reproducible growth. Hoarding and kingdom competitiveness is not an option. Intentional planting and investing is essential for productive harvest. To see beyond one's self and beyond one's church is the challenge in Kingdom thinking. While it may take time for you to invest in the development of another minister, leader or church - the long term result is markedly more productive. GCPN will continue to promote collaboration of resources - knowledge, people, possession, time, and money. We are churches partnering with churches to reach the world for Christ.

Strategic Networks
While this is the most challenging and least defined aspect of our vision, we are committed to fueling and developing global networks. This vision has multiple layers - emerging from geographic region, extending to affinities and merging across lines to form kingdom networks that will strengthen the vision and development of kingdom efforts. GCPN will continue to support the people who are thinking and living their lives with this vision.

We are grateful for you and your church's presence in this network. There is much work to be done together. I pray that you will be both a recipient and a contributor to the efforts in 2010. May God be glorified as we live out this calling to preach the gospel to all nations. May your year be marked by Kingdom success.

Shalom.
Cindy

Ministry 21C and T.O.E.: Framing the Missions Discussion

2009-11-28T08:27:00.007-06:00

Transition.

Is that the defining word of my ministry life and career? I feel like I have spent my entire life in transition. I have navigated the journey from my Smith/Corona typewriter to my first "laptop" computer - a Kaypro II (ok - it weighed about 30lbs, but you could actually place it on your lap) to my first desktop PC to my latest Dell laptop.

I just bought the newest htc model phone from AT&T - it is a far cry from my first mobile phone that looked like a walkie-talkie straight out of a WWII combat scene. And - I still have a collection of my favorite albums - those LP's that sounded so good on our RCA Hi-Fidelity sound record player. I know about transition! Not to mention my sermons that used to be heard by a live congregation that knew me - and are now digitized, live-streamed, broadcast and down-loaded by folks I'll never meet.

On top of all of that, I am right in the midst of another significant transition; I am leading my church through a transition in missions. As challenging as it has been, the reward of witnessing the healthy relationship between our ecclesiology and our missiology has been worth all the effort. My church is more invested in the Mission of God on both a local and global scale than ever.

However, while churches like mine are on fire - the flame of centralized, denominationally-based delivery systems is diminishing. I think it is pre-mature or even incorrect to surmise that we now live in a "post-denominational" ministry environment. More correctly, we are living in an era where the local church is beginning to take its rightful position in the missions arena and denominations are being forced to embrace this reality. Denominations will not cease to exist - they must, however, make significant changes if they are going to survive in this new day.

21C - such is life in the 21st century church world! The 21st century probably began with the dawn of personal computing. It certainly was birthed by the time the internet became available and usable. Now - technology has connected the world in unprecedented measures. There is little doubt that the 21st century is home to vast and sweeping changes in missions. Local churches are developing meaningful and significant relationships that are independent of denominational considerations. Our churches are no longer dependent upon a centralized organization that often has dictated the time, place and conditions of community and cooperation. That era has ended. It is a new day.

T.O.E. - the reality of this new day has been variously embraced. For some, it has been an alarm that has caused them to look longingly in the rear-view mirror for simpler times and "cleaner" methods of cooperative efforts. Understandably, some folks are calling for greater "loyalty" to institutional structures while others warn about the dangers inherent in the entrepreneurial missions connections that are developing faster than anyone could have ever predicted.

However, many church and missions leaders are fully engaged in leading churches and mission efforts forward during this time of transition. Praise God for these innovative and courageous men and women who are challenging us to pursue the glory of God to the ends of the earth.

While I remain committed to my historic Baptist roots, I am giving leadership to the entrepreneurial side of the missions journey. I am working to lead new networks of missional community, conversation and action. It is exciting.

In the midst of all of the excitement and the fast pace of formulating something new, I think we need to address something that may slow us down. It is T.O.E. - Theory of Everything. While Albert Einstein took great pride in discovering and publishing his Theory of Relativity, he never overcame his frustration with his inability to discover a Theory of Everything. Physicists are still struggling to find a framework to fully explain the fundamental forces and particles of the universe. Many of them have focused their attention to the mathematical formula known as E-8 - an incredibly complex pattern comprised of 8 dimensions with 248 points. Yet, the search continues as some of the smartest people on the planet debate the merits of any proposal that can explain everything.

What does T.O.E. have to do with missions? It is germane to this discussion because it may help to explain the reluctance some folks express when they are presented with the array of networks and collaborative efforts currently available to churches. Let me explain what I mean.

When we began GCPN, I expected to encounter questioning and evaluation from both mission leaders and church leaders. That happened. But - it was mostly positive and helpful. In fact, our network is stronger and healthier today because of the continued input of partners across the world. I am grateful for the lessons learned already.

Now, we are in the midst of connecting multiple networks and mission partners. Our conversation and collaborative efforts are expanding. Some people continue to ask questions like, "Well, what you all are doing is good, but what about this?!" Or, "What about that?" Often - the this or that is connected to a very specific situation which probably needs to be addressed at some point. However, often it is something that will be addressed in the doing of the work!

My point? On the one hand, we can't afford to be reckless and throw caution to the wind in our new mission models and networks. However, neither can we be paralyzed just because we don't have a Missions Theory of Everything! The journey of entrepreneurial endeavors is a journey of discovery. We are discovering new things each day. Praise God!

It is the 21st century. It is a new day in missions. We may not be able understand and explain everything - but we know enough to utilize the resources available to us and forge ahead. We are on a magnificent journey as we join God in all He is doing across the world.

Blessings

Dennis Wiles
Pastor, First Baptist Arlington

Send Them Prepared:

2009-07-17T10:30:00.012-05:00

Equipping Your Church For Cross-Cultural Ministry

If we had the privilege of viewing a re-run of the life of the Apostle Paul, we would observe Paul's life being directed and shaped by the sovereign hand of God who used all of Paul's previous experiences, knowledge, and even his family heritage to make him a useful cross-cultural servant in His hand. There came a point in time when a church who knew Paul well was called upon to send him out into a lost world to carry the torch of the Gospel to peoples who had never heard. Paul's worthiness for this calling had been proven through the test of time and the church had no reservation when the Holy Spirit prompted them to send him out with blessing and support from their church body.

Paul's process of preparation for this calling was guided and shaped by the hand of God. But God used many mentors and teachers to assist Paul in his readiness to fulfill that calling - parents, Gamaliel, Ananias, the brothers in Damascus, Barnabas, Peter, and Christ himself. The Word reveals that from the time he received his calling to the point of being commissioned by a church to take the gospel to the Gentiles, about 13 years had passed. Preparation takes time. Preparation requires intentionality. Jesus has given the responsibility of shaping and training kingdom citizens to the church.

A few years ago my church began asking the question, What do we need to do to become a responsible sending church? We came to the conclusion that there are multiple answers to that question. However, a huge piece of the sending process is that of missional formation and cross-cultural preparation. Preparation is then married to assessment. It is the church's responsibility to insure that the people they send out are equipped missionally, spiritually, emotionally and financially. With all of the resources availed to churches in this era, it would be negligent for my church to send its own people into the unreached world without utilizing the resources and tools God has offered us to equip them.

Many people ask our network, How do we prepare people for service? ...What are the resources available to us? ...How can we assess people for readiness? GCPN has chosen to assist churches in finding these answers. Here is GCPN's nutshell answer to those questions.

Preparation is a church's lifestyle. From the earliest educational programming in the church, we choose to educate children about God's love for the nations and their role in sharing that love. This is an intentional process that continues through the Bible studies and discipleship ministries of our churches. However, there comes a point in time where a more serious process is implemented. As people feel a draw toward cross-cultural ministries, we recommend that they participate in a course called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. Perspectives can be taken for credit or by audit. It can be taken on site or on-line. Perspectives is a foundational piece upon which other preparation is erected. After the completion of Perspectives, we recommend that candidates for cross-cultural service enter into a training community established within the context of the local church. In this community they will spend approximately one year focusing on issues of character, community, competency, church, connections and covenant. Our recommended curriculum for this year of preparation is PANORAMA: a Broad View of the World and Your Place in It.

There is more to sending than financial provision and praying through a prayer calendar. As a nurturing family of faith, we hope to take advantage of all the opportunities to love and care for our people in a responsible way. The assessment of our people for cross-cultural readiness is a part of that nurture. We encourage churches to offer medical, dental, psychological and educational assessment to your cross-cultural servants prior to placing them in cultures where even the smallest issues are often magnified. GCPN can assist churches in obtaining these services through our assessment team which is made up of believing professionals who feel called to serve the cross-cultural servant.

It is time for the gospel to be proclaimed in all nations. Let us pray. Let us give. Let us send. Let us go...prepared.

Let us know if GCPN can assist your church in any way along your journey to the nations.

Cindy
Executive Director, GCPN

The Call to Collaboration

2009-05-13T12:31:00.009-05:00

by Cindy Wiles
Executive Director, GCPN

Want to travel fast, travel alone. Want to travel far, travel together.

-African Proverb

There's never a cookie cutter answer to any missions question. You know from your own experience that every mission frontier requires unique vision, unique strategies, and unique relationships. When asked by churches or cross-cultural workers how to do something - as if there is some standard book of guidelines or rules - I usually respond by saying, "There are as many ways to get people into places as there are people whom God calls there." God is not strapped by our methods and strategies. He is God.

But He is a God of community - triune in his own existence - he never seems to suggest alone is best. Even when calling his people into isolation it is usually for a meeting with Him. The Scripture suggests over and over again that collaborative investments not only result in stronger and more effective systems, but that the journey together meets an innate human need for community and love. In Exodus 18, Moses, overwhelmed by the task of judging disputes for the people of Israel from morning till evening, was able to lead more effectively because his father-in-law, Jethro, understood the value of collaboration. By increasing the capacity of the judicial system as a whole, Moses was freed up to play the leadership role God intended for him to play while others were effectively incorporated into positions of influence as God had gifted them. The resulting health and sustainability brought order and peace to the community as a whole.

Collaboration has its challenges, requiring communication, processing, sharing, consensus-building, time, patience and a surrender of power (God forbid!) For those who need to receive credit, be recognized, own it and move at their own pace, collaboration can be a test. But when collaborative partners grow into a state of interdependency, considering the goals and success of all partners, the maximum benefits of collaboration can be felt. Although slow in its beginnings, the long-term effects of collaborative partnership can enhance the corporate gifting of churches, organizations, networks and other partners so that the power of the united whole is much more effective for the Kingdom than any one of them can be on their own.

From its beginnings, CGPN has identified itself as an all things in common network. Following the model of the 1st century church in Acts 2:44 which states, all the believers were together and had everything in common, some churches in this network have been willing to make great sacrifice for the benefit of others. There are some who have been beneficiaries of the collaborative spirits of others. There are a few who are just learning to spell collaboration. Collaboration is available but must be embraced.

In this new era of church-based mission, my prayer for you as a missions leader is three-fold. I pray that you . . .

won't wait on someone else to do it for you

will be willing to seek wisdom from those who have done it before you

will search for the partners God has ordained to take this journey with you

May God be glorified as you unite your efforts for the Kingdom!

Cindy

Thoughts on Global Leadership

2009-02-26T13:56:00.009-06:00

by Cindy Wiles,
Executive Director, GCPN

Have you noticed how many academic programs have begun including degree programs and concentrations in Global Leadership the last few years? I've spent a lot of time thinking about, reading about and looking at models of organizations and leadership in recent days. What I've realized is that many of the new and thriving organizations are less organizational and more ideological in nature. They are more organism than organization. They more resemble movements than structures. And it also appears to me that leadership has much more to do with tapping into the potential of the adherents than empowering a designated few.

Another thing I have noticed is the shift from hierarchical organizational structures to emphasis on community within mild structure. In a world characterized by wireless voices, text messages and global conferencing, the emphasis on community has become a huge factor in determining the success or failure of any movement. Depending on the measure of connectedness experienced by adherents, loyalty to a movement or organization can intensify or fade.

I think that's why the community aspect of GCPN has been such a drawing card for churches and organizations who are involved. The last facilitator training for GCPN was a warm reminder of the strength of community in mission. In a two-day conversation between the seven churches represented in the room, not only did we find camaraderie and friendship, but we also discovered the strengths of each mission leader and the corporate giftedness of each church that would benefit the movement as a whole. I left the training experience enriched by the people who were there and my ministry enhanced by the resources in the room. I knew when we walked out the door that the world Christian movement would in some way be strengthened by the fact that we had all come together.

As a missions leader I am challenged at this point in my calling to focus a lot less on what I personally possess in terms of leadership skill and to focus a whole lot more on what adherents to the Jesus movement have to offer to the Kingdom at large. If we want to tap into the power of God, then let us tap into those who possess His Spirit. If the Spirit reveals the mind of God to those who possess His Spirit (I Cor. 4:5-16), we as leaders have failed if we do not seek out the mind of God through the people of God. The key to Global Leadership is to seek to harmonize and implement the collective wisdom of the church which possesses the mind of Christ.

Wisdom is not the only resource the church possesses. What about the Spirit gifts and the skills of individuals and corporate bodies? I like to think of leadership from a Wild Bill Hickok point of view - we lasso the wind of the Spirit of God among his people not to control it but to ride upon it. If we have determined the strategy of our church or organization without assessing the gifts and skills of our people or without looking at our corporate giftedness as a whole, we have grossly miscalculated our potential and our end goals are nowhere near the mark God has set for us.

God has recently led my church into a very complex partnership in which each corporate partner has a unique giftedness that can be utilized to transform lives and nations. Within each partner organization lays the unique gifts and skills of multiple people with a heart for the same cause. The realization of the gifts and the encouragement of the collaborative partnership to use our gifts has been a magnet to draw in new partners. The beauty is - nobody owns it. Well, God owns it. But each of us realizes that the system as a whole would be much weaker and less effective if not for the contributions of each partner. In the end, the God of all resource will get credit for that which only He could have orchestrated.

Leadership is not about me. It's not about you either. Leadership is about being a part of us - whoever your us may be. So you want to be a global leader? Start by dropping your bucket into the deep wells of the lives that surround you and draw out that which may be hidden in the depths. You will be empowered by what you find. Your mission will be strengthened and the Global Kingdom will expand. Trust God and trust those He has placed around you.

Together in the Kingdom,

Cindy

Please click on the links below to explore these training options:

Pastors’ Vision Trip (West Africa)

October 2009

A teaching tour/vision trip for pastors and missions leaders.

Contact Cindy Wiles or Jerimiah Smith for more information.

Healthcare Missions Conference

May 7-9, 2009

Sevierville, TN

Sponsored by Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship

http://www.bmdf.org/

Join the Restore Hope Partnership

Project Restore Hope is intended to bring hope and sustained health

to the nation of Sierra Leone through unified strategies with

Sierra Leonean and other international partners that result

in transformed lives, stable infrastructure, social

responsibility, and capacity for development.

Current partners include: Buckner International, Evangelical College of Theology,Sierra Leone, FBC Arlington, Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, GCPN, Louise Herrington School of Nursing, UTA Dept. of African Studies, UTA College of Engineering, UTA College of Liberal Arts, UTA School of Nursing, UTA School of Social Work.
For more information contact the GCPN office at (817) 276-6494.

Sahara Challenge Training Conference

June 6-13, 2009

Sahara Challenge takes place June 6-13 in Atlanta, GA.

Following the training, visit the Muslim world abroad

in Lebanon, Turkey, Indonesia, London or North Africa.

Or spend a week in a Muslim community stateside

in Atlanta, Minneapolis or Detroit.

God's Plan, My Plan

2008-12-01T11:45:00.012-06:00

by Dr. Dennis Wiles
Chairman of the Board of Directors, GCPN

God has a plan. Isaiah describes the intentionality of God's faithful plan in chapter 25 as marvelous things, things planned long ago. Isaiah's prophecy about God's future plans declares-

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples...
on this mountain he will destroy the shroud
that enfolds all peoples,the sheet that covers
all nations; He will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will Wipe away tears from all faces. (Isaiah 25:6-8)

Yes, God has a plan. Therefore, any plans you or I have must be painted against the backdrop of God's eternal plan of redemption for all peoples. This is the joy and the challenge of leading our churches to be missionally formed. There is no higher call or purpose than to participate in God's plan and to lead our churches on that journey. The temptation we often face is to limit our plans and dreams to our own abilities and our own resources. We must pause to realize that God has already painted the future and our role is to fill in the fine details. He places the brush in our hands to fulfill that portion which he has pre-ordained us to do. Thus, we paint with freedom and with the blessing of God as we join him in what He has already planned. The only limitations on the gospel are those we place on it. While painting, we do not gaze into our own resources or ingenuity, but we gaze into the mind and heart of God.

God is not required to provide for my plan. But He does provide for His own plan. As long as what I am doing is contributing to the accomplishment of His plans, the resources of God are available to me. When I come to believe this, the wealth of the Kingdom becomes accessible. I can view the Kingdom as a whole and join in on Kingdom endeavors. God thinks comprehensively. In order to join him we must have grand ideas. Rarely does God think small scale. God thinks God-sized thoughts and dreams God dreams.

I am convinced we are often impressed with the wrong things. We focus on Pharaoh and not on Joseph. The power and plans of Egypt were temporal. But God was fulfilling His redemptive plan. Egypt was successful. But God's provision was not for Egypt. It was for Israel. He was not providing for Egypt's plan. He was providing for his own plan and used the resources of Egypt to accomplish His own will. When it was time for God's people to accomplish His plan, all resource was available to them.

The limitations we place on the power of the gospel are self-imposed. The church must cease thinking from our limited perspective. If we can touch our horizon, it is one we have painted on our own canvas, not the one God has painted on the canvas of his plan. Why would we want to live our lives within the confines of our own horizon? If you reach your own horizon, you have accomplished your own goals. If you are moving toward God's horizon, you and your church will go places you could have never imagined in your wildest dreams. One is chaff. The other - of eternal immeasurable worth.

It is God's plan for all peoples that keeps me from giving up on a church-based model of mission. In spite of our imperfections, I strive to maintain the same level of confidence in the church that Christ had when he said, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. If I lose faith in the church as God's means of reaching the world, I am falling short of the mind and will of Christ. The church must be led, formed and empowered. With Christ as the head, I have no doubt these are reasonable tasks.

If you need to be reminded of the power of the gospel or the incredible resiliency of the church I pray that this will be a time when you experience a renewed vision of God's plan for the church. It is time to join in on the grand faith venture to take the gospel to all nations through all possible means. God's vision is grand enough. The church is sufficient in Christ and the gospel possesses all power for the salvation of all peoples.

The GCPN Board of Directors and staff value your partnership on this Kingdom journey. For those of you who are new to the network - welcome. For those who have been enduring through the seasons of formation and definition, thank you. For those who have given counsel and shaping guidance - we are grateful. Let us press on together with patience and endurance toward the horizon God has set before us. Let us be found faithful!

Together in the Kingdom,

Dennis

2008-11-03T14:17:00.006-06:00

More Thoughts on Strategic Networks

Mission networks have always amazed me. You probably have had similar experiences - you turn on your computer, pull up your email to find a note from someone who was referred to you by someone else because you have an affinity for the same people, are working in the same area or because they have heard of what you are doing and want to be a part of it. I call it the God-web. When I am asked, How do you two know each other? or How did you get connected to that? - I always respond - it's the God-web. God has a way of bringing together Kingdom people who will benefit from affiliation.

It has been a dream of mine for several years to simply promote connectedness between people, organizations, networks, churches and those with common affinities. How much could be accomplished and more wisely stewarded if we had knowledge of what others in the Kingdom are doing among those we are called to reach? How can we encourage these types of connections among those who are working in various regions of the world? How much more strategic and effective might your church be in mission if you were to find out what God is already doing and join Him in it?

Case in point - my church recently got hooked into a partnership of various organizations - some of them secular and some of them Christian in nature. The magnet that drew us all together was a love for the people of a particular war-torn country. My church's interest arose out of a commitment to a particular people group in that country. However, we have found ourselves invested in a partnership that includes two major universities, a large U.S. city government, an international Christian orphan care agency, a U.S. non-profit agency, two churches and a few retired missionaries who can't get a country out of their hearts. As God drew these entities together, we learned of evangelical organizations that were already invested in the same place. After a couple of emails and phone calls, our network merged with an existing network with similar goals. They had more recent experience in our target area. What I learned in just a few conversations will save me hours and volumes of research. From interaction with others, we will develop an informed strategy that meets real needs and focuses on what God is already doing.

Stan Parks initiated a conversation about strategic networks in the last GCPN Communiqué entitled, The Body of Christ United for the Great Commission. I would like to continue that conversation from the church's perspective. If your church is asking any of the following questions, you will understand the beauty of strategic networks:

How do I know where to send my people who feel called to mission?

We can't just send someone out by themselves. They need team and community. Who is going to provide this for them?

How do I make sure that my church is doing strategic mission?

We feel called to work among the X People, but where should we begin?

What can the North American church do to fuel other nations who are doing mission?

How can we foster networking among the various individuals, groups and churches working in a specific region?

When a young woman in our church had completed her training for cross-cultural service, she clearly understood that God was calling her to a specific country. Because we have a strategic catalyst working in that region who makes it his job to be aware of the many places God is moving and working in his region as well as the needs in various areas, he was able to direct this young woman to a place of service in the country of her call. This is only one small part of the role our strategic catalyst plays in his region. He serves as a connector, networker and catalyst for workers from many nations who desire to partner with one another to reach the UPG's. What if there were 12 such catalysts in various regions around the world? What if there were 12 or more strategic teams made up of folks who were willing to share resource, knowledge, expertise and live with the commonality that should characterize Kingdom people?

GCPN desires to promote regional strategic networks by helping to identify strategic partners and provide them with the additional resources needed for strategic meeting, planning, communication and new works. In regions where these partners cannot be identified, we desire to place a catalyst to develop strategic teams. You can assist this process in several ways:

Pray for God to create a desire for partnership among Kingdom people in each region.

Identify individuals who might be willing to serve as catalysts for each region.

Give to provide resource for connectedness and strategic structures.

For more information on strategic teams, contact Stan or Cindy at info@gcpn.org

Let us be one in heart and spirit. To God be the glory.

Cindy Wiles, Executive Director

The Body of Christ United for the Great Commission by Stan Parks

2008-09-09T07:29:00.003-05:00

Stan Parks
The Global Body of Christ is experiencing an unprecedented harvest while facing an increasingly complex and hostile world. An astounding upsurge in missions involvement is often counterbalanced by lack of strategy and long-term thinking. Our efforts are sometimes undermined by widespread apathy and tunnel vision as well as increasing fragmentation and lack unity in the global mission effort.

It is crucial that we create a better system of communication and cooperation for the sake of God's vision. We need to knit together a more effective "Great Commission nervous system" that will allow better coordination and cooperation as the Body of Christ reaches out, especially to the untouched ones.

Those in this nervous system are people with servant hearts who share some common beliefs:

God is both the beginning and end of missions. . .

Missions was birthed in His heart as He is a Missionary God reaching out to a lost humanity. The end of missions is the worship of God as is shown in Revelation 7:9-10 : After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb."

The Body of Christ is both the source and goal of missions. . .

The gathered community of believers, often called the "local church," is the source of missions and, yet, that has often been forgotten in the last 200 years of the modern missions movement. At the same time, the "sent-out" church of missionaries, tentmakers, and mission teams/agencies are also a key part of the church, a truth often obscured by poor theology and a lack of communication and coordination between the "sending" church and the "sent-out" church.
The goal of missions is to see the Body of Christ birthed, expanded, living and serving holistically within a people, tribe, nation, language, and/or place. Ministry that does not see the church birthed is often valuable, but until the church is established and extended, the goal of missions has not been reached. By this criteria those groups having little or no access to the gospel are the heart of the Great Commission task today.

Key "strategic connectors/facilitators/catalysts" with servant hearts and a Kingdom of God agenda are vitally needed. Because the number of Christians and the number of churches and organizations involved in missions is growing rapidly worldwide, it is critical that we identify and better resource existing "strategic facilitators" and recruit new ones to help make the most strategic impact possible. These people can be funded and supported by a variety of churches and organizations and, yet, "seconded" to the Body of Christ to be neutral honest brokers of relationships and connections. A worldwide network of these "strategic facilitators" sharing information, knowledge and relationships could be the heart of a powerful "nervous system" that would help the Body of Christ more effectively address the Unfinished Task of World Missions.

One Scenario:
Ethnê is a global movement of leaders (3/4 non-Western) seeking to reach all the unreached people groups of the world - more than 4000 groups with 1.8 billion people with little or no access to the gospel.

This map shows the world's regions
for the Ethnê prayer initiative.

What if GCPN were to help create 12 Ethnê regional strategy teams focused on:

an understanding of the status and progress of gospel work in each unreached people/region/city/nation in their region;
knowing who was involved in UPG ministries in the area as well as recruiting and helping train new partners;
serving existing efforts and catalyzing new consensus-based partnerships committed to engage each unreached population segment;
a multiyear strategy for serving teams as they seek to evaluate and better implement their efforts;
developing country and bloc strategy teams.

A beginning team might include the following roles/functions:

Prayer coordination
Researching
Partnership Facilitation
Strategic Development and Catalyzation

GCPN churches could help make this happen as a gift to the global Body of Christ.

We could help by...

working together to identify strategic team members who are already in place in each region, or placing people in these key strategic positions.
funding the efforts of strategic teams and promoting partnership.
building and using the prayer /communication infrastructure that will serve as a global "nervous system."
making use of these regional teams to ensure that our own efforts are strategic as we address the unreached peoples of any given region.

We invite you into a season of prayer to consider these things.

Together in the Kingdom,

Stan Parks, Strategic Catalyst SE Asia

God is both the beginning and end of missions. . .

2008-09-08T14:37:00.001-05:00

Missions was birthed in His heart as He is a Missionary God reaching out to a lost humanity. The end of missions is the worship of God as is shown in Revelation 7:9-10 : After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb."

God is both the beginning and end of missions. . .

2008-09-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

The Body of Christ is both the source and goal of missions. . .

2008-09-08T14:36:00.000-05:00

The gathered community of believers, often called the "local church," is the source of missions and, yet, that has often been forgotten in the last 200 years of the modern missions movement. At the same time, the "sent-out" church of missionaries, tentmakers, and mission teams/agencies are also a key part of the church, a truth often obscured by poor theology and a lack of communication and coordination between the "sending" church and the "sent-out" church.

The goal of missions is to see the Body of Christ birthed, expanded, living and serving holistically within a people, tribe, nation, language, and/or place. Ministry that does not see the church birthed is often valuable, but until the church is established and extended, the goal of missions has not been reached. By this criteria those groups having little or no access to the gospel are the heart of the Great Commission task today.

Humble Pie, Anyone?

2008-07-30T22:51:00.005-05:00

I’m not sure if this happens to you, but I find that I pick up life’s menu daily to find that the dessert listing always contains the option, Humble Pie. I have learned that voluntary selection of this option is a rather wise choice that keeps me in harmony with God and also with others. However, there seem to be seasons where I pick up life’s menu and find that all the entrées have been scratched through and someone has scribbled humble pie in the place of many much more desirable options. Unfortunately, I occasionally recognize that handwriting as my own. In other seasons, I feel that God is asking me to consume more humble pie than I feel any one person should be required to eat – as if I am being force-fed humble pie for the purpose of transforming me into the image of the One who was perfect in humility. But I typically find that the further I stretch myself and the busier my calendar becomes – I seem to eat the dreaded stuff more frequently and in larger quantities than I can stand.

Such was the case this week. If you received the apparently unedited version of the GCPN Communiqué that was sent out from the GCPN office a few days ago, I hope that you did not find wading through the swamp of misspellings and poor use of punctuation a total loss. Perhaps you could print this version of the Communiqué and take it with you on your next international flight as a replacement for your Sudoku puzzle book. However, if you are maintaining a tally sheet of errors – you may want to take plenty of paper along.

The truth is – buried in all of the grammatical disaster of that Communiqué were three great opportunities you will want to consider. Please click on the links below to explore these training options:

God’s Amazing Church Planting Movements Conference
October 15-17, 2008
First Baptist Church of Richardson, Texas
Sponsored by BGCT, GCPN, Impact Indonesia, Mission to Unreached Peoples and First Baptist Church of Richardson
http://www.gcpn.org/CPM-Training.pdf

2008 Background Believers Conference
Let Us Love One Another
September 26-27, 2008
Park Cities Baptist Church
Sponsored by Gospel for Muslims (GFM)
http://www.gcpn.org/GFM-2008-MBB-CONF.pdf

GCPN Facilitator Training
August 14-15, 2008
First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas
Led by Dr. Mike Stroope
http://www.gcpn.org/facilitator_training.html

I pray that your summer has been full of Kingdom success. Enjoy the watermelon and ice cream... and if you’ve never tried it you might want to sample a small taste of the Humble Pie.

Together in the Kingdom.

Cindy Wiles

Gospel for Muslims

2008-07-29T11:08:00.008-05:00

2008 Muslim Background Believers Conference
September 26-27, Dallas, TX

Let Us Love One Another
Equipping Christian Leaders
for Ministry to the Muslim World.

"Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:7-8

More Info on the Conference

Download the Conference Brochure

God's Amazing Church Planting Movements Conference

2008-07-29T10:59:00.002-05:00

We would like to invite you to be part of what could be a life-changing

and eternity-changing training and implementation process

to see a CPM among the people you serve!

Visit the GCPN website for more information.

Training Within Your Church For Cross-Cultural Service

2008-07-07T14:11:00.006-05:00

GCPN will in August 2008 release a web-based training that can be utilized by churches to train their own people for cross-cultural service. Panorama: A Broad View of the World and Your Place in It consists of 42 lessons to equip the cross-cultural servant for life, mission and ministry among a second culture.

This training is intended to be led by trained facilitators in a local church context. We will begin with 10 pilot churches which are currently sending or are preparing to send in the near future. These pilot churches will serve the network in the following ways:

· As the learning experience is designed to be wiki-mized in nature, these 10 pilot churches will play a major role in shaping the usefulness and adding additional content to the learning sessions.

· These 10 churches will serve as models for other churches which are called by God to enter the training process.

· As pilot churches, we ask that these churches be willing to serve as regional training sites for cross-cultural trainees in their area.

· These 10 churches will provide laboratories of learning that will allow learning in group context and practice in the areas of team development, ministry and mission.

The first Panorama Facilitator Workshop and Certification will be hosted by First Baptist Church of Arlington on August 14-15, 2008. Dr. Mike Stroope, Associate Professor of Christian Missions, Truett Seminary will lead this training session. Dr. Stroope has been instrumental in the content and design of the curriculum. See details below:

FACILITATOR WORKSHOP AND CERTIFICATION
FOR PANORAMA WEB-BASED LEARNING
August 14-15, 2008
Sponsored by
Global Connection Partnership Network
First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas
301 S. Center Street
Second Floor Conference Center
Arlington, Texas
Registration fee: $150

We recommend that each attending church send two facilitators. View the profile of a facilitator.

Register here for the Facilitator Training.

For further information on the Panorama

training series contact GCPN@fbca.org

or Cindy Wiles at 817.276.6494 or at 817.437.2514.

Together in Christ,

Cindy

Preparing Your People for Cross-Cultural Service

2008-05-31T07:18:00.004-05:00

Through communication and conversation with mission ministers and leaders in the last couple of years, GCPN has identified three issues that need to be addressed by our network as we work together toward the common goal of reaching the lost:

World-wide strategic structures and guidance for sending churches

Cross-cultural preparation and training for church-based workers

Collaborative giving efforts for strategic structures and shared sending

These are by no means the only issues, but they are essential issues that need to be addressed by churches venturing down the sending path. Thanks to the efforts of many of our network churches and partners, we are working toward providing some tangible answers to some of the complex questions.

The question, “Who will train our missionaries?” is a question that has historically received lots of answers. Most of the answers to that question resemble the response, “Write us a check. Send us your people. We’ll not only train them – but we will alleviate your church of the responsibility of training, strategizing, maintaining connectedness and partnering.” I think most of us agree at this point that we are not looking for the extraction of our called ones from our church bodies to live a separate life of missional service. Instead, mission sending has become more organic – less of a calling reserved for professionals and more of an outgrowth and extension of healthy missional bodies. Not only do we want to maintain connection on the field, we actually believe that God has equipped us with the ability to train our own people in a church and community context.

We have been channeling lots of prayer, thought and energy into equipping and training. What should training look like for a non-organization in the 21st century?

The training content should be built upon collaborative input from many who have experience and knowledge of the subject matter

The product should be easily and equally accessible to all

The product should be wiki-mized so that it can be shaped and improved to remain current and applicable

With these goals in mind, GCPN is nearing the completion of a web-based learning experience for churches that can be utilized for training in a community context. These units of preparation are divided among 7 broad concentrations:

1. Foundations

2. Character

3. Community

4. Competency

5. Church

6. Connection

7. Covenant

This preparation series is intended to be lived out in the community of local church and combines individualized learning with group facilitation and accountability. Each unit can be accessed by the individual group member for personal study and fleshed out in the context of a team or group meeting. Click here to view a sample unit. The first facilitator training for this web material will be led by Dr. Mike Stroope and hosted by First Baptist Church of Arlington, August 14-15, 2008. Our goal is to have 10 facilitators attend the first training from churches that are willing to serve as pilot churches. (Email the gcpn office to register or for more information.) Our prayer is that key churches will feel called to be area or regional training sites, eventually assisting other churches in this process.

Once you enter the room of web-based learning, there are many doors to further learning. We invite you into the room. The web-based curriculum should be available to all churches by late Summer 2008. We pray that this resource will be beneficial to you and to your church as you seek to prepare your own people for cross-cultural service.

Together in Christ,
Cindy

Your New Missional Norm

2008-03-17T17:04:00.005-05:00

If you have ever been through an experience of crisis, grief or change, you know there is a normal process that characterizes these sorts of experiences. Change of any magnitude is often followed by a sense of profound loss, feelings of anger, anxiety about the future, and sometimes an overwhelming sense of responsibility regarding the challenges you've inherited. But eventually, you make the necessary adjustments required to function, you develop new habits of coping and finally hit a productive rhythm of life - a new norm. In some cases you even find yourself grateful in retrospect for the change forced upon you. Although the transition was a difficult one, you find God intended it for your good. You may even learn to love your new norm. As I was preparing to facilitate Stan Parks' GCPN web unit entitled, World Christian Movement, for the Arlington Training Site, one historical fact I noted was the missional paralysis of the church following the Protestant Reformation. After facing the conflict, persecution, political ramifications and losses required by the reform, the reformed church found itself in a state of missional paralysis. Because it was focused on crisis, missional efforts of the church were placed on the back burner.

That state of paralysis is where many Baptist churches have lingered for the last several years. A significant segment of the Baptist family has been in a prolonged state of grief. A scorned woman in my congregation once told me, "Divorce is a greater grief than death. I could accept my husband's death - but I don't know if I will ever recover from his rejection and betrayal." I am amazed at the number of churches who are still waiting for things to be "like they used to be."

Hopefully, most of us are no longer there. We have adequately grieved the loss of the IMB as our convenient and clean means of doing missions. We have recovered from the disappointment of broken trust. We have realized the answer does not lie in a new sending board with a similar structure. We have assessed the reality of our new missional life and realized we have to move on. The commission of Christ has not changed. The lostness of the world is still a looming reality and there are yet plenty of unreached peoples waiting on the church to bring the gospel message.

Realizing that moving on is a necessity, many churches have asked the question, "How do we learn from our missional past and face our missional future?" One of the beauties of the church is we do not have to answer these questions alone. We have each other. I find myself daily seeking the wisdom of pastors, ministers of missions and other missional leaders. Dave Bollenbacher at Cottonwood has challenged me to surrender practicality to spirituality. Mike Stroope has taught me to think strategically. Matt Sprink at Woodway has pushed me outside the box. Dale Pond has encouraged me to stay focused among the complexities of a large church. Scott B. has challenged my church's faith. Jerry McAtee has modeled the importance of relationship. Bill O'Brien has encouraged me to embrace partnership. I could go on and on. But the truth is - collaboration and networking have become our new norm. What we must do, let's learn to do well. What once seemed a painful and challenging new reality has become the unstoppable means for your church to take Christ to the world.

Let us encourage one another as we learn to thrive in our new norm.

Together,
Cindy Wiles,
Executive Director

Sharing the Hope

2008-03-17T15:12:00.007-05:00

Sharing the Hope in DFW

What:

A one day event designed as an introduction to Islam, Muslim cultures, and ministry skills.

Equip Christians with biblical attitudes and methods for evangelism so they can confidently and sensitively share their faith with Muslim friends.
Aid in understanding Muslim perspective.
Provide insight into the mindsets of Militant, Moderate, and Nominal Muslims.

When:
Saturday, April 12th, 2008
9:00am to 4:00pm (lunch included)

Where:
First Baptist Church of Arlington
300 S. Center Street
Arlington, TX 76010

Cost:
$35 individuals, $25 students

Register: Sharing the Hope

Please register online early as our speaker will mail participant notebooks in advance and we also would like to have a count for lunch.

Preparing Your Church to Send

2008-03-17T14:46:00.009-05:00

Counting the Costs and Staying the Course

By Jerry McAtee, Executive Director,
Missions Together, Inc.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Peter exploded with his good news: "It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you're from-if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel-that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again-well, he's doing it everywhere, among everyone." Acts 10:34-36 (The Message, Eugene H. Peterson)

This remarkable text in Acts is a very simple yet sober reminder that "if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open". This statement is loaded with responsibility, blessings and opportunities.

Visionaries can easily get many churches excited about assuming responsibility of sending missionaries to foreign lands to share the Gospel with those who have never heard. I love the visionaries; however, once they exit the scene, they leave behind the difficult work of planning and implementation. On the surface, all is exciting, wonderful and very spiritual. However, as we start unpacking the layers of meaning of the words "and are ready", the message becomes somewhat more daunting and serious. What does it mean to say "and are ready"?

There are a number of things to consider before a church commits to the role of becoming the sending entity of missionaries from their congregation. The church must count the cost and be committed for the long haul.

It is essential that process and structure be established that will not be dependent on a pastor or key leaders if and when they leave the church. A missionary or a missionary family living in a foreign land should not have to worry about their church giving up, should unstable and negative circumstances evolve in the supporting church.

A strong, well thought out plan and commitment needs to be built around people in the church who will implement and maintain the process on a long-term basis. From the start, the church will want to seek God's leadership in the selection of multiple individuals in the church who will be committed to supporting and continuing the ministry of sending missionaries. In the beginning, the list of potential committee members might be long; however, it will be pared down as certain characteristics are sought.

Committee members must have track records of sound leadership, stability, faithfulness and spiritual maturity. Each member should have a heart for missions and demonstrate a strong prayer life. They will have a history of "sticking" with a project long term and of demonstrating their ability to keep confidential information. Committee members will be opinion shapers in the church. As a former marine friend said, "They are the people that you would want in a fox hole with you".

A church must consider the costs. Placing an individual or a family with children in a foreign setting requires that the church understand the responsibilities and the investment of time into the process from the start to the end. It will take a lot of hard work, prayer, time, money, meetings, networking, partnering, hard decisions, communication, vision, planning, networking, partnering, training, personal sacrifice and evaluation. Most of all it will take the ability to stick to the task for the long haul.

A comprehensive missionary candidate screening process is vital. No church does an individual a service by sending them to a foreign setting to live and work if the individual does not have the gifting emotionally, spiritually or physically to succeed. This involves physical and psychological screening. Granted, no system is perfect. However, with consistent and reliable references and experienced personnel to implement the process, the obvious issues can be caught early. Be prepared to say no to individuals who do not qualify.

A church will be well served to have crucial networking and partnering relationships in order to provide training to the missionaries. Subjects for consideration might include cross-cultural communication, vocational training, language learning, theological/ missiological training, strategy coordination/ implementation, team building, partnership, stress/ conflict management, marriage enrichment, family and group dynamics in a foreign setting, spiritual growth and networking. Support relationships can also provide technological support for international communication, technology and public information distribution regarding their mission work.

The congregation will want to work toward developing networking and partnering relationships that will enable placement of personnel in strategic foreign settings. Along with this, such networking can make it possible to connect their missionaries with local support groups in their country location.

An emotional and spiritual support group should be established for missionaries before and after they get to the filed assignment. Multiple meetings can be held prior to leaving in order to establish mutual support, love and respect. Ongoing communication between the support group and missionaries should continue using email, phones and other modern day communications methods. The missionary should be provided at least one or more points of contact on a 24-hour basis for times of emergency circumstances.

A vital part of the church's networking and partnering consideration will be the need for an action plan that will meet emergency needs for the missionary family. There are excellent Christian organizations that can assist a family or individual during political unrest, medical emergencies and family emergencies of various types.

The sending church will need to design and implement a reliable process for receiving and distributing funding for salaries and projects for the missionaries. A credible and professional handling of all finances is essential for everyone involved.

Before the missionaries arrive on the field, accountability and reporting expectations should be agreed on by all parties involved. This will involve "reasonable" and periodic reporting to the supporting church and to those who provide financial resources.

When applicable, security guidelines should be developed and agreed on between all parties prior to the missionaries leaving their home country for their field assignment. In many areas of the world, secure communications becomes vital to safety and successful fulfillment of one's calling. This will include, among other things, an understanding of how the church will communicate publicly about the missionary's work.

There are other topics that could be covered, but this is a start. God expects us to be found faithful to the calling and complete the task set before us. May the Lord richly bless you as you prepare your church to send.

The Heart of a Church that Sends

2008-01-31T17:41:00.000-06:00

By Dave Bollenbacher, Minister of Missions,
Cottonwood Baptist Church, Dublin Texas

Jesus said: “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denari, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have answered correctly.’” Luke 7:41-43

The Luke 7 passage is not typically associated with “missional” activity. In fact, I can’t recall ever seeing the connection made. And yet, as I’ve given thought the last few weeks to the idea of the Church and her role in sending to the nations, I believe Jesus’ message of love and grace has much to do with a church’s desire to serve distant neighbors.

The church I belong to could easily be deemed irrelevant by most standards. We’re a 100 year old rural church, located in a two stop-light town on the outskirts of nowhere. Our facility is inadequate and inauspicious, with a pasture for a parking lot. One other thing, I go to church with a lot of five-hundred-dollar sinners, and most of us know it. I think it’s these last six words that have a lot to do with our passion for God’s glory among the nations. Because we have been forgiven much we are compelled to love much, and it is this love that propels us to cross streets, borders, oceans and cultures to share the Good News of Christ.

In his classic work Key to the Missionary Problem, Andrew Murray writes: “Get this burning thought of ‘personal love for the Savior who redeemed me’ into the hearts of all Christians, and you have the most powerful incentive for missionary effort…. If we could fill the hearts of the people with a personal love for this Savior who died for them, the indifference of Christendom would disappear, and the kingdom of Christ would appear.” In other words, an impassioned love for the King would result in an impassioned love for the Kingdom!

Last year I don’t believe our church met our general budget of approximately $500,000, but we gave nearly $225,000 for our mission efforts. We sent over 100 people deep into Mexico’s Copper Canyon, when “our neighbors” were dying from crop failure. This year we will send and support two families and one single to serve long-term among distant neighbors, while three other families from our Body have been sent abroad with the assistance of other sending agencies. Over the last 7 years we have sent between two and three hundred of our people to serve long-term and short-term among an unreached people in Asia. This year we will begin a long-term commitment serving a Muslim people in Africa.

Sharing this information is not to boast of our mission efforts, or to impress you with a “mission program”. We are well aware that God does not need us! I share it as evidence of people, who have been forgiven much, and who are loving much. An acute awareness of the grace that has been extended to us motivates us to share the same message of grace with those who’ve yet to hear. When a love for God is the motivation, the work of missions is transformed from an obligatory task of a chosen few to a cherished invitation extended to all who have been forgiven.

Too often we hear “missions” being spoken of as a task to be completed by “missionaries” who have received a special job offer from God (i.e. “calling”). Perhaps when missions and missionaries become more about loving God than undertaking a program or accepting a job, we will see the Church respond with greater fervor for the nations.

In part, we identify with the twelve chosen by Jesus because of their fallibilities. They were screw-ups like us, and after three years of doing life in close proximity to Jesus, they were exposed! But they were sent by Jesus, and their love for Him compelled them to go. They would change the world. A five-hundred-dollar sinner who lived naked and chained in a cemetery, experiences the grace and forgiveness of God. And what does Jesus do? He sends him! A woman, who has gone through 5 marriages and is currently shacking up with someone, must go and tell because she has encountered a caring, loving and accepting God. These people could not be restrained from saying a resounding “YES” to the invitation to go. Because they had been forgiven much, they loved much, and because they loved much, they were sent.

This list of “chief sinners” could be expanded, but you get the point. The activity of missions is not for the elite and holy few. Inevitably, it will also not be for those who have failed to be undone by a life changing encounter with God. When a love for God has transformed a church, it is no longer about missions or becoming “missional”; rather the focus becomes a longing for God’s glory among all people.

John Piper had it right when he said in his book Let the Nations Be Glad, that missions exists because worship does not, and thus the worship of God becomes the fuel for missions. The shift in thinking here is a significant one. If love for God is the catalyst for sending and going, no longer is the motivation for missions some foreign land or distant people who are without hope, but our great God who is without worship. Our greatest joy becomes the worship of God, and thus we must share.

John alludes to this in his first letter. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life- and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us- what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.” (Italics mine) 1 John 1:1-4

John, and others like him, had experienced the grace, forgiveness, and intimacy of a loving God. After seeing Jesus, hearing Jesus, and touching Jesus, they couldn’t help but go and tell of Jesus. It didn’t matter where or at what cost; sharing Good News became not a task they were obligated to perform, but a response birthed out of thanksgiving and complete joy. Their witness for God was preceded by a witnessing of God. Having come to know Jesus, they were propelled to go and share Jesus. These early Christians were radically effective in their witness of Christ, both at home in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth, not because of a desire to be “missional” for God, but because of their desire to be “relational” with God.

A church that does not have a desire for knowing Jesus will care little about sending others to share Jesus. The Church in the West is largely marginalized when it comes to sending, because church has become more about self than Savior. Walk into any “Christian” bookstore and most titles will be about how one can have better kids, a better marriage, better finances, and a better you! Devotionals that spur us on to “5 minutes a day with God” leave us feeling pretty good about our spiritual pursuits, and a whole section of Christian fiction introduces us to characters with a spiritual vibrancy reserved only for the world of make-believe. Unfortunately many churches provide a weekly sampling of similar offerings.

Perhaps we shrink from intimacy with God because of the risk that is involved. Five-hundred-dollar sinners who are unable to repay have to be willing to be exposed, and the Body of Christ has to be willing to provide a community where it is safe for such exposure to take place. Such exposure can be messy, but receiving and extending grace fosters community, and community in turn gives birth to intimacy - with God and with others. We are created for community! Christian community is critical to sending and being sent. The endeavor of missions void of community is dangerous. I have seen firsthand the destruction it leaves behind. Walking honestly before God and others won’t happen cross-culturally if it is not happening in Christian community.

We are set free by knowing that we are forgiven by a loving God and by realizing the extravagance and cost of that forgiveness! It ignites a love for God that unleashes us to know Him and make Him known. It creates within our hearts a joy and thanksgiving that propels us to send and be sent, so that others might taste of the same goodness. The King and His Kingdom become paramount. As a community of faith, we become zealous for the worship of God, not just with our own lives, but the lives of others who have yet to worship truly. Forgiveness sets us free to live honestly before others in communities that spur us on to love and to do good deeds.

The heart of a church that sends must first be undone by the forgiveness of a loving God. May we avail ourselves anew to an intimate encounter with Him. Forgiveness sets us free to have a loving relationship with our Creator. May the Body of Christ become consumed with the desire to be relational with God instead of missional for God, and let us see where the resulting intimacy sends us. The Psalmist wrote: “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) Interesting how a heart for knowing God results in Him being made known among the nations.

What’s Missing in Missions?

2008-01-31T17:29:00.001-06:00

By Cindy Wiles, GCPN Executive Director

January 2008 has been a great month of fellowship, conversation and collaborative effort among our network churches. I am grateful for the efforts of the ministers of missions, pastors and others who gathered for the recent Forum for Sending Churches and the GCPN Pastors’ Retreat. Through these fruitful discussions, we were able to identify three primary needs of our network churches:

1- Strategic Guidance and Structure
Churches desiring to do effective mission work understand that doing strategic missions requires an understanding of what God is doing in the world. It also requires the guidance of informed leaders who can help churches connect to what God is doing. One goal of the GCPN network churches is to enable mission strategists and missiologists to have a voice and presence among our churches as we make decisions about missions and specific missions initiatives. In addition, we are working to identify or develop 12 regional GCPN Strategy Teams around the world to assist churches in making strategic connections, placing their people on the field, encouraging indigenous movements and assisting with integration and care of our sent-ones.

While you are thinking about what your church is doing, also be thinking about what THE CHURCH is doing.

2- Missional Formation
What fills the formation gap that exists between missions education (like Perspectives) and preparedness for being sent? GCPN leadership is convinced that it is an intentional church-based formational community within each of our local network churches.

In response to this essential need, we are focusing our efforts on a missional formation learning experience that allows individuals preparing for cross-cultural service to live out their formation in their home-church community. This facilitator-led experience uses a comprehensive series of 33 learning sessions, each focusing on a relevant formative need. Participants combine personal study and journaling with interactive community learning in such a way that the individuals and the church are led through a joint transformation that raises the overall missional competency of the congregation. The formation series is intended to be lived out over approximately a one-year period meeting weekly with a community of church-based participants. The materials will be downloadable from the GCPN website for use by network churches. Two trained facilitators from the local church will lead the community groups through the transformational experience. Written by missions experts from around the world, the materials are scheduled to be available to churches in the spring of 2008.

3- Collaborative Giving
If local churches are training, funding and sending their own people, why is there a need for a collaborative giving effort? We must maintain what is beautiful and Biblical about collaboration. As we work toward providing a global strategic structure that will benefit all of our churches, we will establish hubs for shared training, missionary assessment and care, and strategic guidance.

While I am focusing on what MY church is doing, I will be wise to consider the big picture and assist in providing a strategic framework for all.

Additionally, the New Testament collaborative concept of sharing the financial responsibility for sending should prod us toward jointly making funds available to other churches that may need assistance and partnership in sending.

As we work together, gaps can be filled and the Kingdom can be expanded. Think Kingdom. Think together. Think about how your church can fuel the works of God around the world.

I am praying for you and your church!

THE MISSIONAL TASK OF THE CHURCH

2007-12-07T10:54:00.000-06:00

by Dale Pond,

Minister of Missions, Green Acres Baptist Church of Tyler, Texas

"Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." II Corinthians 5:17-20

I want to consider what I believe to be the primary task of the church. It is the most dangerous, demanding and exhilarating task that the church has been given. It is the task of taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and of helping people to faith in Him. It is what is called the missional task of the church. Let's be honest in admitting that this task no longer exhilarates us. It doesn't stir us and challenge us. Most of us give very little for the accomplishment of this task. We are so unlike the New Testament church. The New Testament church did not have beautiful buildings, educated and trained leadership, modern ways of communication, literature, or elaborate organizational structure. Yet those small bands of Christians literally turned the world upside down.

Why is it that the missional task of the church exhilarates us so little? I believe one reason is that we do not fully understand why the missional task of the church is the primary task of the church. We do not have an adequate rationale, an adequate basis, an adequate understanding as to why this task is at the very heart of the church. Some would tell us that the reason we are to be missional is because of the Great Commission. Of course we believe in the Great Commission. But unless we have a deeper rationale for evangelism and missional activity we will grow weary in hearing the Great Commission. In fact, we have already grown weary hearing it. How many of our church members hear this command of Jesus and it doesn't even faze them?

Some would say the reason that we are to be missional is because of the great need, the sin and lostness of our world. Certainly we need to recognize the needs of our world. Our hearts needs to be broken. But unless there is a deeper motivation and rationale for evangelism and missional activity, even the awareness of the great need is not enough. In fact, the awareness of need can be overwhelming and depressing. If a person serves the Lord for a lifetime, when their life is finished, the need and lostness of the world will be greater than when they started. An awareness of the need is not enough rationale for the missional task of the church.

What then is the reason that this task is at the heart of the church? I believe that God's Word (II Corinthians 5:17-20) explains why we must make the missional task the primary task of the church. The missional task is primary because God Himself is on a redemptive mission in the world. Verse 19 says, "God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ." Centuries ago God in his wisdom, sovereignty and infinite love set Himself on a course of redeeming sinful man to Himself. God purposed it in His heart and began to act in history to reconcile and save sinners to Himself. He chose Abraham for that purpose. He gave Abraham a son named Isaac. He gave Isaac a son named Jacob. He gave Jacob twelve sons. These twelve sons went down into Egypt. God sent Moses to deliver them. God gave them the law which was a way for them to know Him. And then through the centuries God worked with those people. God gave prophet after prophet. And then in the fullness of time God sent his only begotten Son into the world who lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, rose again and ascended to the Father. Then God sent the Holy Spirit to anoint the church and baptize the church. When the time came, God gave the Scriptures, the written Word, so that we could know Him. And then down through centuries God has acted in people, in circumstances and events. God has set Himself on a mission to redeem sinful man to Himself. Therefore if we are to be about the same thing God is about, we too will be about reconciling sinful man to God through Jesus Christ. It has been said, "The origin of missions is ultimately to be found in the heart of God." A church that is not consumed with the task of reconciling sinful man to a Holy God is missing the primary purpose of the church and has misunderstood what God is about in Jesus Christ in the world. It is failing to understand God's intention because God's intention is to reconcile man to Himself.

Also, the missional task of the church is primary because God has entrusted this word of reconciliation to us. God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself is the work of reconciliation. That's the gospel. That's the good news. Verse 19 says that this message, this word, has been committed to the church. The word "committed" means that we have been put in trust. God has committed it to us. He has put this word of what He has done and what He is about in our trust. The Apostle Paul often spoke about being entrusted with the Gospel. He said in I Corinthians 9:16: "When I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" He said in I Thessalonians 2:4, "We speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel."

The missional task of the church is primary because we are Christ's representatives. It is because God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and because God has entrusted us with that word that we actually become representatives and messengers for Him. Verse 20 says, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." This is one of the most incredible truths in the entire Bible. God has set Himself on a course. God has done something for this world in Jesus. The truth of what God has done has been entrusted to us. He has chosen to use us as His instruments. He actually uses us. We are His representatives, and He speaks through us that people might understand and accept God's reconciling mission in the world.

This is the basis for the missional task. I do not know why, but God has chosen to use us as instruments of reconciliation. He has chosen to use the church and I believe that we should take that privilege and responsibility very serious.

What about your church? What is God's vision for your church? What is it that God wants to accomplish through your fellowship of believers? Can your church answer that question? Churches should examine themselves and look at the steps that they take and make sure that they are walking down the path ordained by God. Each congregation should focus their attention, energy, and resources as a church on one primary vision of being a missional church. A missional church is a church that seeks to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Acts 1:8 is the blueprint. "And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth."

A missional church is one that prays for the whole world. It's a church that not only preaches the Gospel and carries the Gospel to the world, but it is a church that has in its heart the world and lifts that world to God in prayer. Jeremiah 33:3 is the blueprint for missional praying. "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

A missional church is a church that shares its resources with the world. All of the resources that have been gathered and given to the Lord are to be shared with his world. They should not be kept only for the local church but should be given to the world. And it is the same for human resources. Churches should give their members to the world. II Corinthians 9:7 is the blueprint for this kind of missional giving. "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

We should all pray that God would grow missional churches. Pray that God would create awareness among the people in our churches of this privilege and responsibility. Pray that God would rise up countless numbers of people who would take seriously the responsibility of ministering, serving and witnessing beginning in their local communities and then to the world. Pray that God would challenge churches to specific, attainable goals in missions giving. Pray that God would stimulate an attitude of expectancy, an environment of confidence, of belief that with God all things are possible. Pray that God would bring to our churches people from all over the word that have had different kinds of experiences and are being used by God in ways that are totally different than what they experience in their own community. Pray that God would move the leadership of our mission organizations to teach missions and pray missions as never before. Churches need to strategize and plan every activity in their church around the one primary goal of taking the Gospel to the world. I believe it is in the heart of God and in the will of God to use His church as an instrument in His hand and an instrument of reconciliation.

I also believe that it is in the will of God to use individuals as His instruments. It is the will of God to use you and me as instruments in His hand. You and I as individuals must take seriously the fact that God wants to use us as His witness. God wants to use you as a witness. God wants to use you in your business, in your classroom, in your community. God wants you to witness out of your own life and experience and out of you own love for Him. And as you do, He uses you and you become a part of an ongoing, reconciling mission in the world. You become a part of a task that God has set Himself on. You participate in it. Would you make yourself available to Him?

GCPN at BGCT Annual Meeting

2007-10-12T10:23:00.000-05:00

You are invited to attend a GCPN forum
at the BGCT Annual Meeting

Time: Monday, October 29, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Location: Performance Hall, Convention Center, Amarillo, Texas

Topics:

Church to Church Partnerships in Mission

Cross-Cultural Preparation in the Church Community

Church-Based Sending

What Does it Mean to be a GCPN Network Church?

Led by:

Dr. Mike Stroope, Professor of Christian Missions, Truett Seminary

Mike Fritscher, Pastor, Cottonwood Baptist Church, Dublin, Texas

Dr. Dennis R. Wiles, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas

Cindy Wiles, Executive Director, GCPN

You may also visit the GCPN booth in the Convention Exhibit Hall. We look forward to conversation with you!

THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD CHRISTIAN MISSION

2007-10-12T10:03:00.000-05:00

by William R. O'Brien

The title of this article is misleading. What kind of mission are we talking about? A Christian mission? A world mission? If either of these is the focus of our discussion, that kind of mission does not have a future. If the focus is on the mission of God, we can talk about its future. We can talk about how it relates to the whole world and what role Christ-followers have in that mission.

A good many years ago corporations saw the need to state clearly both the vision of the organization and its mission. These two factors needed to be clearly stated so every person connected with the business could understand and buy into the mission of the company as they sought to serve their clients.

God predated all the corporate jargon. Dr. W.O. Carver, noted missions professor for fifty years at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, always asked students in his Introduction to Missions classes two questions: "What is the Bible all about?" and "Is it all about anything?" The rest of the course was showing how it is all about one thing - the mission of God.

In his latest book entitled, The Mission of God, Christopher J. H. Wright suggests we need to read the whole Bible in light of the overarching perspective of the mission of God. A missional understanding of the Bible "is nothing more than to accept that the biblical worldview locates us in the midst of a narrative of the universe behind which stands the mission of the living God." It is stated in narrative form clearly enough so any one claiming to be a Christ-follower can eagerly serve the mission of the Owner/CEO.

Wright states this grand story (meta-narrative) reveals three realities: the reality of God, the reality of this story, and the reality of this people. Therefore, "the authority for our mission flows from the Bible because the Bible reveals the reality on which our mission is based."

God created everything on purpose, with a purpose. We know who God is. We know who we are. We know where we are. We know the problem. We know the solution. How do we know? God has been telling the story since creation. God created co-managers of God's creation, Adam and Eve. When they made a self-centered decision that cost them their original role and their residence, God's grace preserved them and the original mission.

When the sins of the human race seemed so gross there was not anything worth preserving, God focused on one righteous man, Noah. Noah's obedience encountered God's grace and the mission was kept on track. And human kind was mandated to scatter and fill the earth.

When the human race decided to settle in, rather than scattering, and build a tower as a monument to their own genius, God judged them and scattered them. With this part of the narrative, we are left hanging. Where is the grace? Will the mission of God get back on track?

Genesis 12 gives the answer. God called Abraham. From his loins God called a people who were to be separate and apart from the ways of the world, but be very much in the world. They were the collective co-managers of God's mission, a collective Adam, a pontiff people who were to be the bridge connecting God and all creation. But every century that passed seemed to blur any distinction between this special "people" and all other peoples. Was there even a remnant who understood why God chose them to serve God's mission?

In the fullness of time God spoke the clearest Word ever spoken. The mission of God was fleshed out. The mission of God and the mission of Jesus were synonymous. As God was to the creation of a chosen people, Jesus was to the extended Israel that we call church. For the past 2000 years the church, as a servant to the mission of God, has been on a similar roller-coaster ride to that which Abraham's descendants experienced. Faithful - unfaithful. True, the church has been planted in every known continent and nation, ranging from frightfully weak to apparently strong. Having said that, does it mean the task is complete? If not, what is the future of God's mission on this earth and in the cosmos?

In our time, the Wind of the Spirit is blowing again. Many churches in the Western world did not even notice when the great shift occurred. The Southern hemisphere emerged as home to what we now call the Majority World Church. Seventy-five percent of the world's Christians live in the southern and eastern world. The majority of believers do not speak English. A new apostolic era has dawned. Believers in Africa, Latin America and Asia take the Bible very seriously. They get involved in what they are reading, and are convinced it is as relevant for today as it was when it was written. They have jettisoned the Western style of "doing missions." They move as the Spirit directs.

Let us look at specific pockets that illustrate the movement of the Spirit.

AFRICA

In 1900 there were 8.7 million Christians on the continent of Africa. In the year 2000 there were about 350 million Christians. According to Lamin Sanneh, native African scholar and professor at Yale Divinity School, in 1900 Muslims outnumbered Christians by a ratio of 4:1. In 2000 the ratio was almost 1:1. Sanneh attributes this explosive growth to certain factors: 1) Expansion took place after colonialism during a period of national awakening, 2) the overall, if delayed, effect of the translation of scripture into native African languages, and 3) African leaders stepping forward to lead the expansion without the disadvantage of foreign compromise. (Sanneh, Whose Religion Is Christianity) Was not the Spirit evident in all these factors? If trends continue, by 2050 there could be 600 million Christians on the continent of Africa.

CHINA

Christianity Today, in its September 21, 2007 edition, reported that a research report read at a government meeting recently indicated there may be as many as 130 million Christians in China now, including about 20 million Catholics. For some perspective -the total population of Japan is 127 million.

Thomas Alan Harvey is quoted in David Aikman's book entitled Jesus in Beijing:

Regardless of which policy the Chinese government pursues, the church in China will profoundly affect the shape of Christianity worldwide for generations to come.

David Aikman states the spread of China into Asia and the southern hemisphere in the past two decades will probably affect Christianity on a global scale.

Regardless of one's position about the Chinese initiative called the Back to Jerusalem Movement, the wind of the Spirit has stirred the hearts of hundreds of Chinese believers who are committed to take the gospel down the silk roads leading from China through southern Asia and the Middle East to its point of origin. One can hear figures estimating as many as 100,000 Chinese missionaries will take up the challenge without a thought of ever returning home again.

KOREA

Estimates of believers in South Korea number about 12 million or over twenty-five percent of the population. Some say over thirty-five percent of the military are Christian.

Korea is now the second largest missionary sending nation in the world. Reliable sources state there are 16,200 missionaries working in 180 countries. Others estimate those figures may be pushing 19,000. Korean churches are sending 1100 new missionaries out annually.

INDIA

There are over 10,000 Indian missionaries working cross-culturally in their own country. Thousands of churches have been planted in the last decade.

PHILIPPINES

Some evangelical leaders in the Philippines state there will be over 200,000 Filipino missionaries working around the world in the next few years. Already thousands of believers work in the market places of Middle East countries. They don't look like traditional missionaries. They do take their faith very seriously.

CONCLUSIONS

The Majority World Church has over 103,000 missionaries working throughout the world, many of them among the least reached peoples on earth. The US and Canada have only 112,000 cross-cultural missionaries, many of them working in more traditional areas where the church has been planted for many years.

In the light of these anecdotal facts about the location of the world's dynamic churches, what do you think is the future of the world Christian mission? No, that's not the question. What is the future of the mission of God? It is moving toward its glorious climax where peoples from every tribe, every race and every nation will gather around the throne of God singing the praise of the only One who is worthy to be praised.

My prayer is that those of us who live in the northern hemisphere and the Western world will catch a glimpse of this grand procession of faithful Christ-followers and join hands and hearts in a collaborative effort to make Christ known to the ends of the earth. - William R. O'Brien, Bill and his wife Dellanna served for years as missionaries in SE Asia. He is a former Vice President of the Foreign Mission Board of the SBC and is regarded by many as a missions futurist.

What does it mean to be a GCPN church?

2007-09-05T16:39:00.000-05:00

The call to initiate a church network has been more of an Abraham calling than a Moses calling. When Moses was called by God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt he clearly understood the history and heritage of a chosen people. There was a specific geographical location that held the promises of God. His job was to lead his people from captivity and back to the land of promise. His journey was no less an act of faith than Abraham's - only more specific. Abraham on the other hand was told by God, "...go to the land I will show you". He was on a faith journey into uncharted territory. If you had asked Abraham along the way, "Can I join in on your caravan?" - I think he might have said, "Sure...but I have no idea where we are going...only God knows."

Pastors and church leaders ask me almost daily, "What does it mean to be a GCPN church?" If you have ever been in on the development of an endeavor newly birthed, you know the answers to developmental questions are always couched in process. There is a dream given by God and then there is the reality of where you actually stand. Many times the chasm between the dream and reality seem miles apart - particularly if you are an idealist. I don't mind confessing my idealism. Jesus was the ultimate idealist. The dreams God has given me for GCPN are dreams of the Church and the Kingdom in their purest form...absent of skepticism, free from historical baggage, abounding in generosity, cooperative in nature and compliant with the will of God. GCPN is a new thing and we know that God is the daily Creator of all things new.

Pardon me if my answer to the question, "What does it mean to be a GCPN church?" sounds a bit idealistic. My temptation is to avoid answering that question at all because I think it is a question about labels, categorization, institution and form. I think God is less interested in organizations and institutions and more interested in movements of the Spirit. He has already instituted the one organization through which He intends to reach the world - the Church. The question I prefer to ask is one of essence and substance - "What are the characteristics and qualities of a GCPN church?" I hope the answers to this question are characteristic of your own church.

A GCPN Church...

...is characterized by leaders who shepherd their local body to seek and embrace the revealed will of God and to obey regardless of cost.

...is characterized by leadership with an unmanageable passion for God's glory among every tribe, nation, people and tongue.

...recognizes its corporate gifts within the Kingdom and offers them to the Kingdom at large.

...is not self-focused or competitive. It considers how it may use its resources to strengthen other churches even to the point of sacrifice.

...does not seek to control the network, but to be an equal partner in the world-wide mission of God.

...values history and heritage, but does not consider them something to be grasped. It faces the future and values the eternal.

...realizes that resourcing God's mission could possibly mean fueling some movements that are neither North American nor Baptist.

...is willing to initiate change within the local body toward missionality, realizing that the process may take time and an investment of spiritual energy, particularly if starting at ground zero.

In case you think I have managed to avoid the original question by being theoretical, I encourage you to join the network of GCPN at any or all of the following levels:

COMMUNITY LEVEL

Join in a conversational community that contributes ideas and resources through the blogsite.

Invite pastors and missions leaders within the network to share their experiences and expertise with you as you seek to grow your church into a missional congregation.

COLLABORATIVE LEVEL

Contribute your mission expertise to network churches by being willing to serve as a consultant to a less-experienced church.

Seek strategic guidance for healthy missiological practices from experienced missiologists within the network. Don't just do something. Do it well.

Contact the network office for assistance in designing a spiritual formation series for your church that will lead them to a greater understanding of God's desire for the nations.

Channel members of your congregation toward network causes in their area of giftedness.

Begin the process of altering your church's financial contributions to more accurately reflect God's vision for your congregation.

CONNECTED LEVEL

Assist in the development of network direction by offering your service to the GCPN Board of Directors.

Designate a portion of your church's mission offerings toward direct support of missionaries being sent from GCPN churches.

Enable experienced missiologists to offer their time to network churches through financial support of the GCPN.

Watch for on-line coaching materials for cross-cultural training within your congregation (to be posted this fall).

Contribute toward the financial support of 12 regional networkers in 12 regions of the world to assist churches and sending organizations in strategic involvement.

I hope these are tangible first-steps toward you assisting GCPN in becoming all God intends for it to be. I am praying for you and you seek God's wisdom for your church.

Shalom.
Cindy Wiles, Director

Why I am NOT a Missionary

2007-07-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

This article has been submitted anonymously by a believer who grew up as an MK from a traditional sending agency. In adulthood she has served as a teacher and field representative in a closed country. In an attempt to open the door for entry into areas of little access, she returned to the US to obtain a secular degree from a non-religious university. Although employed in a university in a large US City, she is returning to the field as a teacher in a secular educational institution in a closed country.

In the nineteenth century, some Chinese leaders were suspicious of missionaries, believing they were involved in the opium trade. Whether fact or fiction, this perception led to the doors of China slamming shut. Today, although the government has allowed churches to be reopened and 40 million Bibles to be published, it still denies entrance to those who call themselves missionaries.

The mission movement made great strides in 19th and 20th century, laying the groundwork for Scripture to be translated into many tongues and for a movement of the Spirit to transform peoples of many cultures. Health conditions improved. Living conditions improved. People from every continent embraced the Living Word. Unfortunately, in many places, Western culture was not clearly differentiated from Christianity. Because of this, along with the rise of patriotism, nationalism and a desire to assert their own cultural identity, many governments see missionaries as a threat to the survival of their cultures and deny entrance to those who call themselves missionaries.

In the latter part of the last century, governments began to oppose missionaries at the very core of who they are. Some of these governments made proselytizing illegal, especially for Christians, regardless of their citizenship. Other governments oppose missionaries precisely because their identity in Christ. Thus, a large proportion of governments across Asia deny entrance to those who call themselves missionaries.

Christ's directive to the Church is clear: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15, NASB). Some mission organizations have countered the edicts of non-sympathetic governments by changing the words they used. They refer to their personnel in much the same way that international business agencies refer to their employees: agents, representatives, or field personnel. Since the government was not opposed to educators, medical personnel, or relief workers helping the country, some organizations sent teachers, doctors, nurses, and engineers to the field.

To some extent, these measures were successful. Christian doctors, nurses, teachers, businessmen, engineers, and other field personnel were allowed entrance into countries that denied entrance to missionaries. However, in order to protect such field personnel, the sending organizations had to cover any paper trails that would financially connect them with those on the field. They purge their names from the media (devotionals, newspapers, and the internet) that reminded supporters of the organization to pray for them. If a disgruntled official in any of the host countries discovered the Christian worker was tied to a mission organization, the Christian would be expelled.

What if there were no paper trail? If Christian workers were hired and fully supported by institutions or businesses in the host country, there would be no financial connections to discover. If friends and ministers, sensitive to the laws of the host country, upheld their responsibility to encourage and pray for each other as Christian workers do, could a disgruntled official oppose anything more than their Christian integrity? Though Christ's directive is often the focal passage in commissioning services organized by missionary sending agencies, mission agencies and the missionaries they send do not have exclusive rights to the verse. The directive was first addressed to the eleven disciples. Carrying out the commission to "preach the gospel to all creation" is the right and responsibility of all those who believe Jesus' message.

In carrying out Christ's commission of all disciples, it does not really matter whether we are called field representative, teacher, doctor, engineer, or even tourist. It does not matter that we give up being called missionary; after all, it is not a biblical title. The important point is (and this is quite biblical as it is the root meaning of ekklesia, the Greek word for church) we are called.

Reflections from Southern California

2007-07-27T09:40:00.001-05:00


Hammond Albert's 1972 hit song has been rolling around in my sub-conscious thought throughout the last month, surfacing occasionally for a brief vocal expression - seems it never rains in southern California... After six years as pastor of First Baptist Church of Arlington, my husband was eligible for a sabbatical leave of absence. We could have spent that time anywhere in the world. But Dennis had a strong inclination from God that we were to spend it in Southern California. I, on the other hand, only six months into the development of GCPN, left Arlington like Lot's wife. It took me the first ten days to stop looking eastward, chill out and finally decide that God had placed me in Southern California for a reason and I should perhaps figure out what that reason might be. What I expected to be a test of endurance for me soon turned into an amazing journey of exploration and discovery. In the midst of the desert, I have experienced many God-ordained encounters that will forever shape my life. I feel like I've been attempting to drink from a fire hydrant of God's abundant resources. I fully expect these encounters to be a shaping force in the development of the glocal ministries of First Baptist Church of Arlington and emerge as formative ideas for the church network of GCPN. I'm a person put off by trends and fads. Perhaps that's why I came to Southern California expecting a desert experience. I'm not inclined to walk into an emergent church, a Mosaic or a Saddleback and think, Wow! This is what I want to implement in my own church! God speaks to each church and its leadership in a unique way depending upon the context of the church. I'm not likely to listen to a lecture at the U.S. Center for World Mission and decide there is no way the church could possibly pull off the mission challenge without a sending agency. God speaks to each church in unique ways depending upon the context and constituency of the church. One lunch meeting with Neal Cole is not going to convince me to start Life Transformation Groups so that I can say my church is reproducing organically (although it's a great idea and I hope we are accomplishing the same goals in our own unique way in our own context.) But what I did encounter in the last month is a diverse array of missional thinkers on both the local and global levels who are addressing the needs of a lost world in a myriad of ways (Neal Cole being one of my favorites!) I'd like to share with you a few of the bits of wisdom I've gained from Southern California. Church Meets World - any value I have previously held for monastic isolation has been shattered by the sacrificial lifestyles of pastors, missionaries and cross-cultural workers of all types who do whatever it takes to encounter lost people with the truth and love of Christ. Every church I have attended, every meeting I've dropped in on, every conversation I've been apart of is built upon the unquestionable belief that Christ is returning, the time is now and the cost is not to be measured. People of abandon have inspired me to faithfully reach the lost world while there is yet time. Preparation is Essential - In my personal journal entitled, Confessions of a Non-Academian Who Knows How to Get Stuff Done, I am afraid I will have to reveal a new entry that reads something like this: Today God has impressed me that the preparation for cross-cultural ministry in this century is a balance of spiritual formation, academic preparedness, hands-on application and a sensitivity to the Spirit of God that requires great intentionality. The beauty of the church is that it possesses all these elements which can be shared within the Kingdom. I'm sure you already knew this, but sometimes it's good to be reminded. Partnerships are an Expression of Divine Wisdom - It only makes sense. God created men and women for relationship with Himself and with each other. Adam received a help-mate and Paul received multiple missionary partners. God created us as creatures of community. As Baptists, we have viewed ourselves historically as a family that is independent, self-sufficient, missionally efficient and self-contained. Our partnerships are often more akin to inbreeding than to alliance. But today we are being challenged to work in harmony with the full body of Christ. Our partnerships have less to do with allegiance and more to do with achieving the goals that Christ has set before us. I am amazed by the God-web. . .that Kingdom interconnectedness where God reveals to us those we need to know and shows us ways to help one another accomplish His goals. It is the responsibility of church leadership to see that the body is equipped for works of service and outreach. The truth is no one else is going to do this for you. As church leaders, we must be intentional about the essentials of missionality: authentic worship, spiritual formation, world awareness and a commitment to embrace the covenant call. Whatever it takes. The world has come to our doorstep - want to reach Hindus in India? Try starting with the ones in your local college community. These upper caste young adults will likely return to India sometime in the future as professionals and leaders among a caste you could rarely penetrate as a missionary on the field. There are areas of the DFW Metroplex where people groups live and function every day in their native language. How will you reach the UPG's on your own doorstep? It's not always about going. Usually it's about being Christ incarnate in your own community. The Church is Sufficient - It is sufficient because by virtue of the fact that it is the church, it has been equipped by God through the Holy Spirit to do everything He has called it to do. We've been misled (with the best of intentions) to believe that the church is not equipped to accomplish the Great Commission task. We've been led to believe that the task of taking the Gospel to the world is only for professionals and vocational servants who are sponsored by boards, agencies and denominational entities. I have great admiration for the professional missionary and the vocational servants (I happen to be married to one.) But God has reminded me over and over again in recent days that the gospel preceded Paul to Rome and that churches like Antioch were the result of a scattered persecuted church. Every believer who possesses the Spirit of God is equipped to share the Gospel in any place he/she is planted - whether it's Irving or Nepal. Perhaps as church leaders we simply need to spend some time unearthing the treasures buried within the lives of our congregations. Many believers do not understand the potential of the power and gifts they possess. The church is sufficient - to love, to grace, to share, to proclaim, to restore and to reach the lost for Christ. Jesus is the only Way. Lest you ever allow other deceiving voices to gain volume in your heart, read and re-read the Gospel of John. That has been my spiritual journey in the last month. If the rest of Scripture were extracted from the only Bible you possessed, the *I am* statements of Jesus as recorded by his beloved disciple are sufficient motivation for missional living. The heart of a loving, gracious and forgiving Father God is as clear as the first piercing light of creation. God loved the world so much He sent His only Son. Now that is worth living for. It's also worth dying for. Seems it never rains in Southern California Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before It never rains in California But girl, don't they warn ya It pours man it pours. I praise God for pouring out His abundant living waters on me. I look forward to hearing from you.

It Is Time

2007-06-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

by Mike Stroope

For the past ten years, I have been seriously thinking about and campaigning for the local church's involvement in the worldwide mission of God. My conviction that the church should take the leading role in missions has not diminished over these years but has only increased as I have studied Scripture and considered the task of missions. Because God's mission is to reconcile the world to Himself, the church must find its purpose and meaning in this mission. I am convinced more than ever that the local church must be more than a passive observer of this mission; it is meant to be at its frontlines. As the church prepares for mission, sends its people to the nations, and participates directly in the harvest that is to come, it is the church. Because it exists for God's sending, the church has no option but to center its life and activity in His mission.

And yet, questions about how the local church's mission activity will look and by what means the church is to go to the nations seem to be the overwhelming concern. I hear pastors and church leaders voice deep conviction that their churches must do missions, but in the end most of them stumble over how it is to be done and by what means. That which we are deeply committed to is left undone because our familiar and convenient mission paths have disappeared. So, we want to do missions, but we don't know how or by what means. What is needed is a clear mission pathway, a vision of the way forward.

This past month I traveled to Niger, West Africa with a group from First Baptist Church, Arlington. What I saw inspired and challenged me. I offer two observations that I feel could provide us with direction for a way forward.

First, the seed of the gospel is powerful. I saw that a simple presentation of the story of God's love and sacrifice in Jesus Christ could trigger a response from people who had never heard. A Muslim man traveled from a nearby village, heard the story for the first time, and immediately said, "I want to follow Jesus." The story is not hard to tell nor is it complicated. It does not require much from us, except accurate telling. This is because inherent in the story is the power to change men, women, and children! The mission of the church is not rocket science. Its mission is to sow the powerful gospel seed and trust that it will produce a bountiful harvest. We need to remember that this gospel "is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16), and thus, we do not control or produce its powerful effect. Structures and logistics exist only to serve the seed and are not in themselves the mission or its power. The mission of God is the broadcasting of this powerful seed by faithful sowers. I was reminded that my focus must be the seed and sowing.

Second, I observed rank-and-file, ordinary men and women of the church participating directly in the mission of God. Were they doing it with cross-cultural perfection, according to the latest strategy, or with super pure motives? No, but they were there, telling the simple story to people who had never heard, and they were there, loving men, women, and children in the name of Jesus. And they were there as part of a long-term commitment of the church, and they were the latest in a long chain of church members who had also been there. I saw an engineer, a social worker, a student, and a web designer, all members of a local church, sowing powerful gospel seed into lives of people in an African village. Alongside them were equally ordinary Fulani believers doing the same. These servants of the living God told the Jesus story to people who had never heard. Why? Because this is what the ordinary people of God do. Their calling is to give witness to their neighbor and to the ends of the earth.

While we stumble over the questions of how missions is to look and by what means it is to be done, literally millions of people in Niger, China, Brazil, Cambodia, and Zanzibar live their lives without knowledge of Jesus, and they pass into eternity without being reconciled to God. Scripture poses a set of questions to us: "How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent?" (Rom. 10:14-15) The story must be told and story-tellers must be sent, if people are to hear and believe. I have returned from Niger reminded that you and I will not be judged according to whether we correctly answer the logistical and structure questions of missions but according to how we respond to the command to send and tell.

In no way do I wish to minimize logistical and structural concerns. They are real and substantial. We must count the cost, we must responsibly attend to the details of going, and we must care for those we send. But I am afraid that we have become obsessed with these concerns to the extent that they blind us to our commission to tell the Jesus story. In a very real sense, these concerns have become a kind of anti- mission or a wet blanket that dampens or even extinguishes our passion for the mission of God. The truth is that we can miss the mission of God if we allow ourselves to be distracted by less than ultimate concerns or to become paralyzed by our inability to figure it all out. I believe the time for think-tanks and forums has passed. The time for talking is over. In fact, we can fool ourselves into thinking that because we have talked about missions, we are doing missions. We have talked enough. It is time to do missions.

One indication that now is the time to do missions is evidenced by the emergence of Global Connection Partnership Network, a new and unique church- based, sending entity. The goal of GCPN is to simplify the nuts and bolts of mission sending so that ordinary people from local churches are able to sow abundantly the seed of the gospel. As one who knows what it takes to send and sustain long-term witnesses, I am convinced that GCPN is positioned to provide necessary logistical support and structure, so that churches can move beyond these concerns and focus on effective sending of their people.

What is new and unique about this entity is that, unlike sending organizations of our past, GCPN is based in local churches and operates in a mutually interdependent relationship with churches to provide expertise, training, counsel, support, and collaborative sending. It is a hybrid organization that marries the essentials of our mission past with the best possibilities of our mission future. GCPN respects the missionary role of the church and serves its mission to be the people of God among the nations.

The time is now. It is time to be the people of God. . . going to the world, telling the simple story of God's love and redemption in Jesus, and loving real people in distant villages. It is time to join together. . .walk alongside, assist, and support each other. . . as we collectively pursue our commission to be the sent people of God. It is time for every tribe, people, tongue and nation to worship Jesus as their Lord and God. It is time.

Embracing the Covenant Call of God

2007-06-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

As I departed from the airport after placing a young DBU graduate on a plane destined for one of the most difficult countries in the world, I was overwhelmed by a huge sense of responsibility. I have placed literally thousands of volunteers on planes in my 26 years as a minister. But this was different. This student will not be back in two weeks with wonderfully naïve stories of adventure about the people she met and the places she went. No. This one will not be returning in two weeks or two months. She is gone to serve as an extension of my church among a people who don't want her in a land Satan has claimed his own. Her mother's tears were raining on my heart. This send-off was truly an act of faith for my church.

As I drove away, the haunting question I could not avoid was, "What is an act of faith in the American church?" When I pondered that question I felt a huge sense of shame. For in most American churches we equate faith with our willingness to take on the challenge of a bigger bank note. Faith in many churches is often related to the physical expansion of our facilities. Faith for the American minister may refer to our willingness to slightly offend the overly-indulged and complacent in order to move them to a place of minimal sacrifice, realizing the risk of offending some to the point of withholding money or transferring their membership to another local church. How many times have I asked my church to do something that was truly risky? The real answer to that question is, not often enough.

I want my church to be pleasing to God. I want to be a part of a missional body of believers. It is difficult to imagine that any church could be missional without understanding God's heart for the world and the role of God's people in fulfilling His heart's dream. From Genesis to Revelation the Word of God tells the story of a relational God who would go to the most God-like extremes to bring a rebellious mankind back into a loving relationship with Himself. The Old Testament people of God received a commission through their faith-Father, Abraham, to be a people through whom all the peoples on earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:5). The commission of His people was further clarified in God's words to Moses - You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The result of the Old Covenant commission is imagined in the writings of the psalmist who commanded the people of God. . .declare His glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord, most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. . .

The Old Covenant was initiated by a Sovereign God with a chosen people whose calling was to reconcile a sinful world. In this reconciliation, God's glory among the nations is the ultimate reality. Anything short of an acknowledgement of his glory is a denial of Truth.

The New Testament describes God's people as ministers of a new covenant. . .of the Spirit. . .that gives life (2 Cor. 3:5). Jesus clearly defines the role of the New Covenant People in relation to the nations:

. . .go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. . .

Churches desiring to become missional must realize the responsibility of the covenant. As Jesus clarified, the covenant has not changed, it has just been fulfilled. The Church's role as New Covenant People is to share the good news of this fulfillment so that God may be glorified. That is why Paul relates to New Covenant believers as ministers of reconciliation - that God is reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Until the Church ceases to see herself as only a recipient of the blessings of the covenant without embracing the responsibilities of the covenant, we are destined to fall short of God's intentions for us as the People of God. Yes, Israel was to receive blessing from God - but not that it might be grasped or held tightly, but that it might flow through her to a world that was lost. In the same way, the Church has been given the empowerment through the Spirit of God to be witnesses, ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation.

What would it mean for your church or mine to embrace the covenant call of God? No one can answer that for you but God Himself. But perhaps it may mean that we give less thought to cost, liability, face and form to focus on discipleship, formation, obedience, sacrifice and suffering. Now that's not popular American theology. We might even be forced to burn some chaff. So if we are measuring our success by budgets and numbers, we may be in for some serious re-shaping of our image. But in the end we will each answer the question, "What did you do with what I gave you?" I have a strong sense that the correct answer to that question will not be found in monuments and meetings. I have a feeling the correct answers to that question will be found in the names of individuals in a multitude with white robes holding palm branches in their hands.

I am praying for you as you seek God's direction for your church.
Shalom.
Cindy Wiles

Cooperating Autonomously

2007-05-15T14:11:00.000-05:00

The dam of anticipation broke free when Mr. Beaver sensed that what Narnia was eagerly awaiting was about to come true - Aslan was on the move. It is with the same sense of thrill that we watch the reality of our dreams for GCPN come true. God is on the move.

Sunday before last, the seven current GCPN interns from FBC Arlington attended church with those from Cottonwood Baptist in Dublin. Afterwards, this group of young saints gathered at Mike Stroope's house to share a meal, talk about their life processes and pray for those who will be leaving soon - particularly Katie, who will be going to East Asia in the next few weeks and Ashley, who will be leaving for SE Asia in June. As I sat in the floor listening to their stories of call, it suddenly struck me that there was a potentially explosive force of dunamis packed into a small room in the middle of a rural Texas farm community that was going to impact the world with Spirit power in the next couple of years. Armed with the love of Christ, a heart for the lost, and the skills to cross cultures, these amazing young people will change the world for the Kingdom. As our time together drew to a close, Mike Stroope asked with wonder the question that was drifting beneath the surface in my mind - WHAT IS GOD DOING??!!

I praise God for the faithful churches who will assume the responsibility for sending. This past Sunday I observed a church taking a bold step of faith as it commissioned a young DBU graduate to serve in one of the most difficult regions of the world. It was a beautiful New Testament picture of one being sent by the Holy Spirit and the Church - just as in Antioch. The dynamic was familial . . . the air sacred . . . the power Divine.

What is the answer to the missions puzzle? The answer is in the Church. The answer is the Church. Para-church organizations, mission sending boards and agencies, conventions and cooperative support efforts are vehicles that can enable some to serve. But they are not the church. The answer is in the church.

Many people have asked me, What is GCPN? What does GCPN do? The real answer to that question - GCPN is the church. It can be the sending branch of YOUR church. Our desire is to enable all churches to prepare and equip believers to live out their missional calling. We are not a sending board or agency. We are merely a community of faith that allows Baptists to do what they do best - cooperate autonomously. Baptists are cooperative by nature. We like to be a part of something bigger than ourselves - to be Kingdom connected. Yet, as Baptists, we like to remain autonomous, maintaining our sense of calling and utilizing our own corporate giftedness in Kingdom endeavors. That is the beauty of our network. As I looked around the room of GCPN interns preparing to serve all over the world, I asked myself the question, What can we share that will make this task easier? The answers are pretty concrete.

We can share leadership. The common factor that everyone in that room in Dublin shared was a missiological guide. Every person in the room had been shaped, sharpened and affected in some way by the missiological leadership of Mike Stroope. In the short time I have known him, Cottonwood's pastor, Mike Fritcher, has shaped my understanding of what it means to be a church that loves well. Others will arise from within our churches who feel the divine obligation to share what they know. What can you contribute to the Kingdom in the area of shared leadership? We will all benefit if you are able to answer that question.

We can share information. My church has just completed a several month study of the process and structures that are necessary to be a responsible sending church. If not for the input of other churches like Cottonwood, Grace Community, Antioch and others, we would still be somewhere near "square one." But because these churches were willing to share information, we find ourselves ready to send our first missionary. We have put that process in generic form and will be glad to share this information with any church that needs it. What information has been most beneficial to your church's missional maturity that you can share with others? We will all benefit if you are able to answer that question.

We can share resources. What does missional preparation look like in practical terms? We will soon have the benefit of seeing in print the GCPN Global Learning Laboratory curriculum that Mike Stroope is writing. Your church can implement this training within your own community. Who can do assessment for missionary candidates preparing to go to the field? GCPN has assembled a growing assessment team made up of medical, dental, psychological and educational professionals who offer their services - many of them free of cost. Perhaps there are professionals within your church who would like to be a part of this team. These are just a couple of examples of many resources we can share as we seek to raise up spiritually mature believers equipped for Kingdom service. What resources have you developed that you can share with the community of churches? We will all benefit if you are able to answer that question.

We can share structures. We will be sending our missionaries through a couple of non-profit corporations that have been established just for the purpose of being shared by churches within the network. Why start another non-profit if you can use one that is already established with a core commitment to the belief that each church should develop its own strategies and manage its own missionaries? We will all benefit if you are able to answer that question.

We can share money. . . with network churches which have less financial resource. One church within the network has chosen to model this principle of selflessness by committing 5% of its direct missionary support funds to be utilized by other GCPN churches. Is it your responsibility to enable other churches to send? That is the equivalent of the question, am I my brother's keeper? I can promise you the Kingdom will benefit if you are able to answer that question.

What does your church have to share? The answer to that question is something. I encourage you to think in terms of corporate giftedness for Kingdom success. We're all in this together. We're the church. Is there such a thing as cooperative autonomy? Sure there is. We're living proof.

Shalom.

Cindy

Essential Roots for the Missional Body of Believers

2007-05-15T14:10:00.000-05:00

The following article, focusing upon the Biblical Foundations for Missions, has been submitted by Dennis Wiles, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas

Biblical Foundation for Missions

2007-05-15T14:07:00.001-05:00

Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:5-6

Fundamentally, the Bible is about God. As Robert Cates points out in Old Testament Roots for a New Testament Faith, the Bible reveals a God Who Is and a God Who Acts.So, who is this God of the Bible? What does He do? Obviously, we can't exhaustively answer those questions in a short article in an online newsletter. (Not that I could answer these questions definitively anyway!)

However, we can address one aspect of God's character and the activity associated with it. So, let's do that.

The God of the Bible is a relational God. He desires to be in relationship with the crowning glory of His creation - namely, human beings. On page one of Holy Scripture we discover that God made man in His image (Genesis 1:26-28). At the very least this means that mankind can be in relationship with the Creator. As the pages of the biblical drama unfold, it is readily apparent this truly is God's desire.Time and again, God demonstrates His love for people. He lives in relationship with them. He talks to them. He listens to their pleas. He reacts to their plight. He reveals Himself as a loving God who cares deeply about each human being.

On page three of the biblical material, the relationship so desired by God is marred by the sinfulness of mankind. The result is brokenness. God responds to this brokenness with both judgment and compassion. He judges sin. But he is unwilling to sever the relationship with human beings. A great plan is set in motion that will culminate in a personal visit from God through His Son. All of this aimed at restoring the broken relationship between human beings and their Creator.

My point? God is a seeking, missionary God. His actions in both the Old and New Testaments clearly demonstrate this truth. He called Israel to Himself in relationship. They were to be His people. He then commissioned them as priests to reach the nations (Exodus 19:5-6). Israel was to serve as His emissary to the rest of creation. Unfortunately, God's desire was not lived out through Israel for a number of reasons.Jesus issues a similar commission for the New Covenant people of God - the church. We are to "Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples." (Matthew 28:19 - CEV)The biblical mandate to go to the nations is found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Obviously, God intends for us to do it. We have no option but to be obedient. We must go, pray, go, send, go and give.

Several churches in the New Testament era recognized the responsibility of this commission. The church in Antioch sent out the first missionaries from their body. These men went throughout that region of the world, preaching the Gospel and establishing other churches. Churches joined this effort and the Gospel was proclaimed so fervently that by the beginning of the 4th century, the Roman Emperor Constantinople would declare Christianity as the official religion of the empire. Wow!God is still a relational God. He remains a missionary God. If we are going to be like Him, we must be missionary people.

To Him be the glory as we go to the nations on His behalf.

Dennis R. Wiles

Maintaining View

2007-04-21T03:25:00.000-05:00

While backpacking near the Continental Divide in SW Colorado with my husband and a couple of friends, our group encountered a steep and treacherous trail that was a six mile ascent to our first day's destination - a valley where we were to set up a base camp. Loaded with a little more than half my body weight in my pack, the rocky winding trail required constant attention. I found myself staring intently at the trail, searching for the next secure step upon which to place my muddy boot. At one point, totally out of breath, I paused on the trail for a brief rest. Motionless for a moment, I finally felt secure enough to lift my eyes from the trail to explore my surroundings. Turning my back to the mountain, I gazed across the vast valley below. The lush valley was surrounded by rugged snowcapped peaks that towered like mighty giants over the flowered fields beneath their feet. Tall elegant pines of deep forest green stood erect like exclamation marks declaring praise to their Creator and salute to the powerful giants that loomed above them. I was awestruck. And I was stunned to realize that I had been walking with this potential view for quite some time, unnoticed because the trail demanded my intense focus to my own feet upon the sod.

It is a similar season in the life of GCPN - a time of steep climb up an unfamiliar path that is demanding a lot of intense focus and attention. It seems I spend literal weeks trying to ascend the challenges of establishing two non-profit organizations, develop processes and procedures, set up accounting systems, produce documents, develop contracts, design assessment teams, obtain and produce training materials, and occasionally feed my family and smile.

Today Ashley came by my office to visit. She is preparing for her June departure from our church to serve in one of the most challenging countries in the world. Like a graceful arrow propelled from the bowstring of her church body, she will land among a downcast people with a message of hope tied to her shaft. Her free and genuine smile was captivating. The beauty and joy she emotes in her obedience poured forth from her like a refreshing fountain. In those moments my eyes were lifted from the trail beneath my feet to gaze upon God's majesty that has been surrounding me all along.

With gratitude to the Father I can stop to gaze at my surroundings and assess how far we've come:

Two non-profits have been established which can be utilized by any church in our network for sending its people into the world.

Generic processes have been developed and will soon be available to all churches in the network to position them for sending.

Monies are being set aside to support other national believers in reaching their own people or sending them to a lost world.

Monies are being channeled to GCPN to be shared with network churches who want to send their own people but lack sufficient resource.

An assessment team is already functioning to provide medical, dental, psychological and educational assessment to families and individuals who are being sent from our churches.

Interns are in the process of training and serving in our Global Learning Laboratory.

Others who feel the call to serve in cross-cultural scenarios are being aligned for preparation and training.

GCPN interns are taking a pre-commission mission trip into an unreached area of the world.

God is being glorified through the lives of obedient people.

The climb is by no means over. This life of obedience will be a continuum of climbs, level places and even occasional descents. But to maintain view is crucial. Let us pause. Let us raise our Ebenezer and proclaim with our eye fixed on the Summit, "Thus far has the Lord sustained us."

Walking in faith with you,

Cindy

Essential Roots for the Missional Body of Believers

2007-04-21T03:23:00.000-05:00

In the past few editions of the GCPN Communiqué we have been discussing the Essential Roots of a Missional Church. The following article, focusing upon World Awareness, has been submitted by Bill Wimberley, Perspectives Area Director, Austin, Texas. Bill is the President and COO of Preserche Life Sciences, LP and a member of Austin Stone Community Church. He and his wife, Toni, are mission mobilizers who have served in North Africa, Middle East, China and Central Asia.

Is the World Round or Flat. . . and Why Should We Care?

2007-04-21T03:07:00.000-05:00

In Pursuit of World Awareness

By Bill Wimberley

In his 2005 best selling book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman sets out to prove that the world is indeed flat (and getting flatter) . . .at least from the perspectives of communication, business and commerce. He begins his book with the following quote from Christopher Columbus' diary at the outset of his famous voyage in 1492:

"Your Highness, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the Holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet (Muhammad), and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the aforementioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no evidence that anyone has ever gone."

Clearly, heading westerly was not Columbus' first choice, but since the traditional trade routes of Spain and other European countries to the Far East had been effectively seized and blocked by the followers of Muhammad, Columbus was forced to head into a direction that he was sure no one has ever gone before. Columbus was convinced the world was round. Therefore, he would eventually make his way to India and accomplish his mission. Little did he know that the world was much greater in circumference than he had calculated. As Americans we are reminded often of his misjudgment of fact - he dubbed the curious new people he met upon reaching land, Indians.

With a similar sense of mission that had characterized Columbus, Christian missionaries that followed him to other distant lands endured great hardships, disease, separation from family for years, and even death in the pursuit of their God-given calling. Little was known about far-off lands and their peoples in the early days of William Carey, Hudson Taylor, Cameron Townsend, Lottie Moon, and others. Transportation was difficult, communication was slow to non- existent, medical supplies were rare, languages were unknown and cultures were misunderstood. Yet, these brave souls set out on faith journeys compelled by the conviction that they had been crucified with Christ and it was no longer they who lived, but Christ who lived in them. These were true pioneers of the faith who were sold out to Christ and His purposes. . . regardless of the obstacles!

So, what does a secular book like Friedman's have to do with modern day missions and completing the task of the Great Commission? Perhaps more than you think. You see, Friedman was out to prove that a variety of global factors have effectively flattened the world and leveled the playing field in many respects. He comes to the conclusion that there are some aspects of this flattening that are good. Some are bad. And some are terrifying. None the less, they are a reality of a rapidly changing world and we must understand them. Since the days of William Carey our world has seen unprecedented advances in communication, computer technology, travel efficiency, shipping and distribution effectiveness, etc. Globalization, urbanization, free trade agreements, nation formation, regime change, and other such factors are effectively shrinking (or flattening) our world . . .right before our eyes. Friedman is no missioligist, but the realities he and other world observers are pointing out to us should be carefully considered and studied as we reflect on the mandate of completing the task of the Great Commission.

Churches committed to a missional perspective need to be aware of the current state of missions. For instance . . . according to the World Christian Database (World Christian Database), and the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (lausanne ), we find some surprising statistics our churches should be made aware of:

Despite Christ's command to evangelize, 67% of all humans from AD 30 to the present day have never even heard His name.

648 million Christians today (called Great Commission Christians) are active in Christ's world mission; 1,352 million Christians seem to ignore this mission.

Non-Christian countries have been found to have 227 million Bibles in place in their midst, (more than needed to serve all Christians) but they are poorly distributed.

124 million new souls begin life on Earth each year, but Christianity's 4,000+ foreign mission agencies baptize only 4 million new persons a year.

91% of all Christian outreach/evangelism efforts are expended in World C locations, where the Gospel is already rooted and the church is thriving.

818 different un-evangelized, ethno- linguistic peoples have never been targeted by any Christian agency to date.

40% of the church's entire global mission resources are being deployed to just 10 overly-saturated countries already possessing strong citizen-run home ministries.

98.7% of people have access to scripture in 6,700 languages leaving 78 million in 6,800 languages with no access at all.

Only 1 out of every 4 missionaries is working in a pioneer ministry among non- Christian peoples of the major religious blocs.

Of foreign mission giving, 87% goes toward work among those already Christian, 12% goes for work among already evangelized non- Christians, and 1% goes for work among people groups in the un-evangelized or unreached category.

Out of 648 million Great Commission Christians, 70% have never been told about World A's 1.6 billion un-evangelized individuals.

Every place on Earth can reasonably be targeted with at least 3 of the 45 varieties of effective evangelism.

(See Lausanne World Pulse for more details)

These statistics do not diminish the extraordinary efforts of the faithful, but it does give some indication of the task yet remaining for the evangelical church.

In 1976 Francis Schaeffer posed a question for his generation, in his book How Should We Then Live? Whether you agree or disagree with Schaeffer's conclusions, he asks an important question for every generation to consider. Based upon the facts and realities of this world in this age, how should we then live? What is our responsibility in the face of a rapidly changing world? Could the "flattening" of our world represent an awesome opportunity to finish the task?

Over the last two years, my wife and I have made several vision trips to places including North Africa, China, Central Asia and the Middle East. We visited numerous countries and observed some extraordinary mission projects - most within the least reached areas of the world. With respect to the flattening world, we observed the following:

Air travel to and from was easy, relatively painless, and often cost less than flying across the U.S.

Communication in and out of the countries was easy with ready access to telephone and internet. . . even in the most ancient and remote of settings. Case in point . . . Afghanistan has over 1 million cell phone subscribers!

Shipping of materials and supplies was uncomplicated and inexpensive, in most cases.
Everywhere we have gone, the majority of homes (from mud hut to shack to city apartment) have a satellite TV access.

The language of business and commerce was similar. Western business was considered supreme and was highly regarded and coveted.

English was considered the language of success and prosperity. Although ancient cultures and languages remained - indigenous peoples also wanted to know English.

Among illiterates, story-telling and other oral communication was highly effective.

In Morocco - one of our least-reached areas - new Free Trade Agreement is paving the way for unprecedented commerce and business cooperation with the U.S. Other opportunities for free trade and business are emerging across the 10/40 Window.

Even a casual study of history, the growth of the Christian church, and our Bible reveals that none of this has caught our sovereign God by surprise. And none of it is out of His control. Quite the contrary, God, Himself, is "flattening" our world and changing its dynamics for His purposes and for His glory. Today we know more about the least reached peoples of the world than ever before. We have more access to closed countries (even if only by satellite TV, radio or Internet) than ever in history. Business and commerce advances are opening unprecedented doors for Kingdom-minded business people. Even the unfortunate tragedies of war and natural disaster are opening up opportunities for the Gospel in places and among peoples that have in the past been beyond our reach.

Our response? We must become World Christians - knowledgeable of world events, ready for world access, and seeking opportunities to leverage the resources we have at our disposal. We should explore what God is masterfully doing to open avenues for the Gospel. We must partner with other members of the Body of Christ, particularly growing indigenous churches, and work together. Never in history has there been more opportunity for the spread of the Gospel!

Is the world round or flat. . . yes! And, yes, we should care!

Bill Wimberley

Living in a New Era

2007-03-22T16:41:00.000-05:00

Do you ever feel that you've somehow fallen into a fast stream and are being swept along toward some great end that you cannot envision nor attempt to control? Or perhaps you have caught the crest of the Spirit’s wave and ridden it to a golden shore? You open your e-mail and find connections you never dreamed of and would have never known to seek out on your own that enable you to accomplish God’s will as He has revealed it to you? I don’t know about you, but I love seasons in which I am running to keep up with God – seasons in which He is apparently working, arranging, aligning and enabling so that his children have the joy of being participants in His accomplished will.

I pinch myself every now and then to see if it’s real. Yes, my church, FBC Arlington, will be sending out its first missionary in June and there is a line assembling behind her, preparing to come out the chute into the unreached world soon. In God’s time.

Cottonwood is faithfully preparing to send yet two more missionary units out this summer and God is assembling a force of front-line people from that church who will go out in God’s time. I laughed in the GCPN Board of Directors meeting last month when Mike Fritcher said, “The only numerical goal I have is the number of missionaries I want to see come out of my church!”

First Baptist Plano has landed right in the middle of God’s will! They have been surprised by joy to discover the people group God has chosen for them to work among. Jerry Carlisle shared his sense that God has some amazing challenges in store for his church as they join him in sharing Christ’s love with this people.

We are living in a new era. It is a season of the reclamation of the commission task and the re-marriage of the local and sent church. It is challenging. It requires faith. It is work. But it’s of God. And God has never asked His church to do anything He didn’t enable her to do. I am praying for each of you to experience God’s power and presence as you lead your church in obedience to His call.

Press On!
Cindy Wiles,
Executive Director

Essential Roots for the Missional Body of Believers

2007-03-22T16:31:00.000-05:00

As part of our series, Essential Roots for the Missional Body of Believers, we will focus on the essential role of authentic worship. The following article has been submitted by Barry Rock, Associate Pastor of Music and Worship at First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas.

Authentic Worship and the Missional Church

How does real worship in a local Body of Christ help to lay a foundation for leading that Body to share the Gospel at home and abroad? In searching my own soul, I found there a vast number of answers and questions pertaining to this central issue. I have chosen six words that seem to help me in my understanding. I hope they serve to spur you to think about the role of worship in your own life and church.

1. Focus

At its core, worship is an act of focus. It is a conscious decision to set aside the noise of the world and to concentrate upon the majesty of the Creator. In that act of willful-focus we may uncover a multitude of things. Among them: our own inadequacy, the transcendent love of a Savior, the reframing of our ambitions, the power that only God can provide, clarity of thought, overwhelming awe and appropriate fearfulness. At the end of it all, however, is the undeniable knowledge that the aim of life is not seeking our pleasure but God’s. Our chief aim is to please Him. All else fades when we truly find those moments of self- abandoned worship. In that God-focus, we find that we cannot live without Him and, by extension; neither can or should anyone else.

2. Appreciation

Worship causes us to appreciate who God is and what He has done. It causes us to look beyond ourselves and appreciate the uniqueness of those around us, realizing that Christ made them who they are. Often, churches that find their worship to be divisive have never explored this issue. As humans, we are prone to think first about our own needs, desires, tastes and abilities. It is difficult to push past that wall. Our tendency, unfortunately, is to filter God’s message through those proclivities. That can lead us to believe that whatever deviates from our own particular views of worship, its meaning and forms, is not true worship and is to be held suspect or even disdained. True worship is of the heart. God sees into the being of the worshiper—something I cannot do. God-focused worship leads us to appreciate the truth in each individual believer. As we learn to appreciate the beauty of the worship of others on our pew, we are one step closer to realizing the diversity of world-Christians, their needs and expressions of faith. We are also one step farther from provincialism and selfishness.

3. Unity

Authentic worship is an act of unification. Real worship ALWAYS draws the members of the Body closer together. That it is not to deny discipline, discussion and disagreement, but, in its essence, worship is unity. The protons and neutrons of the local church rotate relentlessly about the nucleus of worshiping God. In that unity, we are asked not so much to give up our personal tastes, likes and dislikes and opinions, as to subjugate them to the greater good: the realization that we ought to learn appreciation for the gifts and needs of those who sit next to us. Real worship pushes us beneath the superficial and asks us to sense as God senses. In that unity we celebrate and support the variety of tasks necessary to expand and keep healthy the Kingdom. We, hands, ears, feet and mouths, truly become one glorious Body. I believe that the unity found in worship heightens our desire to draw others into that Body. When we know His love and the acceptance of fellow believers, we ache that others may know this same love and acceptance.

4. Heart

The more time we spend with God the more His heart becomes our own. Just like children become reflections of their parents, so we become reflections of our heavenly Father. In worship, we ask God to reveal Himself. When He does, we are changed. A part of me wants to say “forever changed.” I omitted that. I do believe that in salvation there are parts of us that are changed once and for all. But, self- awareness causes me to realize there are many things within my own heart that need to be re-examined and revisited. We must die to ourselves daily. A one-time worship experience is not what we need. Rather, we need regular times of private and corporate worship when God can show His power and grace anew. Our hearts are infinitely adjustable and, as that great hymn states, “prone to wander.” Disciplined lives of worship result in hearts with God- perspective. Our hearts before His throne begin to comprehend the world around us apart from our own selfishness and need. He “tunes our hearts” to sing His praise. Our hearts, touched by His love, grace and mercy, long to sing into the hearts of others who have not heard. The psalmist said, “Change my heart, O God.” That is exactly the result of authentic worship.

5. Story

A part of our corporate worship is the retelling of the story of salvation. By the perpetuation of those stories of faith, we proclaim to all who He is and what He means to us. We are instructed to tell our children, share with others, proclaim the good news, carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth—we are instructed to tell, retell and keep on telling the message of salvation. As we do that in worship, we see people won to Christ in our midst. We also stoke the fire in the hearts of believers to be missionaries at home and around the world. Who among us hasn’t been moved by the testimony of another as they reveal God’s power to save in their own lives? Our neighbors, our co-workers, our classmates, our nation, our world, need to hear THE Story. In our worship we find and share power in a corporate celebration of who God is and what He has done.

6. Foundation

The health of a local church is in direct proportion to the health of its worship. The health of mission efforts at home and abroad is in direct proportion to the health of local churches. The syllogism is clear: healthy worship is fundamental to thriving missions. I am certainly no missiologist, but my simple understanding is that the local church is God’s ordained instrument for carrying His message into the world. We are instructed to join together as believers. In that joining we share resources, gifts and strength. We find the health that comes from a group vision and not a “Lone Ranger” approach to ministry. Growing healthy, worship-focused local churches is indispensable to spreading the Gospel of Christ.

Any worship leader, asked to write on this subject, could have chosen from a multitude of formats and issues; mine barely scratch the surface. In my years in church and education, I have come to believe that a worthy discussion or debate is just the introduction to a struggle. I hope that these few thoughts cause you to “struggle.” Our world is in need. From the family members who share our homes, to people in the most remote parts of our world, each one was created to hear the Good News. Each one is an object of God’s longing and affection. My hope is that the worship in our churches will make us more like God and consequently allow others to see Him in us as we carry His love around the globe.

Barry Rock

Associate Pastor of Music and Worship

First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas

Who is Defining the Priorities of Our Church’s Mission Efforts?

2007-03-22T16:25:00.000-05:00

The following article, submitted by Stan Parks, International Connector for WorldConneX, challenges pastors and missions leaders to break free from good mission endeavors to seek out God’s mission endeavors. It challenges us to question who is defining the priorities of our church’s mission efforts.

If we seek to reach the world according to our own priorities then we are doomed to frustration and failure. The Lord desires obedience not sacrifice, so as disciples of Christ we must consider God’s priorities and shape our efforts to be in sync with His will. Based upon the Gospel message and the Commission of Jesus, I believe there are three priorities we should consider:

Priority 1: God’s Glory -- God and His Glory is both the beginning and end of missions.

Missions was birthed in His heart because He is a Missionary God reaching out to a lost humanity. The end of missions is the worship of God as is well shown in Revelation 7:9- 10 “After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd---no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They called out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!" In our efforts to obey God’s Commission to us, it is crucial that we prioritize God’s glory. We need to avoid pursuing human-sized goals with human-strength plans but earnestly and continually pray that the Holy Spirit will empower us to be vessels for God’s glory.

Priority 2: Growing the Body of Christ -- The church is the goal of missions.

The goal of missions is to see the Body of Christ birthed and expanded within a people, tribe, nation, language, and/or place. Ministry that does not see local churches birthed is often valuable, but until these church “communities of faith” are established and extended, the goal of missions has not been reached. However, this goal is not an end in itself or the church becomes guilty of breaking the first commandment. The newly established church must be encouraged and taught that it is their mandate to reach out within their own group and beyond to the entire world. However, when we speak of growing the Body of Christ, we do not just mean numbers of converts and churches started. We must ask God to grow the church not just in quantity but also in quality. It is not enough to start churches if those churches are selfish and powerless. We must ask God to use us to start churches that are being continually transformed by God and in turn serving God in transforming their communities and nations.

Priority 3: Extending God’s Kingdom -- The unreached must be our priority in missions.

Is it right that some hear the gospel twice when others have never heard it once? Or some hear it 10 times, 100 times, 1000 times, even 10,000 times when some have never heard it one single time? Evangelism is sharing the good news, while missions is sharing the good news where it is news. There can be no question that while we are called to many good efforts, our priority in world missions today must be those living beyond the gospel. God does not wish that anybody should perish but that everybody would repent (2 Peter 3:9). Approximately 27% of the world’s population has no access to the gospel and just as tragically 39.5% of the world’s population are members of ethne without a culture-impacting indigenous church. If reaching the world is the charge Jesus gave us as His disciples, then we cannot defend the vast sums of money and time spent on ourselves while we pray and go and spend so little to reach those most in need of the gospel. This is not to say that we should only focus on the unreached, because no church can be truly concerned about the unreached without being concerned about the lost around them. But as a worldwide church we find it much easier to prioritize ourselves and those around us at the expense of those with the greatest need for the gospel.

So if your church is seeking to obey Jesus’ mission commission by worshipping and glorifying Him in your words and deeds, a key priority should be helping reach out and start churches among unreached cities, nations, peoples and groups that will in turn bring glory to God by their transformed lives and transforming service to their communities and their resulting efforts to bring the good news to other cities, nations, peoples and groups.

Nurturing Your Church into a Sending Community

2007-03-01T20:24:00.000-06:00

The Fruits and Roots of a Missional Church: Essential Roots (Part 2) - Cindy Wiles

We had no idea what we were doing. I had been challenged by my spiritual mentor, a 30-year missionary and church mobilizer with the IMB, to lead my church beyond its boundaries to become an engaging church. All I really understood of that challenge was that God wanted my church to move beyond partnership with missionaries to begin working independently among an unengaged segment of a people group. The term unengaged is used to define a people group that does not have an indigenous church or any missionary personnel working among it.

My church sent out its first scout team in the fall of 2005 to locate Fulani villages in an unexplored area of SW Niger. Although we had been working among the Fulani of West Africa for several years, we had never attempted to enter an unengaged area without the assistance of missionary personnel. With GPS in hand and a local translator at their side, our two scouts set out on foot for a course destination 40 miles away. They were in search of scattered villages of nomadic Fulani people. More specifically, what they really hoped to find was a man of peace.

His name was Amadou, a young man who gathered with others to listen to a story from God’s Word. At the end of the story, Chad Hullender said, “We have told you a couple of stories we know. Do you have any stories to tell us?”

“Can you tell me how to follow the Jesus Way?” the young man asked.

“What?” Chad reacted with surprise. Just a couple of brief stories from God’s Word and the door so easily swung open? So this is where our story of engagement began. A year-and-a-half later, we are continuing our work in Amadou’s home, the village of Sounga, Niger. Through medical/dental clinics, sharing Biblical stories, spending time in relationship- building, sending in indigenous believers and simply loving Fulani people in the name of Jesus we have seen our first person choose to follow Jesus. The brother of the Koranic teacher has chosen the path to life.

I have just returned from Sounga in January. As our team was preparing to depart the village, the chief’s oldest adult son came to us. He said, “You care about us. You have held and kissed our children even when they are sick and dirty. You have brought us medicine. And you have taught us about Isa [Jesus]. How would we have ever known about Isa if you had not come here to teach us? You must continue to teach us so that we can learn and then teach others.”

We remind ourselves daily that we are seeking three fruits in Sounga: saved souls, mature disciples and a reproducing indigenous church. Every action we take must somehow lead us toward this end.

How did we get to Sounga? The same way we have gotten to Mission Arlington, Russia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico, Indonesia, New Orleans, Congo, GCPN, Texas prisons, the gay community and West Africa. It all started with some basic roots that are deeply embedded in the Foundation of our church. I have come to view these roots as the essentials for a missional body of believers:

Authentic Worship – the primary motivation for a missional body of believers is to see God glorified. Worship that glorifies God is worship that pleases God. It is worship in spirit and truth. When God is the recipient and sole audience of our worship, personal preferences about style and genre play no part. God desires authentic worship of many kinds. Only He can determine what is pleasing. He sees the heart. Missional people are worshiping people.

Biblical Foundation – God’s Word is a story about a loving God who desires relationship with all people. It is the story of a God who would go to the most divine extreme to bring man back into relationship with Him. It’s a story about God seeking man and it teaches believers to seek man as well. An understanding of the God who gave his Word is essential for a missional people.

World Awareness – Just how lost does the world have to be in order for God’s people to be bothered by that fact? In order to for us to be motivated to reach a lost world, we have to understand the measure of that lostness. In order to effectively relate to that world, we have to understand its realities. A missional church spends time and energy studying the world.

Covenant Obedience – The Old Covenant and the New Covenant are based upon a commission. In God’s call to Abram (which He further clarified to Moses) the Covenant is about all nations being blessed through a royal priesthood and holy nation. Jesus’ Commission to the New Covenant people is to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I [Jesus] have commanded. Missional churches embrace the responsibilities of the covenant.

A Commitment to the Greatest Commandments – Jesus was asked, “Which is the greatest of the commandments?” His reply . . . "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.” A church committed to living-out these commandments is a church that will be missional by nature.

The next five issues of the Communiqué will be devoted to further exploration of these essential roots. You will hear words from pastors and missional servants who have lived and led their churches to establish this root system. The community would love to hear from you as well. Please share with all of us the truths you have learned in leading your church to be a missional people.

Pastor's Vision Trip 2007 - Churches Reaching the Unreached

2007-02-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

Led by: Mike Stroope, Dennis Wiles and Cindy Wiles

Dates: May 14-23, 2007

Location: Niger, West Africa

Join Mike, Dennis and Cindy on a tour of SW Niger to explore God's calling for our churches to reach unreached peoples.

This tour will include:

Exposure to unreached populations in both urban and rural settings

Exploration of ways our churches can engage unreached peoples

Hands-on opportunities to share your faith and Biblical Stories with lost people

Interactive educational opportunities in the area of church planting

Interaction with Great Commission workers from both Baptist and non-Baptist perspectives (to include SIM, SIL, CMA, IMB, non-denominational, European Baptist as well as local evangelists and leaders)

Opportunities for you to assist pastors and leaders of small Fulani and Zarma churches in areas of Biblical study, church leadership and discipleship

Deadline for registration is March 23, 2007.

Cost per person: $2500

For more information contact Cindy Wiles at cindy.wiles@fbca.org or Miriam Plowman at miriam.plowman@fbca.org

Nurturing Your Church into A Sending Community! Part 2

2007-02-13T18:17:00.000-06:00

by Mike Fritscher, Pastor Cottonwood Baptist Church

Cottonwood’s journey into becoming a Sending Community has not been instant nor has it been explosive. I think of our Church’s transformation into becoming a Sending People as markers! One of those markers was when Mike Stroope and a couple of his associates came to Cottonwood in January of 1999. The challenge from Mike’s heart to the heart of Cottonwood was one of a pursuit of God’s Glory to the ends of the earth. We came to believe that day God was calling us to declare His glory to the ends of the earth, at home and every place in between.

That Sunday night we began the journey of becoming a sent people. I do not recall the word “sent” being used that night. As a matter of fact it wasn’t until just a couple of years ago that we even began to specifically define ourselves as a sent people! We have churches who refer to themselves as “global”, “Great Commission Churches” or "missional" but rarely do we hear a church refer to themselves as a “Sent People”!

Say "Yes" to God’s Glory!

Nurturing our Church to become a sent people began when we said “Yes” to the Glory of God. We must understand there are regions and places in this world where Christ is neither mentioned nor worshipped. God’s plan has always been to use His people to declare His name to these people! For Cottonwood our “Yes” meant that we adopt an unreached people group where there was little to no access to the gospel and do whatever God called us to do to bring His glory to these people!

Find the People God Is Calling You To!

We knew God was calling us to a people who had never heard of Jesus. We sensed God’s call to a “closed” country in SE Asia where there are 100's of “minority”, tribal groups where the gospel had not been proclaimed. I was invited to go on a trip to this country with other pastors and mission pastors. We traveled the country meeting with leaders and engaging unreached people groups (UPG's). We returned from that country and soon sent a team of eight people who met with four different leaders who were working among four different UPG's. Our team returned and reported their belief that God was calling us to the H people of Southeast Asia. The entire church rejoiced that day believing we were truly answering the call to declare His glory to the ends of the earth!

Start Sending Your People!

We began immediately sending our people to engage the H people. We began to partner with an existing team in the country by sending three families to live among these people for two years. They began to learn the language and engage the H. We also began sending short term teams who would spend anywhere from two weeks to three months working with local H communities. We have sent agricultural, ESL, medical, prayer walking and personnel support. For a number of years we felt this was the place God was calling us.

As the years unfolded, we began to sense God was inviting us to other peoples around the world! As a result of a continued “Yes” to His glory we have targeted other unreached peoples. We have begun to send our people to peoples in Mexico and Africa. We have also said "Yes" to the Navajo of Arizona.

Say "Yes" to the Glory of God in Your Life and Church!

Much of what we have become as a Sent people has been due to the pursuit of glorifying God not only among the nations but among the community of believers in our midst! We must say "Yes" to the glory of God in our individual lives! We are constantly challenging our people to believe God’s glory is to be reflected in their lives regardless of their involvement in engaging the nations. We believe that intimacy with God and others precedes ministry! So we work hard at presenting a transforming word. We teach the Glory of God is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”! Christ comes into our lives to crush the head of the enemy, take away sin, destroy the works of the enemy, and conform us into His image! We challenge our people to put to death the deeds of the flesh, to make sure they are right with God and with their neighbor. We believe as Believers our lives do not hinge on the Great Commission but on the Great Commandment! Jesus said to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself!” Then He said, “On these two commands depend the whole law and prophets!” We ask the question often, “Are we loving our neighbor well?”

We have seen when we promote this Christ-like character of holiness and love, our people are positioned to say "Yes" to anything and everything God calls them to do! Because God has called us to love our neighbor as ourselves we always ask the question, “Who is our neighbor?” The answer to that question for Cottonwood has been "the H people on the other side of the world, our family and church family at home and every person in between." With that answer comes the resounding request of the body, “Here am I, send me!”

Greetings from West Africa

2007-01-23T07:57:00.002-06:00

Continue to be in prayer for how our churches will invest in God's call to the Nations and our willingness to walk this path. - Cindy Wiles

. . .All over the world this gospel is producing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. - Colossians 1:6

Nurturing Your Church into A Sending People!

2007-01-22T22:33:00.000-06:00

Part 1

- Mike Fritscher, Pastor

Cottonwood is a rural church in north Texas. It stands on a 21 mile stretch on Hwy 6 between the towns of Dublin and Hico. That stretch of highway boasts of about two homes per mile! When JonAnne and I first drove up on the place in 1984 we couldn’t even see the building because of the growth of trees and brush around the fence lines. Even today the parking lot is more of a pasture than anything and the buildings are small and nothing special. The cemetery next to the church and the smell of dairy cows is a continual reminder that this city boy from New Orleans is still in the middle of nowhere! But the God who does extraordinary things is not limited to what some would deem as an insignificant place in the middle of nowhere.

As a seminary student in the mid 80s, I came to pastor and preach to the thirty or so men and women who gathered here on Sundays and Wednesdays. With 18 months remaining of seminary I just knew that I would soon be gone to pursue the life long dream of suburban ministry in major metropolitan areas of the country. But with graduation completed and the look for what was next, God said “stay” and I died to boyhood dreams of a significant ministry in the city. After all, what kind of significant impact could a small church have in the middle of rural Texas? A place where the attendance was never over thirty except for the yearly homecoming? In exchange I asked God for two things. That God would satisfy us with His presence and that this small church called Cottonwood would love one another! God answered those prayers!

Sometime in 1989 we began to ask God, “Lord what could You do through a small rural church?" With attendance hovering at 40, we also began to ask that God would bring hungry families who wanted to move on in their Christian life. I began to preach a message that spoke of God’s desire to conform us into the image of Christ and a pursuit of the glory of God in our lives. This life would simply reflect God’s glory as we sought to love God with everything we were and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The body began to grow, as broken, hurting people with a hunger for the things of the kingdom began to come!

In 1998 God began to do a work that would bring God’s glory and His mission front and center in the life of Cottonwood. I had lost interest in “missions” years before after an unpleasant trip overseas, so the extent of Cottonwood’s missions was a yearly offering to an organization that would “send” the missionaries for us. Through a series of events I invited Mike Stroope to come and share with our body on what God was doing in the nations. That winter Sunday in 1999 Cottonwood responded to the message of pursuing God’s glory to the ends of the earth. Mike’s challenge was simple: “If you will pursue God’s glory to the ends of the earth God will fill up everything in between!” An hour and a half of discussion and prayer ended with a resounding “yes” from the 150 gathered that evening.

Within a few months our hearts were turned toward a country in SE Asia with the distinct belief that there was an unreached people group with Cottonwood’s name on it. Two trips later we adopted an unreached people group in Southeast Asia and began sending our folks on short term trips. Within the year Cottonwood sent three couples to live amongst this group of 1.4 million who had never heard the name Jesus!

Now, eight years later we have sent 125 of our people on short term trips to SE Asia. We have one couple and one single living there with one family and a couple of singles preparing to go. We have seen a church growth movement amongst these people in which several thousand people have come to the Lord and now meet in several hundred underground churches. We have adopted the Tarahumara of Mexico, an isolated and unreached people group of 80,000 people spread across a canyon system that boasts of three eco systems and villages that one can only get to by foot. We have sent 100 of our people during the last six months to feed 900 families corn, potatoes and beans who were effected by a recent drought and famine conditions. We are preparing to send a team to this region that will spend their lives reaching this group for Christ. With the adoption of the island of Zanzibar, a beginning work in Botswana Africa and continued work amongst the Navajo of Arizona we have truly become a sending community, having sent over 400 people to these various areas!

Just last week I sat and prayed with 12 young men and women who are called to pursue God’s glory to the ends of the earth. This year, the Lord willing, we will send three families and two singles to the various works Cottonwood has adopted. There are nearly 30 people in our body who have sensed a call to the nations. With this call on our lives as a church, our people are increasingly seeing themselves as a sent people! Whether it is across the pasture, state line, border or ocean we are truly becoming a sending community! Two weeks ago we had seven nations represented in our Sunday morning service: Peoples from Taiwan, Mexico, Mainland China, Liberia, Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya! God is truly filling up everything in between.

Next time we will speak more specifically to how we nurture our church into becoming a “Sending Community”.

Cottonwood Baptist Church

“Missions is none of our business”

2007-01-22T22:25:00.000-06:00

by Mike Stroope

Concern about local church involvement in missions usually centers on the church’s ability to do missions with excellence and to affect strategic progress for the gospel. I recently heard a church leader remark, “Missions is none of our business. Let’s leave it to the professionals who can do a much better job.” What is behind such a statement?

The attitude of many in church and mission circles is that progress is the goal and excellence is the means. In other words, if we are progressing, it is because we are people of excellence. If we have excellence, we will see progress. One follows and builds on the other. Thus, progress and excellence become the standard and measurement for what we do.

The idea of progress permeates our society. In school, we are taught that progress is the aim of every aspect of life. From television, we hear that we should not be satisfied with our toothpaste, our current automobile, or our financial investments but progress to that which is better. New books appear weekly to give us formula and inspiration on how best to achieve progress through excellence. Hordes of consultants and management gurus point us to the latest technique, church growth principle, or inspiring slogan that will propel us to levels of excellence. And from church and mission leaders, we are informed that bigger facilities, greater numbers, and larger results are signs of success.

The message is that we can do better, accomplish more, and be more satisfied. We are meant to climb, increase, and improve. If progress is not our experience, then the problem is a lack of excellence. If we are not progressing, then something is wrong with us.

We need to acknowledge that constant improvement and innovation are not necessary for a better life, a deeper truth, or the mission of God. And we must recognize that an obsession with excellence is evidence of our reliance on self and organization. Progress and excellence are tenets of a worldview that places the ascent of humankind at the center of the universe and our ability to produce at the helm.

Is this kind of progress what God needs or desires? Does “my utmost for his highest” actually mean my highest effort, my highest achievement?

Surely laziness, waste, fraud, and passivity should not characterize our lives, and yet, the route to God’s purpose may not be upward, straight, or without pain. His way may be a descent or exile, imprisonment or death.

The ‘excellence and progress worldview’ misleads us at two points. First, it does not take seriously our fallen nature. No matter how much we improve or increase our capacities, we are still selfish, fallen men and women. Our best efforts miss the mark. It is only by the Spirit’s transformation and power that we do any good work.

Second, it tends to point to us— our ability, our effort. Numbers and results that can be credited to our excellence create pride and cause us to claim what does not belong to us. Most talk about numbers and results is thinly veiled bragging and boasting to others. Glory belongs to God alone.

The legacy of the humiliated and imprisoned John the Baptist is not the numbers he baptized or the ministry he built. Rather, his satisfaction and personal identity rest in Jesus and not in an illusive idea about ability and progress. John simply declares, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The expansion of the early church was via “uneducated and untrained” men and women (Acts 4:13). Without a doubt, the miraculous witness to the ends of earth was by power of the Holy Spirit, not the professionals.

If the local church operates on the basis of what is most efficient or what will produce the greatest results, then it should by no means do missions. The task is far beyond our best efforts. No amount of creative or strategic thinking can bring Hindus and Muslims to Jesus Christ. If, on the other hand, the local church submits itself to the mission of God, it will witness the increasing power of God in and through its frail, broken, and common members. It is through God’s mission that it knows real power, true purpose. In the end, missions is none of our business; it is God’s business.

The Fruits and Roots of a Missional Church

2007-01-11T17:36:00.000-06:00

Serving as leader of Global Ministries for two local churches over the past 8 years, I have been asked many times to describe the process of leading a church to embrace the world for Christ. Often, pastors and church leaders desire to lead their church to missionality, but feel they have no idea how to get there. I began giving great thought to this process a couple of years ago while preparing to speak at a West African Summit for the International Mission Board. My assigned topic was Mobilizing My Church. I was forced at that point to analyze the maturity process my churches had gone through to get to a point of being missional. I hope to share a bit of that process with you in the next few publications of the GCPN Communiqué.

Learning is always about process. I, personally, am not a fan of process. Rather, I would prefer to leap to expert proficiency without going through the tedious journey that would qualify me to be there.

I remember being taught to snow ski by a “good friend” who felt that because of my natural athletic abilities, the best place for me to learn to ski was at the top of the mountain. I cannot describe to you the fear that paralyzed me as I stood at the top of that mountain, tracing the turns, trees, and drop- offs that prevented me from safety, warmth and hot chocolate that I knew lay somewhere beneath the peril of that icy pinnacle. Terrorized, I shouted at her in anger, “I cannot believe you have done this to me!” She replied with an un-repentant voice, “The only way to conquer a mountain is to take it a piece at a time. Just get to that first big Pine.”

So that is where we will begin in our exploration of this process -by getting to the first big Pine. But it is important to remember that spiritual journeys are not aimless wanderings. We are not nomads. We are pilgrims. The goals of our journey are determined by the Lord Himself and will always serve to glorify Him.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus portrays the product of our faith journeys as fruit. He compares good fruit to bad fruit. He talks about the pruning processes necessary to produce good fruit. He encourages us to remain in the vine that cause us to produce the only fruit that counts. With his image in mind, let us consider the goals (fruits) of the missional journey for our churches.

I believe there are three primary fruits that Christ is seeking through His Commission to the church: saved souls, mature disciples and reproducing churches. Each of these fruits produces an orchard of its own. If these are the primary goals of the missional church, it would behoove us to explore the qualities of a tree that would bear such fruit. In the months that follow, we will explore the development of a healthy trunk from which the branches of sending can extend. What a variety of branches can be produced from one healthy trunk!

With that tree image in your mind, perhaps the GCPN logo will begin to have meaning for you. I encourage you with the words Paul used to encourage the brothers in Christ at Colosse:

. . .All over the world this gospel is producing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. - Colossians 1:6

- Cindy Wiles

GCPN - Global Learning Laboratory

2007-01-11T17:18:00.000-06:00

Equipping cross-cultural Kingdom citizens - Stan Parks

What would it look like if the whole church was sharing the whole gospel with the whole world? Christ-followers from every walk of life would be living out the gospel through our words and actions with those at our doorstep all the way to the ends of the earth. The Great Commission of discipling every ethne (people group) would be a driving force for teachers, businesspeople, humanitarian workers, students, and so on to use their spheres of influence for sharing the Gospel – both in our own cultures and cross-culturally.

God is moving in awesome ways but as the world has changed and new generations emerge, our Christian community has struggled to keep up with changes both inside the church and in the world. At a time of unprecedented opportunities, more and more people are finding it harder to express their calling through the modern “mission establishment.” It is crucial that we find roles for these people in the missions movement or we risk disenfranchising and/or disillusioning many people from being a full part of our mission effort.

While there are many, many changes, there are several key trends that we must more effectively address.

More and more Christians want to be involved in fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission, and their ways of expressing this calling are increasingly varied. It is crucial that we extend training for those who will be expressing their calling through business, humanitarian, teaching, medical and other roles, whether they are self-supporting, partially supported or fully supported by mission funds.

Many local churches are feeling compelled to fulfill their responsibility to be at the frontline of world missions. These churches want to send out incarnational witnesses to the ends of the earth, but also have a growing interest in how every member can be a part of the church’s mission expression locally and globally.

More and more communities in the world are hostile toward and/or suspicious of the presence of missionaries. There is a growing desire and need for authentic expressions of Christ-followers in regions and countries where traditional mission activity is not possible.

The world is an increasingly interconnected place, with more and more international visitors and immigrants in our country, so we are relating to an increasingly varied ethnic community. This makes it more and more important that we learn how to live out the gospel cross-culturally as we do our part in fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission to disciple all peoples (ethne).

For the first time in history, there are strong Christian communities on every continent. And while Christianity has been a mainly Western religion in recent centuries, today 60% of Christians live outside the West. Creating true cross-cultural mission partnerships is a difficult but crucial need.

When somebody expresses a calling / desire / interest in moving into a cross-cultural lifestyle, how can they be equipped? Traditionally, this person has been advised to attend seminary. Yet often seminary is seen as too long a commitment and is frequently not being focused on cross-cultural realities. A growing trend is to see people “just go” and dive into a cross-cultural and often cross-national living situation. Yet, for most people, this is a foolish underestimation of how difficult it is to incarnate the gospel in a culture different from our own.

Global Learning Laboratory is one attempt to address these critical issues. We are part of an emerging movement sewing new wineskins to equip cross-cultural Kingdom citizens.

Global Learning Laboratory Principles:

We will seek to truly prioritize prayer as we ask the Lord of the Harvest to equip us and thrust us and others into the Harvest.

The power and guidance of the Holy Spirit is our only hope for effectiveness.

God’s Word will be our standard for faith and practice.
In a supplementary way, we will also learn from historical and missiological insights into the dynamics of cross-cultural missions.

The training will be done in community, as community; therefore, learning communities will do life together, pray together, and learn together in the context of our churches.

We will together focus on spiritual disciplines and character issues as God shapes our lives.

We will partner together as GCPN co-laboring churches to help train our people and strategically impact a lost world both locally and globally.

We will collaborate strategically with Great Commission Christians around the world.

We will focus on flexible, limited group times to allow those working in full or part-time jobs to participate as full members of the group. Much of the learning will be self-guided.

We will seek a mutually reinforcing cycle of learning and doing. We will focus on world-class learning about cross-cultural Kingdom issues and dynamics. We will seek to be involved in cross- cultural living situations at the same time. Our learning will be enhanced by putting into practice what we learn and our doing will be enhanced by the insights we are learning.

The equipping will be in two segments. An initial segment as a member of the sending church will allow for deep community and integration of head and heart. A second segment (which could vary in length from months to years) will be an internship in the culture to which this person feels called, working under the guidance of leaders with a similar DNA.

Since authenticity is a key need, we will commit ourselves to helping those being equipped find viable for-profit and non-profit opportunities as they move into the second stage of equipping and implementation.

We offer no human guarantees – this is primarily an exercise of faith and God is our only guarantee.

Our overarching goal is obedience to Christ and the establishment of Jesus’ ecclesia wherever we go. Our goal is indigenous, contextualized communities that are led by insiders. These faith communities, naturally reproductive not only in their own culture but as a part of the global Christian community, are essential in cross-cultural gospel pioneering.

Taking the Gospel to the Nations

2006-12-23T22:24:00.000-06:00

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing. -Paul

As this Christmas season draws to a close and a new year dawns, we can express the same confidence in the Gospel as Paul had in his letter to the Colossian church. The Gospel continues to bear fruit! The Gospel is growing! We can rejoice as men and women across the world continue to find life and hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is universal in its scope because it is cosmic in its essence. The message of the Gospel is rooted in a cosmic Christ. As Paul also wrote to the Colossians, Christ is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Further, “He is before all things and in him all things hold together.” In fact, Paul offers an incredible summary statement, “Christ is all.”

Indeed, Christ is all! His glory spans both time and space. History records his human life. In his humanity, Christ gave glimpses of his glory (e.g. the Mount of Transfiguration). The future will reveal His glory in full. The universe is a daily testimony to His majesty.

We can go to the nations with confidence that this message about this Christ will transcend any ethnic, linguistic, social, racial or educational barrier. We can proclaim this truth with confidence that the message will offer hope to any person any where any time.

But, we must go. In spite of the cosmic witness to the cosmic Christ – we must go and tell the nations. Somehow God has chosen to allow us to partner with Him in this grand endeavor. What a privilege! What a responsibility!

May your celebration of Christmas and the rest of this holiday season be filled with glimpses of the glory of Christ. May the year 2007 be filled with our faithful witness to the nations of the cosmic Christ.

- Dennis R Wiles

Christmas greetings . . .

2006-12-23T22:15:00.000-06:00

. . . to all of you in our GCPN. I am rejoicing at all of the wonderful gifts God has been preparing that have now been revealed to us in this season! I can hardly contain my excitement over all that God is doing. So let me share a few bits of news with you:

Mike Stroope has accepted a contract position as our Missiological Guide to assist our churches in becoming the missional communities God is calling them to be. Mike officially began this commitment on December 1, 2006. He will be consulting with our churches while continuing his teaching position at Truett Seminary.
Six missionary candidates from First Baptist Church of Arlington met for the first time this month and committed themselves to live out the process of preparation to be our “sent ones.” They begin this journey of training, mentorship, and practicum in January 2007.
Cottonwood Baptist has committed themselves to the process of training a new host of missionary candidates from their church whom Mike Stroope will be guiding through a similar process.
GCPN has been given an office suite in the Wade Building (Southwest Bank Building) on the First Baptist Arlington campus.

I have learned much on this journey about the obedience of “waiting.” Mike gave our missionary candidates the assignment of re-studying the book of Acts. Each of us has studied Acts numerous times in our faith journey. However, the command of Christ to “wait until the Holy Spirit has come upon you” has never been quite as convicting as it is to me today.

The last few years have been ones of questions, analyzing, re-analyzing, discussing, laboring and attempting to bring strategy and order to a very chaotic missions world. As ministers and missions leaders we have analyzed our old methods and proposed new methods. We’ve tried to define what being a missional church really means. I suppose I have come down to this: A missional church is a church that waits upon the Spirit of God to reveal His will and then obeys his revealed will no matter what the cost. Hang whatever jargon on that you want. It is the simple and profound truth. God is making a way for churches to do missions and each of us needs to live that out as He reveals. The “living out” may look very different for each of us. The commitment to seeking and obeying is the same for all of us. Let us pray for one another and for our churches as we partner and share the challenge of reaching our world for Christ.

- Cindy Wiles

Reconnecting with the Sent Church

2006-11-19T19:50:00.000-06:00

The Lord rejoices in the recovery of that which is lost - lost sheep... lost sons... lost souls. Over and over again in His Word, He expresses His pleasure when His people return to a place He has chosen for them after a period of wandering. The 21st Century marks a return of God's people to a role He gave them - but which they surrendered to others through the passing of time. It's a day of reclamation - a day of re-assuming our responsibility for and connection with the "sent church."

In our attempt to be good stewards of our resources, Baptists gradually surrendered the Commission responsibility to those we believed were more equipped to reach the world for Christ. We formed sending agencies, boards, and offerings that we sent from our body to support the cause of world evangelization. For a period of time, this clean efficiency seemed to work well for us. However, what we didn't realize was that we were surrendering the role and connection that God originally intended for us to have with our "sent church." God didn't necessarily intend for missions to be clean and efficient. He intended for missions to be powerful and effective. God is calling the church to "come home" to the role of sending.

What does this mean for us? It is a rather frightening thought for some to consider the responsibility of a church being the missionary's authority base, pastoral care system, and financial provider (not to mention insurance provider, emergency response system, volunteer base and prayer supporter.) Wow! It seems a little overwhelming! It kind of reminds me of many "God stories" where little people with weakness were called to do great tasks for God - Gideon... David... Moses... the widow.

What does this reclamation of the Commission mean for our local body? Many things. It means re-channeling our giving in such a way as to be a faithful sending church. It means adding the guiding structures within our local body that will enable us to be a responsible Antioch for the Paul's and Barnabas' that leave our body. It means creating a learning/preparatory community to get our missionaries ready to live cross-culturally and plant churches. In the midst of these challenges, let's not underestimate the power of the Church. Jesus has great faith in the church. He believes in her so strongly that He declared, "Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her." In our obedience He will provide.

- Cindy Wiles

2006-10-21T08:32:00.000-05:00

Deep then Wide

How do we get missionaries to the field?

That is where our dialogue began. Several pastors and colleagues began meeting and praying as we sought God's direction together--seeking to answer this question.

However, as our journey has progressed and the circle of dialogue has widened, our conversations have taken several turns and we have meandered down various paths. The culmination of discussions and prayer is a sense of God's direction. For me, it has been a challenging and educational experience.

The bottom line is I believe God is leading us to launch Global Connection Partnership Network as an entity that will initially focus on developing and training persons in missions. I have had numerous conversations with missions leaders from across the Baptist family and have received affirmation about this direction.

Our preliminary plans are to begin GCPN as a Global Learning Laboratory in its initial stages. We want to provide a place where persons can be trained from a holistic perspective to serve as missionaries. Our vision is to develop a model that can be replicated across the world as local churches respond to the challenge of embracing the Great Commission. We envision a learning environment that addresses cross-cultural training, character development and missiological strategy. One crucial piece of this approach involves supervised cross-cultural ministry during the training process.

In other words, our initial dialogue revolved around the issue of sending. We have not given up on the questions surrounding this significant issue. However, our dialogue has moved toward a discussion about preparation. Several of us in this discussion have sensed God's direction in developing a more comprehensive, church-based process of preparing and training missionaries. We believe the sending issues will be addressed by the community of churches that are involved in preparing people to go.

I have met with the leadership of WorldconneX, Partnership Missions and the Missions and Ministry teams of the BGCT about this development. We all sense that God is working to help each of these entities develop together as partnering, complementary entities.

Let's pray together as we move ahead. I will keep you posted as things progress. I believe God is calling us to a deeper place with Him. The process of training is a deepening experience. I believe in the principle, deep then wide.

Blessings!

dennis

The local church and the sent church

2006-09-29T11:09:00.000-05:00

Do you remember the days when missions in local Baptist church life consisted of collecting three special offerings per year and giving a portion of the budget to missions through the Cooperative Program? Remember when we trusted the "professionals" to do missions for us?

Perhaps I am exaggerating to make a point. But - you know what I mean. Many Baptist churches did missions vicariously. It was a 20th-century model that served us well in many regards. However, those days are over. The fundamentalist juggernaut that rolled through the Baptist family has forever changed the denominational landscape. Other factors contributed to the sweeping changes we have witnessed in the past 25 years as well. For many Baptists, the root system of the Cooperative Program (namely, trust) has been destroyed as we have seen too many bodies strewn along the road on the path to power and control.

As difficult as it all was to watch and experience, God remains enthroned and the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains empowered! God is raising up a different kind of local Baptist church in this generation. Many of us in the local church setting are embracing the changes and sensing the movement of God's Spirit among us.

What I am witnessing and experiencing is a revival of the doctrine of ecclesiology specifically as it relates to missiology. At the core of this discussion is the question: How does the local church relate to the sent church?

I would suggest you read Patrick Johnstone and Ralph Winter for helpful and wise insight in this area. I am finding myself studying Acts and the letters of Paul searching for clues to assist me as I lead my church to become increasingly personally invested in the Great Commission. Churches across the world are addressing this issue. I am encouraged by what I see and the conversations I am having in this regard. More and more churches are stepping up to the plate and sending missionaries, teams, businessmen/women across the world in the name of Jesus Christ.

I believe a new wave of missions is forming out in the sea of the not-to-distant future.

What do you think?

- Dennis R Wiles

The Future of Baptists and Missions

2006-09-09T11:01:00.000-05:00

What is the missions future for Baptists? The question is more than a rhetorical one or the speculation of an academician.

"The question is not whether Baptists will do missions but whether Baptist missions will be relevant in a changing world and a dynamic force for world evangelization." - mws

Read the full article by Mike Stroope at . . .

GCPN

2006-09-05T16:11:00.000-05:00

There is a fresh new wind blowing in missions. It is not all that new, actually. Many church leaders are searching for more meaningful ways to involve their people in missions. The days of writing a check to a denominational agency and vicariously living out the Great Commission through that agency are over.

It is a new day in missions!

I believe we need a network of churches growing in community and partnership in the missions task. Global Connection Partnership Network (GCPN) is one attempt to create such a community. GCPN is a church-based approach that will offer churches an opportunity to become partners in a global strategy aimed at reaching the world for Christ.

How are we going to accomplish this? How are we going to launch this new network? How are we going to develop strategy? How are we going to create opportunities for community?

These questions -- and many more -- are being addressed right now through conversations between pastors and missions leaders in our state. We are supportive of what currently exists in Texas Baptist life -- e.g., WorldconneX, Partnership Missions. However, some of us believe we need a church-based entity that will assist churches in sending missionaries and developing global strategy.

One thing that is going to happen -- a group of Texas Baptist churches are going to be hosting a Missions Rally at First Baptist Church of Arlington on November 12, 2006. This rally is held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the BGCT in Dallas on November 13-14. We will have several seminars that afternoon beginning at 3:00pm. Register now. The Rally will begin at 7:00pm in our Sanctuary. There is much to celebrate. God is at work through our churches as we are seeking to respond to the challenge of the Great Commission.

You are invited! Spread the word!

- Dennis R Wiles

All Things in Common Network

2006-09-05T15:44:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the All Things in Common Network of the GCPN!

This is an invitation to participate in a virtual community of Great Commission churches who desire to partner for the common goal of reaching the world for Christ.

In terms of its challenges, the church of the 21st Century has much more in common with the 1st Century church than it does with the 20th Century church. With that in mind, we would be wise to explore the qualities of the early church that God used to insure its success in taking the Gospel to the world.

Acts 4:32 describes the collaborative mentality that characterized the early church – All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.

Can you imagine the potential of:

a church network whose primary goals included the success of all its partners in winning the lost to Christ …
a network which shared people, resources, information, education, and ideas…
a network made up of churches and partners who possessed no political agenda nor a spirit of competition…

Could such a community actually exist? God said it did and he used it to birth the Kingdom within an opposing world. The spirit of selfless cooperation that enabled the spread of the Gospel in the 1st Century can be claimed by you and I today as we address the challenges of the Great Commission together. Welcome.

- Dr. Dennis R. Wiles