The Global Issue by Newfrontiers USA

ISSUE 03 >>

2013

a newfrontiers usa publication

the global issue Considerations on the Role of >> Donnie Griggs Contextualization >> >> Daniel Baker Across the Nations >>

SOUNDBITE • FINANCIALS • MIDDLE EAST UPDATE

JOHN LANFERMAN >> Team Leader >> Newfrontiers USA

THE SPIRIT OF MISSION

Jesus came to accomplish His work of redemption by restoring His fallen creation from the effects of sin. His death and resurrection inaugurated salvation and recovery. The period between Jesus’ first and second coming is a time of mission through His church, a people empowered by the Spirit. After His resurrection Jesus charged His disciples with continuing what He began. The book of Acts is a narrative that serves as a model of how the church continues the mission of Jesus to the world. Acts opens with these words: “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.” (Acts 1:1-2) The book of Acts begins with the coming of the Holy Spirit to create and empower the church for the mission with which we have been charged. As the early church lived in response to the life of God’s kingdom, the church began to grow and spread from Jerusalem to Judea and into Samaria. Antioch became an epicenter of mission, which took the gospel to places where it had not been heard, both

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locally and globally. The book of Acts ends without finality because the story continues today and until Jesus returns. It’s through the Spirit, who empowers and gives gifts of God’s kingdom to the church, that Jesus continues to extend His kingdom to the ends of the earth. The church cannot justify its existence apart from taking up Jesus’ mission. Ed Stetzer conducted a study of 7,000 churches and found that the majority of people in the majority of churches are unengaged in meaningful ministry and mission. Yet the church’s mission is to make known by word and deed the good news of the kingdom, thus making new disciples of Jesus. This mission is only possible through fully embracing and receiving the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). The church is a result of the mission of the Spirit: “No Spirit, no mission,” as well as, “No mission, no Spirit”. The work of the Spirit must not be reduced to the spiritual life of the individual, becoming introverted and static. The Spirit as the power of the church’s mission to represent Christ to the world is essential. The Spirit is a vital witness to the life of the church in power. The Spirit is our director; we follow wherever He leads.

a. Multiplying Church by Bob Roberts, Jr. b. Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper

The Spirit is at work for kingdom extension by bearing witness of the life of Christ in the church. However, the

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International Financial Support

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The church’s mission is to make known by word and deed the good news of the kingdom, thus making new disciples of Jesus.

FINANCIALS

$35

SOUNDBITE

September 2010–August 2013

Read more from John and other writers in the Link at: www.confluenceblog.org

Spirit is also at work by going ahead, preparing the world for our witness. In Acts 10 Cornelius’ inquiry to Peter demonstrates the Spirit at work outside the church, but also demonstrates that the Spirit’s work outside the church can’t be separated from the church. Peter had to go to Cornelius’ home to proclaim the gospel. It is clear the Father sends His Son, the Son sends His church, Father and Son send the Holy Spirit to empower and equip the church to continue His mission. Mission is the work of the Spirit through the church. Our local/global mission is a mighty act of the Spirit. None of God’s acts in Christ would be known without our engagement in this mission. It is little wonder that Jesus commanded His followers to wait for mission until they were filled and empowered by the Spirit (Acts 1:8). Let’s never reduce the Holy Spirit to one’s individual spiritual life, but understand the necessity of a community of Spirit-empowered people extending kingdom reality to the world.

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South Africa

Kenya

Ethiopia

New Zealand

England

Zimbabwe

Middle East

Mexico

Japan

Int’l Crisis & Min Fund

Newfrontiers is a family of churches together on a mission. Because of relationship with, and the accountability among the international apostolic spheres, we have a unique opportunity to participate directly with one another in mission efforts in other nations. Mike Lawson and I felt it would be informative to give an overall picture of our international involvement over the past 3 years. Between September 2010 and August 2013, Newfrontiers USA gave $316,535.83 to help support church planters, churchplanting efforts and crisis relief throughout the world. Not only do we give financially to our global family, but we share personnel as well. The number above does not include the approximately $123,000 we paid in salary and travel costs for men like John Lanferman and Sam Poe during their time serving churches in other countries. Most of this total came from individual churches and members who gave to various offerings. Thank you for your participation and investment into what God is doing around the globe! Samantha Bryan Bookkeeper

Mike Lawson Newfrontiers USA Treasurer

DONNIE GRIGGS >> One Harbor Church >> Morehead City, NC Summarized by Curt McCutchan

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE ROLE OF

CONTEXTUALIZATION Successful businesses know contextualization is imperative. Restaurants that act “above” their local clientele and businesses that are viewed as “condescending” are doomed before they begin. Many churches fail to make this connection. They feel they hit a ceiling in church effectiveness, which is created by a failure to penetrate culture with a contextualized approach to doing ministry.

Copy+Paste Our inability to contextualize into cultures often stems from a “copy & paste” approach. Something works somewhere else, so it must work here. Yet it doesn’t work; the miracles “over there” don’t translate “here,” which leads to Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick…” Ironically, those being “copied” are usually great missionaries to their culture. They’ve worked hard serving, learning, and earning the right to be heard within their context. Tragically, their application is adopted, not their process.

“Taking The Nations!” One unhelpful trend many have adopted is the language of “changing the whole world”. This language assumes that one event will reach every culture within the city/nation/

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world. We feel like we’re doing something profound, while actually masking the fact that we promote “mission”, but end up modeling a mission to no one.

Good Missionaries Become “Locals” We cannot assume that what worked elsewhere will work where we are. Every sub-culture has distinctions often so similar to another sub-culture that they are missed. Thus many Christians “assume” culture rather than engage it as missionaries, asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate keys for the Gospel to be made visible. Fortunately, we’ve begun to look to Missiology to aide church ministry. Missionaries have always found contextual information to be true. They’re prepared for the new language, smells, sights, and sounds that constantly remind them they’re “not in Kansas anymore.” We have to become “local,” meaning “relating to a particular area or neighborhood.” We need to learn what it means to be part of the new culture in which we are. This includes learning to love things that we previously didn’t value, such as different sports, food, pastimes, etc. a. Enquiry Into Obligations by William Carey

Additionally, Donnie recommends the papers at right on contextualization, all of which may be found online by

googling the title and author.

b. The History of Mission Strategy by R. Pierce Beaver c. Culture, Worldview and Contextulization by Charles H. Kraft d. Understand Culture by Lloyd E. Kwast

Remember that Jesus was dropped into a culture. He spoke the language, ate the food, and never said, “You call this a meal? We have much better food back in Heaven!”

N Remember that Jesus was dropped into a culture. He spoke the language, ate the food, and never said, “You call this a meal? We have much better food back in Heaven!”

Reformatting Instead of Pasting The world needs Christians who refuse to “copy & paste” anything except scripture. Everyone has preferences on how ministry should be. We must abandon personal preferences for Gospel advancement. We must push our views of “open-handed” issues through a contextual grid. Then we can successfully engage our culture.

Avoiding Unhelpful Extremes When we talk about contextualization, we’re not talking about “what,” (the Gospel), “why,” (because Jesus said so), or even “when,” (which is now). Those remain constant. Contextualization looks at “where,” “who” and “how.” Where have we been placed? Who makes up this culture? How can the Gospel be effectively proclaimed so many hear it and turn to Jesus. We over-contextualize when we change things that must not change (like the Gospel).

The Great Commission Makes It Clear In Matt. 28:18-20, Jesus sends the disciples to “all nations”. He wants disciples from all the world’s sub-cultures. In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus sends His disciples into all of the “world” and the “whole creation.” I love this distinction. “World” means the entire universe. “Whole creation” means any creature in this vast cosmos. Wherever we find ourselves, we’re to make disciples of that sub-culture. Jim Elliot said, “Wherever you’re at, be all there.”

Question: If we begin to reach specific subcultures, how do we maintain a sense of unity?

Answer: Change your definition of “unity” from visual to auditory. Getting everyone to look the same

is the “cheap seats” of attaining unity. Getting everyone to sound the same is harder, but more Biblical. Revelation 7:9-10 reveals an amazing glimpse into Heaven. John sees diversity with “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” He hears this incredibly diverse people “crying out with a loud voice” in unified song. He doesn’t hear “voices” but a “voice.” If we aim for the Gospel to be the heart cry of our church’s corporate gatherings, we can have diversity unmatched!

Question: What do I do if I’m faced with compromising situations that would enable me to penetrate the culture, but not without sinning?

Answer: We are not to sin trying to contextualize. A good missionary identifies cultural idols. We must not be captive to the same master as those we hope to set free. However, morality, not sin necessarily, has caused many to not even venture into a sub-culture. Many church attendees in America won’t attend a neighborhood party for fear that alcohol may be there. This is very different than attending every party and attempting to drink the pagans under the table to win their respect.

Conclusion Let’s not allow our facilities, ministry styles, etc., to become so specific to any sub-culture that no one else feels welcomed. Our mandate is: “on earth as it is in Heaven.” Constantly resist the temptation to build otherwise. Gospel heart-change moves us from sub-culture to sub-culture until everyone has the opportunity to hear the Gospel. Let’s fight to become locals who know how to contextualize, resist copy+pasting and pass on the process of reformatting to the next generation so the Gospel may be proclaimed to all peoples.

DANIEL BAKER >> New Frontiers Church >> Portsmouth, NH

ACROSS THE

NATIONS

Newfrontiers churc have increasingly b for missions in

NEWFRONTIERS USA & INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS

Newfrontiers is a global family of churches made up of apostolic spheres who are united in relationships, shared values, and the understanding that, “We can do more together than we can apart.” We share the common vision that God has called us to make disciples of all people groups in the world by planting churches in which God’s Word and Spirit are manifest and his Kingdom is displayed. Newfrontiers USA churches are playing a key role in implementing this vision. Cross-Cultural Training Weekend In May, Andy Martin, Sam Poe and Ian Ashby led a crosscultural training conference called “From the Nations to the Nations” in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The gathering was well attended as several people from Newfrontiers USA churches in eight States were represented. Many attendees encountered the Holy Spirit powerfully and received direction from God through the times of worship and teaching.

‘Share the Story’ Over a number of years Sam and Marlene Poe have been developing ‘Share the Story’, a strategy of biblical storytelling for evangelism, making disciples, and planting churches. The primary goal of ‘Share the Story’ is to reach the oral learners that make up most of the unreached people

groups in the world today. ‘Share the Story’ is easily reproducible and can be applied to any culture, including our own. Several Newfrontiers churches are already using it. Sam has worked on video training for ‘Share the Story’ that is available this fall. He is also developing a one-year internship program that will equip individuals to go into specific cultures and nations with this strategy.

The Russia Connection In September, Sam and Marlene Poe and Daniel Baker (New Frontiers Church, Portsmouth, NH) spent two weeks in Russia to teach on ‘Share the Story’ at the request of our Newfrontiers churches there. Around eighty church leaders attended this gathering. They learned about the value of Biblical Storying and received practical training in good story telling and disciple making.

The Arabian Peninsula

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This year, Newfrontiers USA sent out a team to live in the

a. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth A. Tucker b. What on Earth is the Church For? by David Devenish

c. Honor and Shame by Rolland Muller

QUICK LOOK

Middle East Update

ches in New England become a launch pad n the Middle East.

For more info on ‘Share The Story’ please visit: www.newfrontierschurch.com/cbs

Follow Share The Story on Twitter: @Share_the_Story

Arabian Peninsula. Five adults and eight children have already moved and two more adults are on the way! Newfrontiers churches in New England have increasingly become a launch pad for missions in the Middle East. They have also taken ownership of what is being done there by financially supporting the team members they have sent for the first two years, thereby giving the families and individuals the crucial time needed to learn the language and become acculturated.

National Diversity Within The USA It is encouraging that more and more of our churches are becoming more diverse and that other nations are even being reached within our own nation. There is now an increasing number of Latinos in our USA churches. This year, for the first time, all the worship songs at Celebration Northeast had Spanish subtitles. As God’s people, we can all continue to be His witnesses to the nations… both near and far (Acts 1:8).

In early 2013, New Frontiers Church in New Hampshire sent “Steve” and “Betty” (with their one-year-old and another baby on the way) to the Arabian Peninsula to attend language school and learn the culture. Here’s an interview with them. (For security purposes, all names have been changed.)

Tell us about what you’re doing in the Middle East. A couple years ago, as God stirred our hearts about other parts of the world, we experienced an increasing desire to be involved in His work in the nations. Our church leaders felt the best strategy for us was to commit two years to language study in order to effectively live in the culture and communicate the gospel in their language.

How did you prepare for the move? We have a strong conviction that the local church is God’s sending agency. The two years before our departure were characterized by continuing to build into and receive from our church family. We spent a lot of time receiving godly wisdom and advice from one couple that had lived overseas. Although we’re apart from them now, we continue our relationship via emails and video chats, which is a huge blessing.

What is a highlight of your experience there so far? Steve: I stumbled upon a local wedding where I knew no one but I was welcomed in and sat down with all the guests to eat. How different from American weddings! I saw a glorious kingdom parallel—although strangers to God, we have all been welcomed in! Betty: I’ve had opportunities to visit the homes of local women. I’ve enjoyed hearing from them about their culture and observing how they entertain guests. I hope to mimic them when hosting Arab ladies in my home in the future.

How has Newfrontiers been helpful in this process? We’ve been blessed in more ways than we can mention. Our lead elder had a prophetic picture for us before we left. He saw a spear with two parts – the shaft and the tip. He said those sent overseas are like the tip of the spear that penetrates into darkness, but momentum comes from the weight of the shaft – the local church – involved through prayer and other input. The church is not supporting what we’re doing; our family is supporting what God is doing through the church. We’re blessed that all our monthly financial needs are being met through our church for these two years of intensively studying the language. Yet money is not the biggest blessing we’re receiving – prayer is.

How can we pray for/support you? Pray for His kingdom to come in the Arabian Peninsula nations. But you can support us more by faithfully playing your part in the body of Christ. When we see people running hard after God it encourages us to do likewise!

G W IN NS NOEPT TIO C ICA C A PL AP

www.trilogyproject.org Training present and emerging leaders to work within the church community to reveal the Kingdom of God

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