The Future Wellbeing of Missions

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This internationally simulcast 2022 Mission Commission Online Conference was held via Zoom, April 6-8, 2022.

The content from this free online event is of relevance to the global missions community, attracting international missions leaders from around the world. Now you can access the presentations and other content from the links below.

Since the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic, and now the Russia/Ukraine war (among other conflicts and tragedies happening globally), the world looks very different than it did at the end of 2019. The early 2020’s mark the beginning of a new era of global missions, one that must honour a maturing World Christianity.

This event’s series of short snapshots and keynotes highlight some of the concerns that the Mission Commission is focusing on as we work towards “Our Missions Future” (the theme of our Jan 20-Feb 3 2023 Global Consultation in Chiang Mai Thailand). In the lead up to that event, this 2022 Online Conference considers “The Future Wellbeing of Missions” through the lenses of Interconnection (Session 1), Inclusion (Session 2), and Indigeneity (Session 3).

To enhance the future wellbeing of missions, this event explored:
  • Theological Reflections: God’s unchanging purpose in a changing world.
  • Interconnection: Why an increasingly interconnected world demands a commitment to new forms of collaboration between missions and the Church—including implications for the Church and missions of intergenerational learning, the digital revolution, and people on the move.
  • Inclusion: God’s purposes compel us to include the whole of life in our missions activities—calling us to remain mindful of our responsibility for the environment, release the full capacity and competencies of women, men and diverse ethnicities, and to create habitats of belonging as embodied expressions of koinonia.
  • Indigeneity: We recognise the authority of locals for determining the shape of the gospel in their contexts—by considering the benefits of indigenous values, celebrating the authenticity of movements, incorporating locals (nationals) in our missions strategies and activities, and equipping them for effective biblically-informed ministry.

Wellbeing is found in unity.

Our witness is heavily dependent on our unity (John 17:18-26). We are sent as Jesus was sent: in indivisible oneness with the Father. So we enjoy indivisible oneness in Christ. It is not a unity dependent on goal or outcome, neither is it dependent on agreement. It is a unity forged in the creative tensions of difference, which transforms us all into the likeness of Christ. In light of this, missions wellbeing is learning to live in the tensions of our differences and allowing the Holy Spirit to shape us all, maturing us for God’s purposes. Because, THEN the world will believe and know that the Father lovingly sent the Son—our perpetual reconciliation with one another in our glorious diversity will provide the world with miraculous proof. May it be so. Amen.

Introduction

In this video segment, Jay Mātenga, Director of the World Evangelical Alliance Global Witness Department and Executive Director of the WEA Mission Commission, welcomes participants to the 2022 MC Online Conference and provides an introductory overview of the World Evangelical Alliance, identifying where the Mission Commission sits within the WEA and the wider Global Evangelical Missions Community.

Contributions

THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS

Rei Lemuel Crizaldo

God’s Unchanging Purpose in a Changing World

Rei is the Coordinator of the WEA’s Theological Commission. He is a thinker and a communicator whose writing and active online engagement bring together people reflecting on contextual theology, holistic ministry, and the impact of digitality. He also teaches these subjects in several seminaries in the Philippines. His experience in connecting people and forming collaborative work include his role as advocacy coordinator for Micah Global’s national expression in the Philippines and a regional coordinator role for Tearfund’s theology network in East and Southeast Asia. Rei is passionate about helping develop theological conversations that are marked by strong prophetic conviction rooted in Scripture while being reflective of the rich diversity of voices from within the global evangelical community.

PART ONE: GOD’S HOME

PART TWO: GODLY NEIGHBOURS

PART THREE: GODLY NATIONS

SESSION 1: INTERCONNECTION

RADICAL COLLABORATION

DIGITAL REALITIES

DEVELOPING LEADERS INTERGENERATIONALLY

INTERCONNECTING WITH MIGRANTS AS MESSENGERS

Alex Paniagua

Alex is an MC Deputy Leader, while primarily serving with VisionSynergy as their Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa (a secondment from Operation Mobilization). He also carries responsibilities with Vision 5:9 and COMIBAM. Alex has extensive global missions experience and is passionate about Leadership, Mobilization, and Networking and Collaboration.

JP Arceno

JP (John Paul) is the MC Synergist for Tech. He is a Filipino now based  in New Jersey where he pastors a culturally diverse congregation. JP is actively conversant in digital theology discussions in social media and is involved with major Evangelical networks exploring digital/virtual evangelism and missions. His vision is to see churches, ministries and missions all around the world reaching out to non-Christians who live and relate inside virtual/digital worlds.

Evi Rodemann

Evi is an MC Deputy Leader passionate about helping people to discover their calling and implement their visions and dreams. She is the founding Director of LeadNow, which she started in 2021 to support the development of younger leaders, particularly in Europe, inspiring them to engage in God’s mission. In 2022 Evi published her first book “Scheitern Erwünscht!” (Literally translated, “Failure Desired!”).

Chris Pullenayegem

Chris leads the WEA’s Migration & Refugee Network and is Director of the Congregational Vitality Initiative at the Vancouver School of Theology. He is a ministry practitioner committed to a holistic approach to ministry, integrating faith, justice, and compassion in contextualized, incarnational ways, and has decades of experience working in the areas of church renewal, new ministry and migrant church development and discipleship/faith formation.

SESSION 1: Panel Q&A

Robin Harris moderates a question and answer session with a panel of Session One presenters. Robin is a member of the MC’s Global Leadership Council, but for her day job (or one of them) she is Director of the Center for Excellence in World Arts at Dallas International University. Robin co-founded and is president of the Global Ethnodoxology Network, and she is also currently the President of the Evangelical Missiological Society in the U.S.

SESSION 2: INCLUSION

MISSIONS ENGAGEMENT
WITH CREATION

ORGANISATIONAL KOINONIA

RELEASING HUMANITY’S FULL POTENTIAL

EMBRACING UNIQUENESS
& FOSTERING BELONING

Jo Herbert-James

Jo serves the MC as a Deputy Leader and Synergist for Creation Care. She is passionate about the impact of consumerism and individualism on the Western church, the planet and the lives of people in poverty. Her focus is on environmental and economic sustainability, practically leading to a zero-waste lifestyle. Jo has a passion for young people and whole-of-life mission (integral or holistic mission), theology and equipping churches, theological colleges and organisations concerning a broader Biblical understanding of God’s mission.

Fred Dimado

Fred serves as one of three Associate International Directors of Pioneers. He was born and raised in Ghana where he served with an interdenominational ministry group (Joyful Way Incorporated). This “fueled” his passion for ministry across cultures and internationalization issues, leading him to join (and then led) the Ghana Mobilisation Base for Pioneers Africa and then in international leadership with Pioneers. Fred is passionate about developing biblically-authentic fellowship within missions organisations.

Amanda Jackson

Amanda is the Director of the Women’s Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance and is one of the pioneers of Rise in Strength, a network of international Christian women leaders. She heads up the new global Christian network to end domestic abuse (CNEDA), is Chair of Kyria Network UK, which aims to equip and develop healthy female leadership, and also works with a mission agency developing church planters in the majority Moslem world.

Reinhold Titus

Reinhold is a Namibian, currently living in Germany where he serves as the Director of Strategy and Inclusion of Operation Mobilisation (OM Ships). In 2021 he completed his Redcliffe College MA with a thesis entitled, Fostering Globally Inclusive Organisations: Exploring Inclusivity in Western Founded Global Mission Organisations Through the Experiences of Senior African Leaders Serving in Them. Reinhold will speak to this research as part of his presentation.

SESSION 2: Panel Q&A

Sarah Scott Webb moderates a question and answer session with a panel of Session Two presenters. Sarah is the Mission Commission’s Synergist for Anti-Trafficking and Anti-Exploitation. She is a member of SIM International and serves with SIM’s For Freedom initiative. From her home base in Christchurch New Zealand, Sarah is currently assisting the European Freedom Network in providing trauma care for refugees fleeing the situation in Ukraine.

SESSION 3: INDIGENEITY

INDIGENOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE WELLBEING
OF MISSIONS

THE VALUE OF INDIGENOUS MOVEMENTS

WELCOMING NATIONALS INTO MISSIONS

TEE FOR CONTEXTUALISED LOCAL LEADER TRAINING

Jay Matenga

Jay is the Director of Global Witness for the World Evangelical Alliance, and Executive Director of its Mission Commission. In addition, Jay leads Missions Interlink NZ, the Aotearoa New Zealand Evangelical Missionary Alliance. Jay is a Māori theologian of missions practice and strongly believes that the world needs to see the global Church and its missions working in loving mutuality as central to our witness for Christ in the world—a Holy Spirit enabled mutuality between those from Industrial knowledge backgrounds (West/individualist), those from Indigenous knowledge backgrounds (Majority World/collectivist), and the blended ethnic hybrids like himself. He believes this is “God’s heart for humanity” as revealed through a relational hermeneutic of Scripture.

Dave Coles

Dave is an encourager and resourcer of Church Planting Movements among unreached groups, serving with BEYOND. He has served as Lead Facilitator for the Bridging the Divide network since 2011, and is a member of the leadership team of the Motus Dei network. After pastoring for 10 years in the US, he served among Muslims in Southeast Asia for 24 years. Dave has published widely on topics related to contextualization, reaching Muslims, and the nature of the church, and Church Planting Movements. He is coauthor of Bhojpuri Breakthrough: A Movement that Keeps Multiplying, coeditor of  24:14 – A Testimony to All Peoples, and associate editor of Motus Dei: The Movement of God to Disciple the Nations.

Bijoy Koshy

Bijoy is the International Director of Interserve. He worked as a General Practitioner (medical doctor) in India for 13 years before joining Interserve India in 1994 and became National Director in 1996. Over 10 years he grew the organisation in size and diversity. He became Regional Director for the Americas and North Pacific in 2006 and South Asia in 2013 before accepting the appointement as International Director in 2015. Bijoy is eager to widen our theological and missiological framework in order to innovate effectively for the future. Such innovation requires us to look afresh through the lenses of Community, Kingdom, and Powerlessness which opens us up to greater diversity and inclusivity.

Ann Borquist

Ann is the MC Synergist for Theological Education and serves as a Global Consultant for “Mission From Everywhere to Everyone” with International Ministries, ABCUSA. She works with partner Baptist conventions in the Asia-Pacific Region and around the world. Her ministries include theological education, church-based community and economic development, servant leadership, cross-cultural missionary training and work with refugees. Ann has served in the Philippines, USA, Brazil and currently lives in Aotearoa New Zealand, where she is on the Aotearoa New Zealand facilitation team of TEE (Theological Education by Extension/Tools to Equip and Empower).

SESSION 3: Panel Q&A

Todd Poulter moderates a question and answer session with a panel of Session Three presenters. Todd has been a long time encourager of younger leader development in the Mission Commission, and continues as a mentor to a number of younger (and not so younger) missions leaders. Todd has served with Wycliffe Bible Translators for over four decades and is currently seconded to International Partnering Associates.

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