THE SCOPE OF MISIOJVS
Ed ited b y Oran H . Smith Chairman, Dept, of Missions, Biola Bible College
The Weak I.ink In the Missionary Chain Ralph T . Davis*
ered as big business. Missionary work is no simple matter. It is a tremen dous undertaking and calls for an en larged vision on the part of all who enter into it, especially those who are the contributing link of the work. The missionary link of which we speak is not weak because of intent, but because we and those who form it have failed to give proper place to matters mentioned here. We ifeel that the time has come to challenge our friends, especially our pastor friends, to join with us in a proper consideration of all details that con tribute to the strengthening of the missionary chain. heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14). Do we as Christians want to see the hand of God released for the healing of this land? Then let us pay the price for it. Does the land need healing? All agree that it does. “ Shintoism is be ing revived as in the former days,’ ’- Says one newspaper. Under the leadership of Dr. Bob Cook, President of Youth for Christ International, the World Congress on Evangelism will be held in Tokyo, August 9-16. Christian leaders from around the world are expected to join together for prayer and instruction in the Word. Experiences, opportunities and problems of the various mission fields will be discussed. The Congress will be followed by a concentrated program of evangelism throughout the vast city of Tokyo among its more than seven million inhabitants. “ So shall they fear the name of the LORD. . . and his glory from the RISING OF THE SUN. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall ‘put hitn to flight.’ ” CONTINUED ► 27 *General Secretary o f the Africa Inland Mission. Taken from "Inland A frica" by permission.
Holy Spirit it will count for naught, but it is bur purpose here to present the other side of the work. The idea prevails that we merely leave these shores with the Word of God to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ to someone in a dis tant land. Our friends fail to realize all of the complications that are in volved to make this possible. Once we leave these shores we are aliens in a foreign land. Passports and visas, transportation of workers and goods, business details in the receipt and dis bursement of funds, proper conduct in foreign lands before governments and in relation to other missions, the or ganization to care for the effective ministry of the society’s work as such, all necessitate what may be consid- ccording to the Christian calendar, this is the “ year of our Lord, 1953.” In contrast, the religious tradition of the Japanese refers to it as the “ year of the serpent, 28.” Those who know Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour know that the power of the serpent has been broken. Christ, on the cross, fulfilled the Ver dict that was leveled against the devil in Genesis. “ The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head.” His has been a fatal blow. The enemy is a defeated foe. In the power of Christ, the child of God meets and overcomes the satanic powers. Let this year of our Lord indeed be a year of unprecedented spiritual vic tories in Japan. Let us pray that this year the supernatural power of the Gospel shall be felt across the length and breadth of this great nation. The key to the release of this power rests within the grasp of those who name the name of Christ. The Word de clares: “ If my people, which afe called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will
chain is no stronger than its weak est link. The missionary chain that we visualize is made up of three links—the personnel now on the field, the oncoming missionary force, and the home constituency. Only as these three links unite and work effectively can the gospel reach out to the re gions beyond from a home center on fire for God. If one of these links is weak, the whole chain will be no stronger than it is. It is our firm conviction that the weak link in the missionary chain is the home constituency, and we realize that it is weak largely be cause of leadership that has been given to it. This would indicate that the situation is largely in the hands of the pastors of our nation. If these dear brethren are contributing to the weakness of this link, we should realize also that missionary leaders have not considered sufficiently the missionary-hearted pastor. They have not devoted an adequate amount of time to instruct him in the work ings of missions. Today situations in the mission fields have become so acute, demands so pressing, opportunities so challeng ing, that for us to fail would be tragic indeed. The missionary link that rep resents those on the field is, to our inind, one of the strongest that has been known. In almost every , area we find those who have given long years to such ministry, aided by a new group who have .been wonder fully prepared for ministry in these momentous days. Glancing at those who are ready to set forth, we doubt that we have ever been privileged to have such a well-qualified group of workers. The fact that we live in a time when schools have seen the necessity of becoming accredited has. worked for a more efficient teaching staff, a more carefully prepared curriculum, and an added number of subjects to prepare workers for specific tasks. It would seem that missions are better prepared than ever to meet all that they face. We are taking for granted the aspect that, though we have all of this, without the energizing of the A U G U S T 1 9 5 3
World Congress in Japan
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