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Mission Society missionary Grant Miller serves the Kami people of Tanzania in a ministry of church planting, as well as training pastors and evangelists. Until very recently, the Kami were known as an "unreached" people group, having never had an opportunity to hear about Jesus in the context of their language and culture. But today, in the Morogoro region of Tanzania, there are now about 20 Kami villages where regular Christian worship services are held and people are coming to faith in Jesus. This exciting expansion of the Kingdom of God did not happen by accident nor by default, but rather by an approach that a growing number of mission-minded churches have discovered. These congregations are made up of "Great Commission believers" who exhibit certain characteristics.
Great Commission believers are excited about reaching the lost. Often a local church receives a "spark" of exhortation or encouragement that reminds and excites them about God's heart for the nations.
The Rev. Jorge Acevedo, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church of Cape Coral, Florida, traces the excitement about missions at that church to a Global Focus Seminar conducted by World Parish Ministries (www.worldparish.org), a ministry of the Mission Society. Since his congregation has been turned on to missions, he has noticed that, in addition to a huge increase in financial and personal involvement in ministry, there has been a change in their level of global awareness. Acevedo states, "If you were to cut a swath across our congregation, you would find a higher level of sensitivity to the needs of people around the world. They read the newspaper differently. They listen to the news from a different perspective. This is fueled," Acevedo continues, "by our church's calling to be a globally-focused congregation."
When a group of believers becomes excited about sharing Jesus where the Gospel has been little heard or heeded, there is no sense of obligation or guilt. Instead, they become joyfully involved in God's mission because their hearts beat with God's for the lost of the world.
Missions is more than a "program" for great commission believers. The Rev. Gregg Parris is the pastor of Union Chapel United Methodist Church in Muncie, Indiana. Several years ago the congregation began taking a new look at missions by asking questions like, "Who around the world is yet to be reached with the Gospel?" After intense research and preliminary visits to Asia, Union Chapel decided God was leading them to launch a ministry to a specific people group in Central Asia. As a result, according to Parris, "our paradigm has shifted. Missions is not just a program of the church; It's the reason we exist!" A good place to begin research on a specific people group is on the internet at www.calebproject.org.
Great Commission believers become personally involved in missions. Rather than having a conventional mindset of only sending donations to an agency that will "do missions" for them, they become more deeply invested through prayer and personal involvement. One member of Grace UM Church in Cape Coral has recently become a missionary to India, and others are currently applying for full-time missionary service.
Grant Miller, a member of Asbury UM Church in Tulsa was sent as a missionary because of his church's initiative in Tanzania. In addition, a number of members of Asbury have participated in visits to Tanzania to encourage the ministry with projects such as drilling wells. Asbury's Global Outreach Director Mary Ann Smith is in regular contact with both the Mission Society and the Tanzanian church leadership concerning emerging needs there. And recently this church has adopted a second unreached people group in a certain region of the Middle East.
Parris reports that three families and two single persons who are members of Union Chapel are currently living and working as missionaries with their adopted people group in Central Asia. In addition, a total of 300 members of the congregation-one-fifth of the adult membership-have made ministry trips to that region of the world. (Information about a comprehensive course for persons wanting to become more involved in missions can be found at www.perspectives.org.)
For Great Commission believers, it's all about Jesus, not denominations. Miller's work in Africa is under the auspices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, even though his home church and sending agency are comprised of United Methodists. The Mission Society has cooperative agreements with about 20 other evangelical mission agencies that enable missionaries and ministry to be shared among agencies committed to making disciples worldwide.
Excitement, purpose, involvement, and teamwork across the lines that divide believers are keys to the growth of the Kingdom of God on a global scale. Specifically, it means that folks like the Kami now know that there is a Redeemer.
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