Mission Frontiers

May-June 2015:

Transform World

Contents:

Confronting the Challenges of Our Time

From the Editor

by Rick Wood

A Call for Servant Catalysts to Join God’s Mission of Transformation

by Luis Bush

Transform World 2020

A Defining Moment for the Church

by Transform World 2020 Staff

Transform World: A Starfish Structure

by Transform World Staff

Transform World: The Seven Challenges

by Transform World Staff

Bihar Summit

Gathering of Servant Catalysts Releases Focus and Vision for the Church in Bihar

by Devesh Harish Lal and Alexander Philip

T4T or DMM (DBS)? Only God can start a Church Planting Movement! - Part 2 of 2

Kingdom Kernels

by Steve Smith & Stan Parks

Baptism in Muslim Ministry

Time for Change

by Daniel Sinclair

Ebola & AIDS: Time for Sustainable Change

Raising Local Resources

by Glenn Schwartz

The Numbers Dilemma

Further Reflections

by Greg H. Parsons

Editorial

Confronting the Challenges of Our Time

From the Editor

by Rick Wood

With this issue of MF we are issuing a clarion call for “all hands on deck.” Put on the full armor of God and prepare yourselves for spiritual battle! Every follower of Jesus who claims him as their savior has been called to live on mission with God—to proclaim the kingdom, make disciples and destroy the works of the devil. Everyone is needed—no exceptions. The time for just passively sitting and listening to sermons each week has come to an end. This is a luxury we can no longer afford. All of us have a role to play in this God-ordained struggle to establish his kingdom. It is the responsibility of each of us to find out what part Jesus wants us to play and get involved. Non-involvement is nothing less than disobedience to the clear commands of Jesus.

The Church must recommit itself to the task of “equipping all the saints for the work of ministry.” Jesus’ followers must demand that their churches equip them for the work of ministry or find those who will. All of us as followers of Jesus must make our highest priority obedience to the commands of Jesus, not our own comfort or pleasure.

One “ship” that can carry us forward on our mission with God is Transform World, which we feature in this issue. It is a unique global structure designed to foster unprecedented collaboration among like-minded people. You do not have to be a professional pastor or missionary to participate. The structure of Transform World is designed so that any Jesus follower can plug themselves into a collaborative network of people with similar interests or start their own network. Luis Bush and the hundreds of other leaders who are launching this “ship” have designed a decentralized “starfish” type movement that can birth other movements. (See the article on the starfish model of organization on page 16.) The “starfish” structure boasts a decentralized organizational model where participation is voluntary and there is no top down controlling hierarchy ordering people around. Whether your interests are in Business, Arts, Media, Education, Government, Church or Family, there is a place for you to serve alongside others. Transform World is designed to generate movements to overcome seven of the major challenges we face in the world today. The “Seven Challenges” of the Transform World movement are highlighted starting on page 19.

The Consequences of Not Living on Mission With God

The price we have paid in recent decades for too many Jesus followers not living on mission with God has been extremely high. If you have not noticed, the church of Jesus is in decline in the West. The West has entered a “post-Christian era” where biblical truth is being attacked and marginalized in society. Our impact on the culture is in decline. Many don’t even disciple their own children well. Over 50% of our Evangelical offspring are currently converted to unbelief by the time they graduate from college. From government, to the media, military and academia, open hostility and even persecution of Jesus followers is on the rise.

Here is just one example of the consequences of rejecting biblical values and not making disciples of Jesus—the family in the West is falling apart. Around 48% of first births in the U.S. are happening outside of wedlock. By age 30, two-thirds of women will have had a child out of wedlock.[1] This is an enormous tragedy with huge social and financial repercussions for the church and the world.

“Marriage Project director Bradford Wilcox, an associate professor of sociology in University of Virginia’s College of Arts & Sciences, said in a press release. ‘What they often don’t realize is that children born outside of marriage are significantly more likely to be exposed to a revolving cast of caretakers and the social, emotional and financial fallout associated with family instability and single parenthood.” [2]

The challenges of both poverty and orphan care are directly related to family formation and stability. Another article states, “If you graduate from high school, work full time, and postpone marriage and childbearing until after the age of 21, your chances of being in poverty are only 2 percent. If you don’t do all of those three things, your chances of poverty rise to 77 percent.”3[3]

The breakdown of the family as well as all the other challenges we face in the world today are directly related to our effectiveness or lack thereof at making true disciples of Jesus. As the kingdom of God expands, lives are transformed and many of the challenges we face in society are overcome. The expansion of the kingdom of God is where Christ’s Missional Challenge comes in. It is one of the Seven Challenges of the Transform World initiative and it is being facilitated by Frontier Ventures.

The vision of Christ’s Missional Challenge is to foster the kind of kingdom breakthroughs in every people that can transform individuals, communities and entire people groups and thereby overcome the kind of societal disintegration that we currently see taking place in the West.

The situation in the West is not hopeless. We can rebuild the broken foundations of faith in our society and launch new efforts to reach the unreached, but it will require “all hands on deck” and working together in new collaborative efforts like Transform World.

Can We Answer Jesus’ Prayer?

Before going to the cross, Jesus prayed in John 17:23, “that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me.”4[4] Is this kind of unity in the Body of Christ possible? Is the kind of collaboration that we see in the Transform World initiative the beginning of a new era in the way we work together to build the kingdom of God in every people? Will the majority of leaders lay aside their dreams of building their own ministries apart from collaboration with others and make the building of God’s kingdom the highest priority?

I pray so.

We are all used to visionary leaders launching out to start their own organizations and then compete with each other for talented people to staff their ministries. But what if God’s desire is for us to succeed in our callings through connection with others that God is also similarly leading rather than simply trying to build our own organizations? Luis Bush who is the Servant Catalyst for Transform World was also the director of the AD2000 and Beyond Movement of the 1990s. That effort lead to unprecedented levels of collaboration through the various “tracks” that were established. Some of those tracks developed into ongoing networks for collaboration to the benefit of all involved. Now we have another opportunity with Transform World to form new networks of collaboration. No matter how much we believe in our own ministries I encourage all of us to take a look at how we might increase our effectiveness by reaching out to collaborate with other like-minded Jesus followers.

[1] Castillo, Michelle, “Almost half of first babies in U.S. born to unwed mothers.” Reporting on the study, “Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America.” Sponsored by the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and the RELATE Institute. CBS News.com. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/almost-half-of-first-babies-in-us-born-to-unwed-mothers/

[2] ibid.

[3] Weber, Sheila, “Here’s a Secret—Marriage is America’s Most Effective Anti-Poverty Program,” February 13, 2013, Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/13/why-marriage-is-best-anti-poverty-program/

[4] New American Standard Bible, The Lockman Foundation, 1995

About The Author

Rick Wood

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Feature

A Call for Servant Catalysts to Join God’s Mission of Transformation

by Luis Bush

In response to the great challenges of our time, God is calling his servants to act as catalysts in mobilizing the whole body of Christ to bless the nations through the transformation of people, churches and culture. That mission is being accomplished through a collaborative venture that engages the generations in transforming nations through all spheres of cultrual influence.

In his model prayer, Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Mat. 6:10). Transform World 2020 is a global collaborative initiative seeking to do his revealed will in our communities throughout the nations as a unifying converging force.

In reference to God the Father, Jesus said to his followers: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Mat. 6:33a). Seeking the kingdom of God results in personal and cultural transformation which has emerged as a unifying vision for the mission of the Church at the beginning of the 21st century.

As Christ followers we are pursuing Missio Dei–the mission of God. God is on a mission of transformation and invites us to join him on that mission as his servant catalysts. As we look around our world, we recognize that a global transformation movement has begun. It’s God’s movement. We are servant catalysts on his mission of transformation.

We at Transform World embrace the decentralized starfish-type organization (see article beginning on page 16), fostering a groundswell of people committed to the ideals of the movement. It is a movement characterized by a commitment to personal involvement and participation in a flexible, non-bureaucratic volunteer initiative, persuading others to join.

The God-given vision for the Transform World 2020 Movement is to catalyze and connect God’s servants through focused gatherings. These gatherings include summits, consultations and conferences and are often conviened by conference calls and electronic communication. This  facilitates us all working together in our nations of residence and respective areas of God’s mision of transformation, be they spheres, mountains or domains of cultural influence (including the family, the arts, education, business, church, governance, media), and the next generation.We are trusting this will result in a transformational movement in response to the major challenges they are facing.

We have identified seven major challenges we must respond to: the ideological challenge of Islam; the family challenge, giving strength to the core of society; the orphan challenge, together for a world without orphans; the poverty challenge, giving the poorest of the poor a hand up to self-sustainability; the justice challenge, constructing societies that respect human dignity; Christ’s missional challenge, accelerating breakthrough among the unreached; and the celebration challenge, a trumpet call to all the nations.

What does that transformed community and world look like? A transformed world is a place where the power, the presence and the peace of God are experienced by all. The power of God is unleashed. The peace of God rules. Shalom-Salaam embrace. The presence of God fills the earth. “Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven” (Psa. 85:10-11).

How does this happen in practice in a given nation or culture? For an answer to this question we are indebted to historian Arnold Toynbee, who noted that history is a vision of God’s creation on the move. He compared 26 different human civilizations, focusing upon their origins and growth and the reasons for their eventual disintegration–leading, then, to the development of a new civilization. In all cases, Toynbee believed that he could trace the reasons for such disintegration to a failure to adequately respond to some important moral or religious challenges of the day. Such a failure led, over time, to a lack of confidence among the people in the ability of the civilization to provide order and structure to their lives.

In the Transform World 2020 movement we encourage catalysts to respond to five challenge-response factors observed by Toynbee in order to create the dynamic for spiritual-social transformation as follows:

1. Crisis exists in the culture with disintegration at the core due to a failure to adequately respond to important moral or religious challenges of the day.

2. Catalytic/kairos moment of challenge and opportunity becomes a divine appointment. Os Guinness describes kairos as “The hour which is the God-given moment of destiny not to be shrunk from but seized with decisiveness, the floodtide of opportunity and demand in which the unseen waters of the future surge down to the present.”

3. Catalyst calls for change with the clear prophetic voice of a moral leader.

4. Committed minority with creative power sparks a challenge-response initiative.

5. Convinced majority  causes initiative to become a challenge-response movement that results in culture change.

We live at a kairos moment in time for the raising up of catalysts in communities around the world. Our goal is that by 2020 we will see the emergence of a convinced majority which sustains the dynamic for spiritual-social transformation in their communities.

About The Author

Servant Catalyst

Transform World

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Transform World 2020

A Defining Moment for the Church

by Transform World 2020 Staff

We are at a kairos moment in world history. As we gaze across the world’s horizon, several issues urgently beckon the church to respond and engage.

Nations are in an uproar, religious kingdoms are shaking, social order is declining, the poor continue to face abject poverty and injustice, and the marginalized—the orphans—are uncared for and unloved. These are some of the many serious challenges facing the church today. It appears as if Haggai is describing our world when he records that God is shaking everyone (Hag. 2:6). It’s therefore necessary to discern, understand and recognize what God is doing, acknowledging that only what he has established will be left standing for his purpose and glory. When a sense of divine appointment captures a Christian minority, the time is right to invite committed servants of God to a catalytic event that will work to bring about transformation in that community, city, nation, region or world. In the New Testament, the word kairos is used in Mar. 1:15, 2 Cor. 6:2, 1 Pet. 5:6 and Rom. 13:11 to signal what Djohan Handoyo says, “We are in an appointed time, a critical ‘set time’ for an inspired move of God.”

The Challenges of Transform World 2020

The mission of Transform World 2020 urgently calls the church to consider the critical challenges of our time. We trust that God’s people all over the world will respond to each challenge through informed, cohesive, prayerful action leading to a godly, Spirit-led movement in the spheres of cultural influence in which they operate and the geographic areas in which they live and move and have their being. Think of our response as looking at Transform World Vision 2020 through quadrifocal glasses that help focus with better clarity on four different areas through four different lenses.

We are asking God to guide, and you to join us, in discovering his response to seven challenges of our day through seven spheres or domains of cultural influence in ten geographic regions of the world through three generations. The seven spheres are the arts (including entertainment and sports), business, church, media, education, family and government. The three generations are the Gen Y or Millennial Generation, about ages 15 to 38; the 4/14 Window, ages 4 to 14; and the older generations (Gen X and beyond). The ten geographic regions and related nations can be found in Appendix H of the Transform World 2020 Handbook.

As we consider these numbers, we recognize our call as members of the Body of Christ to unity in our diversity as John Yates from Perth, Australia has reminded us in an email exchange. John wrote: “In Christ, God has uniquely revealed himself as a Triune life—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The distinctiveness of the three divine persons in their diversity is enfolded in the harmony of infinite mutual love (Rom. 15:30; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 3:19; 1 Joh. 4:8)... My plea would be that we all work together under the Lordship of Christ and accept that mountains, domains, spheres, or whatever we may call them and their number, are adiaphora (nonessentials in relation to salvation). From this premise Christ can bless a united church. Experience teaches me that this is the only way ‘to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Eph. 4:6).”

Mission as Transformation

An effort to define a comprehensive approach to transformation must be “rooted in the theology of the mission of the kingdom of God and seek to express the Lordship of Jesus over every aspect of life: economic, religious, personal and political. It does not give priority to any area of life as an area for mission . . . but this change will be effected whenever people address issues of life directly, rooted in a gospel perspective.”[1]

Transformation is a concept rooted in the New Covenant (see Joh. 4:14, Rom. 12:2, 2 Cor. 3:18, 5:17, and I Joh. 3:9). The term itself derives from the Greek word metamorphoo which means ‘to change from one degree of glory to another, with ever increasing glory.’ It is the spiritual equivalent of a caterpillar being metamorphosed into a butterfly.

As the head of the church, Christ initiates and his body—the church—responds as one body.

The basic idea behind “transformation coordination” is that not only can we do more together than we can separately, but we move to a new ministry realm that operates on entirely new laws of input and output.

Like the gushing forth of waters, the love of God, through the people of God, unleashes multiple mission initiatives in which divine resources are channeled through willing servants to meet human needs to the glory of God.

Transformation is the progressive and ongoing measurable supernatural impact of the presence and power of God working in, through and apart from the church on human society and structures. In the church, this is characterized by increased holiness of life, reconciliation in relationships, and appetite for prayer and worship. In the culture, this may be characterized by pervasive awareness of the reality of God, a radical correction of social ills, a commensurate decrease in crime rates, supernatural blessing on local disenfranchised and regenerative acts of restoring the productivity of the land.

To this end, a catalytic core of saints typically embraces a lifestyle of persistent repentance, humility, and sacrificial servanthood that attracts the favor and presence of God, and breaks the predominating influences of the ruling power structures of human flesh and negative spiritual forces.

Transformation involves seeking positive change in the whole of human life materially, socially and spiritually, by recovering our true identity as human beings created in the image of God and discovering our true vocation as productive stewards, faithfully caring for our world and people.[2]

According to the biblical view of human life transformation is the change from a condition of human existence contrary to God’s purposes to one in which people are able to enjoy fullness of life in harmony with God (Joh. 10:10, Col. 3:8-15, Eph. 4:13).

As Duane Litfin has observed, Christ’s church has often found it difficult to find and maintain a proper biblical balance between word and deed.[3]  At times the pendulum has swung toward words at the expense of deeds as the church has lost touch with its social conscience. At other times our concern for justice and mercy has led to a benign neglect of our verbal witness. But both of these extremes must be avoided. According to the Bible, the proclaimed gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). This verbal witness is indispensable and nothing can replace it. On the other hand, our deeds constitute the crucial framework within which that verbal witness is heard. Our deeds have the power to “adorn” (Tit. 2:10) that gospel or bring it into disrepute. As the Apostle John put it, “let us not love merely in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 Joh. 3:18). In Transform World 2020 we are committed to a biblically-based mission of transformation the Jesus Way, by word and deed.

Transformation is a reference to two points of time in a city’s history: where the city is now and where it once was. For a growing number of cities, the language that best describes the degree of societal change occurring between those two historic points is transformation. Deep and profound change is possible in human beings and is equally possible for the social organisms that we call cities and communities.[4]

A comprehensive movement to bless the nations includes many emphases. Transformational leadership engages a new generation in participatory leadership with current leadership.

A transformed world is a place where the power, the presence, and the peace of God are experienced by all. The power of God is unleashed. The peace of God rules. Shalom-Salaam is embraced. The presence of God fills the earth.

[1] Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden, eds., “Introduction,” Mission as Transformation, (Regnum, 1999)

[2] Ibid

[3] Word versus Deed: Resetting the Scales to a Biblical Balance (Crossway, 2012)

[4] Jack Dennison

Principles of Mission as Transformation

Building the process to achieve the vision for transformation in response to the challenges before us.

Relational Priority

Fueling momentum for ministry through loving relationships. Reconciling, forming, and developing relationships of mutual love, respect, and trust enables leaders to work together for the common good of
their communities.

Spiritual Vitality

Laying a firm foundation for vibrant ministry through corporate spiritual growth. Experiencing the holiness of God with other leaders results in repentance, humility and a deeper life commitment to Christ and his mission in the world.

Compelling Vision

Aligning all transformational efforts by maintaining vision for the completed task. Ongoing clear, compelling and comprehensive vision casting involving everyone in the project brings about shared vision, values and strategy, a common language and goals, urgency to act, and a bonded team.

Thorough Research

Increasing understanding of the current realities of one’s community. If the church wants to be relevant and effective in the community, it needs good information that describes the community’s people and needs, condition of the church, and the spiritual forces which influence current reality.

Empowering Leadership

Identifying leaders and initiating a workable process for community transformation. Empowerment thrives from growing a base of committed leaders and removing barriers which keep them from doing a good job.

Effective leaders shepherd people and help put together structures and strategies to carry out God’s vision. Strategy results from the prayerful planning of leaders who recognize the activity of God in the community and make the large-scale adjustments needed to join him in that activity.

Intentional Learning

Maintaining a fresh commitment to the necessary individual and corporate-wide learning, developing needed skills and training in effective ministry models.

Loving Service

Enacting Spirit-led high-leverage opportunities to minister to the community. Building bridges through acts of service and kindness establishes relationships of trust and credibility with the community. People open their lives to those who genuinely care about personal and community needs and more often will open their hearts to the One who empowers loving service.

The Beginnings of the Transform World Movement

The term “transform world” was chosen by Iman Santoso and Djohan Handoyo for the first global transform world event called Transform World Indonesia 2005. On May 5, 2005 the launch of the Transform World Connections took place at the main stadium in Jakarta at a prayer rally with simultaneous link to 54 satellite locations hosting prayer for transformation events throughout Indonesia. The term Transform World Connections (TWC) was used to describe the mission of connecting people and nations who shared the vision of mission as transformation as well as describe the TWC office which has functioned ever since then in Singapore. Djohan Handoyo serves as chairman and Harun Lie as General Secretary of TWC. Board members are from Singapore and Indonesia. A seven-year initiative in response to seven global challenges called Transform World 2020 launched at the Transform World Global Summit (TW GS 2012), November 6 to 10, 2012 in Bali, Indonesia.

Transform World was born out of a prayer movement and in pursuit of the question: “What is God saying to his servants around the world?” Iman Santoso was leading a movement of prayer in Indonesia which began toward the end of the 1990’s.

The World Inquiry was a “venture in the listening mode” to hear God’s voice through His servants—especially those who are now emerging onto their local, regional and national scenes in the Majority World. The Inquiry became a movement, engaging many local national servants of God around the globe from more than 700 cities.

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Feature

Transform World: A Starfish Structure

by Transform World Staff

The contexts around us are changing rapidly. Organizational structures can’t hope to keep up with these rapid changes. As a documentation of effectiveness, most organizational structures look back, not forward.

Structures are usually built to protect a “brand,” exercise quality control, enhance communication, secure property, or perpetuate and replicate processes. One needs a “brand” if the organization is raising capital from a broader public. Our natural default position when something good happens is to “program or package it” so that it can be scaled up.

Structure and leadership consume a greater amount of resources. Tim Keller has said:

An organization is more top-down, structured and controlling. Movements are more grass roots, dynamic and collaborative. Movements are dynamic, self-propagating, and encouraging to others to start similar efforts, without owning them.

We have decided that we are not going to try to protect our “brand” of transformation. Transform World Connections (TWC) does not seem to have any of those functional needs except to possibly enhance communication.

The base of a movement in today’s world is a committed core of people who trust and respect one another and apply their gifts and creativity to God’s common existential calling on their lives. There will always be movements of people into and out of the motivational and empowering circle because of very permeable, shifting, and porous boundaries. Diversity of gifts, experience, and background within the core provide a necessary flexibility to keep renewal going. This diversity must be protected and nurtured since the natural tendency of the core is to homogenize.

Starfish versus Spider

The “Starfish” ministry empowers all of God’s people (paid and volunteer) to participate in God’s work. (See the sidebar below for a definition of the Starfish model.) Prayer is foundational. To facilitate effective “Starfish” and servant paradigms, we very much need God’s continued help. The “Starfish” ministry encourages greater dependence on God. This does not negate the need for structure and leadership, but they should not be overpowering. Wherever leadership is needed it is expressed in servanthood and humility, with dependence on and glory given to God.

Positional leadership may not be essential but there must be appropriate and acknowledged leadership. Leadership is functional and not necessarily positional and may shift from person to person in the core as the challenges to the movement change.

Decentralization is the best model only when parts are connected by connecting ministries. To the extent that the “Starfish” is a structural response to the Movement’s needs, it is a helpful concept. It is, however, a “means” and not some static ideal structure we are aiming to build. It is much more dynamic than that.

Transform World Connections Embraces Starfish Organizational Model

Transform World pursues a “Starfish” type of ministry. The TWC core maintains vision and values. In TWC we have said that we want to trust the Holy Spirit for many of those functions.

Many others will plug in and pull out as their personal calling and vision find resonance with and enhances the vision and values of the core and as they are useful and fulfilled. We have stated we will follow the Holy Spirit’s quickening of individuals who “get it.”

Transform World events serve as a platform where God’s vision of global transformation is being cast, not where the details are controlled.

TWC events play a role as platforms of sharing knowledge, experience, inspirations, ideas and relationships, while the focus groups serve as communities of servant catalysts and set up practical agendas for local and global transformation.

Toward a Committed Core: Trust, Honest Communication, Commitment, Accountability and Attention to Results

Honest communication, meaningful interaction, and successful execution of the vision constitute the currency or fuel that drives the network.

We are being called to build a committed core to respond to the mega challenges.

The Starfish and the Spider: Catalysts Rule!

In many arenas, a lack of traditional leadership is giving rise to powerful groups such as al Queda, Craigslist and Napster that are turning industry and society upside down. I liken these groups to a starfish. Businesses, institutions, governments and individuals (exemplified by the spider) must realize that starfish and spiders may look alike, but starfish have a powerful and miraculous quality. Cut off a spider’s leg and you have a seven-legged creature; cut off its head and it dies. But cut off the arm of a starfish and it grows a new one. Plus its severed arm is capable of generating an entirely new body!

Today starfish organizations are taking society and the business world by storm, changing the rules of strategy, engagement and competition. In the book The Starfish and the Spider, we use the spider as a metaphor for organizations and business models with the traditional structure of a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and the starfish to represent organizations based on peer relationships and a catalyst style of leadership. We give many examples in the book of successful starfish-like organizations, along with several stories of how traditional “spider” companies have suffered when faced with “starfish” competition.

Rod Beckström
Author of The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations. Excerpted from entry at http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20071215_76_121670.html

The Starfish and the Spider

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, a 2006 book by Ori Brafman (author of the 2010 book Click: The Magic of Instant Connections ISBN 978-0-385-52905-1) and Rod Beckstrom, is an exploration of the implications of the recent rise of decentralized organizations such as Wikipedia, Grokster and YouTube. The book contrasts them to centralized organizations, such as Encyclopædia Britannica, using compendia of knowledge as examples. The spider and starfish analogy refers to the contrasting biological nature of the respective organisms, starfish having a decentralized neural structure permitting regeneration.

In addition to giving historical examples of decentralized organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and the Apaches, and analyzing their nature in contrast to centralized organizations, the book considers conflict between centralized and decentralized organizations, including the “If you can’t beat them, join them” solution to creating hybrid organizations such as Citizendium.[citation needed] A chapter towards the end of the book explores the concept of the “sweet spot,” the optimal mix of decentralized and centralized attributes.

Catalysts

The book identifies a set of people the authors call “catalysts” who tend to be skilled at creating decentralized organizations. The authors list several abilities and behaviors (called “The Catalyst’s Tools”) that “catalysts” have in common, including:

1. Genuine interest in others.

2. Numerous loose connections, rather than a small number of close connections.

3. Skill at social mapping.

4. Desire to help everyone they meet.

5. The ability to help people help themselves by listening and understanding, rather than giving advice (“Meet people where they are”).

6. Emotional Intelligence.

7. Trust in others and in the decentralized network.

8. Inspiration (to others).

9. Tolerance for ambiguity.

10. A hands-off approach. Catalysts do not interfere with, or try to control the behavior of, the contributing members of the decentralized organization.

11. Ability to let go. After building up a decentralized organization, catalysts move on, rather than trying to take control.

“A leader is best when people barely know that he exists; not so good when people obey and acclaim him; worst when they despise him.” (p. 115) (Lao-tzu)

“As a catalyst, it’s all about letting go and trusting the community.” (p. 111)

Catalyst Examples

The book talks about “catalysts,” the people who found a starfish group and give it form, ideas, value, focus, and meaning. Some examples of such human catalysts in the book include:

1. Granville Sharp, leader of the abolitionist movement against slavery in England

2. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who founded  the women’s suffrage movement that  Susan B. Anthony later took up with still greater energy

3. Craig Newmark of Craigslist

4. Bill Wilson of Alcoholics Anonymous

5. Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia

The Ten Rules

The ten “rules” are:

1. Diseconomies of scale–small companies have power.

2. Network effect–every additional person makes the organization stronger.

3. Power of chaos.

4. Knowledge at the edge–information about the organization is open to everybody.

5. Everyone wants to contribute–self-motivated employees.

6. Beware the hydra response.

7. Catalysts rule.

8. Values are the heart of any organization or network.

9. Measure, monitor, and manage.

10. Flatten or be flattened.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

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Transform World: The Seven Challenges

by Transform World Staff

The vision for global change is strategic. God wants people to come to Christ and he uses people from all walks of life to be his agents for change in the world. He has brought many servant leaders together, through Transform World, who have a heart to be a part of God’s transforming work. In order to maximize the impact of the 2020 vision, we have created teams to address seven challenges. Each of the teams of leaders is moving forward with a strategic plan.

Please take a few minutes to read these strategies. Allow God to speak to you about your involvement in changing the world for Jesus Christ.

Ideological Challenge of islam

Facilitator: Ruslan Maliuta
Associate Facilitators:
Anita Deyneka and Karmen Friesen

Challenge

Islam has grown and moved east and west, competing for Christian souls and attempting to challenge or destroy the very foundation of the gospel and the church. Our response requires a one hundred percent participation of global Christianity to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission among the Muslims. Jesus has put Christians in a debt of love to Muslims. Every Muslim deserves to hear the good news of the gospel! The heart of the Christian is love, empathy, sympathy and compassion for Muslims.

In 1908, there were an estimated 230 million Muslims. At that time there were only twenty-eight known missionaries working among them. Today there are more than 1.6 billion Muslims, seven times the number one hundred years ago. At present, there is only one missionary for every 420,000 Muslims in the world.

Response

We are called by our Lord Jesus Christ to make disciples of all nations. Our response to the Transform World Ideological Challenge of Islam is to seek how to engage together to fulfill the Great Commission among Muslims. Our mission is to glorify God as his global church, as a faithful, global witness to Muslims everywhere.

Purpose

Participants in the Idealogical Challenge of Islam are working to:

- Foster international families of love, friendship, discipleship and mentorship;

- Train and mobilize the global church to fulfill the Great Commission among Muslims;

- Empower and provide a platform for a younger generation of scholarly practitioners to engage the Muslim world;

- Assess existing initiatives as vehicles for fulfilling the Great Commission;

- Mobilize Christian servant leaders, in every church, vocation and nation;

- Focus intercession on the Muslim world;

- Seek the support of Christians with means on the earth to seriously engage the Muslim challenge.

Family Challenge:

Giving Strength to the Core of Society

Facilitator: Matthew Ling

We watch… as marriage after marriage in our churches comes to an end.

As our young people, who have grown up in the church, leave the faith.

As church leaders’ families break up.

Though we have scrambled over the years to find ways to stem the tide of family meltdowns in our midst, the results are far from satisfactory for the church. How much longer can the church, presently faced with unabated family breakups of pandemic proportions, continue to effectively carry on as salt and light to the world?

Setting its sights on the transformation of communities around the globe, the Transform World Connections movement (together with the 4/14 Window Global Initiative) recognizes the urgent need to restore the Christian family in the global church, under the auspices of Family Challenge, to their rightful place where they not only live godly lives (including passing on the faith to the following generations), but also have the capacity to heed the call to be the transformational agents that could significantly impact communities around the globe for Christ.

We believe this is the kairos moment for the Challenge. The time is now to respond to this call of God for the church body worldwide to come together to take up this important task. It is the hour for the church to showcase to the world that the real answer to the seemingly unstoppable global pandemic of family crisis lies in God working through the partnership of the church and the family.

Family Challenge Vision 2020

We see church leadership and the congregation jointly championing to inspire and equip the corporate church and the families in fulfilling their respective biblical roles, thereby providing the world with healthy Christian homes that proactively transform their communities.

From the Family Challenge Chairman

Travelling to various regions of the world since the Transform World Global Challenges Summit in November, 2012 in Bali, attending global and regional conferences, and meeting many church leaders who expressed their serious concerns on the families, has taught me a few things about the kind of “Family Challenge” we are in:

- The Church knows that our families are in a lot of trouble and that it is going to get much worse in the future.

- The global scenario is one of the Church giving grossly inadequate attention to building healthy families systematically, the families not being properly equipped and challenged to live healthy lives, and the underutilization of the ready pool of resources that family ministry providers have for building healthy families.

- It is not just about the struggling families. The future of the Church is really at stake when it fails to build the primary institution (the family) that God has intentionally put in place to evangelize and disciple the next generation.

We are excited by what has already been taking place in South East Asia, India, Africa, and the U.S.A. since the 2012 Summit, as we rallied the church body in this single endeavour, building homes that are effective in passing the faith to the next generation.

There is now for us a tremendous opportunity to provide a uniting platform for the family ministry providers (individuals and organizations such as Focus On The Family, FamilyLife, Alpha, etc.) from different regions to come together to serve the global church. This is especially timely with the new partnership we forged with World Evangelical Alliance in developing family movements in their global network of 129 national alliances.

This has never been attempted before. It is historic. We will see more “open-source” resources being made freely available globally. We expect to reap the benefit of the synergy of the development of regional family ministry resources that are culturally relevant to the regions. These are just a few obvious impacts of this development.

We strongly believe that this is a kairos moment for the global church to take the leap of faith in answering God’s call to join him as he builds the last-day church through rebuilding his much-battered families around the world.

Orphan Challenge

Together For a World Without Orphans

Facilitator: Ruslan Maliuta
Associate Facilitators:
Anita Deyneka and Karmen Friesen

Orphan Challenge

One of the biggest challenges facing the Christian church today is the ever-increasing number of children growing up without the loving care of their parents and without knowing their Heavenly Father. These children, totaling 152 million, according to current estimates from UNICEF, live throughout the world–from war-torn Sudan to poverty stricken India, from transitioning Ukraine to affluent nations in Europe and North America. If we brought all these children together they would comprise the 7th largest nation in the world … a veritable “Orphan Nation.” God knows all orphaned children by name, and he has a purpose for each of them. “Father of the fatherless is God in his holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families.” (Psa . 68:5-6)

These guiding principles will underpin our work:

- Not all orphans need a new family. Many of them already live in families and we must support these families and the communities that care for them.

- There is a spectrum of care models for orphaned children which we need to develop concurrently in order to produce a range of family care options for a nation’s children, including the strengthening of their own immediate and extended families. Reuniting children in care with their own families, adoption, guardianship, and foster care are parts of meeting this challenge.

- Orphanages provide the least effective and often detrimental care for orphans. The use of these facilities should only be an emergency placement option for some children.

- If children have lost their own families and there is no hope of reuniting them, then adoption or guardianship should be the aim of our efforts.

- Careful and thoughtful planning should go into any nation’s program model on behalf of orphans. Prevention programs at all levels are critical.

“I’m so excited about this movement. It has changed my perception, and for that reason I am revising the objective of my ministry concerning orphans and I’m going to champion this movement in Ghana.” A pastor from West Africa wrote these words after attending the Transform World Global Leadership Summit in Macon, France in June of 2014. At the summit he participated in the Orphan Challenge track and learned about the vision for mobilizing the Christian community to give all orphans and vulnerable children the opportunity to grow in loving and caring families and know their Heavenly Father. Now in collaboration with other leaders in his home country he is coordinating a growing national movement with the vision for Ghana Without Orphans! This is just one of many examples of a paradigm shift that is taking place in the Christian community worldwide in its response to a huge and devastating global challenge–the orphan crisis.

The latest research revealed by the U.S. government indicates that more than 1 billion children, almost half of all the children in the world, are exposed to violence every year. UNICEF identifies 152 million children as orphans, meaning that they have lost one or both of their parents. Many orphans grow to adulthood without stable family connections, and they often “graduate” to the streets, homeless and jobless, being drawn into lives of crime to support themselves.

The most vulnerable may be trafficked into various forms of indentured servitude in other nations. While all orphans and vulnerable children need a lot of help, at least seven million of them literally have no one in their lives and need a new permanent family.

Historically, orphanages have been the primary solution that many governments and even churches have implemented to ensure that the basic physical needs of children are met. But various research shows that orphanages and other forms of institutional care are not the best solutions for the healthy development of children. A significant change in mindset is needed for many Christians to shift to a family-based approach in caring for orphans and vulnerable children. This includes families, who are opening their home to care for the fatherless, but it may also mean biological families or kinship caregivers who need to be encouraged and strengthened to prevent children from being put at risk in the first place. The realization of this need along with the understanding of God’s heart for orphans and his clear mandate from Scripture for the Church to care for them are at the heart of the World Without Orphans movement.

The initial vision for a World Without Orphans came from the example of Ukrainian Christians. Since 2009 the Alliance for Ukraine Without Orphans has been implementing a strategy to mobilize the Christian community in Ukraine to provide all orphans and vulnerable children with loving and caring families. The movement has been instrumental in impacting the lives of thousands of children and families in Ukraine and transforming the culture of the whole nation as it relates to caring for the fatherless as well as becoming a model for other countries.

Currently orphan care movements have been started in more than 20 countries on four continents, although many of them are in the initial stages of development. Local churches, Christian NGOs, and other agencies join efforts to mobilize their nations for adoption, foster care, and family preservation, and share successful models and best practices. Christian leaders from many other countries have been exposed to this vision, are interested in it, and are exploring ways of starting a movement in their own nations.

Now, among other things, the WWO team is preparing the first Global Forum for a World Without Orphans, which will be held on February 11-14, 2016 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This will be another critical milestone in the growth of the global orphan care movement and a strategic time to activate, connect, and equip the Christian community worldwide to address the orphan crisis.

The Poverty Challenge

Giving the Poorest of the Poor a Hand Up to Self-Sustainability

Facilitator: Hal Jones

Poverty Challenge’s mission is to:

- Mobilize the global church to “go” and express the Good News and the love and compassion of Christ to all peoples, especially the unreached and unengaged;

- Cultivate an attitude of cooperation throughout various ministries and across denominations that will result in holistic transformation among the peoples of the 10/40 Window;

- Engage the Celebration Challenge and global movement of prayer;

- Encourage creative strategies addressing the unengaged and unreached poor who are in hostile or difficult to access places. Focus strategies on helping to create self-sustaining, self-propagating, self-led, and transformational and community based movements.

Overcoming Poverty by Transforming One Million Villages

By KHALIL

Several leaders started an organization in response to 2000 AD that was focused on unengaged people groups and engaging them with a holistic mentality to both show and share the good news. Immediately we discovered that approaching a village with the capacity to help them solve their poverty problems opened up many areas that were totally closed to the good news before.

We soon discovered that we were not alone as we met other like-minded holistic evangelicals, one of whom had seen a movement of transformation take place in an African country that started with one village and grew to a movement of change affecting over 600 villages.  All the villages were nationally led with almost no western influence.  These are villages that are not only being reached but also being transformed by new believers.  We also found a welcome from many of these like-minded groups that were not UUPG focused, but totally open to making this a key part of many of their national efforts!!

The leadership of Transform World identified the need to mobilize sincere believers in every sphere and in every country to take on the challenges that hinder or stand against kingdom expansion. The poverty sphere was wisely identified as a major challenge to access and credibility for the kingdom.

The Poverty Challenge membership has been amazed at how the Lord has shown us his favor and his love for the unengaged poor. We have discovered many evangelical great commission groups share our concern and want to help with media, educational, health and other resources so critical for biblical social transformation.  We have been amazed at the number of growing movements of transformation and evangelization among unreached people groups.  From Fulani disciples reaching Tuaregs in the Sahel, to Dari speakers reaching other tribes in Central Asia, we are seeing movements that start in one village of India lead to movements among 200 plus villages in nearby states of India.  Praise the Lord!

The Million Village Challenge

This is a challenge within the 10/40 Window and beyond and a key part of the Poverty Challenge facing the fulfillment of the Great Commission. One million villages contain almost all of the poorest of the poor and encompass almost all the unengaged people groups. We have come to see that in history and sociology a cultural change happens when an advocacy group reaches 10% of the population.  We believe the Million Village Challenge for Transformation can be triggered when 10% of those villages are engaged in real transformation.  Another practical point is that these 1 million villages are actually part of approximately 100,000 village clusters, with an average of 10 villages per cluster (common throughout the world). Each cluster is really transformed by a Model Village.  So 10,000 transformed village models initiated by any one of 1,000 partners can help transform 100,000 villages, which is the tipping point for transformation in the 1 million villages. Transform World Poverty Challenge members have over 600 partners involved in transformation.  We hope to find 400 more to be a part of the 1,000 partners seeking to transform the 10,000 villages that will become models.

The Justice Challenge

Constructing Societies that Respect Human Dignity

Chairman: Yuri Mantilla

Justice Challenge Tracks:

Casteism, North Korea, Human Trafficking, Corruption, Religious Freedom, Ethnic Reconciliation

The Defense of the Sanctity of Human Life

The dignity of the human being, created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), demands the pursuit of justice. While great human progress has been made, the exploitation and abuse of natural human rights is widespread, particularly among the most vulnerable, including children, religious and ethnic minorities, and the unborn. The advance of justice is one of the most critical callings of the church and one of the greatest opportunities to advance the gospel.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the most important international document in the field of human rights. It provides a philosophical foundation for the universal defense of human dignity, and reflects the resolve of the international community to promote human rights around the world. The principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are based on a natural law understanding of absolute principles and norms.

Post-modernism has introduced the idea of cultural and ethical relativism in the discourse and diluted the effort to find optimal and standard norms in protecting human dignity. There is an urgent need and opportunity to restore the understanding of human rights based on the natural law of absolute
principles and norms.

In order to respond to these great challenges of our day, participants in the justice track are doing the following:

- Raising awareness and prayer regarding these critical issues;

- Researching and disseminating studies, reports and information that highlight these challenges and identify tangible action steps that can be taken by the global church to advance the cause the justice;

- Identifying and establishing a committed and connected network of activists and concerned others who are ready and able to use their voice and positions of influence to advocate for justice in these critical issues;

- Influence the work of Christian international (regional and global) organizations in the area of human rights;

- Support and advocate for law and policy that safeguards and promotes justice.

Justice Challenge Vision 2020

We envision applying the support of the biblical teaching on Imago Dei in justice discourse. We envision promoting justice when and where violations of fundamental natural human rights occur.

Justice Challenge Mission 2020

Our mission is to:

- Promote justice and human dignity in relation to the Imago Dei;

- Support the biblical perspective of law and justice in the human rights discourse;

- Build up Christian transformational movements committed to justice and the rule of law.

The mission of God’s people to the world arises out of God’s love for the world. The demonstration of God’s love for humankind was on display in the act of giving his son, Jesus Christ, to the world, desiring that no human being should perish. Jesus made that possible by giving his own life as a ransom for many. Before departing to heaven from the earth, Jesus commissioned his followers. Christ’s missional challenge to his followers is to make disciples of all nations based on Matt. 28:19-20. Christ’s missional challenge provides the basis for other ministry challenges.

“ . . . If the church does not disciple a nation, that nation will disciple the church. Ideas have consequences, and someone’s ideas will shape society. Social networks that turn ideas into lifestyle will inevitably shape the institutions and life of a nation. If the church is not consciously incarnating the word of God, and thus impacting the world, then the ideas that dominate the nation will govern the church.” (From: Darrow Miller, The Task: The Great Commission in Response to Radical Islam and New Atheism, 2012, page 132)

Christ’s Missional Challenge

Accelerating Breakthroughs Among the Unreached

Facilitator: Frontier Ventures
Chairman: Dick Eastman

Christ’s Missional Challenge Vision 2020

To catalyze the global church to wholeheartedly participate in the mission of God in obedience to Christ’s command to “make disciples of all nations.” (Mat. 28:19)

The major paradigm for the mission challenge is the Great Commission.

Christ’s Missional Challenge Expected Outcomes:

The global body of Christ is called to make disciples by planting a church in every community in the world. Missional Challenge 2020 calls for PRIME Teams to be established in every one of the 50 largest unreached people groups and every one of the 50 largest unengaged people groups by 2020. The PRIME strategy is intended to be comprehensive, integrated and aligned in its representation of the five key facets: Prayer, Research, Innovation, Media, and Engagement.

We Are All Ministers of the Gospel

by Christopher Lucey

I was given ten minutes to share the vision of what it meant to facilitate Christ’s Missional Challenge (CMC) in the prayer room at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. This was in March 2013 and I had just returned from Bali for the global launch of Transform World 2020. IHOP partnered with TW2020 for this special 3-day event to fully cover this movement in prayer. What was even more incredible was the number of leaders who came to both honor Luis Bush and to join with him in praying for global transformation alongside nearly 3,000 attendees mostly from IHOP. We were blessed to hear from top Christian statesmen such as Loren Cunningham, Mark Anderson, Dick Eastman, Paul Eshleman, Josh McDowell, George Otis, Jr., Steve Douglas, along with Cindy Jacobs and many others. As I watched the interactions between these men and women it was clear they loved and honored one another. They were there to celebrate Luis and Doris Bush, but it was because they had already made a commitment to stand with one another and support each other’s ministries and the work that God was doing in their midst. The monumental task of moving forward an idea like “transforming the world” must come from absolute trust in God and from the belief in servant-leadership through esteeming one another as higher than ourselves.

The camaraderie among the leaders in the prayer room at IHOP in March of 2013 convinced me that God was assembling the pillars of the TW2020 movement. It reminded me that God had said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Joh. 13:34-35). The goal of Christ’s Missional Challenge for the past three years was to convey the thought that we are all ministers of the gospel working towards reconciliation and restoring the hope in people who live in extreme oppression, poverty, and bondage around the world. We know that the remaining task of sharing the unconditional love of Jesus will only come through greater faith and trust in him. It is incumbent upon our generation to fully embrace this biblical mandate. If we choose to humble ourselves and allow the transformation of our own hearts to take shape as John 13:34-35 describes–before we go to the field–then the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit will continue to strengthen those he has called. And they will be able to move forward with the full measure of peace, grace, love and authority to enter into broken places and bring healing to the broken-hearted which ultimately will bring glory to our Father.

The other exciting event that took place was a pre-conference meeting with 70+ leaders who were part of CMC and other TW Challenge and Sphere Facilitators. In short, I gave a brief presentation on PRIME, which is the latest global collaborative initiative to come out of Frontier Ventures (formerly known as the U.S. Center for World Mission). It was immediately embraced and acknowledged at this meeting that a more integrated approach that aligns a broad array of professionals within the body of Christ is needed and PRIME in partnership with TW2020, Issachar Initiative, Joshua Project and other collaborators is an exciting next step in the formation of building capacity towards overcoming barriers and creating new opportunities for engagement in the process.

PRIME was also recognized as an emerging embedded operating system that could provide the kind of collaborative “connective tissue” that has been a vital missing component between and among leaders in various sectors and spheres of influence. the next step will be to formulate a network of LABS which will address each of the 7 challenges and 7 spheres. An advisory team has been reviewing the formation of this strategic network with the hope of launching the first iterations in Fall 2015.

For further information please connect with us and visit the following sites:
Paul Eshleman
http://www.issacharinitiative.org

Dan Scribner
http://www.joshuaproject.net

Christopher Lucey
http://www.frontierventures.org
christopher.lucey@frontierventures.org

Celebration Challenge

A Trumpet Call to the Nations

Facilitators: Frederic & Susan Rowe

Celebration Challenge Vision 2020

The mission of the Celebration Challenge is to encourage, build, and connect houses of prayer in the spirit of the tabernacle of David and strengthen them through relationship for individual and corporate transformation.

The Trumpet is Calling

The focus of the “Trumpet Call to the Nations” on building and connecting houses of prayer among the nations has seen significant growth through the Transform World efforts. Out of the persecution, a remnant is rising with a desire to raise up unceasing worship and prayer before his throne. Malachi 1:11 tells us that, “in every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the nations.” This dynamic movement of worship, prayer, and praise carries within it the heart, vision, and relentless energy for spiritual intervention and subsequent transformation. James exhorted the New Testament church in Acts 15:11, referencing Amos 9:11 saying, “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages and rebuild it as in the days of old.” This is happening now.  New houses of prayer, in the spirit of the tabernacle of David, are emerging throughout the nations. The desire for his Presence is propelling an awakened remnant into deeper commitment and intimacy with God.  They have discovered the “One thing,” Psalm 27:4 speaks of.

A foundational core value of the “Trumpet Call” is a focus on the great commandments Jesus spoke of in Matthew 22:37-39, to love God and love one another. Through gatherings such as “Trumpet Call Myanmar,” held in January, 2015, groups of sustained, corporate prayer and worship are forming.  Leadership within regions with similar calls to see houses of prayer equipped, strengthened, and connected is rising. We are greatly encouraged to see an effectual collaboration between denominations, regions, generations, and nations emerging and cooperating with local church bodies.

Communication is key to any relationship formation.  To facilitate communication and sharing, we have had regular conference calls and newsletters and have a recently developed website, http://www.trumpetcall2nations.com.  Along with this, to meet the challenges of today for informed intercession, we have launched a “Strategic Alert System.”  The purpose of the system is to communicate key prayer alerts quickly and accurately, and handle sensitive information securely.

We are also working with missions and prayer ministries on a new initiative, “Inherit the Nations.”  The purpose of the initiative is to link houses of prayer with unreached/untouched people groups.  Missions organizations, primarily Frontier Ventures, have identified 250 people groups that when reached would cover 90% of the unreached people in the world.  The purpose of this initiative is to link houses of prayer with these groups and the missionaries being sent to them to establish a more tangible and dynamic prayer-missions relationship and exchange.

In summary, the house of prayer movement is growing.  It is developing and is playing a vital role in God’s plan for the times we now live in. There is a fundamental shift taking place throughout the world…the body of Christ is being transformed into the bride of Christ.  Jesus exhorted us to be the wise virgins, ready with oil in our lamps, “And at midnight a cry was heard, ‘Behold the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” (Mat. 25:6)  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Mat. 25:13) The trumpet is sounding…and people are responding to “Prepare the way.”

About The Author

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Feature

Bihar Summit

Gathering of Servant Catalysts Releases Focus and Vision for the Church in Bihar

by Devesh Harish Lal and Alexander Philip

About a hundred mission leaders, frontline church planters and key statewide facilitators gathered in Patna, Bihar from Jan 15-17, 2014 for the Transform World Bihar Summit 2014.

This second summit was planned a little over seven years after the initial gathering in the state, where mission as transformation was highlighted and shared. Bihar state, home to over 100 million people and considered in yester years as the “graveyard of missions,” is one of the most backward areas of India.

Yet it was here that significant change has occurred since late 2005 resulting in progressive growth and statewide development. A change in government leadership, the prayers of God’s people, and the first TW event of Jan 2006 all have been catalytic in seeing major improvements here where less than 33% were literate a few years ago and where the per-capita income was US$35 per person per year then. Since, and in the providence of God, as dozens of mission agencies focused on Bihar state, multiplication of indigenous churches was spawned and hundreds of Christ groups have resulted. However, with a myriad of challenges before the burgeoning Church, it was felt that due consideration should be given to Toynbee’s cautious reflection: “Civilizations develop and flourish in response to the challenges they face with creative new ideas. When they are rigid, failing to respond to challenges, they decline.”

Event Highlights

“Christians have played a key role in the development of Bihar–and must continue to do so,” said Uday Narain Choudhary, the speaker of the Bihar State Assembly and key leader of the government, who graced the inaugural as chief guest. Along with other Church leaders representing both the Protestant and Catholic Church, the inaugural was a time of celebration of what God has done and ongoing whole-hearted commitment towards His will and purposes for Bihar state.

The summit, which took place immediately after the TW Research conference, brought to all participants the “remaining task” of reaching 25 unreached people groups listed as “most needy,” with a call to also focus on 103 “very needy” people groups in Bihar state. Christ’s Missional Challenge group has taken to heart the vision and will focus on these remaining 128 groups, disseminating information, calling for advocates, raising awareness and planting churches among these people groups. Earlier in the week, an FTT/Isaachar Initiative leader had commented “It is one thing to evangelize people–reach them with the Gospel message–quite another thing to disciple them so that an ongoing CPM starts within the people group.”

Making a foray into missionary services of the state, the Family Challenge group heralded the need to focus on the health of the families in the Church, issuing a strong call for care and sensitivity as societal values change globally and locally as well. A task force has been raised up to continue serving this need in Bihar with an on going teaching and facilitator role to missionary leaders, their families and agencies across
the state.

Ruslan Maliuta of the Orphan Challenge brought to enthusiastic Bihari participants the vision of a Bihar Without Orphans. With the average female lifespan at 54 and male at 52 less than a decade ago, thousands of children in Bihar are either orphaned or semi-orphaned early in life. Tuberculosis, leprosy and kala-azar are killer diseases in the state, where infant mortality (72/1000 live births) and maternal mortality (451/100,000) rates are among the highest in the world.  It was refreshing to see a real owning of this vision, to reconsider the way orphan care is typically done in institutions, and a plea was made to consider the godly exhortation that God himself “places orphans in families” (Ps 68:8).

Another key highlight of the conference was the information on the current Dalit caste- discrimination across Bihar. Explaining lucidly the role and place of OBC’s (Other Backward Classes) in the Indian society and political life, Ivan Kostka, facilitator, highlighted the receptivity of the OBC group to the Christ of the scriptures with a plea to prioritize serving them especially and planting churches among their ranks. The Forward Press magazine distributed among conference participants served to build information and inspiration. The Human Rights Challenge group led by Ivan also focused on the plight of trafficked women and child labor, with international NGO’s Justice Venture International and Nomi Network, sharing with the audience positive results in Bihar already in vogue and with plans for the decade ahead.

The foundation for a task force to reach the neighbor community has been created, with a plea to consider the urgency and dire need to raise up hundreds of followers of Christ groups among the neighbors (Relational Challenge). Hal Jones and Young David were instrumental in facilitating the formation of a Bihari group to focus sustainable development initiatives among the poor of Bihar (90% of Bihar is rural) with an ongoing plan of action to reach the poorest of the   poor   and   share   Christ’s   love   amongst the forgotten and downtrodden.

Tom Victor shared about the 4/14 vision and several groups of children shared at multiple plenary sessions reminding participants of the need to include an inter-generational dialogue and participation even in mission, raising up Esthers and Daniels for “such a time as this.” (Est. 4:14)

Conclusion

The summit served to unite the church in Bihar towards a compelling transformational vision. The Transform World platform network in Bihar is all about serving the needs of her people by aligning herself to God’s purposes and desires. Transformation is the progressive and ongoing measurable supernatural impact of the presence and power of God working in, through and apart from the Church on human society and structures.

The mission of Transform World 2020 urgently calls the Church in Bihar to consider the critical challenges of our time. We trust that God’s people all over the states–0.5% church population–will respond to each challenge through informed, cohesive, prayerful action leading to a godly, Spirit-led movement in the spheres of cultural influence in which they operate in and the geographic area in which they live and move and have their being.

About The Author

Devesh Harish Lal
TW Bihar Summit Chair
deveshnupur@gmail.com

Alexander Philip
TW South Asia Facilitator
alex.philip@nieamission.org

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Kingdom Kernels

T4T or DMM (DBS)? Only God can start a Church Planting Movement! - Part 2 of 2

Kingdom Kernels

by Steve Smith & Stan Parks

In the January-February 2015 issue, we examined how two common Church-Planting Movement (CPM) approaches compare to each other. One is Training for Trainers (T4T) and the other is Disciple-Making Movements (DMM). Part Two examines the mechanics of T4T and DMM and how many CPM practitioners are blending elements of each.

Similarities and Differences in T4T & DMM Meetings

Some nuances of each approach can be understood by comparing the typical format of these small group Bible studies that become the new church meetings. T4T meetings stress the three-thirds (3/3) process to develop and train trainers. Meetings are divided into roughly three parts – 1) look back, 2) look up and 3) look ahead. Within these three parts are seven elements – elements that primarily give life to the group members (Pastoral Care, Worship, Bible Study) and elements that help them give life to others (reproduction – Accountability, Vision-Casting, Practice, and Setting Goals with Prayer).  These latter elements are called the bold parts because they are essential to reproduction.

DMM meetings use questions so the group can discover what the Holy Spirit is teaching, obey it and pass it on. DMM meetings cover similar dynamics as 3/3 but there are different nuances. Questions can and do vary, but the following is a typical set of questions.

A Comparison of the Typical Progression of T4T and DMM over Several Months

In addition to the differences in how meetings occur, the general progression of the two models through the stages of entry (finding people), evangelism and commitment, discipleship (short and long term), church formation, leadership development, on-going development and starting new generations varies. Both arrive at a similar point several months into the process but the approach to get there is different.

ENTRY – Finding God-Prepared People:

·       T4T: Practitioners mobilize as many believers as possible to evangelize. Each member shares the gospel frequently, especially with their oikos at least 5x a week, using a name list (or oikos map) of the oikos. They may share with individuals or small group of gathered friends. Members also share with strangers looking for persons of peace.

·       DMM: Believers are trained and equipped to share the gospel in word, deed, miracles, and lifestyle to find persons of peace (Luke 10) who will open their household/oikos (circle of strong influence) to discovering God through Bible study.

Evangelism & Commitment

·       T4T: Normally T4T uses one contextualized gospel presentation with a call to commitment. The evangelist wins the individual or household and helps them then share the gospel with others. With those that are open but not ready to believe, sometimes the evangelist shares 5-10 more stories. Decisions are often with individuals, and sometimes with groups. Miracles often open doors. Larger groups are usually reached via equipping the new believer to share with his oikos.

Discipleship

·       T4T: After the person (and his oikos sometimes) believe, they enter a discipleship phase of both 6-10 short term lessons/Bible studies (oral or literate) with clear application points. At the end of this time the group moves into a long-term discipleship approach using inductive Bible studies with regular questions that help explain and apply the Scripture. Baptism is usually the first or second short-term discipleship lesson.

Evangelism & Discipleship

·       DMM: Evangelism and discipleship is combined in a 10-26 week discovery Bible story process helping the oikos know and obey God and share with others. The whole oikos is called to commitment at the end of this cycle. Sometimes the oikos is ready for commitment before the end, especially when miracles occur. In this case, after commitment/baptism they would continue the cycle since the goal is worldview change and reproducibility. Decisions are generally group decisions. Miracles often open doors.

Commitment

·       Many DMMs have a set Bible study (1-4 sessions) as the persons/oikos is examining the decision to commit to Christ as Lord. This allows them to biblically discover the commitment rather than getting it from the outsider. Typical biblical topics covered are repentance, renunciation, Lordship, persecution, Baptism. Baptism occurs when the commitment is made.

New Generation

·       T4T: As soon as a person/group believes, they are taught to share the gospel with their oikos and start their own next generation groups with them while they themselves are being discipled in the current T4T group. Group members sometimes start multiple groups in the succeeding weeks.

·       DMM: Discovery groups share stories with others each week. When someone shows interest, a new group is formed with that oikos (facilitated by the outside disciple). We know of two different situations where a discovery group during a 26-week cycle helped start 20+ new discovery groups.

Church Formation

·       T4T: The T4T group usually becomes a church (i.e. practicing the basic functions and identity of church) within the short-term discipleship phase, usually at week four or five after salvation.

·       DMM: After baptism begin discovery Bible training on “being a disciple” (such as “life of Jesus” or “commands of Christ”) and “being a church” (such as church metaphors, functions, nature, structure).

Leadership Development

·       T4T: Leadership development begins immediately as all group members are trained to repeat the process with others to see which leaders emerge; coaching happens in the three-thirds process. Fruitful leaders are brought together regularly for mid-level training. Emerging gifted and faithful leaders are personally mentored to begin overseeing streams of churches.

·       DMM: All disciples are given leadership opportunities and many of them help start new groups and develop new leaders. Leadership discovery lessons (such as 20 Matthew leadership studies) are open to all. Ongoing broader leadership trainings and coaching and mentoring are offered for leaders throughout the movement.

On-Going Development

·       T4T & DMM: For long-term development (discipleship) of church members in addition to the leadership development above, inductive Bible study of the whole counsel of God’s Word is the pattern using questions to unlock the meaning and application of the text. This enables churches to obey all of the Word and for various gifts to emerge.

How The Two Models areGetting Blended

Even within T4T and DMM there are a wide variety of adaptations and customizations. CPM practitioners constantly learn and borrow elements from each other, which results in somewhat blended models. Elements are typically borrowed to address certain issues. For example:

·       Many T4T practitioners have added a “yellow light” phase to their evangelism. If listeners believe after hearing the gospel (green light) they move into discipleship. If they refuse (red light) the evangelist moves on. But if they are “open” to hearing more (yellow light), then T4T practitioners often use 5-10 short discovery Bible studies (based on their worldview), usually with their oikos, to help them understand more and wait on God to answer prayer requests. If T4T practitioners determine this is the normal response of people, they may move directly to using 5-10 DBS stories from the beginning as their evangelism method.

·       Some DMM practitioners will use a worldview appropriate gospel presentation as a way to filter while in the stage of looking for persons of peace.

·       Many T4T practitioners are taking time to not only witness to individuals but to purposefully try to find houses of peace and then share the gospel with the whole house of peace.

·       Many DMM practitioners are willing to fast-forward to commitment to Christ when miracles create readiness in an oikos.  These practitioners are encouraged to finish the series after baptism so that the new church will know how to make disciples.

·       Some T4T practitioners, often in oral environments, are using discovery Bible stories for their short-term discipleship phase, though they will direct the process toward a standard application.

·       Some DMM practitioners have adapted emphases from the three-thirds process, especially the vision-casting and prayer goals.

·       Many T4T practitioners, especially in environments where church members are afraid of sharing the gospel, are doing House of Peace searches (usually over a weekend) two by two and then starting a process of 3-7 DBS stories with them leading up to a gospel presentation. This process is fast-forwarding the reticence church members have in witnessing to their oikos or when their oikos has all heard the gospel.

What these practitioners are learning is that the method is not sacred. They are striving to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to see Church-Planting Movements launched.[1] They are using methods that they feel return them to biblical principles and bear the best fruit in their context.

In hostile environments practitioners from both models have often found it helpful to start discovery studies with groups of people. In fractured oikos environments, many practitioners are using the T4T model of working with individuals who can then be trained to share in their relational networks, since oikos communities are hard to find. In contexts in which decisions are made communally, practitioners are emphasizing getting into a house of peace and winning a whole group whether through one gospel presentation or multiple studies.
Both models, and their blended versions, have borne the fruit of many CPMs on every major continent and in every major worldview. Which you use, and which blends you develop, will depend on some of your theological convictions, the modeling and training you receive and the needs of your context.

Both models have much more in common than what is different. Both have proven themselves to be effective at helping disciples make disciples who make disciples who make disciples, and forming these into churches. For both models the benchmark of a movement is the same as Paul’s in Romans 15:23: no place left where Christ is not being named.

[1] One caution: “DMM” is being used by some people to describe a disciple-making process that puts less emphasis on church formation. Discipleship groups are started but churches often are not. This is not DMM!  “DMM” as described in this article is a method to get to church-planting movements.

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Baptism in Muslim Ministry

Time for Change

by Daniel Sinclair

I was recently conducting my two-day training on Church Planting Essentials in a North African country among workers from a variety of agencies. While we were discussing “How to disciple Muslim-background believers (MBBs)” 1[1] a brother raised his hand and asked, “So where does baptism fit in here?” Clearly from his Southern Baptist background this was not something to be skipped over. I confess to having been a bit bothered at first, thinking this is complicated and it would get us off-track. But I proceeded to give my normal song and dance about how the whole area of baptism needs more examination and how most ministries to Muslims haven’t sorted this one out yet. But even as I was speaking the thought arose in the back of my mind, “He’s right. I’m tired of muddling and dodging this issue.”

While there certainly has been some baptizing of believers in many of our ministries, so many other teams have shied away from baptism because it’s too problematic. It’s almost as if there’s been an unspoken agreement among some of us: “Though we’d love to see the MBBs in our ministries get baptized, we understand if most of them don’t want to. It’s a problem waiting for a good solution.”

It is the contention of this article that this is no longer good enough. We owe it to our dear brothers and sisters from Muslim backgrounds to lead them toward obeying Jesus’ command of baptism. But let me be quick to add: I am not advocating that we pressure them, or that we just get them to do it because we say so, after a token Bible study—nor that we, the expatriate church planters, necessarily do the baptizing. At the end of this article are some recommendations on ways to move forward.

Why Baptizing is a Problem

A year ago in a Levant country I was enjoying the rich hospitality of a brother, a “Muslim follower of Jesus.” Because I knew that he was very strong in his faith and testimony, that he was very knowledgeable of Islam, and that he hadn’t yet been baptized, I asked him, “Are there any practices in Islam with water or washing that might be useful in regard to baptism in Christ?” Really my intent was not to be provocative, but was just from a desire to learn. But you would have thought my question was, “Are there useful ways for you to jump off this 5th floor balcony?” and he quickly changed the subject.

The first problem is that in most of our contexts baptism is viewed as a rite belonging distinctly to the Christian religion. If there is a Christian minority, it is of “them,” not at all of “us.” For a Muslim to be baptized is therefore perceived as a clear act of converting out of Islam and into Christianity, socially, spiritually, culturally and maybe even legally. For those ministries in which new believers self-identify as “Christians,” this isn’t a problem. So be it. But for those aiming at a more contextual approach, not wishing to convey conversion[2] in a social and cultural sense, this is a genuine dilemma. The hope is that the perception by one’s family of apostatizing[3] can be avoided.

The second challenge is that of heightened persecution. Although the act of baptism in some Muslim contexts isn’t a big deal, in most other contexts it is perceived to be a huge, irreversible step, virtually inviting severe retaliation from family or mosque.

These are very real problems and issues. But should they leave us in a state of avoiding baptism in our ministries? Should the perplexities keep us in a stalemate, waiting in a sort of holding pattern for someone to figure out how to make it all easy? No. Despite the hurdles—which do indeed need to be addressed—we must move forward in baptizing for three compelling reasons.

1. Because Jesus Said So

The rite of baptism was developed during the Intertestamental Period, and was famously utilized by John the Baptist. John’s baptism centered on repentance, and climaxed in the baptism of Christ himself (though ironically he had nothing to repent of). Then after Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension he gave extraordinary training to the Eleven, “appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” [Acts 1:2-3] Wouldn’t you love to have been part of that! It was during this time that Jesus made it clear that from now on all His followers were to be baptized. However this would not merely be a baptism of repentance, but one signifying full identity with Christ (in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), particularly in His dying and rising from the dead. Cleansing from sin was also in view, but of lesser significance than our connecting as His disciples with His death and resurrection.[4] Baptism was to be the experiential and visual sign of a complete life-change, as He is now my Savior and Lord.

It is in this context that Jesus gave the simple job description of particular significance for all apostolic church planters: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”[5] [Matthew 28:19-20, NIV]

In hindsight I realize that for years I was guilty of a kind of obedience-optional way of discipling. In the back of my mind was the notion that the risks and consequences my dear Arab MBB friends face are different and more severe than my own. So I must not press them too hard. But such discipleship is actually a contradiction. A disciple who doesn’t want to obey Jesus is not a disciple. We all struggle at different times with different things, but the genuine intent of the heart of a real follower is to submit to and obey Him. This is why I love the emphases of Disciple-Making Movements (DMM) methodology.[6] From the very beginning the core of this approach is that people learn what God says in His Word and determine how to obey it. Each week in a (three-column) Discovery Bible Study (DBS) the participants read and reflect on a passage of Scripture. Even for pre-believers the third column’s question is, “If this is God’s word, then how am I going to obey it?” The answers must be in the form, “I will….” Once the group become believers, the question simply changes to, “Since this is God’s word, how am I going to obey it?” It is encouraging to learn that across the Muslim world in DMM-type ministries Muslims are being baptized in larger and larger numbers.

2. The Crystal Clear Teaching in Acts and the Epistles

In the New Testament there are 106 occurrences of baptism (and baptize, baptist), 44 of which are in Acts and the epistles. In the book of Acts we find nine instances of people being baptized:

1. Pentecost: 2:38, 41

2. Philip in Samaria: 8:12-16

3. Ethiopian eunuch: 8:36-38

4. Paul: 9:18; 22:16

5. Cornelius & his large group: 10:47-48

6. Lydia and her household (in Philippi): 16:15

7. Jailer and his family (in Philippi): 16:33

8. Corinthian believers: 18:8; 1 Cor.1:14-16

9. Ephesian disciples (formerly John’s): 19:3-5 [7]

Most of the references in the epistles (5 of Paul, 1 of Peter) refer to their experience in actual baptism, and then draw a spiritual inference from that.

Most, or possibly all, instances occur immediately upon faith. We can’t always be sure of the time between believing and being baptized. But in no place do we see a long gap of time.

There does not appear to be any difference in the practice between different apostles. Some have suggested that baptism as such was a particular Jewish rite of initiation. While that may have been true of John’s baptism, it clearly became applicable to Gentiles in an ongoing way. No variation can be discerned between the baptism of Jews and Gentiles, or of the practice varying between one cultural context to another. Indeed, Ephesians 4:5 (“one Lord, one faith, one baptism”) stresses the singular nature of baptism for all believers. In no context was it considered optional.

Surely many of the Gentiles baptized in the book of Acts would not have been familiar with baptism as such. Just as many of our believers today need explanation and persuasion, so it was with believers centuries ago.

3. The Power of the Definitive Step

We know that spiritually, in the inner-person, coming into the kingdom of God changes everything. That is why we are given so many terms for this metamorphosis: we’re born again, we move from death to life, we’re a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come, we have a new citizenship, we’ve died with Christ and been raised with Him, we’re now seated with Christ in the heavenlies, and so on. How sad then if we rob our MBB brothers and sisters of the privilege of reinforcing this new life in the dramatic and never-to-be-forgotten act of baptism! In their faith they have crossed an eternal threshold. And the Bible clearly teaches that they should symbolically cross the threshold through water. Imagine the results in a person’s heart over the years if this never happens. The ambiguity in one’s life can be deadening.

Likewise, if somehow, however unintentionally, we convey to them that partial obedience is OK, and that totally remaining an unbaptized closet believer is OK, is that really OK? Then we’re somehow shocked when the church doesn’t form and progress. Yes, the fears and dangers they face are significant. Were I in their shoes I doubt I would do better in terms of conquering those fears. But can we trust the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts and give them spiritual power to overcome? I believe we must.

Bounded Set vs. Centered Set?

OK, I know you’re tempted to skip this section, because you’ve already read about “Bounded Sets vs Centered Sets” too many times. But please stay with me here. It has become vogue lately to say that for a Muslim (or for anyone, really) coming to saving faith in Christ is a process. It may take a long time. We can never know when he or she “crosses the line” to faith. Indeed, is there a line? If there is, what is it? And is it my job, really, to know who is “in” and who is “out”? Therefore we shouldn’t press people toward decisions or definitive steps, but rather just keep pointing our friends to Jesus.

Almost always the bounded versus centered sets theme is cited. You know, bounded sets mean those who are “saved” or “in the church” or “going to heaven” are those who are on the right side of a line, usually a line of profession (or baptism) or theological understanding. Some favoring a centered-set approach say no, that it is too artificial and a poor reflection of what’s really happening inside the heart. What really matters is whether one is moving toward Jesus rather than away from Jesus, regardless of what side of the line they’re on.[8] That is, does their arrow point toward the Center or away from it (Him)? For example, in bounded set theory during Jesus’ ministry Judas would have been considered “IN,” whereas Nicodemus would have been “OUT,” which is not really how things turned out, was it? So, I understand this. I get it.

However, I believe these concerns and arguments are, at best, half-truths. They take a few biblical points, but completely ignore many dozens of New Testament passages. The simple fact is, in the book of Acts and in the epistles, it was extremely clear who was “IN” and who was, well, not yet in. This is utterly true in the book of Revelation as well. It was also a significant theme in Jesus’ teaching. It’s just that in the Gospels the form of His followers see-sawed from small to large to small to medium, people coming and going—always a bit amorphous. Jesus knew this is how it would have to be until the Church would be solidified and established at Pentecost. At that point, clear identity in Christ became very important.

When one enters the Kingdom of God through faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, he or she is entering into the New Covenant, which Christ inaugurated. Jesus emphasized this especially in the Upper Room. With covenants, you’re either in or not in.[9]

I have to admit I’m not wild about the word “saved.” Sounds very “old time religion,” doesn’t it? But around forty times in the New Testament “saved” is the terminology used to denote being right with God, of being a true believer / follower / disciple of Christ.[10]  Less frequently used phrases include being “obedient to the faith” or “entering the Kingdom of God.” It is abundantly clear in the various passages that there are those who are presently “saved” and those who are not, or a time when an individual was not saved and then he is. Was there a line that one crossed? Absolutely. While it is beyond the scope of this paper, I’m convinced from the extensive and consistent New Testament data that the experience of saving faith—of crossing the line, if you will—is a combination of what must happen internally and externally. On the inside, we read many times that we must repent and believe. And we also read that on the outside, in our actions, it is crucial that we confess our faith, be baptized, and get involved with Christ’s ekklesia in community. What happens in the heart is salvific and the outward actions are essential visible follow-through steps. Does this mean that what is visible (e.g. being baptized or part of a believers group) is always 100% true of spiritual reality? Of course not. But the exceptions to that would have been true in the early church as well,[11] and it’s not something that put the apostles off.

So what’s the point of this little digression? Simply that all the fuzziness factors, the issues of nuance, and our inability to peer into the human heart, do not diminish the need for us to teach disciples to obey all that Jesus commanded, including baptism.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

I’ll be honest with you. In my role in the Middle East when I think of our teams really moving ahead with the aim of baptism among Arab MBBs, I kind of gulp and wrestle with a sense of unbelief. I’m nevertheless convinced it’s the right thing to do, that we must operate in obedience, and we must trust God to provide for His MBB church.

DMM teaches that a major transition point in the successful DBS groups is that the seekers become believers. Really, at some point in successful groups people begin to fall in love with Jesus. They confess faith in Him. At that time then, for a season the DBS passages should be about baptism. Of course there will be resistance. Even lost people often have a genuine respect of baptism. But the believers are then soaked with God’s Word concerning this vital step. Certainly the expatriate church planter does not pressure the new believers to get baptized. Indeed he or she is probably not even in the meetings. But as the pattern has already been set for the participants studying the Word and deciding how they will obey the particular passage and subject, so it is with baptism. At some point people say, “yes,” from their hearts. What is the role of the expatriate church planter in this? It is a vital one, as he or she gives leadership from the outside, coaching and training the person of peace / group facilitator, establishing direction, and setting passages to study.

Of course, in most contexts the prospect of baptism will raise the issues of contextualization and identity. Are these new ones in Christ now “Christians?” Or are they “Muslim followers of Jesus?” Something else? They will likely make these determinations for themselves, and they will figure out how it shapes for them the step of baptism. These are good discussions to have. About the issue of baptism being seen as culturally Christian, it should be stressed with the new believers who are studying it that baptism pre-dates both Christianity and Islam, and it has never been a symbol of a changed religion, but rather of a changed heart.

I’m not personally aware of anything that would suggest that baptism must be public. However, it does seem normative for it to be with other believers, as one thing it does signify is becoming part of the community of faith. And it serves to be an edifying, faith-building community experience, reasserting and rehearsing the fact of the gospel, every time another one is symbolically crucified, buried, and resurrected with Christ.

While I’m an immersion guy personally, I believe we need to be flexible regarding the mode of baptism.[12] Again, they will likely be deciding this question for themselves. It won’t be for us to say, “Hold on. You must get every square millimeter of your body underwater for at least three seconds in a bathtub, lake or church baptismal.”

I’d like to close now with an account from a very “high-identity, high-practice” context in an Arab country. The story below is not unique, as we are hearing of more and more MBBs being baptized, in good numbers, even in the trickiest of places. This encouraged my heart, and I trust it will encourage yours as well.

[The following has been edited for security purposes]

Dear friends...

Bob & I were driving back today from a 2-day prayer conference when we received an SMS from our dear MBB “Matt”:

“hi bros, all is fine. pray 4 the guys... SAI [a key mosque leader] is guided by the Holy Spirit(*) 2 b bptzed 2moro at 9am... Joe & SAA [a new MBB who’d been studying the Word for 2yrs in the group!] were encouraged and they will get baptzd too. “Ian” will join us too. Pls pray for such an advanced step... more Lord Isa !”

We & others have been praying for this to happen for months, and when we got the SMS we almost jumped for joy were it not that we were driving in the car (!!) :^)

This is BIG. this is the 1st MBB imam that we know of who is getting bptizd, and not just one, but TWO on the same day!!! They will be bptzed in [certain body of water]. And our fellow brother in the Lord “Joe” who rejoined the flock about 6 months ago will also be baptzd. These significant steps of obedience, in line with JC’s commands and the Word’s exhortation are, we sense, a tremendous leap forward for the Kingdom here. At our conference, it was prophesied that BIG things will happen in our region in 2012. It’s already beginning...

Obedience is growing.

Praise God.

[the TL]

(*) The Spirit-led stirring behind this all is that SAI had a vision from the Lord about 7-10 days ago - while he was praying, he saw (while his eyes were open) himself coming under a waterfall and being washed by this poweful fountain!! As soon as he saw this he knew in his heart the Lord was speaking to him about being bptzed! (He had witnessed Ian’s bptsm last year on the beach... and knew that Matt had been baptized 5yrs ago.) so after spending several days studying the Word about this with the other brothers in their study grps, he knew his time had come :^)) --- isn’t God good!?!?

[1] The term “background” does not necessarily mean something in one’s past and not one’s present. I personally believe that the term “MBB” can broadly refer both to those who consider themselves former Muslims as well as those who self-identify as Muslim followers of Jesus.

[2] Except for proselytes to Judaism, none of the occurrences of “convert” (both noun and verb) in main English translations refer to conversion in an outer, social identity sense, i.e. the way it is normally heard today.

[3] Arabic kuffaara

[4] See Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, UK: Intervarsity Press, 1994), chapter 49.

[5] Note from verse 16 that this was a command specifically to the Eleven, i.e. apostles. While this great commission probably has general application to the Church, its particular application is to those called to apostleship.

[6] Such as described in the book Miraculous Movements by Jerry Trousdale.

[7] This was their second baptism. Clearly baptism in Christ was markedly different from John’s baptism of repentance.

[8] Paul Hiebert’s original paper on “bounded-set thinking” did indeed encourage differentiations “between those who are followers of Jesus and those who are not,” even with a centered-set view. But many since then have taken these new approaches to disparage the importance of such.

[9] Two of the three references Jesus makes to the “church” are about church discipline. That of course pertains to boundary points (along with issues of personal restoration).

[10] This includes a range of past or aorist tense, present tense (usually in the passive participle), and future tense (i.e. will be saved).

[11] E.g. Simon the Magician’s baptism in Acts 8.

[12] One team leader comments on variations he has seen in southeast Asia: “It has gone from sitting in a chair and being washed with dippers of water (an Asian type ritual), to a whole group, when they read over and over again about baptism, going to a river together, standing in the river in a circle holding hands, and on 1,2,3 going under together.  In another group, they simply choose one of their salat washings to say, this day, this washing, is my baptism identifying with Christ - his death and resurrection.”

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Raising Local Resources

Ebola & AIDS: Time for Sustainable Change

Raising Local Resources

by Glenn Schwartz

I am fully aware that readers of Mission Frontiers will think it is strange that a non-medical missionary like I am will dare to say anything about Ebola and AIDS in relation to mobilizing local resources.  But I am looking for a sustainable practice to help stem the tide.  Frantic searches are underway for a vaccine or other chemical responses for illnesses such as Ebola.  However, like AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, the most important factor is prevention.  In fact, without behavior change, if a vaccine were found today diseases such as these will continue.  To emphasize what I mean, when the Ebola outbreaks in the past were curtailed, it was when behavior changed.  There was no alternative at that time and still none is available at the present time, although there are encouraging signs on the horizon.

What I said about Ebola and AIDS is true of various other illnesses such as gonorrhea and syphilis.  Treatments for some of these have been available for many years, and yet they are still prevalent in many parts of the world.  The reason for the persistent recurrence is that behavior has not changed sufficiently to prevent the transmission of such communicable diseases.

Another way to think of this is that Ebola, AIDS, syphilis and gonorrhea are sometimes considered to be “social diseases.”  And the treatment for social diseases requires a change of behavior.  It is commonly known in medical circles that the way to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted disease is to maintain a closed sexual relationship with one’s spouse.  Break the law of fidelity in marriage, and one risks being another casualty of a sexually transmitted disease.  Maintaining fidelity works in polygamous societies that ensure closed sexual relationships.  If the rules are broken, disease enters the relationship, and soon all sexually active partners risk getting the disease.

Admittedly, Ebola is much more dangerous because simply touching an infected person (such as preparing for burial) is very dangerous.  In that case, a closed sexual relationship is not enough.  Strict sanitary rules must be applied or the disease continues to be transmitted.

Considering what I have said above, what will be the cost of eradicating diseases such as these?  For example, it could cost millions–perhaps billions–of dollars to find an effective medicine for Ebola.  While the world is waiting for the right vaccine, can anything be done that is not so frightfully expensive?  Is it not that the message of fidelity and sanitation are the most effective ways to prevent the spread of diseases such as Ebola and others mentioned above?  Heroic efforts to find the cure should go on, and we should all pray that a vaccine will be found.  But in terms of cost, teaching fidelity and sanitation is far less costly.

Ministries of health and medical schools can produce books and present lectures on how to curtail the spread of these social diseases.  But even such things cost money to operate the schools and to publish the books.  And remember, those books will be of limited value in societies where few people are able to read.  The better contribution would be for the books to help medical workers teach fidelity and sanitation because without the change of behavior, the teaching would be of limited effect.

So, if there is a less costly way to get the message to the potential victims then what would it be?  I am suggesting that the church is a natural place to emphasize fidelity and sanitation.  No new buildings would be needed.  No expensive programs of immunization would be required.  In short, the greatest challenge would be to find and mobilize qualified medical people and social workers who will address the issues in churches, schools and social clubs or wherever one can find a place to speak about moral issues.  Lives depend on hearing the message and changing behavior!

Think of the church as a voluntary organization that in most places has regular gatherers to hear sermons about morality and other aspects of living.  I am quick to add, that meetings to address fidelity and sanitation should not take the place of preaching the gospel of salvation, but special meetings can be called to learn about how infidelity and lack of sanitation can decimate a society.

To some people, addressing this issue in church circles will raise a red flag.  But, I have tried to imagine what it would be like to be living in a small town or village somewhere in Pennsylvania (where I live) which is threatened by a widespread epidemic of a sexually transmitted disease.  What if my hometown had a high percentage of the population suffering from Ebola, AIDS, gonorrhea or syphilis, some having more than one of these diseases?  Would the church say, “That has nothing to do with us?  Would the church just continue to bury the dead without calling attention to the infidelity and lack of sanitation that are causing so many deaths?  Unless something changes, the church will simply need to prepare for more and more funerals.

This is not meant to be a simplistic solution to the prevalence of very deadly diseases, but it is meant to be encouragement for the church to pick up the challenge and speak to issues of fidelity and sanitation faced by those who are in danger.  The message would be, “Be faithful to your spouse and do not ignore the importance of sanitation if you are serious about stemming the tide of such diseases as gonorrhea, syphilis, AIDS and now Ebola.”  And what does this have to do with local sustainability?  It is something that can be done with little or no outside funding.  Mothers and fathers, medical practitioners and school teachers, as well as others in society can help to stem the tide by becoming learners and trainers regarding fidelity and sanitation.

And that would be mobilizing a local resource!

About The Author

Glenn Schwartz

Author of When Charity Destroys Dignity: Overcoming Unhealthy Dependency in the Christian Movement, available on the WMA website.

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Further Reflections

The Numbers Dilemma

Further Reflections

by Greg H. Parsons

If you go back to the earliest days of our organization, you could say we were founded on a number. Of course, that is way too simplistic, but a number was a driving force. Ralph D. Winter had spoken at the 1974 Lausanne Congress and talked about people groups within which there was no church—of any kind. He later used the figure of 16,750—which was how many cultures needed someone to bring the gospel.

He had been working on the statistics behind that for more than a year before his presentation in Lausanne. After teaching some 1,000 missionaries just back from their fieldwork, Winter and the others there had learned a lot about many places around the world. And they noticed gaps. There were places where no missionaries worked. That led to his research and presentation.

But the number itself—16,750—led people to think that Winter had a list in his desk in Pasadena. Indeed, there was a survey/study commissioned leading up to the ’74 Lausanne Congress that asked all the delegates about the status of outreach in their nations. Such data was hard to obtain back then. But that data did not create a list of unreached groups. Winter took the best available information related to population, religious affiliation, known church or mission work, etc. and extrapolated it globally.

Since the 70s, there have been many lists. But lists are like an airline schedule—as soon as you publish it, it’s out-of-date. He knew and often spoke about the need for people on-the-ground to clarify the situation. “We won’t know until we get a worker who knows the language and culture well enough to interpret what he/she sees.” Years ago, we wrote about this in MF. Global workers have told us about how they went to their place of service only to find out it was very different and often changing. Just this week we heard from a couple mobilizing and training workers who have reached a group that our list says is unreached.

But most people don’t know that Winter always said something else: He wasn’t interested in a list. When pushed, in order to help key leaders who argued for the need, he would give his input. He published other’s lists in MF.

Coming from Fuller’s School of World Missions (SWM), which focused on church growth at the time, Winter understood the issue of quantitative information. He had minored in statistics in his Doctoral work. He was offered a job with the RAND Corp. where he would have used his doctoral work, before deciding to go to seminary.

Perhaps most interesting was that he was the main person at the SWM faculty who could deal with the nitty-gritty details in the church growth reports that came in from all the missionary/students. And he was the main one who argued from the “numbers” side for church growth principles. He wrote one chapter in the book, Crucial Issues in Missions Today called “Quality or Quantity” in which he argued that the church growth movement was not just interested in quantity, but that quantity pointed to quality. He wrote several short articles for the Church Growth Bulletin under the title “Church Growth Calculations: Facts and Fallacies.”

Why do I mention all this? It seems clear to me that we want to use whatever information we have to give us clarity for the future. I realize that we never want to change what we are doing away from biblical truth. But I fear that at times, our interpretation of the Bible gets in the way.

But even when it doesn’t, we need to learn all we can and ask the Lord to guide what we are to do differently. Sometimes that can be as simple as realizing that we learned terminology in our languages classes that wasn’t really used by the average person. Or surveying (in a culturally appropriate way) those involved to see if they are understanding and growing.

I have found that observing—in a Sherlock Holmes kind of way, only without the theatrics or eccentricities—is a great way to evaluate and reevaluate our work. It is hard to do and is sometimes painful. But we should be open to whatever God wants to show us so we neither get caught in a numbers game or ignore what the numbers reveal.

About The Author

Greg H. Parsons

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