Even small soldiers can accomplish great feats
"One will love one clan." Who else would the Chinese church be than me?
Actions speak louder than words
The "Joshua Project" launched in 1995 is a global joint missionary ministry that serves ethnic groups with a population of more than 10,000 but fewer than 5% Christians. Currently, there are 1,596 ethnic groups. , with a total population of approximately 2.2 billion. A group of co-workers from Chinese churches in the greater Los Angeles area participated and held many briefing sessions, and some churches responded to the call.
The "Arc de Triomphe Christian Home" where I pastor has been in action for two years. After earnestly praying and seeking at first, we selected five ethnic groups. On the one hand, we would watch and pray for them every week and every day, and on the other hand, we would collect more detailed information. Six months later, we discovered that four of the four groups were not truly “Unengaged People Group” (i.e., groups for which Christians have no dedicated care), but were “Unreached People Group” (i.e., groups without Christian commitment and care). In the past, the term "unreached people" refers to groups where the gospel has been preached, but the number of believers is less than 2% or they do not have the ability to establish churches and train disciples). So we found four more substitutes for the "untouched people" that no one really cared about, namely: the Limi people of Yunnan, the Mulao family of Guizhou, the Salar people of Gansu, the Uyghurs of Lop Nur in Xinjiang, and the Bakawa people of India.
After the five ethnic groups were selected, we continued to watch, pray and collect information. We taught brothers and sisters to nominate and pray every day, and sent prayer letters to introduce the traditional beliefs, living habits, customs and customs of these five ethnic groups. After another ten months, we entered the actual "interview and publicity" stage and decided to develop a strategy to contact one of these groups. Before setting off, I was happy to learn that someone in this tribe finally believed in the Lord a few months ago and was baptized just two months ago. Thank you Lord for hearing prayers! We dare not take credit, but there is definitely a part of it that is the power injected by our prayers, and the hearts of brothers and sisters are filled with the joy of soul harvest.
When we went through all kinds of hardships and got into their midst, not only did we understand, feel more intimate, and cherish this people more, but what was even more amazing was that we unexpectedly connected with the team that was preaching the gospel to them, and the relationship between the two parties started. With wonderful coordination and communication, we firmly believe that more exciting stories will continue to happen in the future.
We are just a small church, with fifty people in the Chinese church and fifty people in the English church. If we can do it, I believe most churches can. May more Chinese churches rise up to respond to this end-time call! This is not only a responsibility, but also an opportunity and a blessing.
The Lord Jesus said that the gospel will be preached to all “people groups” and then the end will come. It is hoped that all the remaining unreached and unreached peoples will be "recruited" by the Chinese church. Looking at it from another perspective, isn’t this the “last step” to inherit the gospel? "One moment to love one people" is the beginning of our response to the Great Commission. How can we miss this opportunity and waste our time? Let’s take a small step toward God’s eternal plan!
Recalculate our timing
Once the importance is recognized, the next step is of course action, but "Which of you who wants to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if it can be built?" (Luke 14:28) We need to understand the mission field. In order to effectively use the resources at hand and work together to achieve the Lord’s great commission, we must also know God’s timetable and make careful calculations.
Calculate 1
The return of the Lord is near:The prophecies of the Lord's return in the Bible, except for the rebuilding of the temple and the spread of the gospel, have almost all been fulfilled. Some scholars believe that if the "fig tree flourishing and putting on leaves" refers to the restoration of Israel (1948), these things will be accomplished before this generation has passed. If “this generation” refers to “the generation that saw the restoration of Israel,” I believe we will soon welcome the return of the Lord.
Calculate 2
“The gospel will be preached throughout the world” is just around the corner:According to data from the "Joshua Project" in March 2014, the world's seven billion people currently belong to 16,439 groups (if calculated by culture rather than nationality, there are only 9,736). The specifics of "the gospel is spread throughout the world" The indicator should be that every ethnic group has the opportunity to hear the gospel. There are now 2,260 "unreached peoples" in the world, and there is not even a single gospel Bible in their mother tongue. This includes 270 million people. According to a 2005 report by the Wycliffe Bible Translators, at the rate at which it is translating the Bible, it is expected to complete this goal by 2025 or 2038 at the latest. People who only understand the language of their own tribe can use this to transcend language boundaries and hear Bible stories. Dr. Chen Huiwen pointed out in the article "Oral Culture and Missions" that oral telling of Bible stories will become another strategy to spread the gospel more quickly, and the end will come sooner than expected.
Calculate 3
There are still 512 "untouched peoples":According to the above-mentioned "Joshua Project" data, the number of "unreached peoples" in the world has been reduced to 6,932 (if calculated by culture rather than nationality, there are only 4,067). But there are still 4,595 "unreached peoples" who have not had the opportunity to hear the gospel, have not even heard of the name of Jesus, and have never seen a Christian. The Lord’s gospel will surely be preached to “all nations”, and the Lord’s return will not be delayed for a moment. If you and I ignore such a major gospel battle, the Lord will still fulfill His promise, but this promise will pass us by and we will perish ourselves. in this glorious moment.
Calculate 4
The distribution of human resources in the mission field is extremely unbalanced:According to statistics, of the funds raised for foreign missionary work, 87% are used among Christians; 12% are used on non-Christians who have heard the gospel; and only 1% are used on "unreached peoples" who have never heard the gospel. The distribution of human resources in the mission field is also very uneven. Only 2.5% missionaries serve in 27% of the world's unreached areas; in areas where Christians are inhabited, the proportion of missionaries is as high as 80%. Let’s honestly examine our contributions, the number of missionaries, and our understanding of these ethnic groups… and ask: Do we really value these “unreached peoples” and “unreached peoples” who are most in need?
Calculate 5
There are probably less than 2,000 Chinese missionaries in the world:It has been two hundred years since Morrison came to China as a missionary. The Chinese church has been blessed a lot since its establishment. However, as of the end of 2013, the total number of Chinese missionaries in the world may be less than 2,000 (about 1,100 in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and it is difficult to count in mainland China, plus those sent by Chinese churches in North America and Europe)! Compared with the number of Chinese churches that have multiplied and planted churches in various places, the number of missionaries sent out is relatively rare. If we compare the sending ratios of Korean churches or Singaporean churches, we should send more than 100,000 Chinese missionaries to foreign missions. The current situation in the North American church is even more disappointing. There are about 1,200 Chinese churches in the United States, and there are estimated to be about 350 in Canada. Although the Chinese churches in North America have many training opportunities and abundant resources, often hold missionary conferences, and have strong financial resources, the missionary movement is still in its infancy. The most involved are missionary visits and money distribution. Compared with other projects, There are relatively few churches and believers who care about missions.
"One Love, One Family" Recruitment Campaign
Many people have discussed the bottlenecks of Chinese missionary work, which include scattered resources, lack of strong and organized missionary institutions, weak missionary awareness, etc. However, I personally believe that there is another key reason, which is "self-centeredness". That is, "unwilling to share" and "unwilling to cooperate."
Thank the Lord, now there is finally a good plan that can help us learn to change our mentality and actively participate in missions. That is to engage an unreached people. What is "approval"? It means making a long-term commitment to caring for an untouched people, not only praying for them, but also initiating missionary operations, or linking up with other organizations to evangelize that group. The commonly used word "adopt" is not used because caring for a group requires long-term commitment of mental, human and material resources, not just donating money. Why should a church "recruit" an unreached people? What are the characteristics of this plan?
1. Get to the heart of the gospel:Using the most resources and strength on the most important things will play a key role in the timetable for welcoming the coming of the Lord, because we are not fighting for the air. We must avoid wasting many overlapping institutional funds and Christians. In terms of welfare,A group that no one cares about is the one that needs the most care and prayer.From the story of the Good Samaritan we learn: A stranger lying on the ground covered in wounds needs your care more than a person waiting to worship in the temple.
2. Every church can do:Whether it is a church of 20,000 people or a church of 20 people, we can all preach according to our own abilities. For example: The Orange County Chinese Baptist Church in Southern California adopted the Dong ethnic group, and the Mother Zion Church in Los Angeles adopted the Coffee ethnic group (For relevant testimonials, please refer to the report in Issue 28 of this magazine).In the early stage, we only need to understand their culture and life better, pray for the improvement of their lives, and pray for missionaries to be sent to serve and translate the Bible. As long as the church’s mission budget and ratio are increased year by year, various mission mobilizations are carried out under normal church operations, there is no need to regularly raise funds, and there is no additional missionary expenses. Every penny can be used directly to reach the untouched people.
3. Gather the church to be more united:When we see the harvest, we will have great joy. Just like there is a huge difference in feeling between actually taking a child home and sending money to an orphanage far away. As a result, the entire church's horizons will be expanded, its love will be acted upon, and everyone will come together for missionary work. From having no missionaries to having missionaries, or even one’s own believers becoming missionaries, from no one believing in the Lord to the local people believing in the Lord, from the birth of a believer to the birth of a church, the whole congregation does not know how happy they are, because it is the result of the hard work of one heart and one mind. It is the incomparable joy that comes from fulfilling the Lord’s great commission.
4. Let each church take the lead:Not only can each church do it, but it can also do it according to its own methods, abilities, resources, advantages, scale, financial resources, and manpower. You can make your own plans, actions, adjustments, evaluations, short-term missions, prayer walks, and helping the poor. Under this free-dominated trend, the Chinese church will gradually be able to open its mind and respect others. Each church is equivalent to a small missionary agency, and pastors can make good use of the power of the church to comprehensively promote missions.
5. Let the church be creative:Make service exciting so that, ultimately, the entire congregation can bring their skills and expertise to missions. At this time, selfishness is gradually removed, and we are willing to work with missionary agencies to preach together, share results, expand connection resources, and move more and more towards the unity of churches and agencies. There are so many benefits, aren’t there?
"One moment of love, one family": a step of eternal value
Since the launch of the "Joshua Project", many churches around the world have indeed become more actively involved in missionary activities. What about the Chinese church?
There are a total of about 1,600 Chinese churches in the United States and Canada. If one-third of them "recognize" a certain ethnic group, these "forgotten" people will immediately be covered. Someone will watch over their souls in the distance. By working hard for them, the power of spiritual darkness will quickly recede, and the rain of grace will fall abundantly because of your dedicated prayers.
Remember the words of the Lord. If two or three people pray in the name of the Lord, whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Not only will invisible spiritual power begin There are ebbs and flows, visible good news and opportunities to connect one after another. The Lord is pleased for us to serve Him in this way.
The church can achieve this "adoption" action through the following five stages.
Stage 1: Expand the church’s new missionary outlook:Use videos, books, podiums, and contact with various missionary organizations to broaden the church's horizons. First, the vision is conveyed among the church leaders, and then all the brothers and sisters are moved. You can link the "Joshua Project" website information to the church website. There will be new information every day (you can choose English or Chinese version) so that brothers and sisters can learn more about it.
For example: http://www.unreachedoftheday.org/unreached-website.php, you can also put Chinese, such as: http://www.joshuaproject.net/international/cn/widget.php
Another example: China United Christian Mission Promotion Association http://www.umot.org.tw/
The focus of this stage: pray to be inspired by God, educate leaders, and collect information to become a church-wide movement.
Stage 2: Select target groups that have not been reached by the gospel:Start by selecting three to five such groups. Go online and check out the "Joshua Project" website. It is available in multiple languages. There are various promotional slides that can be downloaded. There are also charts of the top ten unreached peoples, and charts of the top one hundred unreached peoples. There are also You can check out all kinds of useful information. In order to avoid duplication, the "Chinese Church Liaison Group for Unreached People" (CC4UU) is willing to be everyone's servant and help log in after the church has selected it.
Stage 3: Make full use of strategies to close relationships:Ask yourself how you can serve this group of people? Use visits, travels, prayer walks, collect information, study history, and spend a few years getting in touch with them and becoming friends. Find out what they need most: Is it medical care? health? educate? life skill? Or residence? food? Here they can connect to resources, including disaster relief units, medical groups, professionals, financial aid or missionary agencies, etc.Friendship, care, and evangelism are three strands of a rope, intertwined use will definitely achieve results.
Stage 4: Multi-party training and equipment for participating congregations:Provide spiritual and service equipment to brothers and sisters, such as: pre-service training, return retreat care, team service, cross-cultural missions, encourage brothers and sisters from all walks of life to come to support, train gospel teams, and actively practice, if necessary Translators are better. In fact, everyone can play an important role in the gospel field. There should be no restrictions, but effective training.
Stage 5: Long-term commitment to caring for target groups:Completely commit yourself to this group of unreached people, pray for them, spend money and effort for their souls, support, pray, and connect with the missionaries' presence and needs. Based on the target group targeted by your church, we will start long-term missions and church planting. Those who lack the ability can be handed over to missionary agencies, or several churches can jointly support a pair of missionaries.
The salvation accomplished by the Lord is almost two thousand years old, and the Great Commission given to us before ascension is also almost two thousand years old. If anyone today who has never heard the gospel asks you or me: "Do you really think this is the Great Commission given by your Lord to you Christians? Does your God really love us so much? Why have two thousand years passed? , we don’t even have a chance to hear the gospel?”…Many of us are probably ashamed because we don’t really think how “big” this mission is. Um! It is important, but other things seem to be important too. Unconsciously, the Great Commission has been downgraded from "most important" to "also important", from cognitive importance to secondary importance in practice. Chinese churches, please take action!
Author profile Pastor Li Yanguang, Master of Divinity from Zhengdao Theological Seminary, has been pastoring for 26 years. He is currently the senior pastor of Arc de Triomphe Christian Home. He was the convener of "Save the Next Generation", the director-general of "Protection of Marriage and Family Alliance", and four-time Global Prayer The convener of the "Southern California Chinese Rally" in Japan and the initiator of the "One Assembly Loves One Nation" missionary mobilization. He and his wife Zhu Lili have one son and two daughters. Committed to unity and revival, passionately linked to prayer, revival, missionary work, and participation in social justice.