What is mission? What does the Bible say about mission? Is mission the same as evangelism? Is mission still necessary? Why does God call us to mission? What part can we play in God's mission?
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| Question time! |
We've spent an amazing weekend wrestling with those questions (and more!) with 50 young people from the Karen Baptist Convention. Held at the Siloam Bible School, the Mission Seminar is the latest development in a growing movement among Karen young people with a passion for mission. We are delighted to be able to encourage and support these young leaders, with the help of a mission innovation grant from BMS.
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| Passionate worship... |
Following on from a successful mission trip in May 2012 (you can read more about that
here), the Karen Youth department are now planning to send a mission team to Cambodia in 2014. We are looking for 12 young people to go for 2-3 weeks to work alongside local churches and ministries.
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| Wrestling with some practical issues... |
Apart from the 'big questions' of mission, last week's seminar also looked at some practical issues - does mission only involve those who 'go'? Do we have do go abroad to be involved in mission? How can we communicate cross-culturally? What can we learn from church growth in places like China, India and South Korea? And we also heard some of the young people's honest concerns: 'What if our message is rejected?' 'Can we
really do this?' 'I'm scared - what do I do?' And, for me, a special moment: 'Why hasn't our church been involved in mission before now?'
In the morning bible study, Joe, one of Karen leaders driving this new initiative, encouraged us all to be 'Glocal Christians' - people who are engaged in our local context, but also aware of what's happening around the world.
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| Learning how to be a 'Glocal Christian' |
We finished the seminar with a survey of the 'unfinished task' facing us - 7,000 unreached people groups, with perhaps 29% of the world's population, who have almost no chance of hearing the gospel in a way they can understand and respond to. Some of those people groups are right here in Thailand. And, interestingly, the 5 countries with the highest numbers of unreached peoples are all within a short plane journey from Thailand!
After an exciting weekend learning more about God's mission, the next step for the Karen Youth is Cambodia 2014. And then?
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| Future missionaries? |
