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…About 21st Century Missions.
Today the future of Christian missions unfolds in the global village of the 21st Century where the English language and the Internet parallel the communications advantages provided by the Greek language and Roman highways during the 1st Century.
This future will balance complementary aspects of a inclusive “both/and” church where national and expatriate believers lead and serve each other as they change the world and the world changes around them. It’s not a question of “either/or”; it’s an opportunity of “both/and”.
unreached peoples / restoration of the reached
national leaders / gifted leaders
shorter term / longer commitments
tent-making / supporting partners
young people / old people
open doors / open windows
orthodoxy / new ways & means
…About Cross-Cultural Missions.
Some missiologists warn against “cross-cultural” missions, particularly by Westerners, arguing that crossing cultures is neither cost effective nor culturally sensitive. Granted, the evils of missionary colonialism and mission leadership based on financial or political power must never be tolerated. But by its very nature, the message of justice, mercy, and beauty that we bring must move across culture; a certain amount of cross cultural shock is necessary to jump start the world change we seek. Consider India. There is no one India–there are at least 4,670 Indias, each with its own language and culture. In over 2000 years, only 300 of those Indias have been penetrated with the message that we bring. The message must move across cultures. That is the way it has always been, that is the way it will always be. When you received the message, didn’t somebody have to cross a cultural boundary to bring it to you? The problem is not cross cultural mission; the problem is bad leadership. The ways and means of mission must be constantly corrected, but the message must always move across culture.
…About the 10/40 Window.
The concepts of “the 10/40 Window” and “reaching unreached people groups” advanced by Dr. Ralph Winter and his colleagues at the U.S. Center for World Mission (USCWM) is one of the great paradigm shifts of modern evangelical missions and we heartily support both ideas. They continue to provide essential direction to 21st Century missions.
But beyond the closed areas of the largely Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist worlds lying within the 10th and 40th degree north latitudes lie the old areas between the 60th south and 60th north latitudes. The Old and New Worlds of native and Western culture, although previously reached, is largely fallow ground that wants plowing and planting. Moreover, much of the 10/40 world has moved to the cities of Europe and the Americas. We can reach them there.
…About the People Who Serve in a 21st Century Cross-Cultural Mission:
They want to be part of a community that emphasizes long-term relationships.
They want to belong without being owned
They want to be responsible for what they are held accountable for.
They want the freedom to serve according to their best gifts and calling
They want their personal story to make sense in the context of God’s story…
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