World Evangelism

Question: In view of the Simple Church Process. how do you see world evangelism working at RCF Church ?

Response: The ultimate goal of a process-based ministry is a life that is truly transformed by the grace of God. Perhaps the greatest evidence of that transformation is when people involve themselves in helping transformation occur in the lives of others. We must always be involved in making disciples, and while we are most responsible for those nearest us, making disciples knows no geographical, political, racial, or religious boundaries. When it comes to world evangelism, I think the US church has a greater responsibility to make that happen than the church in any other nation.

There are some staggering statistics out there regarding the number of full-time Christian workers in the United States compared to the number of full-time Christian workers in other nations. The same is true for financial resources. No nation on the planet is already as evangelized as the United States yet more resources in terms of people and money are spent on the US than anywhere else. The Gospel message is readily available in the United States to anyone who wants to hear it, but that is not true elsewhere in the world. With the vast resources God has granted the US church, we have a greater opportunity and responsibility to reach others. Having said that, how do I see the RCF role working within the context of a process-based ministry?

I need to start with a disclaimer. Since we have not yet defined the process and their corresponding ministries, you need to understand that this is only an idea and not a, “It’s going to happen this way,” answer.

The church needs to structure and facilitate mission to other places. If I correctly understand what you are doing with your Mexico ministry, what I mean by “structure” is very much like that. The church structures a mission opportunity in which everyone is invited to participate. By facilitate, I mean the church allows and encourages individual members to develop their own mission opportunities and recruit a team from within the church to support them in that.

By the way, I like what I think I am seeing with the Mexico ministry. I think I am seeing not a one-time shot but an ongoing partnership in ministry. It also appears to me that a significant portion of your resources for world mission is going into this particular ministry. I like that. I am much more in favor of concentrating resources in one area to make a significant impact than I am in favor of diffusing our impact by spreading them out over many places.

Having said that, I would still like to develop a relationship with a ministry that is strategically focusing on a people group connected to the 10/40 window. The nations within the 10/40 window are the most under-evangelized people in the world. If I am the pastor of RCF, I want our church to be making a difference in some of the darkest places on Earth.