Truth Connect exists to empower Christian leaders with truth and encourage them in love. Dr. Schreier was in Nassau, Bahamas March 26-30 teaching a Global Missions Seminar to Haitian church leaders and students at the Caribbean Bible Institute. The event was hosted by Bishop Cherelus Exante and the New Haitian Mission Baptist Association.
Session one covered the current status of global evangelization. Students were amazed to learn that of the approximate 7 billion people on earth only 10 percent (700 million) were true believers in Jesus Christ―20 percent (1.4 billion) were nominal adherents to Christianity (e.g. attend church Christmas and Easter only)―40 percent (2.8 billion) have heard the gospel but are unresponsive―and, 30 percent (2.1 billion) have virtually no exposure to the gospel and are considered “unreached”. More stunning to them was the distribution of Christian missionaries and resources: only 1 in 10 missionaries focus on this 30 percent of unreached people and less than 1 penny of every dollar given by Chrisitans goes to reach them. Students were stunned to learn these numbers and asked “Why is this?” A good question, don’t you think?
Session two looked at the difference between mission and missions. Mission is God’s sovereign work and plan of redemption founded on his own eternal plan and for his own eternal glory and is also known as missio dei. The focus of missio dei is God and His glory. The fact that all people do not know of God, His glory and love for them, is the focus of missions―the obedient, Spirit led and Biblically mandated work of the church which involves strategy and implementation of plans to bring God’s mission in the world to fruition. By way of illustration, consider Coke. The vision of Coke is to put a Coke product into the hand of every person on the planet―that is Coke’s mission. To accomplish this will take much planning, personel, resources, and hard work―or, missions.
Session three covered missions’ methodology. The primary example of sharing the love of God and exposing people to missio dei was found in Jesus’ Two Hands Ministry Model. With one hand Jesus reached out and said, “Come, follow Me” (Mk.1:17). This is the hand of truth that exposes people to Christ’s gospel of repentence, forgiveness, healing, and love. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing …, and teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). Jesus also reached out and touched many people with the hand of compassion. For example, when He saw a leper, He was moved with compassion, and touched the man―healing him instantly (Mk.1:40-42). Over the centuries the Church has practiced Jesus’ Two Hands Model very effectively. It has only been in the past two centuries that Christians have focused on one hand (social gospel-acts of compassion with little/no gospel truth) or the other (win souls-little/no acts of compassion). The Church has begun to more effectively practice Jesus’ Two Hands Model over the past few decades.
Session four examined Jesus’ philosophy ministry―love. This is revealed clearly in Matthew 22:37-40 where Jesus repsonded to a lawyer’s challenge to state which law was greatest. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and formost commandment. The second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets depend on these two commandments.” The entire Bible is distilled down to these two principles: Love God―Love Man. How does one love God? Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15, 23-24). How does one love his fellow man? By choosing to do what is best for the one loved. Jesus illustrated this by laying down his life to provide a way for people to be forgiven and find restoration through faith in Him(see 1 John 3:16-20). On these two commands depends (literally, “hangs”) the entire Bible. Imagine a huge and heavy castle door that swings open and shut on two hinges. If one hinge or the other is broken, the door does not work as intended. Jesus said “love for God” is one hinge and “love for people” is the other hinge and both must be working for the Bible to work as intended (1 John 4:20-21).
At the conclusion of the seminar week, student comments were, “We never knew these things. How can we make a difference in helping the “unreached” peoples?” They were truly moved to learn that so many people have yet to hear of God, His glory, and His Savior. They were challenged to somehow follow the lead of the Chinese, Koreans, Brazilians, Nigerians and many others who are sending missionaries and funds to the unreached. To learn more about unreached people groups visit www.joshuaproject.net. You may also request a PDF copy of Dr. Schreier’s essay titled, “Christian Ministry and the Poor – A Biblical Foundation.” It includes Jesus’ philosophy of ministry and Jesus’ Two Hands Ministry Model. Send your request to don@truthconnect.org.
