A speaker called on the Church to increase resources and cooperation in global missions to fulfill the Great Commission.
At the 2022 Global Chinese Mission Conference (GCMC), after Rev. Dr. Patrick Fung, General Director of OMF International, delivered his keynote lecture "Mobilize Christian Institutions, Churches and Seminaries to Seek Opportunity for Global Missions in Crisis", Dr. Stanley Ling How Chiong, Advisor of Serving in Mission East Asia, responded on that theme.
Held virtually with the theme “Universal Mission Opportunities for Chinese Church Amid Worldly Crisis” from July 25 to 31, the Second Global Chinese Mission Conference invited seven speakers to give special lectures.
Dr. Ling expanded on missions in three aspects: resource allocation, diaspora missions extended to reverse missions, and the importance of bi-vocational missions and Business as Mission (BAM).
Dr. Ling cited data from Travelling Team that in 2014, the annual revenue of the Church worldwide was 703 billion USD, but in 2015, only $45 billion was given to missions which was 6.4%, equivalent to the annual spending of Americans in losing weight. $2.1 billion (4.6%) was allocated to missions to the Unreached and unreached people groups (UPG). He, therefore, pointed out that the proportion of missionary funds was less than 10%, which was completely disproportionate to its importance, so it was necessary to talk about resource allocation, which mainly involved funds and personnel.
"There are certain reasons for the current allocation of resources. If adjusting resource allocation, such as a sudden reduction of the fund for global missions in a certain area, may cause missions in that area to become unable to stand on its own and go downhill... then, the best way is to increase resources, which I suggest a raise to 10% from the original 6.4%.”
In terms of manpower, from the perspective of the number and distribution of missionaries, there are currently 400,000 evangelical missionaries in the world, 300,000 (77%) in the Reached World, 77,000(20%) in the UPG, and only 13,000 (3%) in the Unreached World and UPG, which means that only 3 out of 100 missionaries preach the gospel to the UPG in the Unreached World.
"There are certain reasons for the distribution of personnel, and it is not easy to adjust." Therefore, he proposed a goal that the number of missionaries was to increase from 400,000 to 550,000 by 2030, which would require prayers and efforts to reach.
A typical diaspora ministry is about evangelism to outsiders and church planting, while e reverse mission is to train these believers to become disciples of the Lord on this basis and teach them to share the faith and plant the church. When they return home, with missionaries assisting, they can serve in their own countries. Dr Ling said that in fact, these works have already been carried out by institutions one after another.
Then he introduced that bi-vocational missions are divided into two parts. The first is the tent-making mission, which originated from Paul, Aquila and Priscilla weaving tents together to support missions. The second is Business as Mission (BAM), which is a new trend in this era. In addition, digital missions can transcend time and space, bringing new possibilities.
Lastly, Dr. Ling called on the Church to increase resources in global missions, and seminaries to make mission courses compulsory. He suggested that missionaries should strengthen cooperation to achieve better results, reminding everyone not to be deceived by "bad partners", hoping that churches worldwide would work together on this matter.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
在2022年全球华人宣教大会上，在冯浩鎏医生的主题讲座《动员基督教机构，教会和神学院在在危机中之普宣契机》结束后，SIM国际事工差会东亚区顾问林厚彰博士做了回应和补充。
他从三个方面对宣教做了补充，涉及到资源分配、从散居者到反向事工、以及带职和营商的重要性。
一，资源分配问题
林博士引用Travelling Team的数据：2014年全球教会一年的收入统计为7030亿美元，然而2015年给到宣教的总费用是450亿美元，占比6.4%，而这相当于美国人每年花费在减肥问题上的数目，其中花在未得之地、未接触之民的部分是：21亿美元（占4.6%）。他由此指出，宣教资金所占比例还不足10%，这和其重要性完全不成比例，那么是很有必要谈谈资源分配的问题，这主要涉及到资金和人员。
“现今的资源分配有一定原因，如果是调整资源的分配，比如突然减少某个地区的普宣基金，可能会导致那个地区无法自立而走下坡路...所以最好的办法是资源增加，建议由原来的6.4%提高到10%。”
而在人力方面，从宣教士人数及分布来看，目前全球福音派宣教士总人数有40万人，在福音已得的地方有30万（77%），在未得之族群有7万7千人（20%），在未得及未接触之族群只有1万3千人（3%），也就是说100位宣教士中只有3位到未及之族群的地方传福音。
“人的分布也有一定的原因，调整起来不容易。”因此他提出一个目标：在2030年之前把宣教士的人数从40万增加到55万，这是需要祷告和努力的。
二、从散居者事工延伸为反向事工
一般的散居者事工是向外来者传福音，栽植教会。反向宣教是在此基础上培训这些信徒成为主的门徒，并教导他们分享信仰和栽植教会。当他们回国后就可以在本国服事，宣教士从旁起到协助的作用。这些工作其实已经陆续有机构在开展。
三、带职和营商宣教角色
带职宣教分为两部分，第一种是织帐篷宣教（Tent-making），源自保罗和亚居拉、百基拉一起织帐篷宣教。第二种是商贸宣教，这是这个时代的新趋势。另外，数码宣教可以超越时间空间限制，带来新的可能性。
最后，林博士呼吁教会在普宣上增加资源增加；呼吁神学院把宣教课程列为必修课；建议差会加强合作，果效会更好；并提醒大家不要被“不良”的“伙伴”诈骗。林博士盼望全球教会在此事上共同努力。
https://www.christiantimes.cn/news/37695
林厚彰博士谈普宣新趋势：资源分配、从散居者到反向事工、带职和营商的角色
A speaker called on the Church to increase resources and cooperation in global missions to fulfill the Great Commission.
At the 2022 Global Chinese Mission Conference (GCMC), after Rev. Dr. Patrick Fung, General Director of OMF International, delivered his keynote lecture "Mobilize Christian Institutions, Churches and Seminaries to Seek Opportunity for Global Missions in Crisis", Dr. Stanley Ling How Chiong, Advisor of Serving in Mission East Asia, responded on that theme.
Held virtually with the theme “Universal Mission Opportunities for Chinese Church Amid Worldly Crisis” from July 25 to 31, the Second Global Chinese Mission Conference invited seven speakers to give special lectures.
Dr. Ling expanded on missions in three aspects: resource allocation, diaspora missions extended to reverse missions, and the importance of bi-vocational missions and Business as Mission (BAM).
Dr. Ling cited data from Travelling Team that in 2014, the annual revenue of the Church worldwide was 703 billion USD, but in 2015, only $45 billion was given to missions which was 6.4%, equivalent to the annual spending of Americans in losing weight. $2.1 billion (4.6%) was allocated to missions to the Unreached and unreached people groups (UPG). He, therefore, pointed out that the proportion of missionary funds was less than 10%, which was completely disproportionate to its importance, so it was necessary to talk about resource allocation, which mainly involved funds and personnel.
"There are certain reasons for the current allocation of resources. If adjusting resource allocation, such as a sudden reduction of the fund for global missions in a certain area, may cause missions in that area to become unable to stand on its own and go downhill... then, the best way is to increase resources, which I suggest a raise to 10% from the original 6.4%.”
In terms of manpower, from the perspective of the number and distribution of missionaries, there are currently 400,000 evangelical missionaries in the world, 300,000 (77%) in the Reached World, 77,000(20%) in the UPG, and only 13,000 (3%) in the Unreached World and UPG, which means that only 3 out of 100 missionaries preach the gospel to the UPG in the Unreached World.
"There are certain reasons for the distribution of personnel, and it is not easy to adjust." Therefore, he proposed a goal that the number of missionaries was to increase from 400,000 to 550,000 by 2030, which would require prayers and efforts to reach.
A typical diaspora ministry is about evangelism to outsiders and church planting, while e reverse mission is to train these believers to become disciples of the Lord on this basis and teach them to share the faith and plant the church. When they return home, with missionaries assisting, they can serve in their own countries. Dr Ling said that in fact, these works have already been carried out by institutions one after another.
Then he introduced that bi-vocational missions are divided into two parts. The first is the tent-making mission, which originated from Paul, Aquila and Priscilla weaving tents together to support missions. The second is Business as Mission (BAM), which is a new trend in this era. In addition, digital missions can transcend time and space, bringing new possibilities.
Lastly, Dr. Ling called on the Church to increase resources in global missions, and seminaries to make mission courses compulsory. He suggested that missionaries should strengthen cooperation to achieve better results, reminding everyone not to be deceived by "bad partners", hoping that churches worldwide would work together on this matter.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
Resource Allocation, Diaspora Ministry Extended to Reverse Ministry, Business as Mission: New Trends in Missions Shared at 2022 Global Chinese Mission Conference
