EXTENDING THE SCOPE OF OUR MISSION FIELDS for UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS

Rev Derrick Lau, Executive Director of MMS. He is thankful to the Lord for the joy of being a grandpapa to two lovely grandchildren, Josh and Kayla.

Come September 2021, MMS shall be celebrating her 30th Anniversary. Over the past three decades, she has been mobilising local churches as well as developing resources to spread the Gospel and equipping the national leaders in this region via the four phases of Pioneering, Parenting, Partnership, and Participating.

We praise God that by His Spirit and the prayers and participation of individuals, local churches, and Annual Conferences, there are 25 churches, 22 preaching points, and 10 outreach points associated with our mission in the seven countries (as of end 2020).

(Due to its brevity, this article does not attempt to provide a full nor comprehensive analysis of the ministries in our fields. Suffice to note that some of the churches that we had planted had become independent or ceased operations, and hence the total figure does not reflect the sum total of all that we had ventured during the past three decades.)

Today, the Methodist Church of Cambodia is in her third year as a Provisional Annual Conference (PAC). In March 2021, the churches in Thailand transited into a Mission Conference, paving the way to becoming a PAC in four to five years’ time. The Methodist Church in Nepal is on schedule to become a Mission Conference in 2030.

In addition to Church Planting efforts, Community Development projects such as schools, hostels, orphanages, shelters, etc. are taking shape in East Asia, Laos, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

As we reflect on the inroads that the Lord has provided over the past three decades, I believe that it is timely to seek the Lord to expand the scope of our missions as part of our contribution towards global evangelisation. (cf. https:// joshuaproject.net for a detailed analysis of the state of unreached peoples.)

The questions are: Where are the harvest fields today? How are we reaching out to those without the Gospel, i.e. Unreached People Groups (UPGs)?

Briefly, I would like to present five steps [C.R.O.S.S.] for your prayerful consideration:

C - Conviction. Pray to the Lord for fresh conviction to reach more people in our region via extending the scope of our mission.

R - Re-think the mission strategies that we have adopted so far. In the light of the “new norm”, explore new and creative avenues of doing missions today including developing digital platforms and challenging churches to intensify efforts in world evangelisation.

O - Observe missiological trends and movements. Examine the fields that are ripe for harvest in our region. Dialogue with church leaders and MMS on the viability of initiating new endeavours or explore collaborative efforts with existing missionaries and/or churches that have some forms of ministry apart from the seven MMS fields.

S - Share the ‘new vision’ with leaders and churches, and discern the Lord’s voice in the way forward. Enlist prayer intercessors to seek the Holy Spirit’s discernment, power, and presence in terms of breaking new and hard ground, and raising resources (human capital and financial) for new geographical horizons.

S - Send missions teams, missionaries, and resources when travel restrictions are lifted. Meanwhile, explore virtual mission trips and give priority to the preaching and teaching on the urgency of fulfilling the Lord’s mandate of the Great Commission in our generation.

“When the love of Jesus Christ gripped Wesley’s heart, he knew he couldn’t keep it to himself. There had to be some way to reach the vast masses of people who would never darken a church door. Initially, Wesley was convinced the gospel could only be preached in the stained-glass setting of a church building. But with so few people attending church services, he was forced to consider other options. Reluctantly, Wesley began preaching in the open air. He would find a high spot on the edge of a city and speak to whoever would listen. Crowds of three, five, even ten thousand people would gather. Many of them were touched by the spirit of God and awakened to their spiritual state. A revival in England was born largely because Wesley was willing to take the gospel where the people were.” (https://www.churchleadership. com/leading-ideas/seven-of-johnwesleys-practices-can-changehearts-today)

A revival in England was born largely because Wesley was willing to take the gospel where the people were.

Let me challenge you to respond to the Lord’s command, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his CROSS and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)