Perspective Week 8... Pioneers of the World Christian Movement

Perspectives Week 8… Pioneers of the World Christian Movement

We are still on the history section of Perspectives, but this blog entry may be slightly more dynamic than the other history ones so far. The speaker for week 8 was Kathleen Baggett (our only woman speaker) and she was one of my favorites. The way she presented the material and her stories was exactly my learning style and I just connected with what she said. So even though some of it was historical and some theoretical I found myself having taken 6 pages of notes from her lecture (the most I took from any of them).

Kathleen made many insightful statements or points that may have been passed down to her over the years, here are some of my favorite tidbits that she threw out
-It’s one thing to read the word, it’s another to do the word
-Protect your vision, spend time with like minded people (she encouraged us that we can find like minded people in books, and not just in relationships)
-2 things that happen in all mission biographies- someone comes along and tells them they are not the one for the job, suffering/ their faith is tested (so be prepared for these if you plan for or enter the mission field)
-As then so now (don’t think that you are going to be able to sacrifice, be disciplined for God and so forth on the mission field if you’re not doing it at home now, start now where you are)
-Do you live in a war time or a peace time life style? (are you making sacrifices in your daily life with your provisions, or are you living lavishly and abundantly… a war time lifestyle reflects a concern for the unreached, it’s strategic, it releases your resources to give to others, and brings you closer to their way of life, though Jesus was rich he became poor…, can we adopt a missionary lifestyle at home?, be cautious of reverse pride)
-The unreached people don’t have any advocates so not as many resources go to them
-You are not worthy to go unless you are willing to stay, and you are not worthy to stay unless you are willing to go (referring to missions abroad)
-Don’t wait for a big block of time to engage in discipleship, figure out how to sweep people into whatever you are doing
-Children are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today
-Prayer is outreach
-It is by prayer that we couple the powers of heaven with our own helplessness
-Turn the knowledge of a need into prayer

This section will elaborate a little more on the eras mentioned briefly in the blog on Perpectives Week 7 and their leaders.

Coastlands
-William Carrey- wrote Carrey’s Inquiry making a case for the priority of the unreached, it was an apologetic for missions
-Cararey’s motto: “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God”
-Carrey ministered for 8 years before he saw his first convert- ultimately 600 converted, 1,000s attending churches in India

Inlands
-Hudson Taylor- known for wide area and systematic plan of evangelism
-This era was characterized by mission station approach. Hudson went against this approach and wanted to reduce cultural barriers and dress, eat and live like the Chinese.
-Him and his wife Maria were well known as a missionary couple with a dual call
-The Cambridge 7 joined them in China
-Hudson’s motto: “Move man, through God, by prayer alone”

To the Unreached
-Cameron Townsend- dedicated life to learning languages and translating the Bible
-There are currently 11,000 unreached people groups and 600 evangelical churches in the world for each people group
-Donald McGavaran- “salute and farewell” to mission station approach, people movements, target specific people group, disciple them

For the most part in mission history two thirds of the mission force has been female.

Shannon