AEC2000

Assistant Professor of Missions and Evangelism, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana

Return to Point 4

Return to Beginning of This Presentation | Return to AEC 2000 Index

____________________________________

What else does it take for a church to faithfully and effectively communicate the gospel cross-culturally?

Let me give you an example. Bill, one of my best friends, is a Methodist who pastors a church near Tampa, Florida. Recently the church needed to construct a new building, which they built next to the old one. They also built a new parsonage a couple of blocks away. Bill, who speaks Spanish fluently, thought about the many migrants living in their community. He had many of them personally because they bought second-hand clothes from the church’s used clothing store, located, along with the youth center, in the old building. With the permission of his church, he asked one of the men he had met—an outgoing Christian man—to consider moving into the old parsonage, rent-free, and starting a Hispanic church in the old building. He said he would get together with him at least three times a week to mentor him and help him. A week later, a new church was begun. It consisted of the man’s family. Within six months, though, they had been joined by 120 others.

Last spring, at a conference, I met a Mennonite minister, and we decided to have lunch together. I knew that the church he pastored was close to several migrant camps, so I deliberately told him about my friend Bill. "I know you don’t have an extra building and parsonage," I said. "But I believe, with a little initiative on your part, your building—perhaps on Saturday or Sunday night—could be home to a Hispanic church too. He seemed interested, and even had a Spanish- speaking secretary, so I told him I would check his progress by e-mail. Guess what? He did it! There are now two churches meeting there!

The pattern I’ve just described, of working with insiders, is a long-standing one. That is how many of our missionaries have worked, by recruiting and training indigenous workers. That is how Elizabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint finally got through to the Huaorani Indians of Ecuador. That is how many of the Christian communities of the South Pacific came into being.

You also see it in the story of the first Christian missionary effort. Let me read you the verses again:

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and they spoke the word to no one except Jews. {20} But among them were some men of Cyprus and Cyrene who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists also, proclaiming the Lord Jesus. {21} The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number became believers and turned to the Lord (Acts 11:19-21).

These Greek-speaking Jewish Christians, of whom we have been talking, limited their proclamation to Hellenist Jews like themselves. But among those who heard them were some who did not feel those constraints. Thus, it is likely, that even before Peter reluctantly made his way to Cornelius’ house, while he was still struggling to remove his Semitic lenses, Gentiles had found their way into the church—not through a Jewish apostle, but through some of their own.

One of the most overlooked facts of the great cultural shifts going on in the US and Canada is that many of those coming from Asia and Latin America are more passionate about the gospel than North American Anabaptists are. Some of them are already working to win culturally-close non-Christians to the Lord. They can do the job much better than we can. Why not encourage them? Why not help support them? If they are bound by long hours and low pay, why not free them to preach the Good News?

______________________________

Conclusion

I have not suggested any programs this morning, nor lifted up any models. I don’t mean by that to suggest I don’t believe in them. But our lack of progress in birthing more multi-cultural churches suggests to me that another tack is needed—maybe something as simple as reexamining the intent and implications of the gospel . . . and becoming more conscious of the mosaic of people around us . . . and recovering an incarnational approach to ministry—simple stuff like that!

Conclusion of This Presentation

Return to Beginning of This Presentation | Return to AEC 2000 Index

Taken from A New Humanity: Anabaptist Ministry Among Many Peoples (© 2000 New Life Ministries). Permission to reproduce for local church use only is granted. Provided by New Life Ministries, 6404 S Calhoun St, Fort Wayne, IN 46807, through its web site at www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org

 2000-2008 New Life Ministries (www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org). All Rights Reserved.
(see information on our copyright policy)

Top of Page