Reaching Our Generation for Christ

Reaching Our Generation for Christ

By Laura-Jean Watson

Missions may have the same goals, but they need to be relevant in method to the current world we live in.  Dr. Alejandro Mandes pointed out during the Global Outreach Summit at Bible Fellowship Church in Yardley, PA on April 27 that we have a new mission field he calls “Samerica” where “the ends of the earth have moved to our Jerusalem”.  We must see what Jesus sees.  He is bringing the world to us.  It is predicted that by 2042, the minorities will become the majority in our country.  Are we reaching them for Christ and discipling them?  We need to see what is happening, truly love others, and resource workers to reach different cultures in the United States.  Dr. Mandes is the director of EFCA Gateway, Immigrant Hope, and Hispanic Ministries.

Is God sovereign?  This question was addressed by Alan Lawrence.  If we accept that God is sovereign, it changes our outlook on life.  He stressed that we need a theology of suffering.  People suffer and die in many situations for taking a stand for Christ.  God never promised us a painless life, but He did promise to be with us.  Our “primary responsibility is to represent Jesus to people who hate Him”.  Do people understand God’s great love for them through our interaction with them?  Mr. Lawrence is the ReachGlobal International Leader of Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

We can make a difference, because of the power residing in us through the Holy Spirit.  This power changes us first and then the world around us.  The Spirit always points to Christ, and the Spirit’s power in Christians will draw people to Christ. “When the church is Spirit-dependent, it expands and flourishes.  When the church is self-dependent, it stalls and compromises,” explained David Rofkahr in the afternoon plenary session.  Mr. Rofkahr is the director of ReachGlobal Recruitment.  Are we ministering through the leading and power of the Holy Spirit?

Electives were pertinent and showed how God is working through different outreaches to change lives for eternity and how we can make a difference through personal involvement.  The first elective I attended, “The Gospel Answer to Density, Diversity, and Depravity”, was led by Stephen Davis from Grace Church of Philly.  Philadelphia is a city of 400 neighborhoods representing cultures from around the world.  The answer to reaching them is seeing communities of believers established throughout the city.  The goal is to strengthen existing churches and transform them into reproducing churches and to plant new, reproducing churches.  We are called to have a faithful presence, to love the city, and to seek the peace of the city.  It takes time.  We need to truly become part of the neighborhood before we can make a difference.  This is an area where more committed Christians are needed.  Are you willing to follow God to a new area and persevere as He works through His Spirit to provide opportunities and change hearts? He explained their ministry, TRIM, which stands for transformational, relational, incarnational, and missional.  They are not there just for social change, but are there to intentionally reach the city with the Gospel.  It is important in such a long-term outreach to remember it is about sharing the Gospel and not primarily focused on programs and progress.  Church plants are important.  Diverse people need diverse outreaches.  I see this in New Orleans with our current church plants each uniquely reaching out to different cultures and diverse backgrounds.  It is not about a one size fits all church.  We serve one Lord, but we are ministering to different people groups in different ways.

The second elective I attended was “Lessons and Opportunities from Hurricane Sandy” led by Mark Lewis, Director of ReachGlobal Crisis Response.  Super Storm Sandy made the church relevant to local communities as Christians reached out to holistically meet needs.   There has been a dramatic increase in natural disasters since the mid 1900’s, and each crisis area becomes a new mission field.  Crisis response is different than crisis relief.  We need to deal with needs of the whole person- physical, emotional, and spiritual.  This goes beyond disasters.  There is a need to be intentional in building relationships.  Pastors Eddie Cole, Pete Nelson, and Paul Krause shared insights with Mark on lessons they learned through Sandy.  These included: it is your job to prepare for crisis, every disaster situation is unique and affects each person in the community differently, seek expert help, have a communication plan, helping in your community is messy work, be flexible, people take priority over buildings, and it can happen to anyone.  ReachGlobal Crisis Response is committed and ready to help churches be prepared to respond to disasters holistically and intentionally.  Do not wait until a crisis strikes before you prepare your church to respond.

The final elective I chose was “Biblical Networking and Real Life Relationships” taught by Joe Darrow from In Faith and Cornerstone Community Church in Kensington, Philadelphia.  He used a comparison between Ninevah and Philadelphia to show the need of cities, God’s love for the people of the city, the opportunities of ministry in the city, and how networking and “partnering  can not only help the inner city church but also build the ministry of the local suburban body”. 

Other electives were “Business as Mission: Internationally, Regionally, Locally”, “Good Samaritan Ministry in the Small Church”, “Hear the Cry, Answer the Call of Oppressed, Devalued, and Enslaved Women and Children”,” Multiplying Disciples that Multiply Churches: The Answer to the Question of how to get to the next level as a church”, “To Give or Not to Give: Healthy Holistic Ministry Principles and Relationships”, “How Do They Do That? Successful Models of Disability Ministry”, “Mission Possible: Sharing Christ With Muslims”, “Restoring Hope to Exploited Women in Asia”, “Samerica: The 28^th Largest Country in the World”, “Calling Jews to Faith in the Messiah”, “Global trends That Influence Church Missions Decisions”, “Mobilizing This Generation and the Next to Global Missions”,  and “The Why and How of Short-term Missions”.