discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University

245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 88
88 From Every Nation
• Overrunning the enemy territory. We must look into this vision “like a
lamb in the midst of wolves.”
• Having a readiness to die. This requires a reappraisal of our theology of
suffering. This vision will query and question the laid-back theology of
ease that has characterized the Nigerian Church over the last few years. 13
Although more missionaries are needed around the world, world evangelism
will not be accomplished just by mobilizing more British or Canadian
missionaries or even more Korean missionaries. As has been noted, mission involvement
is one reflection of the Church’s spiritual health. From the Day of
Pentecost on, the Christian Church has been the most healthy when its outreach
was accomplished by an ethnically diverse team. While 11 of Jesus’ original
12 disciples were Galilean, Paul, whom the Early Church considered an
apostle, grew up in Gentile territory. Some of his key assistants, such as Titus,
were not Jewish at all. The Early Church grew rapidly in the Middle East,
North Africa, and Southern Europe as missionaries from a variety of cultures
ministered there. That process is again occurring worldwide and has the promise
of bearing much fruit.
Henry Venn, a mover and shaper of the 19th-century missionary movement,
compared the planting of the Church in a new area to a construction
project. 14 Venn said that missionaries and mission structures are the scaffolding,
not the building itself. Expatriate workers and initial outreach structures are
temporary and can be removed as the building moves toward completion.
There are places around the world today where the scaffolding is going up as
unreached people groups are being penetrated. In other areas, the scaffolding is
coming down and the ecclesia or Church has become what God intended all
along—a truly global community of “called-out ones.”
Questions for Reflection
1. What factors might be contributing to the tremendous increase in the number
of missionaries from the majority world?
2. Why are the old designations of sending and receiving countries no longer
valid?
3. Why is it important to preserve the stories of majority world missionaries?
4. What advantage might a majority world missionary have in serving in some Islamic
countries?
5. What are the Back to Jerusalem movements trying to do?