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Why the focus on tribal people?

Missionary Brad Bruser, missionary-translator-church-planter to the Itari people in New Guinea, told of a lesson his father taught him from his career as a Marine.  The rule in the military is, “When in doubt as to what to do, always default to the last order given.”  The last order given by our Savior was to carry the news of what Jesus did on the cross to every last ethnos, people group on earth.  After 2,000 years His Church  still has not completed this task.

Remember: the Great Commission has a dual focus that must be kept in balance – preaching the gospel to every creature (Mk 16) and making disciples of every ethnic group on earth (Matt 20).  96% of all Christian outreach and resources are targeted to nominal Christians! Less than 4% are targeting the Unreached People Groups (UPGs)– that, admittedly, are the most difficult people to reach on earth.  It must be clearly understood that we don’t get involved in this immense task because we feel like it or naturally want to do it or have some mystical impression that we are the ones to do it.  We commit ourselves to accomplish the task simply because our Lord asked us to do it.

Somehow we think we have to reach every person in our people group first, like North Americans, before we can get interested in a neighboring people group.  Yet Jesus wants EVERY people group to know of His sacrifice for them.  Don’t we owe it to the Lord to make sure every tribe and UPG has at least one functioning reproducing community of believers or churches that balance their outreach among their people group and their neighboring people group, etc.

This is what Paul meant when he said, “I am obligated both to the Greeks [my people group] and to the non-Greeks [non-Greek speaking UPGs]” (Rom 1:14).  It wasn’t that he liked doing it, wanted to do it, or felt good about doing it that motivated him.  Paul owed so much to Christ for his forgiveness and he was so grateful for it, he was willing to take on the mission of getting the message out to where no one had ever been before.

Today there are approximately 2,600 UPGs that are totally unreached with the gospel today.  This group amounts to about 1,870,000 people (almost 1/3 of the world’s population).  Of this group almost 1,200 are tribal groups isolated in remote corners of the world.  Almost half of the UPGs are tribal people.  All of these have not been reached to this date, because they are often the most difficult to get to, or live among, and the most challenging to be able to communicate the gospel.  

August 4-11 Liberty University’s Center for Global Ministries has organized a Jungle Camp training in alliance with New Tribes Mission, the largest and most experienced church planting ministry among tribal people in the world.  

Our students are being put through a week of training that exposes them to the challenges and difficulties they will face in going to a UPG where no one has ever been.  Sleeping in hammocks in the woods, cooking on an open fire, listening to seven experienced missionaries tell and show how they lived with tribal Indians.  

Jungle Camp takes place in a mock-up of a Yanomamo village that has been built in a gym (but you would never know it).  When the missionaries enter the “village” they no longer are missionaries, rather are Yanomano Indians. Everything is there: authentic hammocks, campfires, blow-guns, cooking utensils, thatched roof, smoke, dirt floor, actual sounds and weapons for hunting and warfare.  Our students are treated just as the Indians would treat them in their village and are given an assignment to solicit key vocabulary and phrases from the Indian dialect (missionary actors in Indian dress).  

This entails getting used to cultural differences such as food (like cooking burying your food on hot stones as below) expressions of affection, dress, how to express yourself, behavioral norms, patterns of thought, values in culture, and economic [poverty] norms.  Every culture is different.  One’s level of discomfort is the level of one’s mono-cultural bias.  How to not be weird in another culture is a challenging experience.  

We must pay the price to “become all things to all people, that by all means some may be saved” (1 Cor 9:22).  Are you ready to get the training to reach the world for Christ?  Is your life worth more to you than the desire [command] of our Lord Jesus to tell every tribe before He comes again? (Matt 24:14).
Posted at 9:54 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Honor to Whom Honor is Due

Today I drove by a Memorial Cemetery on the Pensacola Naval Air Station that went on for acre after acre of thousands of identical rounded white tombstones lined up in perfect and final formation.  It is very important to any military person to know that his sacrifice for the country not only made a difference, but also that it will never be forgotten.  Anyone giving their life for the service of our country deserves an honorable resting place. 

I could not help but think of the unmarked graves of Jim Elliott, Nate Saint and the other three men who were killed trying to reach the infamous “Auca” Indians in Ecuador or of countless other missionaries who gave the strength of their youth and life just to share the good news of Christ’s amazing sacrifice on the cross for sinful mankind. They well know that to give your life for Christ with the inner motivation to be praised and remembered by men is selfish, prideful and disqualifies a person from ever receiving any recognition before Christ (Matt 6:1-18).  But they are human and sometimes a little recognition is a good thing.  No one likes to think that their sacrifice will be forgotten or never appreciated. 

D. L. Moody told the story of a senior missionary couple returning to the states after forty years in Africa where they had labored in the bush country among two tribal peoples.  They had seen hundreds come to Christ over the years, and churches planted in village after village.  Only two or three others had any idea of what they had accomplished.  They, too, paid a dear price in their service.  Two of their children had been buried prematurely from fevers contracted in the jungles and for the rest of their lives they would carry parasites for which there was no cure.  Exhausted and wasted bodies they were now about to disembark from their ship in New York’s harbor.  

They noticed how the band was playing and the crowd was cheering for some special people that were on board of their ship.  With flashing cameras and great fanfare these famous people were received, but as they scanned the rest of the crowd there was no one there to welcome them home. 
As his wife looked up at her beloved husband she saw a tear fall from his eyes and she knew what he was thinking.  She simple said to him, “Honey, its okay.  We aren’t home yet.”  

She was right. Jesus promised us that anything done for His glory and for His kingdom will never be forgotten.  Those who sacrifice in His service sharing the good news of what He gave the world through His death on the cross are promised that “an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,  will be richly provided for you” (2 Peter 1:11).  We can’t even imagine what this will mean.  The believer never has to worry about his life of serving the King will go unnoticed or not remembered by Him. No memorial on earth can compare to what these words mean: “Wait until the Lord comes…then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Cor 4:5).  This is the greatest honor a human being could ever receive.  Posted at 1:55 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Some friends of ours were visiting us in a lovely mountain retreat in North Carolina. After dinner we were talking casually when out of the blue this retired Army colonel asked me, “Don, I’d like to know why you ever got involved in missions?”  I answered him smiling, “Are you just asking, or do you really want to know?”  He said, “I really want to know.”

“Okay,” I said, “it all began when an old-maid Spanish teacher I had in high school invited me for lunch one Saturday afternoon when I was 16.”  My best buddy and she had arranged this meeting, since she had talked with him two weeks before and he claimed that he would never be the same.
“As I walked in the door she handed me a folded piece of paper that I later learned was a gospel tract.  It said, ‘ARE YOU COUNTING ON ANY OF THESE FOR YOUR SALVATION?’  then listed ten items:

<>  My good outweigh my bad
<>   Doing a good deed daily
<>  Having a lot of friends
<>  Going to church (at least occasionally)
<>  Being baptized
<>  Trying to do the Ten Commandments
<>   Doing the best I can
<>   Not hurting anyone else
<>   Being honest (as much as possible)
<>   Loving other people

“Then at the bottom of the page it said, ‘IF YOU ARE …’ (You had to turn the page where it said in bold print) ‘…YOU ARE LOST.’  That was pretty confusing to me since I had checked off each one of the items, thinking if anyone was going to make it to heaven I was. What a shock it was to read that I was LOST.

“I continued reading to discover that salvation was not what we do, but by his grace we are saved, without any works, so that no man can boast (Eph 2:8-9).” I explained to my friend how that I was thinking I was pretty good (that’s boasting) in spite of the bad things I did.

Then I asked him, “Do you think you are a good person?”  “Yes, pretty good,” he responded. I knew then that he did not understand the gospel.  “Well, could I ask you a few questions to see if you could pass muster?” I asked.  They both answered, “Sure, go ahead.”

“Have you ever told a lie?” I said.  “Yea, and not a few,” he said smiling.  “What does that make you?” I asked.  He finally put two and two together to say, “A liar,” getting more serious.

“That’s correct. Have you ever taken anything that was not yours?” I asked.  “Yes.”  “What does that make you?” I asked again. “A thief,” he painfully responded.

“Have you ever lusted after someone that was not your wife?” I asked, explaining that Jesus taught that lust in our heart is the same as adultery. “Yes,” he said and anticipating the next question said, “and that makes me an adulterer.”  He then added, “This is getting serious and pretty painful.”  
I said, “You are right and that is only 3 of the 10 commandments.  But it is worse,” I emphasized, “if a 15 year-old murdered someone, would he still be a murderer at 55 years of age, even if he never murdered anyone else?”  “Of course,” he responded.  I said, “It is the same with lying, stealing and adultery.  Once you have committed them, they don’t go away.  Doing any amount of good will not erase our bad deeds.”

“Oh my God,” he exclaimed, “there has got to be a way out of this situation!” I chuckled inwardly at his serious outburst of awareness of the conviction of his sins. I said, “That is why God sent Jesus to die on the cross.  God is a loving God and wants to forgive, but is also a Just God and must punish sin.  Either you take the punishment yourself or allow God to punish Jesus for your sins.  It’s your choice.” I concluded, “If you’ll say ‘Yes’ to Jesus, He’ll come into your life right now and be your Savior forever.”  

Then he jumped to his feet came over and hugged me, whispering in my ears, “Thank you, thank you, Don.  You have no idea what this means to me. I finally understand the gospel. Yes, I receive Jesus.”  Tears were flowing for several minutes.

I concluded my answer to his original question, “You’ve just heard the Greatest Story every told.  Now to you see why I love telling it to people who don’t understand it or who have never heard it before?  It is the same response in the jungles among the tribes as in the university campus in Bogota, Colombia or Buenos Aires, Argentina.  People need to know and trust what Jesus did on the cross.  There is nothing more important than getting this message to the whole world.”   

“Now I understand,” he said, “and thank you so much for telling me.” Posted at 10:20 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

The Jerry Falwell I knew

I was sitting in a restaurant in Lynchburg with Dr Falwell and key leaders of the ministry discussing a strategy for a multi-million dollar fundraising project and future building changes for the church and university. We had finished the heavy conversation and were enjoying “batting around”  baseball scores and player statistics when a man walked up to the table.

Dressed in wrinkled kakis, a shirt half tucked in and half out, a several day-old beard, a cigarette in one hand and a beer can in the other, the man breaks into our conversation, “Excuse me, Are you Jerry Falwell?”  Everyone braced for what might happen next. 

Dr. Falwell gave him his full attention.  With a slight slur the man continued, “I’ve always been a fan of yours, but I’d like to ask a favor of you.”  Jerry responded, “Sure, I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

“Well, you see I’ve got a friend who needs some help.  He was in the war (Viet Nam) and got pretty messed up, lost his family, got on drugs, and now he is diagnosed with cancer. He doesn’t have much more time to live.  He lives in a run-down trailer park and doesn’t care about living anymore.  Doc, would you be able to go visit him to encourage him a little?”

“Sure I would,” taking out a paper from his pocket he asked, “What is his name and address?”  The shocked visitor did not really expect such an immediate positive response, but said, “Well, it is a small trailer that is pretty unkept and dirty.”  Jerry said, “That doesn’t make any difference, I’ll go see him.”  The man gave Jerry the name of the Trailer Park and the address of the trailer.  The man couldn’t believe Jerry would be willing to go visit his friend.

A week later I heard one of his assistants relate that indeed, Dr. Falwell did go visit this war veteran, who lived as miserably described or worse.  He spent thirty minutes in his trailer and led the man to Christ.  Someone told the ministry that two months later the man died of cancer.

Oddly, nothing more was ever said of this encounter.  As I have talked to others of his close staff, there are hundreds of such stories that only a few know about.  Dr. Falwell was not the bragging kind.  He was just as comfortable sharing the gospel with a poor alcoholic as speaking on a national television program to millions, or speaking with clarity God’s truths to the President of the United States … often in the same day.

This is the Jerry Falwell that I knew, loved and had the honor of serving in the ministry at Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University. 

Posted at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

       The power of intimidation and fear of rejection has crippled believers throughout the ages.  We become so fearful of being criticized, ostracized or left out, or made fun of, that we are willing to go along with the crowd and keep silent instead of speaking up for Christ and the Bible. This summer, when the restraints of Christian accountability are lifted, will be a time of character-building and a realistic self-appraisal of your genuine commitment to Christ.
       To a church in Smyrna Jesus sent a message, “Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown into prison so you may be tested, and you will experience suffering… Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself” (Rev 2:10). 
       There are 400 references to fear in the Bible, both positive fear and negative.  Paul wrote that “God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7).  Any thought or motive that encourages fearfulness, weakness, selfishness or uninhibited impulsiveness does not come from God’s Spirit.  God wants us to be bold and unashamed of His wisdom, His salvation and His Name. 
      During an extremely difficult time in Zimbabwe it was very risky to be identified as a Christian.  A young unknown African pastor in 1990 was killed for his faith.  Later investigations found his papers in his humble home in Zimbabwe after he was martyred.  One of his papers included what has become one of the clearest declarations of true faithfulness to Christ ever written.  Could you write and sincerely mean this pastor’s Commitment to the Fellowship of the Unashamed?

    “I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
     My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.
     I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.
     My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.
     I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.
      I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
     I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.
     I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!”

If Jesus comes this summer, will He recognize your colors?

Posted at 10:06 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Options in Missions

Judging from the types of questions that I get asked, it appears that most people have a stereotype image of what it means to be a “missionary.”  Usually this image is antiquated, out-of-date, pith helmet, almost ascetic life-style and, worse of all, boring!  Nothing could be further from the reality of serving Christ internationally. 

I’ve been a jungle pilot-mechanic, dentist, writer, publisher, businessman, builder, community developer, in addition to being a teacher, teacher-trainer, pastor, evangelist, and Christian School founder.  Has it been fun and exciting beyond the challenge of the work?  Beyond description!  The years of our ministry have been one adventure after another.  Boring?  I have never had a hint of being bored a single day of our whole career.  Since I gave my whole life to Christ to use as He saw fit, it has been a fantastic ride!

The opportunities for different creative ministries are unlimited.  However, the types of ministries internationally tend to fall into three major categories.  At least, one of these three areas should be one’s primary focus of preparation.

1. Mobilizing and Church Planting in “Reached People Groups.”  The term “reached” group does not mean that everyone has heard the gospel, much less are saved.  A “reached” people group is one where the gospel has been proclaimed, churches are established within that people group that are indigenous and the churches are capable of reproducing themselves.  The need in this people group is for extended Bible training, mobilization to evangelize and plant new churches.  The language of this people group is already in written form, Bibles are translated and Christian books are already in this language. Examples of this first mission focus would be ministries among the peoples in Spanish, French, Hindi, Chinese, Tai, etc. 

Courses taught at Liberty University to equip for this ministry focus include Biblical Studies, Cross Cultural ministries, Urban Evangelism and Church planting ministries, Teaching English as a Second Language,  Mission Relationships, Leadership Development and Church-based Leadership Training (formerly Theological Training by Extension).  Likewise background training in major religions: Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, cults and world religions in general, whichever is the most applicable.

2. Pioneer Evangelism-Discipleship-Church Planting among “Unreached People Groups” (called UPGs).  Though the function of evangelism and discipleship is the same, the context and techniques required among UPGs are quite different.  This ministry focus may require learning two languages (a national language and a UPG language).  UPGs can range from primitive tribal groups in the jungle to rural people groups scattered throughout many different countries.  There are 54 people groups in Colombia, and about 1,800 people groups in India!  Some of these groups are poli-lingual, meaning that they speak several languages, thus could possibly be reached by a language spoken in common; however, the majority only speak their own language.  These languages must be broken down linguistically, put into written forms, then the Bible translated into these newly written languages.  The people then must be taught to read the Bible in their own language as well as to read the national language. 

Courses taught at Liberty University to equip for this ministry focus include Cultural Anthropology, Language Learning for the Field Worker, Linguistics, Jungle Camp, Chronological Bible Storying,     Likewise background training in major religions: Animism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, cults and world religions in general.

3. Service and Support Ministries that facilitate the previous two categories of missionaries as well as meeting the pressing needs of the Nationals.  The missionary Support ministries can range from Christian Schools, medical, dental and health ministries, aviation service, and technical and computer services.  The Service ministry focus toward or with nationals include “tentmaking” (business ministries, usually for a salary) and “platform” ministries (serving the needs of the Nationals by coaching, teaching English or other skills, etc., usually without pay).   Virtually any career field or Certificate program is applicable in this category of missions. (Watch for further descriptions of the Certificate Programs at LU and the Center for Global Ministries in this blog).  In addition to the technical training of a specific career field, the missionary should likewise be trained in Bible, discipleship, house-church ministries and cross cultural understanding.

Courses taught at Liberty University to equip for this ministry include any number of career fields, multiple Certificate programs, plus up to thirty hours of Biblical Studies and as many Intercultural Studies as your schedule permits.  Of all the courses at LU the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) is one of the most useful tools around the globe.  The six-week Certificate program in the summer is highly recommended.

A fourth area of training in missions through the Center for Global Ministries is the Missions Pastor’s program.  Missions must begin in the local church, but few, if any, schools offer a Missions Pastor’s track of study to mobilize the American churches for world evangelization and church planting.  This program is presently under development in the Center for Global Ministries. 

Some begin as a missionary then, when and if, they return to the US their background can equip them for an ongoing ministry in a local church to mobilize churches and Christian Schools to catch a world vision and discover their part in the greatest task ever undertaken: fulfilling the Great Commission of our Savior. 

Posted at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

The Call: what is it?

The confusion over whether I am called into the ministry or the mission field has been a major source of discouragement for some to pursue a world impact ministry.  Dozens of students have told me that they don’t feel called into missions so have never considered that they may have a role to play in God’s plan.  There are three views on this issue: a mystical call, a volunteerism candidate approach and an invitation to a ministry.

First of all, the mystical call is the most common belief.  It presupposes that Christ began to call His disciples to follow Him in the Gospels, and has continued to call His servants throughout the ages.  As He called His disciples in Matt 4:18-22 to follow Him and they immediately left their fishing and became His disciples, so many expect such a “call” today.  Perhaps some are fearful of getting close to the Lord, for fear of sensing such a call, which they might not want to face.

Reportedly it may take a number of different forms such as listening to someone preach on world missions and the Holy Spirit brings a deep conviction to a person’s heart that he must go to the foreign field, to a variety of ways that providentially God indicates he should go overseas. This can include a feeling of “heart peace” about going to a foreign country, a voice calling a person or an inner urging to go to an unreached area.  It could be seeing a sign in a circumstantial event like seeing a Cambodian in a National Geographic magazine and sensing God’s call to Cambodia.  Anyone who doesn’t have one of these special subjective calls feels that he is “off the hook” with no responsibility to the world.  There is little or no biblical precedence for this kind of a call, in spite of its popularity.

Secondly, a call is interpreted in one’s willingness to volunteer to take on the task of reaching a part of the unevangelized world.  Paul referred to the first requirement for going into the ministry as one who “desires, aspires, strives for” or wants to be an overseerer or pastor (1 Tim 3:1), without any indication of a subjective call.   Peter made it clear that the chief motivation of an elder or pastor was to serve willingly (Gk. “of one’s own accord, deliberately, intentionally,” 1 Pet 5:2).  That is, some one perceives a need that the Lord said He wanted to be met (a church needing leadership, or a people group that needs to hear the gospel) and volunteers to commit himself to meet that need for Christ’s glory. 

When Paul referred to being responsible for the gospel becoming known throughout the Roman Empire, he stated that “if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward…” (Gk. “unforced, of one’s own free will,” 1 Cor 9:17).  This perspective is similar to Isaiah’s response to hearing God say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf? Then I said “Here am I! Send me” (Isa 6:8).  Most of the decisions that Paul made for strategic steps in evangelizing his world have no indication of any subjective voice or feeling, just a recognition of his responsibility that was followed by a commitment to do something voluntarily.

This decision should be wisely made following an analysis of your SHAPE (spiritual gifts, heart desire, abilities, personality and experience) to know your strengths and capabilities.  Likewise it should follow an analysis of the world situation to determine where the evangelistic needs are that you could meet, if you were willing.  Then an analysis of the circumstances to determine which of the existing opportunities would be the most strategic to attempt through the grace and power of God on your life.  If there is nothing impeding you from reaching an unevangelized people for Christ, why not volunteer?  Make every effort to go to that people and if you have yielded God full responsible for your life, then He will open doors, close doors and guide you just where He wants you. 

Thirdly, the chief way a person should move into a ministry position is by invitation.  This view sees the calling of the disciples by Jesus as a model for leaders to follow.  This means that Jesus is not continuing an on-going process of calling individuals through mystical means, but rather present leaders should follow Jesus’ model by looking for “faithful people who will be competent to teach others” (2 Tim 2:2) then disciple, teach and mentor them into key ministries, especially global ministries. 

In the NT outside of the twelve (Matt 10:1), the seventy (Lk 10:1) and Paul (Acts 9), who else was called directly by Jesus into the ministry?  Is there any indication that anyone else had a subjective feeling that motivated them into the ministry?  Quite the contrary, everyone else was either invited by their local church or another ministry leader to join them in a broader ministry. 

In Acts 6 the church invited seven men to a ministry of serving in the church.  In Acts 11 Barnabas was sent by his church to Antioch (11:22) with no hint of any prerequisite of a subjective call by Barnabas.  In Acts 11:25 Barnabas goes to Tarsus to seek out Saul [Paul] to invite him to join him in the ministry. In Acts 13 the church sent Paul and Barnabas out to evangelize the Gentiles.  In Acts 16 the brethren “spoke well” (Gk. “confirm, or approve”) to Paul about Timothy’s local ministry so Paul invited him to join him in the spreading of the gospel throughout the known world, etc., etc. 

Everyone is commanded to be a part of the ministry of evangelism, discipleship and their church edification.  Those who are faithful locally should be encouraged by everyone to pursue further training and/or be given broader opportunities to expand their ministries. 

This presupposes that existing leaders have a clear vision of world evangelism and personally sense the responsibility of choosing people, seeing to their training and then recruiting the most talented, mature and gifted people to the task which best fits them with the priority of fulfilling the Great Commission.  This is the model Jesus left to evangelize the world.

The subjective call leaves God responsible for evangelizing the world, the volunteer call makes individuals responsible for fulfilling the Great Commission and the invitation call makes the existing church/ministry leadership responsible for recruiting people to build His Church among every tongue, tribe and nation.  Jesus told his disciples to “Go into all the world and make disciples …” (Matt 28:19).

Don’t hide behind an excuse waiting for a feeling.  Get involved now in learning God’s heart for the lost, experience the joy of leading someone to Christ, and seek to make a difference in a local church.  Then ask God to guide you to someone in order to repeat this experience somewhere else in the world. Start the chain and it will encircle the globe.

Posted at 8:47 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Jungle Camp Training

One of the many innovations that we are instituting in our Inter Cultural Studies program is the optional Jungle Camp Training.  We have offered this course for the past three years, two in the wooded mountains near Lynchburg and last year in the jungles of Ecuador.  The latter was very realistic, but too expensive. 

New Tribes Mission for years has held one of their Jungle Camp training at Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.  They have consolidated their training in their Missouri camp and have revamped the Jersey Shore area for training and mobilization.  Perfect for our needs. 

This past week I flew up with flight instructor Jeff Burnham, and our Internship Director, Lucky Billings.  The facility and program are perfect for the training of our course. Six or more veteran missionaries who have worked with a variety of Unreached People Groups (UPG henceforth) from savage to sophisticated will be leading daily instruction and discussions.  

Several of the instructors have led difficult and challenging contact works with risky tribes.  Some have just been forced off the field by the president of Venezuela.  They had been working with the Yanomomo tribe, a very wild and difficult tribe that stretches across Venezuela into Brazil.  You’ll see photos, videos, and listen to amazing stories of how the Gospel was planted among this warring tribe.  If wisdom and perseverance are the keys to reaching the most difficult tribe, which skills can be learned, then anyone who walks with God can be an instrument to reach more UPGs.

Here is what we are proposing:  Jungle Camp (ICST 485) will be taught at the New Tribe Mission Jungle Training facility at Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania the last week of summer (August 4-11), before coming back to campus.  The course will have two parts: (1) the hands-on experience at Jersey Shore led by a team of experienced tribal missionaries and (2) a 15 page research paper presented in the Fall semester.  Because of this later requirement, the course will be officially offered in the Fall semester, with a required summer component.  

This will enable you to add 3 credit-hours to your 15 credit-hour normal load in the Fall, thus this course will not cost you any addition tuition expense.  However, there will be a $250 cost to the course due to expenses at the on-site facility.  Transportation back to Liberty at the conclusion of the course will be arranged or provided by the Center for Global Ministries. 

Why all the emphasis on UPGs and tribes?  Of the approximate 2,500 UPGs that remain to be reached with the Gospel, more than 1,000 are tribal people living in isolated and difficult terrain.  This environment requires a special training and a spiritual-emotional maturity level that can handle the difficulties inevitably encountered.  We attempt to introduce the student to this knowledge and experience during Jungle Camp week.  

Fifty percent of the world is now living in large urban centers, which require another set of ministry skills we introduce students to in other courses.  However, this means that the other fifty percent of the world lives in rural and primitive conditions.  Nearly all of the UPGs are in this latter fifty percentile.  

If we accept the mandate from our Lord in any literal sense, it means we are responsible to take the Gospel to every “tongue, and tribe and nation” (ethnos, or “ethnic people group” – not a geopolitical country).  We are to give every People Group the opportunity to hear the Gospel in their language, culture and surroundings.  

This is the beachhead that must be penetrated before the mass effort of spreading the Good News to everyone can be effective.  We can never reach every person in the world, but we can make the Gospel available to every UPG who can then be equipped to reach every person within their ethno-linguistic group.  Anyone interested in joining this extreme team? Sign up for ICST 485, Jungle Camp Training, and see us in RH 120 for the most exciting 3 credit-hours you ever took at Liberty University.

Posted at 11:12 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

First Missions Movie Night

The Center for Global Ministries has launched a new mission activity: Once a month we will be showing one of the classic mission movies in the Mission Room in Dorm 17. 

 

 Tonight the showing was The End of the Spear, the story of the five men who gave their lives on the Curaray River in to reach the Waodoni Indians in 1956.  This savage group of Indians who knew nothing but killings, fear and vengeance as a way of life found themselves facing five brave missionaries who only wanted to love and help them, but their fear drove the Waodoni to kill any threat before the threat killed them. 

 

 Elizabeth Elliot, wife of Jim Elliot, one of the five men killed on the sandbar, wrote the story of how God had led all five men to that point and time which will be remembered forever in the annals of mission history.  For the next thirty or forty years the vast majority of missionaries who went to the field had read their story and were highly motivated by their dedication and courage, as this author was.

 

 Following their death, Rachel Saint (sister of pilot, Nate Saint) and Elizabeth Elliot and her daughter, along with a former Waodoni Indian informant, Rachel’s language helper, walked from Arajuno (the last town on the edge of the jungle) four days through the jungle to reach the Waodoni settlement (know in those days as the “Aucas,” or “savage” in the Quechua language). 

 

 Elizabeth Elliot would remain only for a few years, but Rachel would remain until her death in 1995, primarily doing translation work, when the tribe invited Steve Saint, (son of pilot Nate Saint) and his family to come live with them, which they did.  As Steve perceived the beginnings of dreaded dependency on him developing, he decided it would be wiser to itinerate regularly in stead of living in the tribe. 

 

 In the summer of 2006 fifteen Liberty University students and faculty traveled to to help with some practical projects to help the Waodonis develop an aviation ministry and possible business.  After meeting the transformed killers of the five missionaries it is hard to imagine they were ever so savage.  It is amazing how the gospel can change lives.

 

 But the story is hardly over.  Of the two thousand plus Waodonis today there may be three hundred or slightly more, who are genuine believers.  Only about 1/3 of the tribe has actually been reached and is living in the “civilized” villages.  Hundreds of the Waodoni have never heard the gospel.  One of the believing Waodoni was killed trying to reach the remainder of the tribe with the gospel a few years ago. 

 

 Among the unreached part of the tribe, numerous killings have occurred in just the past few years.   The tribal area is continuing to be considered “dangerous” by veteran missionaries.

 

 Some of the Waodonis have left the jungles for Arajuno (first small jungle town) where several have met believers and become Christians.

 

 There remain two or three (that we know of) tribes who have never had any gospel witness in their own language even once.  In fact, today in the vast interior jungle region of there is only one missionary family working with a tribe. 

 

 Admittedly, most of the people of any country live in the large urban populations, but usually they already have existing churches and highly talented evangelists, (certainly more evangelists are needed) but in the jungles where the Unreached People Groups (UPGs) or tribes are located there is typically no one willing to go. 

 

Most of those who attended our First Missions Movie Night were impacted with the difficult challenge of reaching a primitive People Group for Christ.  My wife and I spent 8 years in the Colombian jungle so I identified with every scene and cried half-way through the movie!  However, it is not for everyone. But those who can go to the tribes because they are emotionally, spiritually and physically able to, should begin to ask God to send them to a difficult task, not an easy one. 

 

 God is moving in many hearts on campus and it is only beginning.  Join us daily as we ask our Lord to send around the globe laborers into His harvest field.  Be sure not to miss next month’s Mission Movie Night.  Watch for the announcement in the Splash Page.

 

 Don Fanning

Posted at 12:53 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Have you caught the Fire?

This has been a great semester at Liberty University where many have learned to know Christ personally as never before, as well as how to share Him with others. We are going home next week for Spring break and here are some pointers on how to share your faith.

Someone is bound to ask you a question like, “Why do you go to Liberty University ?” [Maybe you’re wearing a sweat shirt or you told them where you are studying. Your answer must be wisely framed.]

[Note: Politicians have learned that regardless of the question they have a message to deliver so they put a spin on the answer that quickly turns to their message. Here’s how we can be as “wise as serpents” (Matt 10:16).]

Answer something like this: “It’s the greatest Christian university in the world. You see, there was a time in my life when I was not interested in anything to do with Christianity, but I thought I was a pretty good person and that was all I needed.  Then I met someone who shattered my false hopes…”

[Notice: I answered his question but immediately started the real reason I am at Liberty , namely because I became a Christian.  So far I’ve avoided using Christian jargon (“I was lost”) and I did not get distracted into talking about myself (“I came from a Christian family,”  “I was into drugs, sex and sin, etc.,” or “I was a child when I accepted Christ”).  All of this may be true, but it is distracting.  I call them “trap doors” that will get you off target – sharing the gospel.  What I said was enough for anyone to identify with your background: either they are disinterested in Christianity or they think they are a “pretty good person” or both.]

Continue to say something like: “I was asked if I knew whether I would go to heaven or hell when I died?” [Obviously you’ll rephrase this to your situation, but be wise and purposeful in how you say it].  “I had never thought much about it, but then he [or she] asked me if I though I was a good person?”  [This is the false hope of all unbelievers; count on it – 1 John 1:8, 10].  “I answered ‘Yeah, well, pretty good.’ Then I was asked if I ever told a lie? I reluctantly admitted that I had. He showed me that that made me a liar.  He asked me if I’d ever taken anything that wasn’t mine? I finally answered that I had and he made me admit that I was a thief.  That was painful to my pride.  But then he asked me if I’d ever had lustful thoughts about another person? He told me that Jesus said that if we ever had lustful thoughts it was as though we had already committed adultery.” [For your information that is Matt 5:28].  “He concluded by telling me, ‘By your own admission you are a Liar, a Thief and an Adulterer. If God is going to judge us by the Ten Commandments how do you think you will stand? Guilty or Innocent?’ I admitted that I would be guilty. For the first time I realized I wasn’t good enough to go to heaven.” 

[If this is as far as you get, the seed has been planted.  The hopes of being good enough have been shattered in your listener, hopefully forever. Now he is obligated to ignore his reality of guilt (a Freudian psychological tactic) or begin to search for a solution. 

[Once proclaimed the gospel is the “power of God,” that is, the Holy Spirit begins His work in a person once they have heard the truth about themselves: “he will convict the world of sin…” (John 16:8). Count on this. Continue sharing the good news:]

“Then my friend told me that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, suffered the wrath of His Father for all my sins.  God punished His Son, instead of me.  And He only asked of me one thing: would I trust Him enough to make Him a part of my life as my personal Savior.”

[The gospel is easy to explain once the person has lost hope in his own goodness and that is the purpose of the Ten Commandments, which no human being, except Jesus, has ever been able to obey!]

“I simply told Jesus that I was sorry for my sins and thanked Him for taking my penalty for my sins. Then I asked Him to come into my life and be my Savior forever.  … And He did.” 

[You’ve shared the Bad News, the Good News and now the Results].

“Since then I have not been perfect, but Jesus has never forsaken me and I’ve learned from the Bible that His way is always the best way to live.  This is why I decided to go to Liberty University , where I can learn how to make a difference for God in this world.” 

[If this is all you get to say you have left a seed in his heart that someone else will be able to water with another testimony or explanation of the gospel, which could bring about a salvation encounter with Christ.  You may never know what happens until that day when we stand before Christ and He shows us how much we really accomplished for His kingdom and for His glory.  Whatever you do, don’t be ashamed to speak up for your Savior, the King of Kings.  If time permits, say…]


“Can I ask you a few questions?....”

Posted at 7:52 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink