May Prayer Focus: The Fourth Wave of Missions
(Please note: A May prayer day summary with bullet points appears at the bottom of this e-mail and on our website, www.prayerday.org , which may assist you during the Thursday, May 1 YWAM Prayer Day).
Tens of thousands of young people filling stadiums crying out to God and determined to take their place in this generation. Prayer movements springing up all over the world. A surge of fresh vision to penetrate the spheres of society with the
Share with other YWAMers about your Prayer Day. Just go to the section titled “Your Feedback” on the homepage of www.prayerday.org and post your comments. If you’d prefer, please send your comments to prayerday@ywam.org . Also, to receive these prayer guides via e-mail, please register at www.ywamlist.org/prayerday
May Prayer Focus: The Fourth Wave of Missions
五月禱告焦點:第四波宣教浪潮
上萬的年青人擠滿的體育館中,一同哭求神,決定在他們的世代中不缺席。禱告運動在全球如雨後春筍般綻放。如同大浪似的更新異象蔓延於全球上帝的國度中。有時候很難表達清楚今日全球宣教到底發生了什麼事,因為舊的例子似乎已經被遺忘。但是,顯然的,這是新的日子!這個月我們邀請
想跟其他青年使命團團員分享你的禱告日,只需到網頁www.prayerday.org當中找標題---”Your Feedback”,然後寫下你的回應,如果你願意也請將你的回應寄到prayerday@ywam.org還有若您在您的E-mail信箱要收到這些禱告事項,請到
www.ywamlist.org/prayerday登記註冊喔!
May Leader’s Letter by
五月領袖的信---美國青年使命團
禾場領袖Jim Stier
親愛的青年使命團團員:
二月的時候,我很榮幸參與”呼召到萬國”在美國佛羅里達的奧蘭多的會議。每件事的品質都超棒,且令人興奮,在那個星期中,每一天都有成長,我們看到更多,最好的是,耶穌的肢體在世界各地的狀況。就像最有影響力的福音出擊潮流都出現了,而異象則是非常高的層次。
那個星期中,我有了一個信念---就是,這是個重要歷史事件潛力的開始,這個行動始於一個異象就是
請容我使用一個太過簡單的模型,這一般是用於識別新教在一個成功的浪潮開始。這第一波浪潮是始於威廉(William Carey)(浸信會宣教士協會的創辦人)的一場非常棒的演講,於1792年,當威廉出版一本關於宣導宣教迫切性的小冊子,這個創造了一個新的工人浪潮,這些工人廣泛大量的去到世界各地的沿海地區。而第二波宣教浪潮是由戴德生於1865年對中國需要的龐大負擔 , 這波的浪潮大部份聚焦於內陸 。第三波浪潮的宣教邏輯根基於一些人像是Cameron Townsend與Donald McGavran.的服事與刊物出版。
他們很有智慧的抓住事件與活動機會 , 像是在1974年 , 第一次在瑞士洛桑的全球傳福音會議 , Ralph Winter 與其他人試圖讓教會聚焦在未得之民。
我相信我們已經進入另一個紀元就是---現代宣教的第四波浪潮。看來是我們開始尋求神及試著了解這個新浪潮的元素。在1990年代教會在全球廣泛的成長 , 達到了6.9%的高峰
, 雖然兩千年已約1.3% , 可是在這關鍵性歷史點上,什麼能刺激教會更有行動力呢 ? 21世紀的宣教定義和動機會從何處來呢 ? 我們會尋求神且領受從祂而來的引導嗎 ? 而這會成為前所未見最大之浪潮嗎 ? 哪裡會成為發生的地點 ,可以有力地散播第四波宣教浪潮的
歷史的模式顯示每一個浪潮都建造在上一個浪潮的根基上。浪潮一個比一個大 , 一個比一個遠。第四波浪潮對我們握有更大的應許。讓我們一起尋求神 , 因為祂這次可能會向我們啟示祂的計畫跟目的。
主內,
美國青年使命團禾場領袖
May Leader’s Letter by Jim Stier, YWAM Field Director of the Americas
Dear
In February I was privileged to attend the Call2All congress in
As the week went on I developed a conviction that this was the beginning of something with historic potential. This initiative started with a vision that
Allow me to use an overly simple model. It is generally recognized that Protestant missions have occurred in successive waves. The first wave was articulated by
I believe we’ve entered yet another era, the fourth wave of modern missions. It seems appropriate that we begin to seek God to understand the elements of this new wave. Church growth worldwide reached a peak of 6.9% per year in the 1990s. Since the year 2000 it has been at about 1.3%. What will galvanize the church into action at this critical point in history? Where will the motivation and definition of missions in the 21st century come from? Will we seek God and receive directions from Him? Will this wave be the biggest yet seen? Where is the venue for discovering, articulating and spreading the
The historical pattern has been that each wave builds on the last. Each is bigger and goes farther than the previous. The fourth wave holds great promise for us all. Let’s seek the Lord together that He might reveal His plans and intentions to us for these times.
In Him,
YWAM Field Director of the
Member, Team 3 Plus
The Bible seems to be very clear that it's important for us to seek the Lord to know what we should be doing, not only in a detailed and personal way for our own individual lives, but also in the “macro” picture of the times in which we live.
In
In
A great body of prophetic literature is evidenced throughout the Bible. Some of it is composed of exhortations to obedience and good conduct, but a lot is focused on what is yet to come and is still going to happen in the lives of those listening. God is in the business of shaping history together with His people as He works towards His ultimate earthly goal of blessing every family on earth (Genesis 12:1-3). This understanding, which God wishes to share with us, can be of great help in spiritual warfare as we fight to win the war to defeat the powers of cruelty and injustice and to bless the entire world with God's goodness.
And there, right in the middle of it in verse 32, lies a very interesting acknowledgment. It reads: “…of the sons of
As the missions movement moves from wave to wave, and as we advance in our quest to bless the whole world, we also need to understand the times so that we, too, can know what to do.
When YWAM leadership calls us together, I am always there if it at all possible. I have never missed a
The Call2All meetings are a gathering of the Body of Christ that span the globe. People from over 200 organizations are already participating. People from all the continents and most of the nations of the world will participate in future congresses. The broad diversity of the Church is to be gathered under an anointing of impressive unity. I can’t help but think that God will speak to us and give us “understanding of the times, to know what (we) ought to do” as a result of such unified efforts!
It seems that the gatherings will be a requirement in order for us to have defined understanding from God, but in order to help us pray together this month I would like to suggest some of the things that might characterize this next wave, the fourth wave of protestant missions. There are always some leaders and visionaries that are out in front of the rest of us, and we heard many of them in
The fourth wave of missions will likely:
1. Be comprised of all generations, working together, with a special emphasis on youth. Youth need the security, wisdom and experience of older people working alongside them, but they are better at so many things related to missions. They learn languages faster and better. They make friends more quickly. They adapt to new and strange environments with less upheaval in mind, body, and emotions. They are less entangled and freer to go. The use of young people in missions is well established historically and is growing today.
2. Be truly and thoroughly international. This is already happening, especially at the level of our rank and file missionaries. It seems highly desirable and very likely that new leadership and ideas will increasingly come from all nations and go to all nations.
3. Be globalized. Money, information, and ideas flow like never before all around the world. It’s more possible than ever before for anyone, even a poor person from the developing world, to make an impact on the nations. I know a former beggar from
4. Emphasize orality as never before. Much of the unengaged world experiences high levels of illiteracy. However, we’ve also discovered that even literate people often don’t learn enough about the variety of forms available to us for effective discipleship, almost completely excluding the use of oral methods, for example. Even our speaking tends to be literary in its patterns. It seems probable that in the near future we’ll use more of the arts and media to tell more stories to reach and teach people in ways that they will actually remember and apply.
5. Break out of the sphere of the institutional church and find expression within the multiple spheres of society. Mission has traditionally been the business of the church. Now, however, there is a surge of vision and activity that strongly suggests that Christians in business and commerce, government, education, arts and media, journalism, family concerns, science and technology, and numerous other sub-categories will increasingly be the leaven that permeates society with the
6. Be world-oriented. The business of the whole Body of Christ is to advance the
7. Be the wave of the ‘all’. It seems within our reach to get to every single 4K zone during this new wave. If we do this, we will reach all peoples. We won’t be finished just by getting there, however. We must also get on with the work of building the
8. Be anointed with a remarkable level of unity. To me and to others who attended the first Call2All congress in
9. Be fueled and oriented by the Holy Spirit and our response to Him. The presence of prayer movement leaders such as
10. Produce movements that don’t look like traditional missions organizations. These could be things like the 19th century guilds of
This is not meant to be a definitive list, but more of a way to get our prayer flowing during the May 1 prayer day and beyond. God can give us understanding of the times so that the church knows what to do. Let’s seek the Lord and ask Him for understanding. Beyond that, let’s ask Him to use the Call2All congresses to speak to the whole Body of Christ and to loose across the world a powerful new wave in world missions!
The ripe new fields: A Testimony by
A few weeks ago, I sat down in my kitchen in
The 21st century missions movement is indeed blurring the lines between "sending" countries and " the mission field", and missions is clearly no longer primarily the business of the church. Between 1984 and 1995, my family and I were part of YWAM Bolivia and saw ourselves as missionaries supported by Christians back home in
The defining characteristic of effective mission has always been people genuinely and unconditionally loving people, with no other agenda than to fulfill the Great Commission through the fulfilling of the Great Commandment. This has never been more relevant than in a 21st Century world turned cynical and somewhat jaded by religious fundamentalism in its many varieties.
This is my 26th year in YWAM. I am still thrilled with a God who is always more contemporary and in touch with the times than we are. It is exciting to see how the Holy Spirit is leading us into a multiplicity of 'out of the box' initiatives as we engage with the challenge of fulfilling our part in the Great Commission. Today I no longer lead a YWAM base and I speak less in churches than I did in the 1990s. Instead, as a fitness instructor/personal trainer I’m more the “secret pastor” of which author
Whether we find ourselves sharing the gospel with a friend between sets on the bench press, or talking about
YWAM
Subscribe Unsubscribe Privacy Policy
© Youth With A Mission 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment