MissionIncluding our own short-term missionsRomans 10:9 is the goal, one person at a timeBy Tony and Laurie-Ann Copple
How's it going? (- world population to be evangelized)
Excerpt from C. Peter Wagner Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow , p. 197 "All evangelism is not the same. In the preceding chapter we mentioned the gift of evangelist and the many different variations within which that gift can be exercised. Here are some further variations that bring the cultural aspect into focus: E-1 Evangelism - E-1 Evangelism is monocultural. It is the shorthand term that refers to winning those of your own culture to Jesus Christ and assumes that they will feel at home in your own kind of local church. It includes both expansion and extension growth. E-2 and E-3 Evangelism - Both E-2 and E-3 are cross-cultural. They are actually subdivisions of bridging growth. E-2 is evangelization in cultures different from the culture of the evangelist, but only slightly different. E-3 is evangelism in vastly different cultures. The difference between the two is in degree, not in kind, since they both involve starting churches in different cultures. Note that geographical distances have nothing to do with this. People at an E-3 distance can often be found in the same city. E-0 Evangelism - To complete the picture, E-0 evangelism means winning people to Christ who are already church members. Some churches in [North] America have large members who are not born again or committed to Christ, people who obviously need to be evangelized." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from "Evangelism's Missing Link" by John Rodham, in "Tongues of Fire" - Spring 1991, published by ARM. A contemporary study of how people have come to faith in Christ reveals a startling result! Over 14,000 from various church backgrounds were asked, "What or who was responsible for you coming to Christ and your church?" The following is a summary of the results:
In light of the above, the following statistics are even more telling. The average member of the Anglican church in Canada invites someone to worship once every 27 years. The United Church has a much better record, inviting someone to church once every 26.5 years! The world of evangelism is not all godliness and light. Jim Baaker of PTL went to jail for his crimes. The biggest draw today, Benny Hinn, was investigated by CTV's The Fifth Estate on Nov 2, 2004 - visit here. Televangelism has thrown up false prophets. Good men have become bad men, intoxicated by the power of swaying huge audiences. The majority of people are gullible and the spiritual gift of discernment is asked for by too few.
Links to evangelists and evangelistic organizations, mission, and those working for revival.
My wife Laurie-Ann has visited the Marsabit region of Northern Kenya in 2001 and 2003 on ministry trips. In 2005 we went together to Migori, Kenya. In 2010 we led a Global Alpha Training - GAT - to Sierra Leone. In 2016 we attended the IRIS Harvest School in Mozambique, and in November 2017 we went to Worcester, Western Cape, South Africa on a 3-year visa as long-term missionaries. From July 26 - Aug 6, 2000, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association staged their most extensive project ever: The World Conference on Evangelism, in Amsterdam. Their aim was to bring to Amsterdam as many evangelist as possible, particularly between the ages of 25 and 45. Much of the conference was given over to training, and the BGEA worked with Christian leaders in over 175 countries so that the right individuals came to the conference: those with experience, but with enough years before them so that this conference can stimulate and encourage evangelism world wide many years into the next millennium. In Jerusalem, the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center works for the reconciliation of Jews and Palestinians. Our friend Ray Brule went there in February 2001 with a party of Ottawa Diocese pastors.
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