The Great Commission

What Must Be Done?

May 24, 2023 | Longer Reads

by Stan Parks

In some movements, the obedience question is “Since this Bible passage is true, how will you apply this in your life this week?” As you have read about movements starting movements, you might ask, “In light of this, what shall I do now?” An even better question is not, “What can I do?” but “What must be done?”

We don’t expect these movements to reach the world by themselves. God invites his global body to be part of finishing the Great Commission. We each have a part to play.

A seminary professor was urging prospective American church leaders to redistribute God’s resources to the rest of the world instead of lavishing it on ourselves. He said, “I say it respectfully, but I say it forcefully. God is not that stupid a general.” The disciples in movements are our most effective and strategic frontline Gospel messengers. We need to realign our Great Commission efforts to fully support them.

They are not asking or waiting for logistical and financial support to reach other people groups. They are already reaching out because they are empowered by the Holy Spirit and driven by their love for the lost and their desire to glorify God. But they recognize help from outside can enable them to reach more groups more quickly.

We need to avoid a misplaced nationalism that says, “Citizens of each nation must reach all their unreached peoples and places with no outside help, lest we promote dependency.” The movements are not asking for help for their internal costs (to develop and sustain their movements). They fund those things locally. Yet as they plan and work to reach groups outside themselves, we can come alongside them and help with reaching each and every unreached group.

Six principles for helping movements should inform us all, regardless of our role.

Prayer is first. The importance of prayer cannot be overstated. Informed, strategic prayer must be the foundation of every effort to reach the unreached. We are in a spiritual battle for the eternal souls of men, women, and children. We can’t afford to fight with earthly weapons. Every disciple of Jesus can play an important part in this, no matter their location or situation.
Aim for holistic Church Planting Movements (CPM), not for various ministries as an end in themselves. CPMs are not one type of ministry alongside other types of ministries. Community development, medical work, arts, media, and Bible translation — all can both help begin CPMs and blossom as fruit of CPMs. As Jesus establishes his church, all the various types of transformative ministries will arise from within the church in that culture and community.
The entire body of Christ is needed. 1 Corinthians 12 shows the need for honoring and collaborating with the whole body of Christ.
True partnership among local disciples and outsiders. National and international outsiders need to defer to the necessary leadership of local disciples. At the same time, local leaders need to humbly encourage true partnerships.
Funding should empower. All too often money is given in a disempowering and dishonoring manner. Funding should be based on outcomes rather than activities, particularly when these movements have a long record of fruitfulness. One exciting model is foundations prioritizing assistance for movements and setting up task forces of movement catalysts and leaders to help evaluate the proposals.
Cooperation not control. Many movements have arisen from cooperation among national and international denominations, churches, seminaries, and agencies. This requires honoring one another despite different approaches, while honestly evaluating the impact of various efforts.

As you consider ways to help movements cascade, keep these things in mind.

1) Movements are not waiting for you to volunteer. You will need to patiently and graciously offer your help without demanding anything from movement leaders. You can imagine the load they carry, with movements doubling every 3.5 years, while trying to reach out to new peoples and places. And most live and serve in the midst of brutal governmental and religious opposition and persecution.

2) You may not be able to connect directly with movement leaders, due to security, their lack of time, or other considerations. But there are other ways to serve.

3) Movement leaders are looking for people to first and foremost be their brothers and sisters. As relationships and trust are built, possibilities for you to help may emerge.

4) You need to do all you can to learn about movements and become a movement practitioner right where you are. Your potential for being helpful is greater if you yourself are living a disciple-making lifestyle.

You may be called to be a Movement Servant. (See “Movement Servants Needed!” in MF May-June 2021, 37-41 and “Movement Servants — Helping Movements Multiply” in MF Nov-Dec 2022 for some specific ways you might help.) This involves patiently preparing yourself, and at the right times doing your best to do anything and everything asked of you by the movement(s) you serve.

However, you do not have to be a full-time movement servant to help. You could help in a wide variety of ways, including prayer, research, crisis response, medicine, community development, business for access to new areas, media 4 movements, funding, technology, Bible and media distribution, administrative help, supervising interns, etc. ‘For up-to-date information about these items and other possibilities, email us at cascade@2414now.net

Individuals, teams, churches, organizations, and agencies — what could you do to involve (or better involve) your entire group in these efforts? What could you give up? What could you change? Are you willing to make radical changes?

We thank God for what he is doing through movements in our day. Especially for the spontaneous multiplication of movements planting other movements among the unreached. Are you willing to lay aside whatever you need to, in order to be a part of doing whatever it takes to see movements in every unreached people and place in this generation?

About the Author: Stan is a Church Planting Movements trainer and a coach for leaders of Church Planting Movements around the world. He has been serving Unreached People Groups since 1994 while based in Indonesia, Singapore and Dubai. He is Co-Facilitator of the 24:14 Coalition which is focused on Kingdom Movement engagements in every Unreached People and place by 2025.

This article was first published in Mission Frontiers: Cascading Gospel: Movements Starting Movements, Jan/Feb 2023, pages 38-39. It was used here with permission.

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Finally Home

Aug 1, 2022 | Stories

Yulia is an eighteen-year-old orphan from a town on the frontlines of fighting in Ukraine. About two months ago Ron received a message asking if he and his family would house a young woman who has been evacuated. Yulia had been in the airport ready to board a plane to a host family in the US. Someone had told her she could fly without her passport. It was in a government building when the women and children had been evacuated.

Ron and Kaylie’s family had just moved into a new house. They had very little furniture; and they were already hosting a family of five other refugees from Ukraine. But they had floor space and a mattress – and Yulia needed a home.

All Yulia wanted was to get to the family in America who wanted to adopt her, the family she already called ‘hers’. She needed to get vaccinated, someone to find her passport, and then a smooth trip to the States.

At any step, something would go wrong. Days turned into weeks and Yulia’s hopes rose and fell several times.

One day, a huge legal hurdle appeared. It was so big that Yulia might be forced to go back to Ukraine! Yulia declared she would never go back, and Ron and Kaylie quickly went to prayer. Ron prayed over the phone with Yulia and her host mom. He knew God would show them that He is real and that He cares about orphans.

Finally, after much prayer and waiting, Yulia boarded a plane bound for America! Ron and Kaylie received a picture of Yulia and her soon-to-be official mom with the caption “finally home.”

Ron and Kaylie – and YOU – have been used by God to alter the course of Yulia’s life. Your giving has helped get critical documents, food, clothing, and more for many refugees. We couldn’t do this without your generosity and prayers.

*pseudonyms

The Great Commission: Not a Job for Experts Only

Jul 29, 2022 | Stories

“How are you doing at making disciples? Are you teaching them to obey what Jesus commanded?”

These questions were asked of Phillip’s group as they participated in a Phase One Disciple-making movement training, and they really challenged him.

“If I answer truthfully, I don’t know how I am doing at making disciples. I work at a Christian missions organization. I volunteer at my church. I spend time with my Christian friends. These are all good things, but they don’t leave much room for connecting with lost people.”

Far too often we place the responsibility for obeying the Great Commission on professionals. We believe it is for them to do. We illustrate this belief when we say things like: “I am just not gifted in evangelism.” Or, “I don’t know enough about the Bible.” Or, “I don’t want to offend anyone.” All excuses are just excuses.

Phillip says, “I am thankful for the Phase One training, because it shows me how to be open about my faith. If the task remaining was left only to Christian ‘professionals,’ Christianity would soon fade away.”

Beyond’s Phase One program helps everyday, ordinary Christians begin living out their faith openly and effectively. Our goal is to equip believers to be confident and competent in making disciples wherever they are. That way, if the Lord calls them to other nations, they will have already learned biblical principles of making multiplying disciples in their own culture. Thus they will be all the more ready to learn how to make disciples in the new cross-cultural setting where they will serve.

Learn More about Phase 1 Training

“They Liked This Better Version of Me”

Jul 15, 2022 | Stories

God’s word has the power to change people’s lives, even without the input of an “expert” or an invitation to “church.”

Here is Prakesh’s story:

Life was not peaceful. I was cruel. My children did not want a relationship with me. Then one day, I was walking along the road when I heard a loud story (like a radio) coming from a nearby house. I stopped to listen. It was about miracles. When the story finished, I asked the people there, “What are you listening to?”

They looked at me and asked, “Who are you?!”

I told them I wanted to know about the story. Could they give it to me?

They said, “Yes, you may have a copy,” and they gave me a speaker with stories on it. I took it home.

I used to drink every night, and do other bad things. But that night, I did not drink. I stayed home and listened to the stories. My family was happy that I did not drink. They liked this better version of me. The next day, again, I did not go out drinking but stayed home and listened to the stories. The third day, the same.

After three days of this, my wife said, “I am seeing a change in you. You are not bad, like before.” I told her I didn’t understand it myself, but that when I listened to the stories, I had no desire to do (bad) things.

My wife asked, “Can we all listen to the stories?” And so we did.

My whole household changed. The neighbors noticed. One of them asked my children, “What’s going on in your home? Your father doesn’t do bad things like before.”

They replied, “Uncle, our father has changed. We listen to stories, and he does not do bad things.”

“Is there truly something that can change your father?”

“Uncle, you can also come and listen.”

He went home and got his whole family. Together we listened to Proverbs on the speaker. When I turned off the speaker, he said, “These are great! I’d like a copy of the stories, also.”

I replied, “I only have one copy, but I can play the stories for both of our families.”

So now, every evening, 30-35 people meet to listen to Bible stories in this village in North India. A mentor is helping them take their first steps of faith, and a baptism service is planned. Pray that from this early fruit a disciple-making movement will grow.

*pseudonyms

From His Harvest To His Harvest

Jul 8, 2022 | Stories

Grace* and some of her teammates traveled to a large Indonesian city. They went to see if God might call them to live there and begin a disciple-making movement after finishing language school and training.

On the third day there, the group met two single Indonesian women. These women live and minister an hour outside of the big city. They were sent out by a local church — a rarity in Indonesia!

Grace was captivated by their stories and struggles as they sat cross-legged on the floor and ate together. She and Diah,* one of the Indonesians, talked about their trials on the field. Diah shared how she stuck out, hungered for community, and was thirsty to see God move among her focus people.

Grace was flabbergasted!

“Here I was, a 6-foot-tall foreigner who sticks out wherever she goes, meeting a tiny Chinese-Indonesian woman facing the same worries I do.” Diah explained that no matter your nationality, following and obeying Jesus is a daily choice. And not always an easy one.

“In that moment,” Grace shares, “I was reminded that though it sometimes feels like we are doing this alone, God is working and moving in the hearts of those He has called to Himself. He sent out Diah, and He sent out me. Pray with us. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to continue to send workers from His harvest to his Harvest.”

*pseudonyms

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