OK, missiologists, let me know what you think about this.
In the July-August 2010 issue of Missions Frontiers magazine (I had never heard of it) Paul Eschleman (or him), founder of the JESUS Film Project and Vice President of Evangelism Strategies for Campus Crusade, lists what he sees as the top five “global evangelization priorities for the Church,” the focus of which is “disciple-making breakthrough in every people group of the world.”
- 5 – Church planting and presence
- 4 – Reaching oral learners – “Two-thirds of people worldwide are oral learners. That is, they prefer to learn through proverbs, music, poetry and especially stories.”
- 3 – Increasing evangelization, with a focus on Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus – “We need more intentional demonstration of love and prayer for the largest religious blocs throughout the world: Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. If you add the folk Chinese of China, the total population of the three groups is 3.5 billion people – over half of the world’s population.”
- 2 – Engaging the unengaged people groups – “At present, there remain about 3,500 people groups (of all population sizes) that are still unengaged; the total population of these groups is over 350 million.”
- 1 – Scripture translation – “Scripture translation is the #1 priority throughout the world because it’s impossible to do ministry without a Biblical foundation.”
Now I was initially drawn to this list because, well, Bible translation is listed as the top priority and I’m pursuing work with Wycliffe as a Bible translator. So, the list looked pretty good to me. Secondly, what’s interesting is that church planting is listed number five when everywhere you turn today the emphasis seems to be on church planting. Do a search on Twitter for Darrin Patrick.
Respond
Is church planting overrated? Should Bible translation really be the Church’s top priority?
Read the full PDF of Paul Eschelman, “The State of the Unfinished Task” in Missions Frontiers (July-August 2010), 10-11. Don’t miss the nifty diagram.
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