Agora is the Greek word for market place, forum, where people gathered for dialogue, discussions, sharing information or just for being together (Acts 17:17). The Mission Commission staff is launching a monthly newsletter, called Agora , directed primarily to the MC Associates but also sent to other mission leaders and available on the MC web page. Agora is an open forum for the MC Associates, MC Task Forces and Networks as a complement to the magazine Connections.
Brief texts and news for publication in Agora can be sent to our office in Brazil:bekstrom@worldevangelical.org
Read in this issue of Agora
** Opportunities – Tentmakers International Newslette
MISSION COMMISSION CONSULTATION IN PATTAYA
OCTOBER 30TH TO NOVEMBER 4TH 2008
The MC convenes a global consultation every two or three years for mutual encouragement and prayer; growth in our understanding of the missional enterprise around the globe as we grapple with global issues and challenges; planning our joint work and strategies and thus leaving better equipped for our work. These consultations are usually issues-centred events with strong training-equipping and strategic planning components.
Taking advantage of the fact that the World Evangelical Alliance convenes the General Assembly (WEA GA) in Thailand next year, the leadership of the Mission Commission has decided to convene and organise the next global consultation piggybacking on the WEA GA. The WEA General Assembly ends at noon, October 30, 2008, and we begin registration that very afternoon with the first official event dinner that evening. We conclude our gathering November 4 at breakfast. This gives us a full five days of work.
We will use the same venue as WEA, the Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel & Resort in Pattaya (http://www.jomtien-palmbeach.com), in order to facilitate for those who will attend both events. The WEA GA starts on October 25th and more information about that event can be obtained at http://www.worldevangelicals.org. For more information on the WEA General Assembly go to http://ga08.org/
The MC consultation will focus primarily on missiological issues such as Contextualisation, Mission and Spirituality, and Mission in the Context of conflict, violence, persecution and suffering. Our Global Missiology Task Force has working teams researching on and writing about these issues, preparing presentations for the event and future publications. Based on the reflection of these themes, the last day will be dedicated to discussions of the future of worldwide mission.
MC Task Forces and Networks will also meet during the consultation and time will be available on the programme for their work and planning. Each participant will have an involvement in one of the working groups, either through their membership of a Task Force or Network, or according to their preference as indicated on their enrolment form as MCA
Please, continue praying for the Thailand 08 consultation that:
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE ACCESS OUR WEBSITE
http://www.worldevangelicals.org/commissions/mc/
OR CONTACT: KEES VAN DER WILDEN –
mailto:kees@worldevangelical.org?subject=WEA MC consultation
Background
In November 2007, the World Evangelical Alliance Missions Commission (WEA-MC) facilitated a meeting of about 15 of their “associates” working in Africa. Among the issues raised by the African leaders was the matter of how Old Sending Missions of the Global North are relating to the New Sending Missions of the Global South. It became evident that, in the past, there have been tensions at both the local (African) as well as the global level. Dissonance has been perceived by both sides with the result that instead of working closely together in global missions, each side has developed a bias toward pursuing their own independent path. Put another way, instead of working harmoniously together, the two tracks appear to be following independent paths of divergence.
With the recognition of this issues, came a clear sense that the Holy Spirit was challenging some of the Older Sending Missions (OSM) of the Global North to change their attitudes. At the same time, New Sending Mission (NSM) leaders were sensing the possibility of a new era of cooperation. One delegate told how he had formerly been a “gladiator” in fighting this war – but now God was calling him to become a “peace maker.” He shared that recently, a number of the OSM agencies had invited him to dialogue with them on this topic.
These important insights were fed into a committee which dreamed of bringing together these two vital branches of the global mission movement. A suggestion was made that there be a period (perhaps a year like the year of Jubilee) of reflection and if necessary, reconciliation. It was the dream of this committee that this process could culminate at the Lausanne III meetings to be held in RSA in 2010.
With this in mind, two of the WEA-MC Associates approached the leaders of MANI SA08 requesting a forum to address this issue. MANI leadership responded warmly and encouraged the conveners to invite selected delegates with vested interest in this topic. Of those invited, about 40 responded. The group was split almost equally between African church and mission leaders and the OSM leaders.
The following is a record of the findings of this MANI SA98 Forum on N-S Dialogue:
The Issue
As new emerging missions have sprung up around the world there have been tensions between them and the older sending missions. The root causes of this come from a lack of mutual recognition of the validity of each other’s contributions. There does not appear to be a shared responsibility in setting the agenda of Global Missions. At the global level, at least, leadership appears to be weighted in a way that does not reflect the demographic and ideological shifts in mission. As a result, there have been personal, ideological and systemic issues that have risen up. These have led to elements of mistrust, hurt, rivalry, polarization and most importantly – to a lack of genuine and sincere partnership.
As examples of these tensions, Dr. Reuben Ezemadu traced the history of groups such as the Third World Mission Association, the AD2000 and Beyond Movement and the Round Table Forum. His contention was that these groups, which had their roots in the NSM world, were never able to get the full endorsement of the OSM community. In fact, to some extent, they were ignored or even discouraged.
At the same time the OSM feel that some in the NSM community have identified them too closely with the colonial past. NSM leaders often speak harshly and sometimes critically of their OSM counterparts. The NSM were getting a message that the sacrificial legacy they left the church in Africa is misunderstood, ignored or even vilified. They are left wondering if there is any real place left for them in the countries where they serve.
From the NSM side, the key issue is about respect. They know they do not have the same financial resources as their OSM counterparts. But sometimes, affluence breeds a sense of superiority. When it comes to finance, they feel it when the “Golden Rule” is applied. That is “The one who holds the gold, makes the rule.” In addition, it is difficult to understand a culture where there is no “wiggle room” for negotiation. They are often shown the rule book of the mission or organization they are working with, or a letter from the head office of a mission organization – and no matter what they may say, the decision of the outsider stands. So when it comes to relationships between OSM and NSM, they ask, “Are we truly partners?”
The Way to Reconciliation
Even in this disparate assessment of the past, (which is caricatured to make our point), the Forum could see glimmers of hope. There is a movement of the Spirit that is drawing both sides together. There is a sense of that the Lord of Harvest is doing something new. New ways and new paradigms of mission are emerging that could not have been possible just a few years ago.
Like Reuben, mentioned above, there are a number of people on both sides (OSM and NSM) who want to be agents of reconciliation, bridge builders between the two. This is not just at the individual level, but at the mission level and even at the global level. Several delegates told how they have been invited to sit on planning committees for upcoming global meetings. They have accepted these positions with a sense that their voices will be heard and their agenda will be addressed. No-one is under the illusion that the way ahead will be easy. Everyone acknowledges the need to persevere and be vulnerable enough to be used by God as agents of reconciliation.
The moderator of this Forum proposed that we simply forget the past and try to build a framework for the future together. Delegates on both sides opposed this view. The general feeling that until the past is confronted and dealt with, the way into the future will remain uncertain. Three words reoccurred as this was discussed: “repentance, healing and reconciliation.”
Several important points were noted. First is the fact that many individuals, organizations or movements may be not be aware of the pain they have inflicted. Many have done things from a deep conviction that they were following good missiology or simply following the policies of their organizations. They did not mean to be disrespectful or deprecating. Sometimes the responses have been the same. There may not have been clear understanding why certain actions were take or decisions made. Some wrongs are imagined where no evil was intended – or even where it was done for the good of others. Both the reality and the perception come into play.
So in order to address these issues, the Lord is going to have to open our hearts to one another. Both sides will need humility both to “gently confront in love” as well as be “gently confronted.” As one said, “Forgiveness does not mean ‘I am not hurt.’” Another said, “True forgiveness acknowledges the hurt “but give the hurt to God.” The truth is, “Reconciliation cannot happen without God.” It is only the Holy Spirit that enables us to divide the offense from the offender as Jesus did on the cross when He prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” We forgive the offender and give “what they have done” to God.
No one is suggesting exactly how this difficult path of confession, repentance and reconciliation is to be undertaken. We all agreed that it cannot be contrived, scheduled or organized. Any such meeting must never be publicly exploited for PR purposes. Our prayer is that there would be spontaneous movements of the Spirit as the issue is addressed. This is why the WEA-MC suggested that a period of time be designated – like the Old Testament “Year of Jubilee” when every 50th year the land was returned to its rightful owners and slaves were set free.
Action
What each of us can do is to become “agents of reconciliation.” That is – to become pro-active individually to further the cause of reconciliation – starting with ourselves. It would mean that where ever we have opportunity to affirm each other we would do so. It would mean that we would use our influence to help our agencies and organizations become intentional about: promoting good relations, working partnerships and joint participation in the work of missions.
The Forum called for the drafting of a COVENANT that would capture the sense and direction of our Forum. The Convener sent out the notes from the Forum and asked anyone willing to serve on the drafting committee of the Covenant to respond. A working committee of seven people has been formed to work on this and they will freely share their document once it has been written and approved by those attending the Forum.
Challeng
It seems as if God has created a “kairos” moment to form a united front for world mission. If we rise to the challenge of this divine moment, the history of evangelical missions could turn a page and we could move on toward a new chapter of effectiveness. If we fail to seize the moment, we may not only loose an unprecedented opportunity – we may be held accountable for not responding to the fresh winds of God’s Spirit in our generation.
N/S Dialogue Working Committee
Dr. Reuben Ezemadu, Dr. Dean Carlson, Dr. Alemayhu Mekonnen, Gideon Para-Mallam, Russ Simons, Kees Van der Wilden, Dr. Howard Brant (Facilitating)
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The Refugee Highway Partnership was launched at a historic Consultation in 2001 in Izmir, Turkey. Nearly 200 church leaders from around the globe gathered to build connections, collaborate, and develop strategies to respond to the incredible need of refugees in our world. Since then annual leadership meetings and roundtables have been held to continue to build and grow the partnership. The RHP's mission is to mobilize the worldwide church to bring hope and provide refuge for over 30 million refugees and internally displaced people around the world through collaborative strategies. For more information about the RHP visit our website.
The Uganda Roundtable, hosted by the Association of Evangelicals of Africa (AEA) - a member of the World Evangelical Alliance -has been designed for participants to:
Roundtable Participants:
Our target participants are strategic church leaders which includes pastors, denominational leaders, mission body representatives, and para-church organization leadership. We are intentionally capping the number of participants to allow for strong connections to take place. Our goal is to limit total attendance to approximately 60 to 80 people. The Africa region (as host) will have 10 to 15 church leaders from across Africa in attendance. Other regions and issue group areas have room to include approximately 5 to 10 leaders. Our goal is to involve decision makers who have the motivation, the influence and the ability to mobilize church involvement in refugee ministry when they return; leaders who have had some prior exposure to refugee issues and for whom this event could be the catalyst to greater involvement; and influencers who will share what they learn at this event to engage others.
1. Editorial
2. News
3. Opportunity Exchange
4. Upcoming events
1. Editorial - by Johnny Chun / Executive Secretary of TI
Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, was asked how he had been able to recruit 1,000 missionaries to go to inland China. At this time in the late 19th Century, all the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian missionaries together around the world didn't number 1,000. Dr. Taylor's reply strikes at the core solution to the greatest problem most missionary and church groups are facing... how to build men and women into multiplying spiritual leadership.
Hudson Taylor replied to the question this way: First, " Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest." (Matt. 9:38) There is much complaining and griping about the lack of workers, with the multitudes coming to Christ almost everywhere. But there is little specific intercession regularly for workers. Second, to get workers, " deepen the life of the lay person in the Bible, so they won't say "no" to God." In this story, we learn a good lesson that every tentmaker should keep in mind.
Prayer and deepening the life of the lay people whom we meet everyday. Paul spent about 3 years at Ephesus, and formed a growing church, with leadership strong enough that he could leave.
In addition to tentmaking skills and strategies, we need a lot of prayers. Without prayers we cannot expect a great tentmaking movement throughout the world And Tentmakers are not born but made through the tears and sweat of faithful Christians like you.
With many thanks.
2. NEWS
NORTH AMERICA: USA
Many churches and mission organization are teaching English as second language as a way of reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Cornerstone University specializes in that. This year, they're holding their 7th annual TESOL Conference to help Christians be more effective in their ministry.
Doctor Michael Pasquale heads up CU's TESOL program at the University. "The theme of the conference this year is teaching English with cultural intelligence. (We want) to (help them) be more aware of cultural learning styles of students. We'll have workshops for church based ESL teachers."
According to Pasquale, it's important to structure a class based on those styles of learning. "In the United States, we tend to favor more of a relaxed style, where the teacher is a friend to the student, which is fine. But in other cultures, a teacher has a very elevated status." So it's important to form a class with that cultural difference in mind.
The conference will be held Saturday, April 19 at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. http://www.cornerstone.edu/academics/tesl/esl_conf
AFRICA: RWANDA
Purpose Driven Ministries' work in Rwanda has now been extended to law enforcement. Pastor Rick Warren, along with four police experts from Saddleback Church, spent some time earlier this month training 50 Rwandan police officers in Kigali on utilizing the ministry's PEACE plan in their jobs. Published news accounts from the New Times in Kigali report the training covered road safety, criminal investigation and clinical psychology. The plan itself is a massive mobilization of Christians into an outreach effort that uses the Gospel to attack spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease and illiteracy. The PEACE plan Promotes reconciliation, Equips leaders, Assists the poor, Cares for the sick and Educates the next generation. The goal is to cultivate church-to-church connections and help new ministries sustain themselves. Many of the PEACE teams plant churches in areas where there were no churches to begin with. It's a growth effort focused on discipleship and not numbers growth only.
News in Brief
FREE INTERACTIVE ARABIC LANGUAGE TOOL -- Are you learning Modern Standard Arabic? Would you like a free tool to help you practice vocabulary from the widely popular Alif Baa series? Go ahead and check out The Power Tool at this address below. It is fairly comprehensive and customizable to your needs, and best of all, it's free. *Warning* if you contact the maintainers of the web site, they are NOT believers, so please do not assume it is safe to mention missionary kinds of work. --taken from Brigada
http://www.pacificarabic.com/vocab_applet.html
ENGLISH SPEAKERS PRACTICUM AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS -- If you are a native English speaker with ESL training, or a non-native English speaker with a certificate in teaching English, an organization in Central Asia provides supervised instruction in the form of practicums so that you too can learn how to operate an English business. If you are interested in the business operations, practicing providing conversational practice in daily contact with local English speakers/ or teaching English in a classroom/outreach oriented environment, please contact pi@ pobox.com – taken from Brigada
3. OPPORTUNITY EXCHANGE
We here at Tentmakers International have seen the need to connect member organizations and tentmaking businesses with people who are looking for opportunities to serve. This is our second publication of OPPORTUNITY EXCHANGE. We will update this information on our website www.tentmakersinternational.com If you want to make use of this service send us an e-mail with "Opportunity Exchange" in the subject line to tentmakersint@gmail.com
Opportunities given
Bangladesh - Agape Social Concern is looking for a volunteer, willing to commit for a period of 4 years to work in their children's hostel Home of Peace. This position is approved by the government of Bangladesh. He/she will be teaching English to 300 children. The organization will provide accommodation but the volunteer should take care of other necessary expenses. It is a good opportunity for anyone who wants to work as a tentmaking missionary from her/his church. Preference will be given to nationals from English speaking countries so that the children can learn proper English. These children are the future of the churches. For more information contact Albert at theway@citechco.net
Ghana TI in Ghana in collaboration with Dr Clarke, Pastor Nicholas and Rev Amattey are working in the three areas of education, health and agriculture. Help is needed to expand their projects in eye care, vocational training and agricultural irrigation. For more information contact Rev Devine Amattey at deamattey50@yahoo.com
Opportunities needed
International - I am looking for a Tentmaking job in management, counselling or travelling. I have 7 years management experience and worked on every level of management including supervising staff, resolving issues, paying wages and connecting with the public. A challenge I accomplished was to get staff to a point where they actually wanted to work and enjoyed their work and didn't have a viewpoint of "have to work". I also have a certificate in counselling and am busy doing my degree in counselling. I also did a course with the South African Police Force to be enabled to help victims. I also hold a TEFL teaching certificate. I enjoy to counsel people and help them work through situations in their lives. I also like travelling and went overland through Africa. For more information contact JJ van Wyk at baiedankieJesus@ougat.com
4. UPCOMING EVENTS
April 30 - May 4, 2008, Bergen Norway. Tentmaking course to be held in Norway. For more information go to the following link.
http://www.tent.no/sider/tekst.asp?side=105
August 10 – 18, 2008, Mali and Burkina Faso. Tentmaking fourth Residential courses will be held the Fourth Residential TM courses in Mali and Burkina Faso. The speakers will be Steinar Opheim and Tiowa Diarra. For more information, contact timali_07@yahoo.com
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Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him – to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16: 25-27)