With the industrial revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the advent of the internet, people around the world have become connected like never before. If you call your tech support you’ll most likely be speaking with someone in India. Hip-hop and basketball shape the culture of the youth of China. You can’t find a deserted corner of the earth that does not have Coca-Cola today. And we’ve seen old men dressed in traditional garb riding their camels down the streets of Afghanistan while talking on their cell phones!
As the world becomes closer and more interconnected, two prominent civilizations are emerging. The West and the world of Islam. The borders of Islam are moving, and Europe is one of the primary places where this is most evident.
With the declining birth rate among Europeans and the large families of Islamic immigrants Europe is becoming increasingly Muslim. An article from The Economist says, “About a third of French schoolchildren of Muslim origin see their faith rather than a passport or skin color as the main thing that defines them. Young British Muslims are inclined to see Islam (rather than the United Kingdom, or the city where they live) as their true home.” By mid-century at least one out of every five Europeans will be Muslim. You can imagine what sort of impact this will have on European life!
The challenge of our changing world requires new ideas, new strategies, new tactics for doing missions. We need to be able to think outside the box of traditional mission methods. We need to be able to dream with God of new ways to reach the unreached!
The command of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-19) is a command to the whole Body of Christ, not simply to the ones who chose to move cross-culturally. Whether you want to spend your life in China, in Parliament, on TV or behind a camera, in your home, in a coffee shop, or in a factory… YOU can be a world changer! The world is changing one way or another… chose to be a part of it now!
In the School of Strategic Missions we recognize that the Bible speaks to all areas of life, all spheres of society. We focus on identifying strategic peoples, places, and seasons. We hear God’s voice and then act, always looking for creative ways to extend the Kingdom of God. Whatever your passion is, your talents and giftings, God can use you!
The School of Strategic Missions will address all of these things. We will look at ways of thinking and principles from God that can be applied broadly rather than specific steps intended to focus you only in one direction. We NEED new workers on the field, but we also NEED God’s people in all areas of society, living out the Great Commission on a daily basis… changing the world around them!
You will spend three months hearing from teachers from around the globe, and then three months applying what you have learned on an outreach to the 10/40 window. You will have the opportunity to work with Church Planting teams, strategic businesses and humanitarian organizations, or exploring new ministry opportunities and initiatives.
Topics covered in the school include:
- Thinking and Acting Strategically in this hour
- Globalization and its affect on everything
- Cross Cultural Ministry
- Learning new languages and paradigms
- Biblical Christian Worldview
- Strategic Research
- Worship, intercession and spiritual warfare in strategic missions
- Church Planting
- Principles of Mobilization and Church Partnership
- People Group Advocacy
- Community Development strategies
- Leadership development
- Urban strategies
- Strategic Initiatives in the spheres influence in society
- Team development
“The worshipers at this makeshift mosque on the edge of Paris are men and women, dressed in the latest fashions and traditional robes, Arab, European and African. They are moderate, conservative and fundamentalist. They are first-, second- and third-generation immigrants. They are content and they are enraged. They are the future that Europe is straining to handle.” -By Evan Osnos, Tribune foreign correspondent, Published December 19, 2004
