Mobilizing Love at Denver 2012

"And the greastest of these is love..."

Yesterday at Denver 2012, MAC promoted another new initiative called LOVE2020. A new website is being released in November that we were able to get a sneak peek of. It was designed by a young "social media strategist" and will take MAC into the 21st Century in a cutting edge way. The essence of Love 2020 is a biblical call to the Church to lead with love. Isn't it sad that we need to be reminded to put love first? But the fact is that we need to be and often.

Ethnic Embrace USA, which fits under the umbrella of LOVE2020, is in all respects a call to Biblical love. The fact is that we won't embrace the diaspora peoples of our nation the way we should without first loving them as we are commanded. We won't even reach out to the nations among us without putting love first, at least not in the manner we called to. And, we can't be an effective witness of God's love for all peoples without demonstrating his love.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who does training and outreach to Muslims in the DFW area. My friend, Renod, told me that most Muslim here come to faith in Christ not because the person who shared Jesus with them came with an apologetics approach of good arguments to defeat Islam. Bashing another another persons faithm even if based on truth, doesn't demonstrate love? They may be wrong in what they believe but telling them so is no way to win friends and influence people. What works to lead Muslims to faith in Christ, and for that matter anyone else, is a demonstration of God's love.

What I find most tragic is the unloving response of too many Christians to "others" who are coming here. The Lord calls us to love the "alien" over and over again in his Word. Ethnic Embrace USA develops this idea and as we embrace God's mission to the nations we must also embrace the strangers next door. The place to begin to move Ethnic Embrace USA forward now that it's off the launching platform is on the basis of love. Paul reminds us that we only make an annoying noise if we don't put love first. And, we can't think just reaching out to the diaspora peoples is sufficient for Paul also reminds us that "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor 13:3).

The embracing of the nations will flow naturally as we come to understand the diaspora peoples and love them as the Lord does. Let's together mobilize a movement of love as we bless the nations among us. Love is the more excellent way. Let us embrace it fully.

Launching at Denver 2012

Yesterday, I had the privilege of introducing Ethnic Embrace USA to a group of "CityReachers" at the National City Impact Roundtable. Leaders from more than 50 cities from around the USA were in attendance, as a pre-meeting to Denver 2012 Leadership Consultation - the annual Mission America Coalition national convention that brings together denomination and ministry leaders who serve the Body of Christ across our great nation. The Mission America Coalition is the U.S. expression of the Lausanne Movement that was started by Billy Graham in 1974 that seeks to live out and complete the mission Jesus gave us to in reaching the nations with his Good News.

There isn't anything new about reaching the nations among us.Yesterday, I heard some wonderful stories of effective frontline ministry to the nations in our midst. One ministry here in Denver is working with Southeast Asian and African refugees with a unique model. Since many refugees come from agrarian societies, this ministry is helping these people find donated small plots of land for growing vegetables. A few local churches are donating the land for this use, turning lawns that serve little purpose or little used church playgrounds into an effective bridge to build meaningful relationships. But many more are needed and there are many cities with refugees.

One of the resources presented here was developed around the Jesus film. The Jesus Film has been one of, if not, the most effective tool for reaching the unreached globally. Christ for All Peoples is being effective in getting the Jesus Film out to international here in our cities. The power of the Jesus Film is that it speaks in the heart language of the person, having been translated into more than 1100 languages. Over 4 million Jesus Films have been distributed already, in the past few years, and many Muslims, Buddhsts and Hindus have come to Christ. But that is simpy scratching the surface of the more than 32 million diaspora peoples from Unreached places of our world, and the 2 million more that come here annually with little or no knowledge of Jesus.

These are only two of the exciting ministries presented here yesterday in what was a powerful day. The question I asked when I presented Ethnic Embrace USA was this - Do we understand our missional reality today? Of course, I was preaching to the chior because these Cityreaching servants do get it. They understand the times and know what to do. But how many don"t get it yet? Ethnic Embrace USA seeks to move many more people into that such meaningful engaging of the nations in our cities and communities. Starting with 40 days of Prayer for the diasporas we can together mobilize a movement for embracing the nations among us.

Will you help us do so? The Ethnic Embrace USA ebook is free to share widely. Let's mobilize!

How I became a Diaspora Champion

It wasn't that long ago, if you mentioned the word "diaspora" I would have looked at you puzzled. At most, I might have made a connection with the Jewish Diaspora,  And even with my knowledge of the involuntary and voluntary coming and going of people we teach in Perspectives, the idea of God having people on the move was rooted in a historical perspective, which is where we teach about it in Lesson 6 - "The History of the World Christian Movement." It is easy to see, in retrospect, how God moved over the centuries to accomplish his purposes by scattering people about. But my awareness of what the Lord was doing today began changing about a year and a half ago, as the Lord started getting my attention of what he was doing in our day.`

The word "diaspora" really only began to gain wide attention following the 3rd Lausanne Congress, held in Capetown,  in October of 2010. I take some solace in the fact that I wasn't alone in my ignorance. There were, of course, some who understood but not many. In fact, it wasn't that long ago that Dr. Ralph Winter said, "Diaspora missiology may well be the most important and undigested reality in mission thinking today." The "undigested" nature of what Dr. Winters says may be the most important "mission thinking" we can do today is quickly changing.  In April of 2011, it began to change for me. We need to think well about "diaspora" because these scattered people are changing our world.

Recently, I was asked by Dr. Joy Tira, the Lausanne Movement Senior Associate for Diasporas, to share my story about how the Lord got my attention and how I became, what Dr. Tira calls, a "Diaspora champion." You can read that story below or by clicking here

Embracing our New Missional Reality

"I am convinced by God’s Word that every follower of Christ should have a passion for the “unreached and unengaged,” says David Platt. Our passion for the “unreached and unengaged” most be informed by two things. Firstly, God’s Word and an understanding of the Bible’s grand narrative. We develop that story through the 40 days of Scripture in our Ethnic Embrace USA FREE e-book. Secondly, on an understanding of the realities that are presently shaping our world with respect to who the “unreached and unengaged” are, where they are living and why they are moving.  Through the 40 people groups featured in Ethnic Embrace USA we explore answers to the who, where and why. But here are some of the current trends shaping mission and the reasons foe Ethnic Embrace USA.

Globalization, Urbanization and Migration is changing the world - as the world is a more connected place, cities are growing rapidly as more people than ever are on the move.

Migration is taking place in every nation of the world, with more than 214 million people on the move.

Certain regions have higher concentrations than others, with high levels of both emigration (from - scattering) and immigration (to – gathering).

The USA is the #1 destination of migrants from around the world, with over 42 million recent migrants now in USA, many from “unreached and unengaged” places of the world.

There are now 8 U.S. cities with a foreign born population of 1 million and many cities have growing diaspora (scattered) populations.

There may be as many as 360 “Unreached People Groups” in the U.S. representing a population of over 20 million here and millions in their homeland.

But as Dr. J.D. Payne says, “one of the greatest ironies in missions today is the fact that…for the most part, we are ignorant regarding the evangelical status of the peoples of the world living in our backyards.” The Evangelical status that we do have is based on the the global status of the people group. What we lack is the status of these UPGs in our cities and communities, although there is some public access information available for language at the community level. That is why we invite you to share with us the people groups you encounter as you embrace the diaspora peoples in your communities.