Missions Dr. Smith ORU

The Flow of Missions

God: The Source Jesus: The Message The Holy Spirit: Empowerment The Church: The Vehicle The World: The Target

The Missio Dei

God's self-revelation as the One who loves the world and is actively involved in and with the world. It embraces both church and world and the church is priviledged to be called to participate in God's mission.

How is God's redemptive work within the human community accomplished?

Covenants -Adam and Eve -Noah -Abraham -Mosaic

What is the great illustration of God's mission in the Old Testament?

God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt

What two interrelated purposes are reflected in Christ's ministry?

1. Proclaiming the Kingdom of God 2. Becoming the Message of Mission

The Foundational Message of Mission

Jesus crucified is the core message of Mission

The Power of the Mission

The Holy Spirit All Mission is -Empowered -Commissioned -Directed -Confirmed by the Holy Spirit

The Vehicle of Mission

The Church -Result of the Mission -God's distinctive people in the World -God's witness to the world

The Target of Mission

The World -We must understand the nature of the world and the nature of Christian Communication -World changes, the Gospel and God do not

to inform

to make one aware of something

to educate

intellectual, moral, and social instruction

to present an apologetic

systemic defense of a person in speech or writing

persuasion

inducement to act by argument or reasoning or entreaty

conversion

to bring over from one belief to another

Fundamental Motives

Love God’s sovereignty over time An outpouring of thanksgiving to God

Secondary Motives

Compassion Desire to help others physically Desire for adventure

Detective

Preaching christ for selfish motives Your affectiveness is in your will for God Making a name for oneself - Philippians 1;15-17 Building personal kingdoms - controlling others Preaching for clout Escaping from one's own cultures or church situation Reacting to guilt - atoning for sin of failure for yourself

FIVE GREAT COMMISSIONS IN THE BIBLE

Matthew 28:16–20 Luke 15:31-32 Luke 24:44-49 Mark 16:15-18 1 Corinthians 13

The missionary cycle

Commitment to the field - general training - field selection - focused training (langige, specific culture) - initial adjustment (honeymoon phase) - long-term service (burn out, reality) - reentry to home culture (reverse culture shock) - start over

Commitment to go to the field

Called to reach out about your normal situation s Must answer challenges or questions about feeling

General training

Studying classes Understanding what it is to be a mission Missionaries often are torn between preparation but also wanting to go now

Field selection

Short-term campaigns expose aspiring missionaries to various opportunities Internships provide opportunities to experience work Can you carry the mission of God in this context? Do they need you? Survey trips can also finalize tentative decisions You can go somewhere and realize it's not where you wanted to go Fundraising begins

Focused training

Formal classes geared for long-term missions Take a language class Informal meetings with people in the field

Initial adjustment

Setting up housing Culture learning Culture shock Some leave Others adapt and feel at home Die to self You will embarrass yourself You're gonna be uncomfortable Do counseling before to deal with family things that you have forgotten

Long term service

Goal to plant churches that with God’s help, will stnad on their own

Reentry to home country

You might feel like a stranger to your country Farewell and hello Missionaries must make preparation for reentry Counsel missionary

“What then are some implications for today’s missionaries? ”

“Strong spirituality is required (Taylor, Martin and Gracia Burnham). God calls his choice co-laborers out of both secure (Zinzendorf) and insecure (Moravians) settings. We are to go no matter what the cost (Moon, Macomber, the Burnhams, seventy-nine CIM missionaries and their children). We should expect culture shock, stress, and loneliness (the Taylors, Macomber, Shetler). Persecution is inevitable—and can come at any time (Macomber, the Burnhams). Missionaries should stay on the field no matter how long it takes (Shetler, Natasha). Every missionary comes with strengths and weaknesses (all). Team conflict, as well as conflict within a mission agency or sending church(es), is a reality (Taylor and CIM, Moon). Teamwork is possible (the Serampore Trio, Shetler and Fetzer). Missionary snobbery exists between mission agencies and educational institutions (experienced by Taylor and CIM missionaries). Lifelong learning (nonformal, formal, combination of both) is necessary (Hudson, Maria Taylor). God uses the nonformally educated (Taylor) as well as the formally educated (Bush, Winter, Gava). Missionaries can serve in both strategic (Winter, Bush) and practitioners’ roles (Macomber, Natasha). Ministry roles and models can and should vary considerably—from business (Zinzendorf) to teaching (Macomber) to Bible translating (Shetler) to evangelizing (Natasha) to training[…]”

BAM

Business as missions; the use of businesses for missions purposes. This can include establishing a business framed in Christian ethics as a means of witness as well as making a profit in order to finance missions.

Bonding

The initial process of building strong relationships with people of the host culture.

Burnout (or Brownout)

Diminished energy that leads to lethargy and a lack of ability to cope with daily life.

Call

An intense conviction that the sovereign God, through the Word, the Holy Spirit, and the community of faith, set apart a follower of Christ for participation in a specific ministry.

Candidacy

The period when a person is accepted as being in the process of joining a missions sending body but has not completed the process.

Classical mission agency

A nonprofit organization, started[...]"

Encountering Missionary Life and Work (Encountering Mission)

Preparing for Intercultural Ministry

Church multiplication: The planting, developing, and multiplying of churches that results in a Christ-centered indigenous movement.

Community development

The process of building local communities into self-sustaining ones in ways that lead to their betterment in all areas of life (including economic, social, physical, and/or spiritual).

Congregational-direct missions

Missions programs developed by local churches without reference to other churches, denominations, or agencies.

Contextualization

The core idea is that of taking the gospel to a new context and finding appropriate ways to communicate it so that it is understandable to the people in that context. Contextualization refers to more than just theology; it also includes developing church life and ministry that are biblically faithful and culturally appropriate (Moreau, Corwin, and McGee 2004, 12).

Creative-access country

Formerly referred to as a "closed country," a creative-access country is a nation-state in which traditional missionary work is illegal or banned. Missionaries who want to work in such countries must use creative means to gain entry and establish residence (Moreau, Corwin, and McGee 2004, 12).

Culture shock

Psychological disorientation resulting from being in an unfamiliar culture.

Culture stress

The result of[...]"

Encountering Missionary Life and Work (Encountering Mission)

Preparing for Intercultural Ministry

"Indigenous church

A church that fits well into the local culture. Traditionally defined in terms of three "selfs": self-governing (not dependent on outside agencies to make decisions), self-financing (not needing outside funding to carry on its work), and self-propagating (able to evangelize within its own culture effectively). More recently "self-theologizing"—the ability to develop its own theological understandings from the Scripture—has been added to the criteria (Moreau, Corwin, and McGee 2004, 13).

Indigenous missionary

A missionary from what was once considered a receiving nation. This term tends to be broadly applied to both indigenous evangelists (who do not cross cultural boundaries) and indigenous missionaries (who may cross significant boundaries even though they stay within their country of residence) (Moreau, Corwin, and McGee 2004, 13).

Journey plan

A document, always under constant revision, that expresses what you believe God is leading you and your team (where applicable) to accomplish in cross-cultural service.

Kingdom professionals

Often used in place of "tentmaking"; kingdom professionals devote their professional lives to further God's kingdom through everything they do no matter what the cost.

Majority world

Multiple terms have been used to describe the non-Westernized world, including "developing world[...]"

Encountering Missionary Life and Work (Encountering Mission)

Preparing for Intercultural Ministry

"disciplines in solitude, community, and ministry (Nouwen 1995, 81).

Spiritual warfare

Reflects the reality that Satan does not want unbelievers to come to Christ or believers to live fruitful, holy lives. The warfare we as Christians face involves Satan and his hosts constantly trying to maneuver Christians into spiritual lethargy or depression while they seek to live the abundant life Jesus promised (Moreau, Corwin, and McGee 2004, 13).

Syncretism

The replacement of core or important truths of the gospel with non-Christian elements.

TCK

Third culture kid; a child of any family living in a culture other than their home culture.

Tentmaking

The practice of using paid employment to gain entry into and maintain access to a cross-cultural setting. Tentmakers work as professionals and engage in ministry activities in addition to their wage-earning work (Moreau, Corwin, and McGee 2004, 13).

Traditional mission agency

Organization focused primarily on starting, developing, and multiplying new churches that result in an ongoing movement.

Transformation

Working to change society by transforming its unjust structures into more just ones. In the twentieth century, evangelicals did not typically think of transformation as appropriate missionary work. However, advocates of transformation rightly note that the historical[...]"

Encountering Missionary Life and Work (Encountering Mission)

Preparing for Intercultural Ministry

“In summary, a number of points can be observed from these biblical case studies that can help develop a “theology of the call”:”

“The call can refer both to salvation and to service. Some who were called had relatives already in ministry while others did not. Both adults and children were called by God to ministry. The supernatural played a vital role in the call. Some already involved in ministry were called to a new role. Some were called to minister in their own cultures, some were called to minister cross-culturally, and some ministered to both. Some were active in “secular” occupations when called. Availability often counted for more than ability. Time spent with God helps produce humility, something vital to any call to ministry. There was sometimes heated dialogue between the called and the Caller. Sometimes others assisted in the call to ministry. Not all of the called accepted, creating severe consequences for the unserved. Not everyone called to ministry proved faithful. Some who accepted the call to ministry did so for selfish reasons. The call to ministry is both private and public. The call to service and suffering originates in the call to salvation.