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HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2
IN SEARCH of NEW MISSION FIELDS
Alvin Tan MMS ExCo Chairman. He worships at Grace Methodist Church. He believes that going on mission trips keeps one grounded.
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The latter part of the statement, “where none currently exist”, is not to be misconstrued as meaning there are no indigenous churches at all of any denomination. This phrase written into the MMS Mandate serves as a caution to prevent duplication of efforts and conflict of building upon earlier missions works, especially of other Methodist agencies. 1
he MMS Strategic Directions 2025 paper penned by MMS Executive Director, Rev Derrick Lau, envisions the enlargement of “the Tent of God through the process of actively engaging our Methodist churches, and being resourced by them, to reach the lost, the last, and the least in our region for God’s glory through church planting and community development.” It captures well the intent and the process involved, but the obvious question is “Where?” MMS is now in seven fields, some more tilled than others but nevertheless have missionaries on the ground with ministries initiated. Amongst the newer fields, concerted effort over the last quadrennium has been put into establishing the pioneering ministries in Timor-Leste, which are making good progress. In this new quadrennium, it is time to shift our focus onto a neighbouring country in SEA which has been on our radar screen for a few years to explore, expand, and establish ministries. The potential for ministries needs to be scoped and the strategies defined. Whilst focusing on our under-served neighbour beloved of God, we also need to be looking beyond into possible new fields. So, how do we decide on “where”? We are of course guided by the MMS Mandate “to establish indigenous churches where none currently exist” 1. We should take advantage of the good work done by various agencies in highlighting Unreached People Groups (UPG). The Joshua Project (https://joshuaproject.net), for instance, provides a useful global picture of UPG for
