However, rather than teaching the local people how to sustain themselves, the missionaries poured all their resources into their own ministries and businesses. While Western practices and values are not bad, the local people began to depend on the Western missionaries for bringing in goods to support their economy. When the missionaries left, the economy and culture would decline into a worse state than when they found it.
In the years that those missionaries had been among the people, there was little lasting spiritual impact and no disciples were made. The missionaries had focused only on physical needs instead of addressing the spiritual needs of the people also. Thus, there was no permanent transformation.
You need both to make an impact. On the other hand, there have been pioneer missionaries whose faith in God has driven them to find people who have never heard the name of Jesus.
They were burdened with the desire to share the gospel and make disciples who make more disciples. They dressed as they did, learned the language, and became learners of the culture by studying the social behavior of the natives.
In doing so, they discovered the needs of the people and recognized what was valued in that culture. Often the natives did not have a Bible written in their own language, and pioneer missionaries were able to translate the Bible into the indigenous language of the people they were with. It takes years to share the full gospel with someone, and see any fruit from their work. Yet these pioneer missionaries knew how to contextualize the gospel and reach people with the love of Christ and endured through faith in building long-lasting relationships.
They also recognized that the people needed to be equipped with skills and trained how to help their own people. Medicine, education, business, and disciple-making became their primary focus of teaching. This produced a long-term impact and has brought greater transformation to these cultures today. But pioneer missionaries have left a legacy of strong commitment to reach the unreached under extreme difficulties.
There are still 6, unreached people groups in the world. That means that roughly 2. Pioneer missionaries have the potential to raise up the next generation of leaders to seek after the heart of God and reach all peoples, together.
They can inspire the younger generation to rise up in spiritual maturity and carry the torch where the previous generation was unable to go. Jesus is worthy to be praised, and yet, there are people whose languages have not yet reached His ears.
Jesus, we need You! Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross for my sins and rising again and rescuing me! How can we say that we have no part in the Great Commission? Be on a lookout for full stories of each Christian missionary. May we be a people who are wholly consecrated to Christ and utterly devoted to the glory of God so that He may be known among all the nations. David Brainerd: Pioneering a Legacy in Missions Born in , David Brainerd was one of the first missionaries to translate and carry the good news of Jesus to the Native Americans of New Jersey in their own language until the day of his death in William Carey: Pioneer to India and Father of Modern Missions William Carey was born in and is often called the father of the modern missions movement because of his forty-one years of service on the mission field until he passed away in David Livingstone: Missionary, Abolitionist, and Explorer to Africa David Livingstone was a Scottish missionary, slave abolitionist, and physician during the midth century.
John G. Hudson Taylor: Founder of the China Inland Mission James Hudson Taylor was the first Christian missionary to China and spent fifty-one years working to bring the gospel to those who had never heard the name of Jesus in their own language. Read the full story about Amy Carmichael 9. Read the full story about Jim and Elisabeth Elliot Get the Guide. People Groups. CIA World Factbook. Status of Global Christianity Deployment of Missionaries. Tour Schedule.
Virtual Meetings. Statement of Faith. MIssion Stats. Median age - total: View fullsize. Major World Religions. ISLAM 1. Christians of the World. Three Largest languages: Mandarin Chinese Language Source: Operation World. Internationals in the USA.
International students There are almost 1 million international students in the U. S each year. Why reach out to internationals? Source: Open Doors Report. Money and Missions. That's also how much we spend in America on Christmas. Beauty Ndoro is part of a growing movement of international missionaries sent out from the Global South, which includes Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This could reach 75 percent by Christianity is surging in these regions, even as North America and Western Europe see the number of religiously unaffiliated growing at an increasingly rapid pace.
As the demographic center of the global church shifts, so too does fervor for international missions. The World Christian Database reports that while the US still sends out the most missionaries, that number is decreasing.
There were , active American missionaries in the most recent year for which data is available , down from , in During that same period, the number of missionaries from non-Western countries increased significantly. Brazil, for example, went from 34, to 35, missionaries, and South Korea leaped from 20, to 30, missionaries. For example, the Back to Jerusalem movement —an effort by Chinese Christians to evangelize all the Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim people groups who live along the old Silk Road—traces its roots back to the s.
It was newly revitalized in by exiled house church leader Liu Zhenying also known as Brother Yun. This is the first time, however, that the world has seen so many missionaries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America crossing national borders, including going to the homelands of the missionaries who first brought them the gospel.
In , 9 of the top 20 sending countries—including Brazil, the Philippines, China, India, Nigeria, and South Africa—were in the majority world also referred to as the developing world , with a total of , international missionaries.
These missionaries come in all forms—tentmakers and donor supported, organization affiliated and free agents, evangelists and church planters and incarnational ministers—but they each bring unique strengths and a vibrant faith. The United Nations reports that the number of international migrants is growing rapidly each year, with million recorded in Only 10 percent of these were refugees and asylum seekers. Today, more than 4. News and information, including news about the global church, can reach nearly every corner of the world.
Less young people are in the church? After being sent out in and participating in various ministries around East Africa, Chikwekwe joined the pastoral staff at Nairobi Chapel , a nondenominational church in Kenya. There, the leadership was engaged in an intentional conversation about the role of the African church in global missions. They studied the teachings of 1 Corinthians 12, about the roles of different members of the body of Christ, from a global perspective—and concluded that Africa, as an essential member of the global church, needed to do more.
Faith Mugera, pastor of global partnerships at Nairobi Chapel, is one of the key leaders of the resulting missions efforts. If so, then we absolutely cannot dismiss ourselves from that. If we as the African church are not functioning right, then the global body is missing out. Nairobi Chapel is at the leading edge of an increasingly strategic approach to missions among Global South Christians.
At the turn of the century, Chikwekwe and other missionaries like him were often sent out with few resources, minimal connections, and no plan aside from sharing the gospel wherever they could.
Now more churches and ministries are borrowing from their Western counterparts and placing a heavier emphasis on goal setting, training, and strategic partnerships.
Mugera and her colleagues, for example, have set the audacious goal of planting churches worldwide, with 20 of those in capital cities across Africa and 10 in international cities of influence. To support this goal, they train three separate cohorts of young leaders each year in leadership and spiritual development, as well as life skills like resourcefulness and relationship building.
Nairobi Chapel has already sent ministers and church planters to Chicago, London, Sydney, and Christchurch. Their next mission field: San Francisco, which they have spent the last year praying and fasting for. You have to raise a lot of financial support. You need a missions agency. These challenges have forced Nairobi Chapel and other churches and missions organizations to think creatively about how to send out missionaries, often relying on multinational collaborations and alternative visa options.
Outside of Africa, Nairobi Chapel relies on existing local churches to invite their ministers, sponsor their visas, provide homes, and raise financial support for their expenses.
Other ministries are capitalizing on an increasingly global economy and job market.
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