Thoughts Along The Journey

Reason number 6: WT workers recognize that our calling remains the same, but the means or mode for communicating the message of Christ is in constant flux.

 Reason number 7: The WT community recognizes that the global base of missions has shifted.

For many years, Western mission agencies have been sending workers cross culturally.  However, in recent times, workers have begun to be sent out from numerous non-Western nations.  They are currently called: “majority world” workers.  These majority world workers are an indication that the centre of gravity for global missions has shifted.

J.D. Payne, in his book: Twelve Pressure Points, summarizes the current world situation in this way: “The centres for much Christian activity are found in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It has been estimated that by 2025 the world will contain 2.6 billion Christians, with 633 million from Africa, 640 million from Latin America, 460 million from Asia, and 555 million from Europe.”

It is thought that more believers gather for worship in China on any given Sunday than in all of “Christian Europe.”

In light of this global shift, we, as a WT community, recognize that we are on a steep learning curve in terms of adapting to the reality of multicultural teams as well as going deeper in gospel humility.

We will need to understand more than just the Australian, Canadian and American cultures to work effectively together in the future.  We will be working on teams where at least one non-Western culture is represented. Those cultures will challenge some of our ways of thinking and ministry approaches, but we will experience, in those communities, what it means to be the Church, the universal gathering of God’s people.

Such partnerships will call forth greater gospel humility as we recognize the gifts of each team member to the larger community. Our identity will need to go even deeper into the truth of who we are in Christ, so that we may truly serve others, not looking to have our approach, our way of seeing things, always be the accepted one.

World Team will change because of the excitement of partnering in thrusting out new workers from everywhere to everywhere.

Filed under: Change & transition, Global realities |