The Principle of Identification: Essential to Identify with the people We serve- But do not loose our Identity or Authenticity!

This may give some balance to some modern contextualization issues.

“And this principle of `identification with out loss of Identity’ is the model for all evangelism, especially cross-cultural evangelism.

Some of us refuse to identify with the people we claim to be serving. We remain ourselves, and do not become like them. We stay aloof. We hold on desperately to our own cultural inheritance in the mistaken notion that it is an indispensable part of our identity We are unwilling to let it go. Not only do we maintain our own cultural practices with fierce tenacity, but we treat the cultural inheritance of the land of our adoption without the respect it deserves. We thus practice a double kind of cultural imperialism, imposing our own culture on others and despising theirs. But this was not the way of Christ, who emptied himself of his glory and humbled himself to serve.

Other cross-cultural messengers of the gospel make the opposite mistake. So determined are they to identify with the people to whom they go that they surrender even their Christian standards and values. But again this was not Christ’s way, since in becoming human he remained truly divine. The Lausanne Covenant expressed the principle in these words: “Christ’s evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to be come the servants of others” (paragraph 10).”

(“The Bible in World Evangelization,” John Stott, Perspectives on the world Christian Movement, 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California Pg24)

Missions Requires a Fidelity to the integrity of the Bible:

“Since it comes from God we must guard it; since it is intended for modern men and women we must interpret it. We have to combine fidelity (constantly studying the biblical text) with sensitivity (constantly studying the contemporary scene). Only then can we hope with faithfulness and relevance to relate the Word to the world, the gospel to the context, Scripture to culture.”

(“The Bible in World Evangelization,” John Stott, Perspectives on the world Christian Movement, 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California Pg 23)

Belief In the Authority (or lack of) of the Bible Affects Mission

Commenting on how the Bible gives us the mandate for missions, John Stott, writes these insightful word.

“It is, moreover, an observable fact of history, both past and contemporary, that the degree of the Church’s commitment to world evangelization is commensurate with the degree of its conviction about the authority of the Bible. Whenever Christians lose their confidence in the Bible, they also lose their zeal for evangelism. Conversely, whenever they are convinced about the Bible, then they are determined about evangelism.”

(“The Bible in World Evangelization,” John Stott, Perspectives on the world Christian Movement, 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California Pg21)

Rawang Chief & Son ask “Are you Fating us to Hell?” Please come! Please make us a Bible in our Language!

“After his Search and Rescue work was over the latter part of 1945, (Blog Editor Note- Looking for downed pilots for the American government they set up a chain of church who were trained in the rescue of downed pilots) Robert went over to the Ahkyang (Ah-chang) Valley in northern Burma, along a tributary of the Irrawaddy River. Numerous requests had been received from there, asking for teachers to come, so Robert (Blog Editor note- He would have been about 20 then) stayed there through the winter months of 1945-46. Lisu evangelists had worked in that area, and Robert felt it would eventually become even more extensive than the work in the Saiween Valley. It was amazing how the Gospel had spread, carried not only by frill-time evangelists, but by the Lisu Christians as a whole.

Most of the people there were Lisu and Rawang. After Robert had been there for some time preaching and teaching, he received this message from a Rawang village about three days’ travel away: “We, the Rawangs, have ever been classed as a slave tribe to the Tibetans. Is it that our slave-tribe is fated to go to hell in the next life as well as to be spurned in this? Is this the reason you folks refuse to show us the way to salvation ?

What could Robert answer? He was the only missionary in that part of upper Burma. For several months he had tried to meet the overwhelming demands of new churches scattered over an area of twenty-three days journey from north to south and twelve days journey east and west, with no transportation but his feet. In that area some 1500-1800 people had turned from heathenism to the Lord Jesus Christ, and Robert had the help of only five young Lisa preachers in all that vast territory. No wonder he felt overwhelmed! People with centuries of heathen background cannot hear the Gospel just once and instantly accept the Lord. They must be taught constantly, with much love, patience, and wisdom. Bible schools must be held frequently in order to train leaders and teachers for the new churches.

One day, a Rawang chief’s son came to Robert, begging him to make a written language in Rawang so they could read about “the Mighty One” in their own language. He said, “The Lisu have a written language, so please make us one”. That was to be an indescribably long, hard, tedious job for Robert — but that is another story.”

(“The Dogs May Bark But The Caravan Moves On” – A Prequel to Exodus To A Hidden Valley. Gertrude Morse, College Press, 1998, Pg 238-39 ) Morse Family in Asia 1921-1965

The Corner of the Adobe House Holds -Morse Family Saved from Drowning Flood- A Testimony to Prayer!

This is an amazing story! Read these unknown amazing mission autobiographies. (footnote)

"It continued to rain, and the To-ba-to River began flooding and overflowing its banks into our garden and yard. Thus began a most frightening and staggering experience for the younger children and me. On the evening of October 22 we had our usual evening devotions and worship. We continued to remind our Heavenly Father that as Moses had told the Hebrew people to sprinkle the blood of their sacrificial lamb on their door post to protect them from the death angel, so we were trusting Him to keep us safe, under the blood of Jesus Christ, “our lamb”, even as Rev. 12:11 teaches: “...and they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death”

About midnight I awakened from a disturbing and unusual dream in which I was again reminded of the verse in Revelation, especially the part “—and the word of their testimony—”. I had followed the first part of it but not the second part. In my dream I said, “Praise the Lord”, and was immediately comforted. I awoke to the sound of boulders and logs knocking against each other just outside my bedroom window, and realized that the situation had become serious. Quickly lighting a lantern, I called Anzie and LaVerne to go with me to see what had happened. As we walked along the garden path I almost stepped off into the swift river which had already cut off about a fifth of our yard. The rushing torrent had destroyed the darn Russell had helped build on a branch of the river, and it was now rushing down its old bed and tearing away at our yard. The water was clear up to our house on that side, and we were now completely surrounded by the two branches of the flooding river. I felt this explained the dream I had — Satan was trying to destroy us but God had warned me and brought that scripture to my mind. Returning to the house, we called Ah-mo to join us in prayer- We not only trusted God to protect us, but praised Him the rest of the night.

On the porch, Anzic and LaVerne found some weeds commonly used for pig food, and they began stuffing them into the small holes appearing in the northwest corner of the adobe wall, which was the one being bombarded the hardest. I prayed to God to save that corner, for I felt if’ it held, the whole house would be saved, but if it gave way all would be lost.

At dawn A-hke-fu-yeh came running to say that the smaller branch of the river had gone down, and the villagers on the mountain had placed a large log across it so we could cross over. While quickly dressing Ruth, who had slept through it all, I looked out of the window and saw a great wall of water coming down the main channel toward the house. At that time I could not imagine where it came from, but did not have time to investigate. I later learned it was caused by a field sliding down the mountain into the river, increasing the torrential flow and turning the river directly toward our house.

Ah-mo took Ruth across the log to safety while I hurriedly grabbed up a change of clothes for the children and two small blankets. As I stepped down into the muddy yard and saw it was still raining I remembered the rain covers I had left at the door when I returned from Wa-shi-lo-gai and turned back to get them. As I did so the Christians on the shore began shout ing and LaVerne, who had stayed with me, screamed, “Mama, don’t go back”, so I went on across with him. We had barely gotten across when we heard the roar of the water and the house falling behind us. Anzie was praising the Lord so loudly I could hear her over the noise of the flood, Our precious God - loved us so much he had saved the house until a way of escape could be prepared — literally a path through the water!

I shall never forget that day — October 23, 1940. We stood on the bank of the river watching the devastation. Parts of our house, most of our possessions, the church, and several log cabins went swirling down in that terrible, roaring, boiling water. We could see water cascading down the mountainside across the river where we had never seen water before, It seemed to us that the whole world was being destroyed. The only thing standing was the northwest corner of the house which I had prayed for 50 fervently through the night! I wondered - both then and later — if the whole house might have been saved had I prayed for all of it as earnestly as I did for that corner. In retrospect we believe God in His wisdom acted in our best interests, but in those trying hours we found events hard to understand.

We finally went on up the mountain and sat by the fire in the home of one of our Christian friends, with not even a comb or toothbrush, and practically no bedding. Where would we sleep? The Lisu people didn’t have beds for themselves, let alone beds for guests. That night we slept on straw mats using our two small blankets for covering.

As soon as Isabel Maxey heard about the flood she hurried from Kang Pu, crossing the Mekong River which was also flooding. She had heard that Ruth had been washed down the river and drowned. Evidently someone had seen her large doll and thought it was Ruth. Needless to say, Isabel was happy to find Ruth alive and well. She very generously insisted that we come and stay with her at the outpost in Kang Pu until we decided what to do next ……………………..

What a wonderful prayer-answering God we have! I had prayed for that second protecting wall. Furthermore, when Robert returned to that area almost nine years later, that one corner of the house, for which I had prayed so hard, was still standing, a monument to God’s power and ability to answer prayer.” (pg206) )

(“The Dogs May Bark But The Caravan Moves On” – A Prequel to Exodus To A Hidden Valley. Gertrude Morse, College Press, 1998, Pg 202-204, 206) Morse Family in Asia 1921-1965

No Word for Love in Lisu Language!

Speaking of the Lisu: In the Burma, China, Tibet, Thailand border regions. Morse Family in Asia 1921-1965

“Those primitive tribespeople, who had never heard of Jesus Christ and whose language did not even have a word for love, began gradually to understand and accept the message of God’s love, and salvation from sin through the Lord. Those who were converted showed their heathen neighbors what it meant to be a Christian. They learned to pray, to study God’s Word in their own language, to sing hymns, and to gather together as congregations according to the New Testament. Poor as they were, they learned to give whatever they could to further the spreading of the Gospel through native preachers and evangelists. What a thrill to hear the strains of “What a Friend We Have In Jesus” echoing in the canyons and mountains where formerly only Satan reigned.”

(“The Dogs May Bark But The Caravan Moves On” – A Prequel to Exodus To A Hidden Valley. Gertrude Morse, College Press, 1998, Pg 168)

Prayer for Morse Family Missionaries Kidnapping Answered:

Working in China, Tibet, Burma border region - Story spans the Morse Family in Asia 1921-1965 A Must read book. Both the prequel and Exodus to a hidden valley. Unknown Missions classics.

"I was always tired and not feeling well by the end of the day’s travel, so as soon as we had eaten supper and the cots were put up, I went to bed. Late that night Russell heard loud talking downstairs, so he slipped quietly into a hayloft where he could see and hear a group of men sitting around and drinking in the landlord’s room. They were drunk and talking rather loudly in Chinese. Russell listened long enough to learn that they planned to kidnap him and Eugene the next morning as we went around the base of a high mountain, and hold them for a large ransom.

He came back from the hayloft to our room, white and trembling and, as always, we took our troubles to the Lord. With His help, Russell began to formulate a plan. We had two trustworthy Tibetan helpers with us and we had an American missionary friend, Miss Cornelia Morgan, who lived at the Bethel Mission in Tsu Hsiung, about a half day’s journey away, where there was a large magistracy. He wrote a note to Miss Morgan, telling of our predicament, then contacted our Tibetans without being noticed and told them of the kidnap plans.

The next morning Russell told me to stay in bed that day, and told the caravan leader that I was too ill to travel. He told them we would have to stay there until I felt better, but he would pay them for the lay-over time. Since I had been ill most of the trip, that aroused no suspicions. Meanwhile, our Tibetans had slipped away early that morning with the note hidden in one of their boots and delivered it to our friend. She then notified the magistrate, who did not question the information, because there had been a great deal of trouble at that particular spot — the same place where Dr. Shelton was kid napped in 1920, and where many robberies had occurred.

The magistrate lined up fifty soldiers (who were opium smokers) and chose eight of the best, with their “best” (least rusty!) guns, and sent them to protect us. They arrived at sun down, and our messengers, who had come most of the way with the soldiers, slipped quietly in after dark. The amazement on the faces of that band of men was a sight to behold. Our Tibetans told us of hearing the landlord, who turned out to be the leader of the group, say “Now we can’t carry out our plans, since the soldiers are here”. Then he questioned each one, trying to find out who had told of their plan. They all denied it, and he said, “Well, surely one of you did”.

After we arrived in America and I was telling my mother of this experience, she remembered that at about that time she was awakened in the night with the terrible feeling that some thing was wrong. She woke my sister and said, “Helen, get up. Gertrude is in trouble and we must pray for her”. On checking back, we found it was the very day that we were so earnestly praying for a solution to our dilemma. The Holy Spirit had awakened my mother, thousands of miles away, so she could add her prayers to ours. And God answered them.”

(“The Dogs May Bark But The Caravan Moves On” – A Prequel to Exodus To A Hidden Valley. Gertrude Morse, College Press, 1998, Pg 175-176)

The Overly Intrusive Church Or Mission Minded Church Member

Ralph D. Winter Wrote good words about obstacles to missions. Especially about Churches who Send Questionnaires to Missionaries.

I had one church send me a Questionnaire that took me a full two days to type and reply to. My responses were not in great detail either. 2/5^ths of the financial support this church gave our ministry was spent in 2 days wages to fill out this questionnaire for them. Time spent away form my real work. They got what they wanted, but it wasted 2/5th of their money, and two days of time. I am all for accountability and reporting. But please be reasonable. Did they tke more than 2 minutes to reflection over what I wrote? Hummm!

One obstacles Winter mention is what he calls;

“The Rise of the Questioning Layman. The very appearance of an unprecedented but surely welcome flood of specialized literature on missions relates to another problem area which urgently requires attention if there is to be a correspondingly unprecedented new thrust in missions. It is the rise of the questioning layman. Some of these people actually get and read the books I just mentioned before the missionaries do. They may not entirely understand them but they begin asking questions which are not easily or quickly answered……… Many church mission committees are now sending out questionnaires to missionaries and mission boards that take days to fill out. If every church did this, the entire mission movement around the world would stop dead in its tracks. ………Local church people are at this moment tramping around the world as tourists, poking their noses in everywhere not often fully understanding what they see…… This looming obstacle to harmony and teamwork between churches and missions is not going to blow away like a fad. ………ultimately welcome the new depth of knowledge in many lay circles.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library, 1980, Appendix pg 15-16)

Theological Education by Extension (TEE) Training Model is Still Essential.

"Observations like these do not relate only to those vast cultural differences between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. They exist also within the same country. Leaders of rural churches in South Viet Nam, for example, were recently discussing the problems that sending their ministerial candidates to study in the city raised. They said, ‘When our men return to the country they are not the same. They want their salary in cash, not in rice and chickens; they won’t walk through the rice paddies because they will get their trousers wet; they are not even able to sit and talk with us because they have brought their city schedules back with them and no longer have any time.” ……… The extension seminary enables students to take full theological training while continuing to live within their own culture. This reduces the danger of deculturization, known in one of its international aspects as the “brain drain.” While it is true that many examples of dedicated people who have studied in a second culture and have returned successfully to the first can be found, most theological educators and church leaders will agree that the trend is in the opposite direction…………Thousands of leaders of third world churches have been able to attain only minimal levels of general education, and they find themselves in no position to return to school. Should these men be excluded from theological training on those grounds, when God himself has placed them in the ministry? The seminary must extend itself to such men…………”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 408-409)

Hungry for the Gospel too!

“On the island of Sumatra where Batak tribesmen ate the first two missionaries who visited there a century ago, there are now indigenous Batak churches with their own ministry and institutions and over a million members—all former animists or their descendants.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 264)

Quality Bible Translations Needed

“If it is so important for Americans to have thirty translations of the New Testament to choose from, and even a “Living Bible,” which allows the Bible to speak in colloquial English, then why must many peoples around the world suffer along with a Bible that was translated for them by a foreigner, and thus almost inevitably speaks to them in halting phrases?”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 111)

Most Effective Form of Evangelism is E-1 By Nationals. However, 4/5th of unreached do not live near any Christian!

“Let us straightforwardly concede right here that, all other things being equal, the national worker always has a communication advantage over the foreigner …………E-1 evangelism – where a person communicates to his own people – is obviously the most potent kind of evangelism. People need to hear the Gospel in their own language. Can we believe God intends for them to hear it from people who speak without a trace of accent? The foreign missionary communicator may be good, but he is not good enough. If it is so important for Americans to have thirty translations of the New Testament to choose from, and even a “Living Bible,” which allows the Bible to speak in colloquial English, then why must many peoples around the world suffer along with a Bible that was translated for them by a foreigner, and thus almost inevitably speaks to them in halting phrases?

This is why the easiest, most obvious surge forward in evangelism in the world today will come if Christian believers in every part of the world are moved to reach outside their churches and win their cultural near neighbours to Christ. They are better able to do that than any foreign missionary. It is a tragic perversion of Jesus’ strategy if we continue to send missionaries to do the job that local Christians can do better. There is no excuse for a missionary in the pulpit when a national can do the job better. There is no excuse for a missionary to be doing evangelism on an E-3 basis, at an E-3 distance from the people, when there are local Christians who are effectively winning the same people as part of their E-1 sphere.

In view of the profound truth that (other things being equal) E-1 evangelism is more powerful than E-2 or E-3 evangelism, it is easy to see how some people have erroneously concluded that E-3 evangelism is therefore out-of-date, due to the wonderful fact that there are now Christians throughout the whole world. It is with this perspective that major denominations in the US, have at some points acted on the premise that there is no more need for missionaries of the kind who leave home to go to a foreign country and struggle with a totally strange language and culture. There premise is that “there are Christians over there already”……..

With the drastic fall-off in the value of the US- Dollar and the tragic shrinking of U.S. church budgets, some US. denominations have had to curtail their missionary activity to an unbelievable extent, and they have in part tried to console themselves by saying that it is time for the national church to take over. In our response to this situation, we must happily agree that wherever there are local Christians effectively evangelizing, there is nothing more potent than E-1 evangelism.

However, the truth about the superior power of E-1 evangelism must not obscure the obvious fact that E-1 evangelism is literally impossible where there are no witnesses within a given language or cultural group.

…………. Far from being a task that is now out-of-date, the shattering truth is that at least 4 out of 5 (4/5^th) non-Christians in the world today are beyond the reach of any Christians E-1 evangelism. Why is this fact not widely known? I’m afraid that all our exultation about the fact that every country of the world has been penetrated has allowed many to suppose that every culture has by now penetrated. This misunderstanding is a malady so widespread that it deserves a special name. Let us call it “people blindness” that is, blindness to the existence of separate peoples within countries- a blindness (pg113)

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 111- 113)

What is the Goal of Missions? When has the Task Been Completed An E1-E3 Scale Perspective?

“The master pattern of the expansion of the Christian movement-- is first for special E-2 and E-3 efforts to cross cultural barriers into new communities to establish strong, on-going, vigorously — evangelizing denominations, and then for that national church to carry the work forward on the really high-powered E-1 level. We are thus forced to believe that until every tribe and tongue has a strong, powerfully evangelizing church in it, and thus an E-1 witness within it, E-2 and E-3 efforts coming from outside are still essential and highly urgent.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 112)

Send no Missionaries? Mistakenly Assuming there are Churches near by to Do the Job!

These statements are of Critical Importance: This article, though older, examines false thinking that still persists in 21^st Century missions.

Can Natives do it better in the 10/40 window? There is a Serious lack of understanding of the task that is ahead, and what it will take to accomplish it. E2-E3 Evangelism. There are few “Natives” near by to be a witness. All who go are engaging in E2-E3 Evangelism – even if they live next door.

Read this article.

“In recent years, a serious misunderstanding has crept into the thinking of many evangelicals. Curiously, it is based on a number of wonderful facts: the Gospel has now gone to the ends of the earth. Christians have now fulfilled the Great Commission in at least a geographical sense. At this moment of history, we can acknowledge with great respect and pride those evangelists of every nation who have gone before us and whose sacrificial efforts and heroic accomplishments have made Christianity by far the world’s largest and most widespread religion, with a Christian church on every continent and in practically every country. This is no hollow victory. Now more than at any time since Jesus walked the shores of Galilee, we know with complete confidence that the Gospel is for all men, that it makes sense in any language, and that it is not merely a religion of the Mediterranean or of the West.

This is all true. On the other hand, many Christians as a result have the impression that the job is now nearly done and that to finish it we need only to forge ahead in local evangelism on the part of the now world’ wide church, reaching out wherever it has already been planted. Many Christian organizations. ranging widely from the World Council of Churches to many U.S. denominations, even some evangelical groups, have rushed to the conclusion that we may now abandon traditional missionary strategy and count on local Christians everywhere to finish the job.

This is why evangelism is the one great password to evangelical unity today. Not everyone can agree on foreign mission strategies, but more people than ever agree on evangelism, because that seems to be the one obvious job that remains to be done. All right! There is nothing wrong with evangelism. Most conversions must inevitably take place as the result of some Christian witnessing to a near neighbor, and that is evangelism. The awesome problem is the additional truth that most non-Christians in the world today are not culturally near neighbors of any Christians, and that it will take a special kind of ‘cross-cultural” evangelism to reach them.

Let us approach this subject with some graphic illustrations. I am thinking, for example, of the hundreds of thousands of Christians in Pakistan. Almost all of them are people who have never been Muslims and do not have the kind of relationship with the Muslim community that encourages witnessing. Yet they live in a country that is 97 per cent Muslim! The Muslims, on their part, have bad attitudes toward the stratum of society represented by the Christians. One group of Christians has boldly called itself The Church of Pakistan. Another group of Christians goes by the name, The Presbyterian Church of Pakistan. While these are ‘national” churches in the sense that they are part of the nation, they can hardly he called national churches if this phrase implies that they are culturally related to that vast bloc of people who constitute the other 97 per cent of the country, namely, the Muslims. Thus, although the Muslims are geographically near neighbors of these Christians, normal evangelism will not do the job.

Or take the Church of South India, a large church which has brought together the significant missionary efforts of many churches over the last century. But while it is called The Church of South India, 95 per cent of its members come from only five out of the more than 100 social classes (castes) in South India. Ordinary evangelism on the part of existing Christians will persuade men and women of those same five social classes. It would be much more difficult - it is in fact another kind of evangelism — for this church to make great gains within the 95 other social classes, which make up the vast bulk of the population.

Or take the great Batak church in Northern Sumatra. Here is one of the famous churches of Indonesia. Its members have been doing much evangelism among fellow Bataks, of whom there are still many thousands

whom they can reach without learning a foreign language, and among whom they can work with maximum efficiency of direct contact and understanding. But at the same time, the vast majority of all the people in

Indonesia speak other languages, and are of other ethnic units. For the Batak Christians of Northern Sumatra to win people to Christ from other parts of Indonesia will he a distinctly different kind of task. It is another kind of evangelism.

Or take the great church of Nagaland in Northeast India. Years ago. American missionaries from the plains of Assam reached up into the Naga hills and won some of the Ao Nagas. Then these Ao Nagas won practically their whole tribe to Christ. Next thing. Ao Nagas won members of the nearby Santdam Naga tribe, that spoke a sister language. These new Santdam Naga Christians then proceeded to win almost the whole of their tribe. This process went on until the majority of all fourteen Naga tribes became Christian. Now that most of Nagaland is Christian —even the officials of the state government are Christian — there is the desire to witness elsewhere in India. But for these Nagaland Christians to win other people in India is as much a foreign mission task as it is for Englishmen, Koreans, or Brazilians to evangelize in India. This is one of the reasons why so far the Nagas have made no significant attempt to evangelize the rest of India. Indian citizenship is one advantage the Naga Christians have compared to people from other countries, but citizenship does not make it easier for them to learn any of the hundreds of totally foreign languages in the rest of India.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 105-107)

E-2 &E-3 IS the Missionary Task to Unreached People. Don’t let the National Church restrain your Advancement

“Tough as this fourth category (E-2 or E-3) of growth is—it is the classical missionary task—it must be pointed out that all of our preceding charts suggest nothing less than that this task and technique is crucial for the reaching of at least 80 percent of the non-Christian world in Africa and Asia. But this is what we must do! Alas, how many missionaries are content to “let the- nationals do it” in a social unit already penetrated. Meanwhile, overlooking pockets and strata in the same field which the nationals are not as able to reach as the foreign missionary! This is especially true when the “National Church” unconsciously restricts the missionary to the limitations of its own immediate vision”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 100-101)

Ralph D. Winters E-0, E-1, E-2, E-3 Scale: An Explanation

It refers to the cultural distance a missionary is from a person he is witnessing to: It has nothing to do with geographical distance. A German missionary my be no culturally distant while ministering to an Indian in Northern India, than an Indian from the south in Madras.

“Winter identifies three different kinds of evangelism, distinguished by the cultural distance that the evangelist spans in communicating effectively with intended hearers. The E Scale has been a widely used reference tool for describing and comparing evangelistic difficulties and needs.

E-0 Evangelism of people who are part of Christian families and peoples. It is basically catechism and renewal. (This Author will add -Working with backsliding Christians) No real cultural barriers are crossed.

E -1 Evangelism of people outside the church but within one’s culture. Only one barrier is crossed: the “stained-glass” membership boundaries of the church. This kind of evangelism is the “most powerful” because people are far more likely to understand what is being communicated in ways that they can pass on to others like themselves. (This Author will add -Working with nominal Christians, or secular humanist, or post modern people. An Agni African winning another Agni in the same village who is non-christian. Near Neighbor. Sharing the Gospel with your friend who grew up next door to you to church. Same culture evangelism with someone form the same Language and idioms as you.)

E-2 Evangelism of people of different but similar cultures. Two barriers are crossed: The “stained-glass” barrier and an additional cultural distance sufficient to require separate church fellowships. (This Author will add: - Winning people of different world view from your own but, a more distant Culture and language. Increasing differences. Agni Indennie evangelizing Agni Jobalin. Can be done, but work on language variances is needed. Communication is possible but different enough you need to be carefull. Canada this would be similar to an English person working with an Acadian French person. Requires completely different skills and techniques than E1 or E0)

E-3 Evangelism of people of radically different cultures. To emphasize the greater cultural distance of an evangelist attempting to communicate to a radically different and potentially hostile environment, it is supposed that evangelists attempt to cross at least three barriers in E-3 efforts. For example, working with Saharan nomads would require crossing the “stained-glass” barrier, a language barrier and a major lifestyle barrier. E-3 is the most difficult kind of evangelism.” (This author Adds: - E-3 is Cross cultural, cross Linguistical evangelism while learning a new culture that is radically foreign to you.)

(“Perspectives on the World Christian Movement”; Study Guide , Steve C. Hawthorne, 1999 Edition,Pg 64)

Natives Do Missions Better? No - Why Global Missions still requires Western or “Outsider” Missionaries.

“This is what is meant when we say that “crossing an ocean never made a missionary,” or “you can go 18,000 miles but it s the last 18 inches that count”. Geography is thus nearly irrelevant in such well known observations. But a brand new astonishing meaning for the same basic truth is the fact that the Christians who live next door to the Muslims in the Middle East, for example, may be the least likely to be effective missionaries to those Muslim people: it is the 18 inches that count, and if a person from afar can more easily cross that last 18 inches, then so be it, it has got to be arranged. In such cases there may be little strategy in waiting for local Christians to do the job.

The full weight of this presses down on us when we recall that the vast bulk ( say 80%) of the non-Christian world is at the E-2 and E-3 cultural distance form every existing Christian. This fact in turn has profound implications for concrete arrangements in strategy.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 98-99)

Group Conversions in Tribal Societies? What Are Western Individualists to do About a “Personal” Decision for Christ? A Perspective!

How Tribal Societies Make Decisions effects conversion

“Lineage and tribal decisions are also made by the elders. Family heads have their say, but they must comply with the decisions of the leaders if they want to remain a part of the tribe.

This type of social organization raises serious questions for Christian evangelism. Take, for example, Lin Barney’s experience. Lin was in Borneo when he was invited to present the Gospel to a village tribe high in the mountains. After a difficult trek he arrived at the village and was asked to speak to the men assembled in the long house. Lin shared the message of the Jesus’ Way well into the night, and, finally, the elders announced that they would make a decision about this new way. Lineage members gathered in small groups to discuss the matter, and then the lineage leaders gathered to make a final decision. In the end they decided to become Christians, all of them. The decision was by general consensus.

What should the missionary do now? Does he send them all back and make them arrive at the decision individually? We must remember that in these societies no one would think of making so important a decision as marriage apart from the elders, Is it realistic, then, to expect them to make an even more important decision regarding their religion on their own?

Should the missionary accept all of them as born again? But some may not have wanted to become Christian and will continue to worship the gods of their past?

Groups decisions do not mean that all of the members of the group have converted, but it does mean that the group is open to further Biblical instruction. The task of the missionary is not finished, it has only begun, for he must now teach them the whole of the Scriptures.

Such people movements are not uncommon. In fact, much of the growth of the church in the past has occurred through them, including many of the first Christian ancestors of most of the readers of this book.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 71-72)

Missionaries have a Mistress & A Wife? Titles Other Cultures assign Missionaries – What do they really mean or Imply?

“How have the people perceived the missionaries (for an excellent discussion of missionary roles see Loewen 1975: and Smalley 1967:276—285 )? In india the missionaries were called “dora.” The word is used for rich farmers and small—time kings. These petty rulers bought large pieces of land, put up compound walls, built bungalows, and had servants. They also erected separate bungalows for their second and third wives. When the missionaries came they bought large pieces of land, put up compound walls, built bungalows, and had servants. They, too, erected separate bungalows, but for the missionary ladies stationed on the same compound.

Missionary wives were called “dorasani,” The term is used not for the wife of a dora for she should be kept in isolation away from the public eye, but his mistress whom he often took with him in his cart or car.

The problem here is one of cross—cultural misunderstanding. The missionary thought of himself as a “missionary,” not realizing that there is no such thing in the traditional Indian society. In order to relate to him, the people had to find him a role within their own set of roles, and they did so. Unfortunately, the missionaries were not aware of how the people perceived them.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 64)

Unforeseen Side Effects of Conversion Must be considered!

“Since cultural traits are linked together into larger wholes, changes in one or more of them leads often to unforeseen changes in other areas of the culture. For example, in one part of Africa, when the people became Christians, their villages also became dirty. The reason for this was that they were now not afraid of evil spirits which they believed hid in the refuse. So they no longer had to clean it up.

Many cultural traits serve important functions in the lives of the people. If we remove these without providing a substitute, the consequences can be tragic. In some places husbands with more than one wile had to give up all but one when they became Christians. But no arrangements were made for the wives who were put away. Many of them ended up in prostitution or slavery.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 59)

What is Syncretism?

A good definition with a few comments.

“………….. translation involves more than putting ideas into native forms, for these forms may not carry meanings suitable for expressing the Christian message. If we, then, translate it into native forms without thought to preserving the meaning, we will end up with syncretism- the mixture of old meanings with the new so that the essential nature of each is lost.

If we are careful to preserve the meaning of the gospel even as we express it in native forms we have indigenization.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 58)

Avoiding Ethnocentrism And Religious Imperialism

“We must distinguish between the Gospel and culture. If we do not, we will be in danger of making our culture the message. The Gospel then becomes democracy, capitalism, pews and pulpits, Robert’s Rules of Order, clothes, and suits and ties on Sunday. One of the primary hindrances to communication is the foreignness of the message, and to a great extent the foreignness of Christianity has been the cultural load we have placed upon it. As Mr. Murthi, an Indian evangelist, put it, “Do not bring us the gospel as a potted plant. Bring us the seed of the Gospel and plant it in our soil”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 57)

Contrasting View of "Time" between Arabia & the Western Missionary

“Edward Hall points out just how different cultures can be in his study of time (1959). When, for example, two Americans agree to meet at ten o’clock, they are “on time” if they show up from five minutes before to five minutes after ten. If one shows up at fifteen after, he is “late” and mumbles an unfinished apology. He must simply acknowledge that he is late. If he shows up at half past he should have a good apology, and by eleven he may as well not show up. His offence is unpardonable

It parts of Arabia, the people have a different concept or map of f time. If the meeting time is ten o’clock, only a servant shows up at ten——in obedience to this master. The proper time for others is from ten forty—five to eleven fifteen, just long enough after the set time to show their independence and equality. This arrangement works well for when two equals agree to meet at ten, each shows up, and expects the other to how up, at about ten forty—five.

The problem arises when an American meets an Arab and arranges a meeting for ten o’clock. The American shows up at ten, the right time” according to him. The Arab shows up at ten forty—five, the “right time’ according to him. The American feels the Arab has no sense of time at all (which is false) , and the Arab is tempted to think Americans act like servants (which is also false).”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 49-51)

Cultural Differences – We Westerners live on “Platforms” The Japanese Do not!

“At home the American has different kinds of platforms for sitting in the living room, at the dining table and at his desk. He also has a large platform on which he sleeps at night. When he travels abroad his greatest fear is being caught at night without a platform in a private room, so he makes hotel reservations well ahead of time. People from many parts of the world know that all you need is a blanket and a flat space in order to spend the night, and the world is full of flat places. In the airport, at three in the morning, the American traveler is draped uncomfortably over a chair rather than stretched out on the rug. He would rather be dignified than comfortable. Not only do Americans sit and sleep on platforms, they build their houses on them, hang them on their walls, and put fences around them to hold their children. Why this obsession with platforms? Behind all these behavior patterns is a basic assumption that the ground and floor are dirty. This explains their obsession for getting off the floor. It also explains why they keep their shoes on when they enter the house, and why the mother scolds the child when it picks a potato chip off the floor and eats it. The floor is “dirty” even though it has just been washed, and the instant a piece of food touches it, the food becomes dirty.

On the other hand, in Japan the people believe the floor is clean. Therefore they take their shoes off at the door, and sleep and sit on mats on the floor. When we walk into their home with our shoes on, they feel much like we do when someone walks on our couch with their shoes on.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 48-49)

To Funny - What it feels like to be Bicultural! The Best Explanation I have Read.

“We can get out and learn to live in the new culture, and, in time, we will feel as at home in it as our own, possibly even more so. Something Happens to us when we adapt to a new culture, we become bicultural people. Our parochialism based on our unquestioned feeling that there is really only one way to live, and our way is it, is shattered. We must deal with cultural variety, with the fact that people build cultures in different ways, and that they believe their cultures are better than ours. Aside from some curiosity at our foreignness, they are not interested in learning our ways.

But to the extent we identify with the people and become bicultural, to that extent we find ourselves alienated from our kinsmen and old friends in our homeland. This is not reverse culture shock, although we will experience that when we return home after a long stay abroad. It is a basic difference in how we now look at things. We have moved from a philosophy that assumes uniformity to one that has had to cope with variety, and our old friends often don’t understand us. In time we may find our closest associates among other bicultural people.

In one sense, bicultural people never fully adjust to one culture, their own or their adopted one. Within themselves they are part of both. When Americans are abroad, they dream of America, and need little rituals that re affirm this part of themselves—a food package form home, a letter, an American visitor from whom they can learn the latest news from `home’. When in America, they dream of their adopted country, and need little rituals that reaffirm this part of themselves—a visitor from that country, a meal with its food. Bicultural people seem happiest when they are flying from one of these countries to the other.

(“Crucial Dimensions in World Evangelization”, Paul Hiebert, 1976, 4^th printing, William Carey Library, Pasadenia California pg 51,52)

Greetings Vary by Culture – 5 Great Examples!

“….two American men on meeting grasp each other’s hand and shake it. In Mexico we would see them embrace. In India each puts his hands together and raises them towards his forehead with a slight bow of the head——a gesture of greeting that is efficient, for it permits a person to greet a great many others in a single motion, and clean, for people need not touch each other. The latter is particularly important in a society where the touch of an untouchable used to defile a high caste person and force him to take a purification bath. Among the Siriano of South America, men spit on each other’s chests in greeting.

Probably the strangest form of greeting was observed by Dr. Jacob Loewen in Panama. On leaving the jungle on a small plane with the local native chief, he noticed the chief go to all his fellow tribesmen and suck their mouths. When Dr. Loewen inquired about this custom, the chief explained that they had learned this custom from the white man. They had seen that every time he went up in his plane, he sucked the mouths of his people as magic to insure a safe journey. If we stop and think about it a minute, Americans, in fact, have two types of greeting, shaking hands and sucking mouths, and we must be careful not to use the wrong form with the wrong people.

Like most cultural patterns, kissing is not a universal human custom. It was absent among most primitive tribesmen, and considered vulgar and revolting to the Chinese who thought it too suggestive of cannibalism."

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 45-46)

Cheap, Easy Believism is Detrimental to Modern Missions!

“Some might ask in all sincerity, “Why complicate anything as simple as the task of winning men to Christ? The facts are clear: ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,’ ‘The wages of sin is death’ and ‘Christ died for our sins.’ Ask if the man believes these truths. If he does, get him to assent to the Scriptural proposition: ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.’ If he believes, he is automatically saved, right then and there, It is as simple as that. Why complicate it?”

While it is a sad fact that in American Evangelical circles today, the gospel tends to be simplified to the irreducible minimum of believing three facts and agreeing to a simple proposition that appears to make automatic the whole matter of becoming a Christian, this is in sharp contrast with the method employed by our Lord. In fact, a careful study of his method will reveal how inadequate is the popular concept of getting a man to “take Jesus as his own personal Savior.” It is not with out reason that whereas many go through this “formula” and profess to receive Christ, not a few subsequently fall by the wayside and manifest by their lives that they never really experienced the new birth. We stand against this “easy believism” and “cheap grace” and turn to the sequence of our Lord’s method for “making disciples.”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library 1980 pg 12,13)

Personal Note:

Many a field missionary have experienced the short-termer, who comes with a powerful message, or shows the Jesus film, and asks people to pray a formula prayer. When asked how many in the group said this prayer, hundreds will raise their hands. The "missionary goes home reporting a brilliant success with hundreds and hundreds turning to the Lord. The Reality is that with little ground work and use of local churches, That very Sunday will see little change in attendance. Where are the hundreds on Sunday? They have not flooded the local church.
We have every right to question the substance and depth of such methodology that sees little or not integration of these "converts" into the local church. This occurs scandalously often on the field today.

Church Planting is Foundational to Missions

“God’s program for the evangelization of the world involves the local church. Unless local congregations are firmly established in each population center that has been evangelized, there is no satisfactory way of conserving the results of evangelism. Without local churches new converts cannot be readily trained…………

Planting these churches, then, is ever the ultimate objective of all missionary work. Missionary labour, no matter how brilliant, will have little permanence unless this is accomplished. In the final analysis, it is the local congregations, rather than individual believers, that bring lasting changes to the spiritual life of a region…..”

(Crucial Dimensions on World Evangelisation, Arthur F. Glasser, Paul G. Hiebert C Peter Wagner, Ralph D. Winter. William Carey Library, 1980, Pg 7)

What is our Relationship to Missions? Ignoring Missions is not an Option!

“Tell them there are three possibilities.

1. They can be goers,

2. senders,

3. or disobedient.

But to ignore the cause is not a Christian Option.”

(“Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 196, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

Missionaries Must be Willing to Suffer!

“Josef Tson, the Romanian pastor who risked his life teaching and preaching under the communists until he was exiled in 1981, has written a book on Suffering, Martyrdom, and Rewards in Heaven. He says in conclusion, “Suffering and martyrdom have to be seen as part of God’s plan; they are His instruments by which He achieves His purposes in history and by which He will accomplish His final purpose with man.” That is what I have been learning from the Bible and from history in these recent years.”

(“Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 195, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

Matthew 24:9 (NLT) ⁹“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.

90% of Missionaries are Timothy Missionaries – Serious need for "Paul" Missionaries Today!

“We discovered that the scarcity of Paul-type missionaries has been obscured by the quantity of Timothy-type missionaries.……. There seem to be two kinds of missionaries needed in the world. There is the Timothy-type missionary and the Paul-type missionary. We call Timothy a missionary because he left home (Lystra, Acts 16:1), joined a traveling team of missionaries, crossed cultures, and ended up overseeing the younger church in Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3) far from his homeland. But we have come to distinguish this Timothy-type missionary from the Paul-type missionary because Timothy stayed and ministered on the “mission field” long after there was a church planted with its own elders (Acts 20:17) and its own outreach (Acts 19:10).

Paul (the Paul-type missionary), on the other hand, was driven by a passion to make God’s name known among all the unreached peoples of the world. He never stayed in a place long, once the church was established. He said in Romans 15:20, “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named” (Rom. 15:20). That is what we call “frontier missions” or “pioneer missions.” That is a Paul-type missionary.

For me, back in 1983, it proved to be a stunning revelation that perhaps 90 percent of our missionary force from North America are Timothy-type missionaries working with established churches among reached peoples, and only 10 percent are Paul-type missionaries, even though hundreds of people groups, some would say several thousand, remain unreached—that is, there is no indigenous evangelizing movement among them at all.”

(“Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 192, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

What Does "All Nations" Mean In Great Comission?

“Again, Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14 NASB). With the help of Ralph Winter and others, our eyes were opened to the Biblical truth that “nations” in the Bible are not political-geographic states like America, Argentina, China, Germany, Uganda, etc. “Nations” means ethnic groupings with cultural and language distinctions that make it hard for the gospel to spread naturally from one group to the other. …………………. The task of missions was not only to win individuals but to reach all these different groups in the world. That’s why Revelation 5:9 became as important for us as Matthew 28:19—20, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (NASB). That is the task of missions: not just reaching more and more people but more and more peoples—tribes, tongues, peoples, nations.

…………. The task was not primarily to try to keep up with or gain on the population growth rate in the world—as wonderful as that would be. The task is to make steady headway in reaching more and more “nations,” people groups. Which means that the task is finishable, because while the number of individual people keeps growing and changing, the number of people groups (by and large) does not. That was the third”

(“Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 191, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

When Mission Leaders Pray for the Lost!

"In Ethiopia the elders of the churches where we served came one day to complain about the limited

growth rate. We had only had about 600 baptisms that year. I responded that I was too busy to add any more preaching or teaching into my schedule. I suggested that we each identify at least five people who need to be converted or renewed and then we pray daily until the decision was made. People began to pray. That year the Lord added more than 1200 to the church in that place. We began to see scattered occasions of people being delivered from deionization. Then the numbers of those delivered grew by the hundreds. As people were delivered the credibility of the church grew. As the church grew the number of people demonized decreased to where it was rare except in areas where the church was being planted.

The sick were prayed for and raised up and I continued to have my faith stretched-amazed at what the Lord was doing. It didn't fit my "systematic theology," but it was like what was described in the gospels and Acts."

("Completing the Task" College Press 1995 Edgar Elliston pg 184,185)

Our Relationship With Money & Things- What's it Like?

“So there are three levels of how to live with things:

(1) You can steal to get,

(2) or you can work to get,

(3) or you can work to get in order to give.

Many of us live on level two. Almost all of the forces of our culture urge us to live on level two. But the Bible is unrelenting in pushing us to level three.”

(“Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 172, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

What To Do With Our Excess Financial Gain? A Perspective!

“God does not prosper a man’s business so that man can move from a Buick to a BMW. God prospers a business so that hundreds of unreached peoples can be reached with the gospel. He prospers a business so that 20 percent of the world’s population can move a step back from the precipice of starvation.

Brothers, many of our people have barely begun to grasp this. Too many are more shaped by the consumer culture than by the economics of Christ. They still operate on the simple rule: If you earned it, you deserve it. It’s yours; use it for your own material comfort ……………………………..Very few of our people have said to themselves: we will live at a level of joyful, wartime simplicity and use the rest of what we earn to alleviate misery. But surely that is what Jesus wants. I do not see how we can read the New Testament, then look at two billion un evangelized people, and still build another barn for ourselves. We can only justify the exorbitance of our lifestyle by ignoring the lostness of the unreached and the misery of the poor.

Brothers, we are leaders, and the burden of change lies most heavily on us. The place to start is our own lives. Is it the thrill of your life to live in such a sacrificial way that all can see that God is your treasure, not things? Are your home and clothes and cars and recreation the mark of a wartime lifestyle? Is your giving to the church pacesetting (not that your people will know what you give, but God does)? Does your burden for the unreached and the poor stab your people’s love for luxury and comfort?”

("Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 169-170, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

It is Arrogance to Share the Gopsel with Muslim & Jewish People?

“Therefore, speaking the truth is service to Christ and love to others, even if they consider themselves your adversaries. This is clearest in the case of evangelism where you are accused of arrogance for telling the gospel to Muslims or Jews or Buddhists. This has always been true in missionary settings and is true now in the less-than-tolerant American public square, where relativism no longer means: Your claim to truth is no more valid than mine; but now means: You may not claim to speak the truth. If you do, you are at best arrogant and, at worst, the nourisher of hate crimes.”

(Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 164, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

Is Missions a Fair Fight?

Suffering for Christ

“…..George Otis once said to a gathering in Manila, “Jesus never promised His disciples a fair fight.” We must assume mistreatment, and not be indignant when we get it.

("Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 163, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

Defying Religious Relativism Costs in the 21st Century

““Arrogance” is the condemnation of choice in the political and religious arena for anyone who breaks the rules of relativism. If you say of anybody’s view of God that it is wrong and harmful, you will be accused of arrogance. If you say that Christians should share Christ with their Jewish friends in the hope that they would believe on Jesus and be saved, you will be accused of arrogance. If you say to a straying church member enmeshed in sin, “Repent and come back,” you may be accused of judgmentalism and arrogance.

(Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 160-161, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

The Passion Derived from the word LOST!

“Is not our most painful failure in the pastorate the inability to weep over the unbelievers in our neighbourhoods and the carnal members of our churches? A great hindrance to our ministry is the gulf between our Biblical understanding and the corresponding passions of our hearts. The glorious and horrible truths which thunder through the Bible cause only a faint echo of fear and ecstasy in our hearts. We take a megaton of truth upon our lips and speak it with an ounce of passion.”

(Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg 114, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

The New "Tolerance " Effects Missions.

“Beware of replacing real truth-based tolerance with spurious professional tolerance. Once upon a time tolerance was the power that kept lovers of competing faiths from killing each other. It was the principle that put freedom above forced conversion. It was rooted in the truth that coerced conviction is no conviction. That is true tolerance. But now the new professional tolerance denies that there are any competing faiths; they only complement each other. It denounces not only the effort to force conversions but also the idea that any conversion may be necessary. It holds the conviction that no religious conviction should claim superiority over another. In this way, peaceful parity among professionals can remain intact, and none need be persecuted for the stumbling block of the cross.”

(Brothers, We are not Professionals” John Piper, pg XI, 2002, Broadman & Holman pub)

Not Burried Next to Me !

Team Expansion workers, Phil and Kim Kornegay, from Japan write

"Praise God, the daughter of one of the ladies in our English Bible study was recently immersed into Christ. Emma Matsumoto wanted to be baptized in the river 'like Jesus' she said. Her parents invited many people. It was a big day; there was a worship time and they organized a big BBQ afterward.

A couple weeks before her baptism, her father told her this meant she COULDN'T BE BURIED next to him, since Christians and Buddhists are not allowed to be buried together.

Emma said, "That's OK, you are my Daddy but God is my Father."

Please pray for Emma in her new Christian walk. Also please lift up her daddy who is not yet a Christian, but did support her decision."

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 08:29:26 -0500 Momentum" momentum@teamexpansion.org Eric Derry"

There is No Other Water!

Jesus is the Water - Living Water of life

Narnia Cronicles, By C.S. Lewis "The Silver Chair" pg 24-27 fontana. Lions 1985 William Collins Sons & co, glasgow

"Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do. When Jill stopped, she found she was dreadfully thirsty. She had been lying face downward, and now she sat up. The birds had ceased singing and there was perfect silence except for one small, persistent sound, which seemed to come a good distance away. She listened carefully, and felt almost sure it was the sound of running water.

Jill got up and looked round her very carefully. There was no sign of the lion; but there were so many trees about that it might easily be quite close without her seeing it. For all she knew, there might be several lions. But her thirst was very bad now, and she plucked up her courage to go and look for that running water. She went on tip- toes, stealing cautiously from tree to tree, and stopping to peer round her at every step.

The wood was so still that it was not difficult to decide where the sound was coming from. It grew clearer every moment and, sooner than she expected, she came to an open glade and saw the stream, bright as glass, running across the turf a stone's throw away from her. But although the sight of the water made her feel ten times thirstier than before, she didn't rush forward and drink. She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone, with her mouth wide open. And she had a very good reason; just on this side of the stream lay the lion.

It lay with its head raised and its two fore-paws out in front of it……. She knew at once that it had seen her, for its eyes looked straight into hers for a moment and then turned away- as if it knew her quite well and didn't think much of her.

'If I run away, it'll be after me in a moment,' thought Jill. ' And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth.' Anyway, she couldn't have moved if she had tried, and she couldn't take her eyes off it. How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours. And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first.

'If you're thirsty, you may drink.'

………………For a second she stared here and there, wondering who had spoken. Then the voice said again, ' If you are thirsty, come and drink,'………… and - realized that it was the lion speaking. Anyway, she had seen its lips move this time, and the voice was not like a man's. It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy, golden voice. It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before, but it made her : frightened in rather a different way.

' Are you not thirsty ?' said the Lion.

'I'm dying of thirst,' said Jill. ' Then drink,' said the Lion.

'May I -could I -would you mind going away while I do?' said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious. rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic. Will you promise not to -do anything to me, if, I

do come?' said Jill.

'I make no promise,' said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

`Do you eat girls?' she said.

'I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,' said the Lion.……………………'I daren't come and drink,' said Jill.

'Then you will die of thirst,' said the Lion. 'Oh dear!' said Jill, coming another step nearer. ' I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.'

There is no other stream,' said the Lion.