TOWARDS THE NEXT LEVEL - IN MISSIONS.         

Rev Lawrence Yap.

Senior Pastor.

Charis Christian Centre.

AOM board member.                                                       

Allow me to say this, from the heart of a pastor to the heart of another – that if our church is not involved in any missions at all – then we are missing the heartbeat of God!

I used to think that a church has to come to a certain size, then only will we be financially capable to be involved in “missions”.  This is a myth and all of us can be involved one way or another if we learn to ‘think outside the box.’

Let me just share some insight.

The last 5 to 10 years have been a time of rapid changes and this has brought about many opportunities for the gospel work.

·        Political and economic maps were redrawn thus enabling new opportunities for Kingdom works. Just consider Libya and Myanmar as examples of how windows of opportunities are opening.

·        Technological advances like smart phones; social networks etc., literally connecting people and the world in an instance. This is part of “Globalization” but this also means ‘opportunities’.

·        The ‘center of gravity’ of the gospel has shifted to the southern hemisphere.

-This means that much of the spiritual activities of the church is no longer focused on Europe or North America but instead has come to Asia and the Pacific realm where mega congregations; church planting and community transformation programs are taking place. We in Malaysia are part of this shift!

·        A “diaspora” (dispersion) of nationalities.

-Just in Malaysia alone, we are surrounded by people from Myanmar, Nepal, Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Africa and other Middle Eastern nations. In a way, we do not ‘go to the nations.’ The ‘nations have come to us!’

What do these things mean to you? Which of the above factors capture your attention and that you see is a ‘possibility’ in your church setting?

Perhaps you can spend some time - praying and thinking through these factors of what you can do for God in terms of spreading the gospel. It need not be just going out ‘to preach’ per se.

We need to take missions to the next level. We need not be locked in to the old fashion way of sending missionaries abroad – though it should still be done. God can give us wisdom and creative ways, for example, of how a businessman sponsored thousands of gospel radios that were assembled in a factory and brought into the interiors. Another businessman allowed his restaurant to be utilized as a worship place at 12 midnight for his foreign workers. Yet, there are many who have become ‘cyber world evangelists’.

The challenges of the gospel work are as real but God is sovereign. New doors and new frontiers have been opened up for us. We must seize the moment. As our members get involved, they grow spiritually too.

Remember that in missions, not everyone may GO, but we can certainly GIVE and PRAY and to DO what we can for God - right at our doorsteps!

Yours Together for His Kingdom.