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245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 160 160 Contrasting Philosophies and Strategies of Mission that lies between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north of the equator and stretches from North Africa to China and Japan. Drawing attention to the missionary task yet to be done, the visually dramatic 10/40 Window concept has inspired many to offer themselves for missionary service. Two-thirds of all people on earth live within the 10/40 Window. While not all unreached people live there, almost all of the 55 least-evangelized countries are located there. Even though Bush coined the term 10/40 Window, he has also used Patrick Johnstone’s resistant belt phrase to refer to the same area. Christians living in this part of the world often suffer physical persecution. In several resistant belt nations, conversion to Christianity is punishable by death. In addition to being relatively unreached with the gospel, that area of the globe is home to 8 out of 10 of the poorest of the poor. The 10/40 Window concept has fostered the development of specialized forms of missionary service for creative access areas, including such things as running restaurants to provide places where people can meet inconspicuously. Case Study of a Tool: The JESUS Film Project The JESUS Film in Mevali, Tanzania The whole village came to watch the film. As it reached the point where Christ began to suffer, we heard weeping in the crowd. When the whip fell across Christ’s back, women began to cry out with each cruel blow. The sight of our Lord being dragged through the streets of Jerusalem on His way to Calvary brought more sobbing from the crowd. The crowd watched as the Roman soldiers put Jesus on a cross and drove nails through His hands and feet. The crying turned to wailing, and we felt God’s convicting Holy Spirit on the audience. Pastor Righton Kyomba grabbed my arm. “Now is the time for the invitation!” he exclaimed. “The Spirit of God is here!” I stopped the film and turned on the lights. Pastor Righton invited the people to come forward. Within moments people were throwing themselves to the ground beneath the screen. They wept bitterly, calling out in the night to ask God’s forgiveness of their sins. I saw children praying in loud voices with such conviction in their hearts. Young people knelt in obedience in the Spirit and poured out their struggles at the foot of the Cross where Christ still hung suspended on the screen. More than 125 people came, seeking forgiveness . . . The Spirit of God swept through the crowd for almost 20 minutes before we gathered the people in the church for counseling. 17 —Tim Eby In the 1970s, Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, dreamed of producing a film of Christ’s life that would be an evangelistic tool. The re-
245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 161 Contrasting Philosophies and Strategies of Mission 161 sult was the JESUS film in which all of Jesus’ words come directly from the Gospel of Luke. Since its first showing in 1979, the JESUS film has been dubbed into more than 900 languages and has been shown so widely that it is by far the most-watched full-length feature film ever. Campus Crusade’s goal is to dub the JESUS film into the 1,154 languages that have at least 75,000 native speakers each. Reaching that goal will make the film understandable by 99 percent of the people on earth. After almost two decades of using the JESUS film, Campus Crusade leaders realized that, in order to better conserve the fruits of the film showings and draw resulting new believers into a local church, they needed to partner with mission boards and agencies focused on discipleship and church planting. The resulting partnerships have been very fruitful. Thousands of new churches have been established by follow-up programs now accompanying film showings. The JESUS film has also been contextualized in some ways. For example, the version shown in Islamic areas starts with Creation. There is a children’s version with specific scenes added for children. A women’s version is also in production. In cultures where group decision making is prevalent, the film is often shown four or five times before any response is expected, allowing the group decision-making process to take place. In contrast, the JESUS film has had virtually no effect in the U.S. and Europe. Why? Is it because there are many films of Jesus’ life available on video and being shown on television? Is it in part because the technology itself does not have an attraction for Westerners? Whatever the reasons, this experience reminds <strong>missions</strong> strategists that there is no tool that will be uniformly effective everywhere. Philosophy Determines Strategy Many convictions go into a philosophy of mission. This chapter has focused on a few. One’s philosophy of mission is always the starting point for developing world evangelism strategy. That philosophy of mission will also shape various tactical elements of that strategy as they are implemented and tweaked. Questions for Reflection 1. What are the differences between motives, philosophy, and strategy? How do the three relate to each other? 2. What do you think the constituent parts of Christ’s philosophy of mission would be if He were on earth today? 3. How should one respond to those who argue that we should just rely on God rather than doing long-term planning and strategizing?
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discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University

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