The Pastor's Global Network

Training our laity

Writes a pastor from India, "Our people need to believe and practice Ephesians 4:11-16. We also need to educate them that in order to be involved in the Lord's work and in the spreading of the gospel, one does not have to be a full-time missionary or evangelist. We all have to do the work of an evangelist wherever we are.... Since we are not able to bring people to our churches to give them the Gospel, we now need to take the Gospel to the market place, to our offices, schools, colleges, neighborhoods, shops, etc., We need to teach them creative means of sharing the Gospel and provide all the needed training and resources to do it."

Our laity are our "frozen asset" who need to be "defrosted." Moreover, if this world is ever to be evangelized, that can only be done by "ordinary believers who scatter the Word of God."

A questionnaire was circulated to over 460 pastors in different parts of the world. Among the 14 questions asked, there were those that sought answers to items such as current realities, likely trends, dreaming/vision, factors in favor or and against the fulfillment of the vision, setting up of priorities, long range plans, action plans and go forward structure. The responses revealed that a fair percentage of the churches have thought in terms of setting faith goals for AD 2000. Among the rest of them there was awakened in them a desire to make similar plans and to work towards implementing the same. One area of weakness was the lack of facilities, personnel and other resources to disciple new converts. The responses also indicated that an effective church, especially in the economically deprived countries, cannot afford to ignore its social responsibility. This of course, is in keeping with the expected result as noted in the Purpose Statement of the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement, namely, "the establishment of a mission-minded (not exclusively missions-minded) church-planting movement so that all peoples might have a valid opportunity to experience the love of Jesus Christ in fellowship with other believers."

More importantly, the responses revealed that the concepts of unreached peoples and of the responsibility devolving on local churches to adopt these unreached peoples (so as to establish a mission-minded church-planting movement among them) is gaining ground. Concern for reaching countries and cities is also being evidenced in a greater measure than ever before. Indeed, the climate for furthering the vision of the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement, namely, a church for every people and the gospel for every person by AD 2000, has never been more favorable than at present. Therefore, the Pastors Global Network, by enabling grace of God, will seek to do the following:

• To mobilize the resources of the local churches to whatever extent possible and to make these available to other agencies who are directing their efforts to reaching Affinity Blocs of Peoples, "Gateway" peoples and cities;
• To assist in developing a unified strategy of systematic and saturation evangelism to ensure that every person in every country will have the opportunity to hear or read the gospel in their own language or in a language that they can understand.

More specifically, the Pastors' Network will:

• Encourage Pastors to convene in their churches Consultations on the AD 2000 vision;
• Encourage Pastors to form an AD 2000 Task Force or Committee which will initiate selection and adoption of an unreached people group. This will involve obtaining its profile from agencies such as Adopt-A-People Clearing House, mobilizing prayer support on its behalf and challenging church members to go as missionaries and providing financial support for them. Also to challenge those with secular skills to serve as tentmakers among the adopted unreached people.
• Encourage Pastors to link up with fellow pastors in their neighborhood or city so as to spread the AD 2000 vision through united prayer efforts and Praise Marches for Jesus.

F. B. Meyer, that great English Baptist preacher once said, "The Church which is not a missionary church will be a missing church when Jesus comes." The Pastors Network commits itself to partnering with other Networks in the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement and also with other agencies in seeing that the local churches of the world do not become missing bodies when Jesus comes.