[30 Minute Read]

Introductory comments from the MC…

More than thirty years have passed since the term “managerial missiology” was introduced to the vocabulary of global missions. At the turn of the century, the concept was embraced and explored by the Mission Commission as we countered what we considered to be an unbalanced emphasis on human controls to achieve the Matthew 24:14 vision in obedience to Jesus’ Matthew 28:18-20 commission within a certain time constraint. A popular reading of these gospel texts promotes the former verse as a task for us to achieve based on the authority given in the latter passage. However, Matthew 24:14 is more accurately exegeted as a promise for God to fulfill, with us obediently participating as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in making disciples. Good statistical and data analysis was unfairly associated in the push back against task-orientated missions strategies. But, as a wise person once said, “God cannot lead you where to go with information you do not know” (anon.), and with this essay we aim to affirm the need for well researched missions information. It is well beyond time to address the denigration of missions research, statistics, data and other information that has evolved in some missions circles. We desperately need robust and well presented data to guide us as we ‘reimagine’ missions for the new era ahead. And, importantly, we need to steward that information with upmost integrity.

1. A Search For Support

Hello everyone, I am Chris Maynard, founder-member of the Community for Mission Information Workers (CMIW) and Mission Commission ‘Synergist’ for Mission Information. I work with data for missions. God sent me into this area in 2005 and it has been a privilege to serve my Lord Jesus in this way.

I often found myself serving specific decision-makers in missions who wanted to improve their decisions with reference to data. They knew that there were relevant facts that they did not have, and they would ask me to use data help find them out. So it happened that all the missions leaders that I served valued data and respected the work that I did. But I not only serve decision-makers. I also serve researchers and data people who support them. And, the more I do this, the more I take a wider view of what we are doing with information in missions, especially information that can be described as data. As I do so, I have encountered some missions people using strange words to describe what I do, words that I feel denigrate the very work that I have been sent to do.

Let me share one instance in detail. I have developed, with some colleagues, an outline for a book about data in the service of mission. I sent it to a respected missions thinker who had expressed an interest in what we were doing, and he soon sent me a short email back. He began, “I think my main comment is that a project and book like this needs significant mission theology input.” That was a great start and just what I was hoping for! That was one reason why I sent it to him—to get sound input. He went on, “I would encourage reflection on our theology of research, data gathering and expectations for impact.” That sounded good too. I am frequently reflecting on the theology of what we do with research, data and information, and I look for outside input. I asked about the significance of “our” in that sentence. “Do you have something that I can already access? That would be wonderful.” He then replied, “I confess I do not have much ready material to point you to that can be of assistance with what you are doing.” So, his encouragement would have been good, if he had something concrete for me to reflect on. With this clarification, it just became frustrating. However, it was my correspondent’s next comments that moved me beyond frustration to anger.

He went on, “If not [i.e. if you don’t reflect on the theology that I cannot point you to] this [proposed book about data] could easily slip into a way of reinforcing an understanding of mission as task with all the problems associated with ‘managerial missiology’. I think that would be a missed opportunity to shift the way we understand our collaboration with what God is doing from enlightenment assumptions to a more Biblical understanding of God and his work in the world. The other comment I would have is that your definition of mission (finding faith in Jesus) is too limiting for me and risks reinforcing reductionist views of mission that have plagued us for so long.” [1]

I am hearing that those of us who collect and use data to inform mission decisions are locked into enlightenment, non-biblical thinking and are necessarily (if unwittingly) binding the global church into unhealthy patterns of neo-colonialism.

 2. An Offence Against Data

My correspondent presented me with an impossible problem! In a few words he has outlined a vast and dreadful chasm into which I could easily slip, with no guide-ropes by which I could avoid it. This slippery chasm is can be identified by the following phrases: “understanding of mission as task”, “managerial missiology”, “enlightenment assumptions” (which are implied to be not necessarily biblical), and “reductionist views”.

This is not the first time that I have encountered these words and phrases. When this perspective is presented, often the words “Western”, “colonial”, “simplistic”, and “reductionistic” are also used in a derogatory way. The way I understand it, it seems like they think that those of us who collect and use data to inform mission decisions are locked into enlightenment, non-biblical thinking and are necessarily (if unwittingly) binding the global church into unhealthy patterns of neo-colonialism.

We are given no way out. Most of us global data people are still Western—check. Any application of data is a simplification of the real world, therefore our defence against the words “simplistic” or “reductionist” is weak—check. Data was used by colonists—check. There is no theology of numbers available to us (Western or non-Western) therefore “non-biblical” is hard to refute—check.

How would we counter the belief that the missions model today is still “from the West to the Rest” without data to prove that the Majority World now sends the majority of missionaries?

3. How Do We Know?

The basis of all knowledge is data. Every culture everywhere gathers data and uses it to form opinions about their reality. It is central to the human condition. Moreover we need data in missions. Not just any data, but well researched and verifiable data. Data helps us understand major aspects of our world. Without good data, missions would be guided by subjective opinion and conducted in ignorance of objective reality. The ways that data can be misinterpreted or misused can make it dangerous, but it is more dangerous if we rely on inadequate or obsolete data, filtered through our cultural biases, based on anecdotes, or through what our educators learned from their teachers fifty years ago.

Imagine if evangelicals in Sub-Saharan Africa did not know that they are now more numerous than those anywhere else. Good data subverts that danger. When a European says to me, “I was really disappointed that there are now only a couple of Europeans on the WEA governing body”, statistical data helps me show her why such a situation is entirely reasonable because of the smaller proportion of European evangelicals compared to those in the rest of the world. How would we counter the belief that the missions model today is still “from the West to the Rest” without data to prove that the Majority World now sends the majority of missionaries? Imagine if the debate about the reality of millions of believers in “disciple making movements” was based on hearsay or on one or two examples, without knowing what is really going on worldwide. Without robust data, we would be at an irreconcilable impasse.

Without good data we would not realise that while most evangelicals are outside of the USA, most evangelical income and financial resource for missions is still within that country. Without good data we would neglect millions of marginalised people—whether marginalised by cultural differences, religious difference, injustice, or poverty. We could be walking by on the other side of the road, ignoring their plight, without even realising it. The global Church may have broken out of “the West”, but the data shows that most Christians (non-Western as well as Western) still live in places where there are not many non-Christians! [2] So, most of us are on “the other side of the road” from most people without the gospel to start with. Whether we are in South Carolina, Brazil, Kenya or Western Samoa we can become very complacent and caught up with our own “Christian” problems, forgetting that millions of people still do not have access to the gospel. We need data to serve missions, to motivate the global church, to carry out our duty to make disciples of ALL nations.

4. Does Data Reduce or Illuminate?

Some of the antagonism toward data stems from its perceived role in what has been called “managerial missiology”, a “linear management-by-objectives process” (Taylor, W. D. 1999. Global Missiology for the 21st Century: The Iguassu Dialogue. IVP, p110). The critique against framing missions as a task to complete and subsequent management-style control of missions initiatives began in earnest in the late 1980s, emerging after the 1989 Lausanne II Consultation in Manila. Samuel Escobar was among the more public critics. He reportedly spoke for many other Majority World theologians when he called Lausanne II a “dialogue of the deaf” (Boletín Teológico, 1989. 36) and claimed that the ethos was dominated by a distinctly American “managerial missiology” and a Eurocentric “postcolonial missiology” (postcolonial as interpreted by the West) in contrast to the “critical missiology” from the Majority World theologian/missiologists (Escobar, S. in Transformation Vol 8, Oct. 1991).

Escobar was one of the leading influencers of the Mission Commission’s 1999 Global Consultation at Iguassu Falls in Brazil. Two of his papers and one of Chris Wright’s were distributed to participants prior to the event. In his paper, “Evangelical Missiology: Peering Into The Future” (Taylor, 1999. 101-122), an amplification of his 1991 article in Transformation, he was particularly critical of “managerial missiology”. [3] Escobar popularised the term within the Mission Commission and it has passed into general usage in some missions circles. He had several useful things to say in that lengthy essay, which my fellow information workers need to hear.[4] But a complex set of interconnected issues were caught up in Escobar’s strong critique, which feels to me like an attack.

…because figures help us to see some aspects of missions more clearly, they are leaving others in the dark.

To my knowledge, the useful things that he wrote have never been properly unpacked since the Mission Commission’s Iguassu Dialogue publication. Perhaps they were never unpacked because the ‘package’ was so distasteful. For example, he wrote, “…there are some aspects of missionary work that cannot be reduced to statistics. Managerial missiology has diminished those aspects of missionary work which cannot be measured or reduced to figures. In the same way, it has given predominance to that which can be reduced to a statistical chart” (Taylor, 1999. 110). Note that in each of the three successive sentences Escobar uses the word “reduced”. One by one he attacks the use of “statistics”, then “figures”, and then “statistical charts”. He states that each of them “reduces” missionary work. His choice of words seems to put those of us who create or use statistics, figures, and charts for missions into a “reductionist” camp.

What if we take these three important statements out of their ‘packaging’? Let me attempt it here, using mostly the same words… “There are some aspects of missionary work that cannot be illuminated by statistics. Managerial missiology has diminished those aspects of missionary work which cannot be measured or understood by figures. In the same way, it has given predominance to that which can be illustrated by a statistical chart.” All that I have changed are the three occurrences of the word “reduced”. But now we have a topic that could form the basis of a true dialogue. The problem he lays out is that statistics, figures and charts highlight only those things that can be counted, and so can effectively obscure those that cannot be counted. The problem does not seem to be that numbers are “reducing” anything, but rather the opposite. In fact, I could reasonably have used a phrase like “elevated by” in place of every “reduced to”. His complaint is that precisely because figures help us to see some aspects of missions more clearly, they are leaving others in the dark. In absolute terms these other aspects are no more obscure than before, but when set against what we have discovered, what we can count, they are now given less attention. That would be a helpful topic for data people and non-data people to discuss together.

5. A Serious Responsibility

I am part of a Community of Mission Information Workers. For a decade we have wanted “to become a community that lives up to its God-given responsibilities. [5]

“encouraging the godly use of information – with integrity
“prioritizing prayer – praying ourselves and facilitating prayer through our information
“developing a clear view of what we do with information – how does God see it?
“understanding why information is important – what are its limitations?”

But what help are we getting from the missiological establishment in understanding those “God-given responsibilities”? Where is the useful theology that we can draw upon? Who can help us to develop a clear understanding?

6. A Biblical Theology of Data

The value, use, and limits of data is just one of several issues that it might be helpful for missiologists and data people to explore together. Claiming that mission information workers are trapped in an obsolete, or even unbiblical, worldview does not promote healthy dialogue. Why not instead provide some robust biblical theology and missiology to guide us, which is properly contextualised and relevant to contemporary data management, analysis, and application?

I am not a professional theologian, but I can find a few clues even in the first few sentences of the Bible. Right from the beginning, God started counting (Gen 1:5,8 etc.), evaluating things (Gen 1:4,10,12 etc.), and separating things into categories—sometimes those with a different nature (Gen 1:4), sometimes those of the same nature (Gen 1:7). God named things (Gen 1:5,8), noted or defined boundary conditions (Gen 1:5,8,etc.), and identified different kinds of things (e.g. Gen 1:21). These are all regular activities for us who work in data. By Genesis chapter 11 God has used over a hundred numbers to help to communicate deep spiritual truths about our origins. Then, in chapter 11, God gives us the first table of nations—effectively a people group list. People group lists, despite their weaknesses and the misuse to which they are sometimes put, remain a cornerstone of missions data. Then there are the various biblical censuses and surveys that are precursors to our work. It would be good to examine them to see what we can learn about what is good and bad about data and its use for our participation in God’s mission.[6]

How can we value the messages that data gives us, without diminishing “those aspects of missionary work which cannot be measured or understood by figures”.

7. Better Questions?

I don’t think that there are just two options for missions—one mechanistic, managerial and data-driven, and the other relational, and spirit-led. It helps no one to suggest that there are, and it does us no good to be so binary about missions. Missions requires nuance: both/and, not either/or.

Let me offer some questions to kick off a healthy dialogue. Any of these can stimulate useful and constructive discussion. I will try to keep my frustration out of them, but even data people can get emotional!

• What are biblical reasons for using numbers and for not using numbers?
• How can data better support relationship-oriented, post-modern, non-colonial, holistic, polycentric missions?
• How does counting people value them or reduce them to abstract objects?
• What is it about the use of data that can justify the term “colonial”? How do we avoid that?
• A human-generated data model will always be simple compared with the surpassing complexity of God’s creation, and Jesus frequently made simple statements, often giving only two options rather than shades of grey. So, when does simple become “simplistic”?
• Where in our missions does task-orientation meet relationship-orientation, or must they be considered irreconcilable? Can we use data to encourage building relationships? Does some data discourage the building of relationships?
• What problems lie with the way data is used, and what problems might be inherent in the data itself?
• Missions data has become strongly associated with goal setting, especially setting goals to “finish” something and/or to do something by a certain time. Is that wrong? Are there better goals and worse goals? Can data play a role in nudging us towards better goals?
• What is the relative value (biblically and practically) that data plays in:
  Allowing us to understand what has been fruitful?
  Allowing us to monitor or evaluate our progress?
  Allowing us to realign our future actions guided by past fruitfulness and progress?
  Driving us to prayer?
  Allowing us to project into the future?
  Encouraging us to set direction (for ourselves and others)?
  Allowing us to set specific, realistic, and achievable goals?
  And what are the risks in using it for each?
• How can we value the messages that data gives us, without diminishing “those aspects of missionary work which cannot be measured or understood by figures” (my re-working of Escobar’s words above)?
• Data can give legitimacy and weight to our ministry of persuading and motivating others. What are the appropriate places for management, leadership, administration, strategy, and tactics in missions? Or is it for everyone to do what is right in their own eyes? This relates also to what we call mobilisation. In mobilisation we take it on ourselves to motivate others, and an important part of that motivation is often a presentation of data.
• Does all this mean that we should devote more resources to gathering, organising, interpreting, and publishing data, or fewer?

Furthermore, why is it that data people typically get good engagement from missions people who seem to value multiplying adherents to our faith, and almost no engagement from those seeking justice or mercy, or from those who favour a more holistic mission? I suspect that this is part of what leaves us open to charges of reductionism, but where, for example, is the missions data on widows and orphans? No one has ever asked me for any, but as I read the New Testament I wonder if it would be useful.

It will help to advance missions data if these questions are addressed. But which of these questions are the most crucial?

Father in heaven, guide our discussion towards those issues which you value most, and show us if there are even better questions to address at this time. Amen.

A Final Plea

Your brothers and sisters who work with data in missions information could do with a little more understanding and help. I do not suppose that (even with good dialogue) we will come to full agreement on answers to some of my questions, but if you do not have the time or inclination to help us wrestle with these complexities, I have but one plea left… Please do not consider or accuse all use of data in missions as being simplistic and reductionist. Give us grace to continue the work that God has sent us to do.

Thank you for prayerfully considering these words and concerns.

Pray

• For all the workers in missions information, who faithfully serve God’s mission by ensuring leaders and practicioners of missions are kept well informed about the needs, opportunities, challenges and breakthroughs in global missions.
• That the dialogue between missions information workers, missions strategists, reflective missions practicioners, and critical thinkers in missions will continue in a healthy way towards formulating a good biblical theology of information and data for application in missions contexts.
• The we would all keep ‘the main thing the main thing’, serve faithfully in the way we are gifted, and affirm others in their giftings, so that God’s promise of the gospel being preached to all nations will reach its fulfilment.

Footnotes

[1 ] To be fair to myself, I had described “finding faith in Jesus” not as a definition, but as a focus of mission. In my next sentence I had referenced “justice” and “mercy” as issues close to God’s heart. (I am profoundly influenced by Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:23). This misunderstanding illustrates how it is difficult for data people like me to be heard when we say, “I know there is a bigger picture, but my data is only dealing with this aspect.”

[2] It is true that the church is now established in every country of the world, but not yet evenly. More than half of all Christians live in a country where more than 70% of people are Christians. Many of those countries now are non-Western, praise God. But meanwhile, more than half of all non-Christians live in a country where less that 8% of people are Christians. To the average Christian (whether Western or non-Western), the world intuitively looks largely Christian. Only information from beyond her locality will open her eyes to the real state of the world. (And, yes, the “average Christian” is female).

[3] Editor’s note: While Samuel Escobar was a key proponent of the term, “managerial missions”, it extends back to Kenneth Cragg’s critique of the Evangelical missionary movement in his 1968 book Christianity in World Perspective (see pp26-27), where he discussed three significant consequences of the European & Christendom origins of the missionary movement. The three are “the fact of empire”, “the white factor”, and the “managerial”. (See also Rowan, Peter. 2023. “Should White People Be Missionaries Overseas?” in Mission Roundtable: The OMF Journal for Reflective Practitioners. Vol 18, Issue 1. 16-25. OMF. Available from: https://omf.org/resource/mrt-18-1-june-2023-race-ethnicity-bible-and-mission/ Accessed 25 August 2023.)

[4] This article does not attempt to unpack everything useful that Escobar says. Here, I just bring out one example.

[5] This is part of a more comprehensive vision. See globalCMIW.org/vision.

[6] I have found a book that does something like this for modern economics: “Economics of Good and Evil” by Tomas Sedlacek, Oxford University Press.

[30 Minute Read]

Jesus asks us to read the signs of the times (e.g. Luke 12:56) and elaborates on the end times and signs of his return in Matthew 24, asking us to be watchful and alert. Paul writes that we must walk in dependency on the Holy Spirit (e.g. Galatians 5:25). I participated in many prayer times as 2021 drew to a close, and we consistently asked together, “Lord, now what?” “Lord, where are you at work?” “Lord, what are you seeing and feeling that we might join in your Kingdom work?”

Corporate or group listening times are a powerful way of submitting our hearts and thoughts in unity before the Lord, asking Him to speak to us as a group. Often each person brings a piece of the ‘puzzle’ and together we are able to discern the bigger picture. It’s a time for grace as no one presents their listening piece as the definitive word from heaven, but humbly offers it to the group to weigh together, and test according to Scripture. We all agree that the Holy Spirit speaks today, and that the Father wants to share His heart with those who follow Jesus (see, Amos 3:7 & Ephesians 3:1-5).

As the Mission Commission reflects on what “the future of missions” will involve and require, I share here a few trends or areas that have been repeated in different prayer times with different groups.

In every hour of crisis, God calls people back to a love for the word of the Lord.

1. The Ancient Paths

We are to delight in the word of the Lord. Jeremiah 6:10 rebukes the people and says that the word of the Lord is not a delight to them. Then, a few verses later in 6:16, He calls them to stop at the point of decision/change (the crossroads), take a good look around at the situation, and ask for revelation: to be shown the ancient paths. The Lord highlighted the crisis of the hour and their inability to hear God, let alone correctly interpret the season. He notes that their suffering, uncertainty and confusion is due to the fact that they did not delight in His word. In every hour of crisis, God calls people back to a love for the word of the Lord; He calls them to silence the other voices in their lives and cultivate hearing hearts. And though it has been 2,500 years since the Lord cried out to a rebellious generation through Jeremiah, the ancient paths remain the clearest solution to the crisis of our day.

Through the pandemic crisis, and now a global-impacting war, it has been common to see headlines like “Getting Back to Basics; Pruning Off Excess; Going Deeper (into one’s purpose etc.)”, and so it is for our spiritual wellbeing. We need to return to the core aspects of our faith. In the midst of circumstances frustrating our activity and strategies, there is a call for us to return to basic spiritual disciplines as the norm for follower of Jesus, for dwelling, abiding, remaining rooted in, and drawing life from Jesus (see, John 15). These are all part of what we have been hearing as a fresh call to get serious and repent of our too frequent “lukewarm” approach to being Jesus’ followers (see, Revelation 3:16). The ideal picture is of the roots of a huge tree being so expansive so that the tree can grow to full maturity and reach the height it was designed for came to our minds as an illustration of the benefits of returning to the ancient ways.

2. A New Thing

Doing something new might seem contrary to returning to ancient paths, but verses from Isaiah have echoed through so many times of asking the Lord where and how He is at work today. For example, Isaiah 48:6-7, “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today.” Together with Isaiah 42:9, “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” And 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” The connecting factor is the Lord Himself. He is the Ancient One (see, Daniel 7), and Jesus is the Way to the Father (who is also Truth and Life, John 14:6). The ancient paths lead us to God’s unchanging voice and therein we find new applications for our situations.

The call is to remain dependent on what God is saying to each of us, and all of us, in this moment, and not assume that a word for a previous season is still applicable. No longer able to follow fire and cloud, the leaders of Israel told the people about the new way God was leading them into a new context, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.” (Joshua 3:3-4).

This is a challenge and encouragement from the Lord to dependence on Him in the small decisions and the larger ones. We have much to learn from those involved in church planting movements in sensitive parts of the world who are in need of constant discernment. For their own protection, believers seek the Holy Spirit’s direction on which road to take from their home, or if a particular person they are speaking with is someone who can be trusted. When the stakes are not so high it is easy to rely on what we think we know rather than to depend on the Holy Spirit’s leading (God’s voice) in all that we do. As the wise man said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NRSV).

The Lord is calling His Bride to a greater heart connection of unity and mutual support and service together for His Kingdom purposes.

3. Collaboration

In our missions network ecosystems we keep hearing more and more about the need for greater degrees of partnership and collaboration. Networking is happening across denominations, between churches, mission agencies and mission networks. In the current Ukraine conflict, a sacrificial willingness to collaborate between interconnecting ministries, churches and believers is a wonderful case in point. There is a heightened desire to contribute and accept help from others.

The Lord is calling His Bride to a greater heart connection of unity and mutual support and service together for His Kingdom purposes. There is a tangible increase in multiple “strands” (be it agencies, churches, denominations, ministries, nations, cultures and languages) choosing to stand together and help one another for the Lord’s glory. Sometimes this is around a common goal or vision, like the collaboration we are seeing in Ukraine or in other crisis situations like Afghanistan, Myanmar or elsewhere. Other times it is simply an agreement that prayer unites us, or as “strands” join together on an ongoing basis to serve and work together, for example the Global Family prayer room (see, https://globalfamily24-7prayer.org/).

We are quite right to focus on the Great Commandment and Great Commission, but in recent days Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17 is also coming into fresh focus as the Holy Spirit seems to be underlining the need for “great collaboration”. It is, after all, by our love for one another others will know that we are Jesus’ disciples (John 13:35).

We are also hearing a call for simplicity in our collaborations. Our efforts to mobilise people and resources need to start with simple, small, and scalable strategies for prayer that connect to missionaries and their activities. There is a temptation to produce in-depth resources or comprehensive prayer guides, but there is a danger that such details can be overwhelming, resulting in fewer people participating. This is further underlined by a desire to be more inclusive of all generations, all peoples and all languages. To have material that is accessible to a wide global audience, simplicity and storytelling are essential, with a wide range of mediums utilised for communication and distribution. For example, through social media, video presentations, podcasts, messenger apps, dedicated apps and, even still, print media. 

4. Glocal (Global/Local)

If you are reading this, you have access to the internet, and that means you are globally connected. Whether or not we are actively involved in missions, those of us with global reach have a responsibility to be both ambassadors for Christ globally and obedient praying and witnessing disciples of Jesus locally. We are ‘glocal’ ministers of the gospel.

This trend is not new but is being vocalised and practised in a greater measure. The Global Mobilisation Network (GMN), at their online conference at the beginning of March 2022, underlined this as a trend in missions awareness, recruitment, and sending, which is increasingly being owned by local churches. It was noted that, of course, there is still a very long way to go until all local communities of followers of Jesus increase their commitment to, and involvement in, evangelism, disciple making, and cross-cultural missions; nevertheless, there is still a discernible increase, especially in communities of believers from outside of traditional missionary sending nations (i.e., Western nations).

Another way to describe this is a decentralisation, from agencies or “professional experts in missions and theology”, to grassroots prayer and missions movements, as reflected in indigenous expressions of church, theology and participation in God’s mission.

Now more than ever, God’s people need to know who they can trust, where accurate information can be gleaned, and how to be a people who can be trusted.

5. Children

On a very frequent basis  God reminds me, “don’t forget the children”. I confess that I need reminding, but I am convinced that multigenerational prayer and missions engagement is God’s heart. He has put us in families or households (see, Ps 68:6, Gen 18:19, Acts 11:14, Acts 16:5,33 for some examples). Many ministries that are facilitating children in prayer and mission are seeing great fruitfulness. [1] We also know that a large percentage of believers choose to follow Jesus as children and 40% of the population across Africa are under 15 years old. These biblical precedents and contemporary facts alone make discipling and involving children in God’s mission a very strategic emphasis. [2]

6. Falsity & Lawlessness

In Matthew 24, and especially v10, Jesus speaks of siblings betraying each other and of not knowing who can be trusted. He compared the generation of the Lord’s return to “the days of Noah” (v37), where people do whatever they please and what seems right to them. I mention this as its seems to be a trend on the rise. Sin rampant and the love of many growing cold (v12) is a root cause for social unrest, wars, famine, persecution, and offense between ethnic and other social groups. Now more than ever, God’s people need to know who they can trust, where accurate information can be gleaned, and how to be a people who can be trusted. As we enter prayer rooms alone and together, we also need discernment, compassion, and humility, repentance of prejudice, pride, and selfish ambition, so that we can pray for our broken, distressed, and unpredictable world. Prayer releases power that yields wonderful results (see, James 5:16b).

7. Persecution

Persecution goes hand in hand with the trends already mentioned. There seems to be an increased awareness of the need to learn from those who are suffering, and a growing realisation across the Body of Christ that we are “standing in this together” in that suffering.  When one part of the body suffers we all suffer.

I have witnessed in the life of a good friend and colleague that by prayer God can work transformative miracles in the hearts of those who acknowledge their fears, prejudices, and weaknesses. The Holy Spirit can transform hearts to become more compassionate, loving, generous, and a witness to neighbours who were previously regarded as enemies. All of this was in the context of terror attacks, where authorities were watching out for those who confess and follow Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

One intercessor sensed from the Lord that 2022 would be a tumultuous year with increasing fear, and insecurity, and yet also supernatural connectivity. Another felt that it is a year of the Lord’s favour. These things are not mutually exclusive. In the toughest times we find the most unexpected blessings. The Apostle James (3:13-18) reminds us of what true wisdom looks like, “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18). These are the things we need to cling to as we go through trials and testings. As Jude encourages, we are to pray, encourage each other, and wait, “you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love” (Jude 1:20). For this affirms Jesus’ instruction to, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33).

We need to remember and be encouraged that God is bringing people to Christ in large numbers. The harvest is happening.

8. Harvest

Seasons of harvest in God’s Kingdom often are accompanied by seasons of suffering, discouragement, displacement, and persecution. Jesus said the harvest was ripe while looking at people who were harassed and helpless (Matthew 9:36). Those involved in disciple making movements, where the pattern is to apply the principles that Jesus gave to his disciple in Luke 10 and Matthew 10, are seeing exponential growth and fruitfulness as people from other faith backgrounds turn to follow Jesus. David Garrison’s in his book “Winds in the House of Islam” and the reports from the 24:14 Movement [3] indicate that we are witnessing a global harvest in parts of the world among people groups that have historically had very few believers.

In the intensity of the spiritual battles that we face across the world, we need to remember and be encouraged that God is bringing people to Christ in large numbers. The harvest is happening. This is cause for celebration. Afterall, it is God’s JOY that will sustain us (Nehemiah 8:10) even as we are in a season of active waiting for the Lord’s return. This joy comes from our rootedness and intimacy in prayer with Him, celebrating the harvest that is happening but also looking ahead to the full victory and freedom we know, by faith, is to come. Our strength is renewed and restored as we wait on the Lord in this way (Isaiah 40:31). For so many of us who are weary and heavy laden, we must remember that it is being yoked to the Lord that will lift us (Matthew 11:28) and our zeal will be renewed as we fix our gaze upon Jesus, our beginning and end (Hebrews 12:2).

9. Tech

Since we ‘turned the page on 2022,’ I have increasingly been aware of the desire and enthusiasm from people from all across the world to use technology, social media and apps for God’s mission. Again, this is not new but there is an increase in pace and greater level of collaboration between those with these abilities. Using online tools to better connect, communicate and engage, particularly with unreached people groups, in prayer, for disciple making, and to encourage disciple making movements, is gaining momentum. Assuming the trend can continue (e.g., that the internet remains in place), we will only see these technologies increase our ability to connect with one another and provide digital resources that result in ‘real-world’ impact for Christ.

Conclusion

In Summary, the trends that I see emerging as we walk into 2022 , trends which will determine the future of missions, are prayer dependent. So, we need to be prayer devoted. Devotion to prayer takes us to a place of humility, vulnerability, soul searching, submission, obedience, and mutual accountability with others and before God. There our hearts are transformed and aligned with God’s ancient ways and God’s new plans. It is a moment in history to arise, to stand firm in our God-given authority against the strategies of deception, lies, destruction and death, which come from our great enemy, the Devil (1 Peter 5:8). As we stand firm and take our positions in the authority given to us, our light will shine ever brighter in the darkness. Our pace is established by the eternal pacesetter and our power comes from the Lord Almighty who is powerful in battle and will build his Church. All for God’s glory.

I began my walk with Jesus more than 40 years ago. Today I find myself taking books off my shelf that laid the foundations of my discipleship. David Watsons book Discipleship (1981) reminds us to take God at his word. You will find breath-taking, blockbusting, Bible-based simplicity on every page of this book. Who should read it? “Anyone who wants to be a simple follower of Jesus.” [4] I highly recommend the appendix in this book which has a summary from a Lausanne Occasional Paper written in 1980 [5] highlighting the trends of discernment at that moment in history. Also in 1980, Richard Foster’s book “The Celebration of Discipline” was a book that marked my journey as I discovered from him the basics of being a Christ-follower through spiritual disciplines (see, Addendum below). In 2022, I take a fresh look in the “mirror” and fall face down in repentance at the lack of basic spiritual disciplines applied in my life, having known them for over 40 years.

As I feel challenged, so I believe the Lord is calling His Body to repent, to go back to our first love (Revelation 2:4), and to get serious about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. To obey Him and be like the One who is gentle and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29).  As Leo Tolstoy said “everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing themselves”. [6]

Pray

• For God’s revelation of the paths we are to walk in our day, that map well with the paths walked in ancient times because they are signposted by the everlasting love of the ever-living God.
• For an increased commitment to unity and a collaborative approach to our collective participation in the mission of God.
• That we would be a people who are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we labour in God’s harvest fields.
• That we will be people of prayer, modelling pray to successive generations and utilising every means available to us to pray fervently and faithfully with the global Church.

Footnotes

[1] https://www.ipcprayer.org/ipc-connections/item/14731-africa-last-quarter-evangelism-children-s-prayer-covenant.html

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrV9NoxDAmc Aim Lower, Think Smaller, Give up and go have a cup of coffee.

[3] https://2414now.net/resources/

[4] Foreword from Discipleship- David Watson (1981).

[5] https://lausanne.org/content/lop/lop-20 : 1. Creation, 2. Stewardship, 3. Poverty and Wealth, 4. The New Community, 5. Personal Lifestyle, 6. International Development, 7. Justice and Politics, 8. Evangelism, 9. The Lord’s Return, and Our Resolve.

[6] Richard Foster “The Celebration of Discipline” (1980) p9 

Addendum

What Are Spiritual Disciplines?

The primary requirement is a longing for God (Ps 42: 1,2). Deep calls to Deep (Ps 42:7). They open a door to God’s power, love and grace (Gal 6:8). The Spiritual Disciplines are Lord’s way of getting us onto the ground; they put us where He can work within us and transform us. By themselves the spiritual disciplines can do nothing. They are a means of God’s grace. They bring the abundance of God into our lives.