The Crazy Idea of Building Up The Movement Once More - Part 1

It was last year that some NYMC'2k6 Core Leaders thought of pursuing another missions congress in Bacolod. A good discussion right after a mini-reunion at Ate Leah Aguirre's place stirred up the group to share what happened after the last congress.

We were all excited about the crazy idea and looking at how everyone have grown (spiritually & in size), we believe it's something worth to pray for and try doing after five years of the "dessert years".

2012 comes and the congress didn't happen. 

Everyone became busy and the excitement died down. I have to agree at one point that there were only a few of us who continued on praying and sought the Lord's direction for the congress. 

It was at that juncture that I prayed and sought the Lord's will for the congress and NYMM as a movement, it led me to say "YES" to help out plan for the congress and with whatever I can do for the movement. 

A long discussion with Ate Leah, Ate Joy and some other close friends led me to think about "missions stuff" once more after 3 years. I personally looked at the idea as a stepping stone for something deeper for the movement. 

Deeper, in a sense, that for the movement to reach the younger generation, a congress is not enough to deeply impact our cause. There has to be more than just workshops, plenary sessions and exposures. 

We have to do something solid, gradual and surefire. 

The think-tank meeting in PMA last April taught me a lot of things about mobilization. For one, mobilizing churches is both fun and challenging at the same time. And that there were only a handful of young recruits for the past few years.

The movement's focus should not only be to establish a strong connection of networks but also to fully support these networks by working together in training, supporting and mobilizing fellow youth for intentional crosss-cultural missions.

Also, it dawned on the group the reality that reviving the youth movement is something we can do if we want to but will also be a challenge specially that the movement has been silent for quite some time.

Lastly, a movement like NYMM would need to start somewhere and it needs to start with the youth.

The intention here is not just to raise up new missionaries but also push the youth to capture God's vision and pursue their destiny to the next level.

With this in mind, I'd like to invite and perhaps challenge you to think where you are right now with your personal walk with the Lord. I pray that God will also open your spiritual senses and join us as we once again establish a movement for the NOW Generation.

Let's try to build once again the Youth Missions Movement and work together in "raising generations of Filipino Youth for cross-cultural missions".

That is why National Youth Missions Movement was born, and I guess the same reason why even after how many years of silence, the reality of God's faithfulness to use the youth for HIS GLORY has remain true to this day.

Thank you for reading and be blessed!

The 2012 30-Days of Prayer for the M's

What Is 30-Days About? What Is The Purpose Of The Project?

Our purpose is to call Christians to pray for the Muslim world, specifically:

• for greater breakthroughs for the Gospel among Muslims,
• an increased commitment to prayer by Christians,
• and for more missionaries to be released to work among Muslims.

We do this by creating a 52 page Prayer Guide coinciding with Ramadan each year (first edition was 1993).

"Raising generations of Filipino Youth for cross-cultural missions"

Towards Closure: Imperial or Incarnational Missions?

Sharing to you a good article about missions by Kuya David, the current National Director for Philippine Missions Association. Below is the complete article and a short profile of who he is:

Towards Closure: Imperial or Incarnational Missions?

David S. Lim, Ph.D.

Is it possible to finish the Great Commission or reach all the unreached people groups (UPG) in the world by our generation, let’s say by AD2025?

The AD 2000 Movement envisioned this “closure” when they convened the Global Congress on World Evangelization (GCOWE) in 1995 in Seoul, Korea.  At that time, I predicted that it was “Mission Impossible,” because almost all of the participants still used the traditional mission paradigm to extend Christendom through what I called “imperial (or denominational) missions,” instead of “incarnational (or integral or transformational) missions.” If we do not make this missional paradigm shift, I’m afraid I’ve to also repeat my pessimism that it’s “Mission Impossible” by 2025.  As Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Yet I believe “closure in 10-15 years” can be “Mission Possible” – if, by the mercy of God, the mainstream of missions shifts into “incarnational missions” immediately.  All of us who share the passion to win the lost into the Kingdom of God share almost the same vision and mission.  Generally, we would all say that we are working to fulfil the Great Commission, bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ to manifest the glory of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But we would differ on the basic strategic paradigm of mission dei (God’s mission), which includes 3  major aspects of bearing witness to Jesus as the way (Missiology), the truth (Christology) and the life (Ecclesiology):

Missiology: Imperial or Incarnational?

First of all, how do we do mission?  The predominant “imperial” traditional missiology focuses on the recruitment of “career missionaries” who are sent out from middle class churches to plant their church’s (= denominational) model in less developed regions from a position of wealth and control/power.

In contrast, “incarnational” missiology emphasizes the mobilization of all believers to go among their non-believing networks to make disciples (= followers of Jesus) through love and good works, from a position of simplicity and servanthood.  “Every heart with Christ is a missionary, and every heart without Christ is a mission field” – locally and cross-culturally.

Christology: Insulated or Incarnated?

Secondly, what truth/message do we communicate in our mission?  The “gospel of salvation” proclaimed by imperial missionaries highlights the spiritual aspect of Christ’s death on the cross, and thus has focused mainly on the eternal destiny of people to go to heaven or hell, with hardly any regard for their earthly welfare and especially for their “growth” into self-denying, cross-carrying discipleship/maturity, except to become loyal church-goers, attending as many religious/liturgical services as possible.

In contrast, the “gospel of the Kingdom” shared by incarnational missionaries promotes the holistic dimensions of Christ’s work on the cross (including peace-building, justice-seeking and community/reconciliation), and thus also the earthly ministry of Christians (as prophets, priests and kings like Jesus) and practical disciple-making so they will grow in Christ-like compassion in doing as many community services as possible.

Ecclesiology: Imported or Indigenous?

And thirdly, what kind of churches do our missions produce?  The ideal results of imperial missions are imported (or foreign) church forms (in liturgies, theologies, architectures, etc.) of the missionary’s sending church(es), which also magnify the role of expatriate missionaries who dispense funds raised from their supporting church(es).

In contrast, the ideal results of incarnational missions are indigenous simple churches (actually networks of house fellowships) which are from the start self-governing (with their own leaders), self-supporting (own budget and funding), self-propagating (own programs of action/ministry) and self-theologizing (own statement of faith), which aims at community conversion to Christ (not to a particular brand of Christianity) and community transformation through their obedience to Christ’s law (loving one another and their neighbours and enemies to the ends of the earth).

Please note that the visible result of incarnational mission is not in religion buildings (cathedrals or temples) for performing religious ceremonies (liturgies) led by religious leaders (pastors or priests), which often separate believers from their community and divide themselves into different denominations. Instead it is seen in transformed communities that experience peace, justice and righteousness emanating from their love for Jesus and for one another that emerges from their intimate fellowship, which discuss and apply God’s word facilitated by any believer who has been discipled by an earlier believer in a micro/simple/house church (in any building); existing church buildings may be turned into multi-purpose ministry centers, like the synagogues in New Testament times.

Main Models

The main models and proponents for incarnational mission are two: the global house church movements (HCM) and the Jesus (or kingdom or people or insider) movements (JM).  Their impact are now starting to be noticed in church and mission circles today, especially those movements in China (since ‘80s), India (especially among Punjabis and Dalits), U.S.A., and some regions of the Muslim world.

Their “best practices” combines three “Cs” = Church Multiplication + Contextualization + Community Development/Transformation. For this to happen, they simply just need to master the skills of making disciples (Jesus-followers) who can lead people to Christ through friendship evangelism, and disciple new converts in small Bible discussion groups.  

The simplest method today is called the Viral Simple Bible Study (VSBS).  It asks only three questions of any chosen text: 

(1) What does the text say in your own words? 

(2) What does God require of us from the text? 

(3) Who are the 3-5 people you can share what we learned with before we meet again next week? 

The disciple-maker aims to empower them to do likewise (as in 2 Tim. 2:2) by leaving them as soon as possible, so s/he can make new disciples elsewhere.

Incarnational “church-planters” (or better, “movement catalysts”) do not mind being unrecognized in history, though they will be lovingly remembered by his/her disciples (if they don’t die or get killed prematurely), for his/her objective is to decrease so that only Jesus Christ will increase (cf. Jn. 3:30; Mk. 9:28).  They are ordinary people who simply obey God’s call to be witnesses of Jesus.  If properly trained, even if they may not have high academic credentials or social status, they can strategically win “a person of peace” (cf. Lk. 10:5-6) in each place, and disciple a core group around this person to disciple the rest.

New converts are encouraged to remain in their communities, follow local cultural and religious practices (unless they are clearly idolatrous, immoral or unjust), aim at family and communal conversions, and study the Scriptures themselves (1 Cor. 7:17-24; Acts 17:11).  Almost all in the International Orality Network are already moving in this direction.

Other Approximate Models

Most Evangelical “para-church” movements and mission agencies in the past 50 years have struggled to thrive within the Christendom system, mainly because they depended on the giving and support of church people, especially their clergymen. So although their missiology leans toward the incarnational model, they often either compromised with or returned to the imperial/denominational model of ministry.

Among these are:

1. Perhaps the closest are the new “church-planting movements (CPM)” or “church multiplication movements (CMM),” which plant as many house churches as possible, but have not made strict guidelines to keep the groups small and/or avoid uncontextualized forms of worship and lifestyle (cf. 1 Cor. 9:19-23).
2. The second closest would be the communities that have been directly touched by Christian Development Organizations (CDOs), like World Vision, Compassion and Center for Community Transformation (CCT).  By trial-and-error, they’ve discovered that to reach and transform communities effectively, they have to minimize denominational forms and use simple Bible study groups in their portfolio of community activities.
3. Third closest may be the campus ministries, like Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF), and especially Navigators, REACH, and Agape.  They have trained students and graduates/professionals to lead disciple-making movements without the need for clergymen to lead them in chapel activities.  Agape is now operating on the Jesus Movement (JM) mode, while Navigators and REACH are trying to move back to their original JM mode, too.
4. Fourth may be the professional movements, like Tentmaker and/or Diaspora Ministries, Business as Mission (BAM), Marketplace or Workplace Ministries, Military and Police Outreaches, which have slowly relinquished their need for clergymen to lead churchy services in their life and ministry in the world.  Instead of doing ministry in local churches, these “lay-people” focus on reaching out to their partners, colleagues and subordinates in their God-given vocation.
5. Lastly, we can include also some denominations which have emphasized “lay pastors,” (like Vineyard, Grace Communion International), though most of them still lead denomination-type weekly worship services, which deflects much of their time from doing community services (cf. Matt. 5:13-16; 25:31-46; Lk. 10:27-37; 1 Jn.3:16-18).

Challenge

So, let’s join hands and do incarnational missions together! Let’s finish the Great Commission together in our generation!  Yes, even in the next 10-15 years, God willing, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ac. 1:8)!  Our Lord has promised, “I will build My church and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it,” and has given us the authority “to loose and to bind” (Mt. 16:18-19).  The harvest is still plentiful, but the workers remain few (Mt. 9:37-38).  Let’s prayerfully mobilize the whole church to share the whole Gospel with the whole world – servantly, holistically, contextually — incarnationally!

"Raising generations of Filipino Youth for cross-cultural missions"

UPGs: Knowing The Real Deal

Do we really know the real deal of what's going on in the world of the unreached today?

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?
As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Romans 10: 14-15

The verse is probably a clanging cymbal to some of us but like a cymbal,unless someone stops it (in our case, someone goes to the field for harvest) will remain a sound we will hear from time to time until something happens.

Again, unless something happens, this remains to be a "stirring" voice within us until the day the Lord Jesus Christ comes.

"Raising generations of Filipino Youth for cross-cultural missions"

The Church's Great Challenge

I was browsing through The Joshua Project earlier this afternoon when I saw some interesting statistical data and facts about missions. 

To those who are not familiar with the Joshua Project, here's a brief description from their About Page:

Joshua Project is a research initiative seeking to highlight the ethnic people groups of the world with the fewest followers of Christ. Accurate, regularly updated ethnic people group information is critical for understanding and completing the Great Commission. 

Here are some challenging mission facts I copy-pasted below:

Challenging Mission Facts

Of the 16,790 people groups by country, 6,955 are still considered unreached.  9,835 people groups by country are not considered unreached, totaling 3,983,293,000 individuals, or about 58% of the world's population. Of the 16,790 total people groups, 6,955 are identified as unreached using Joshua Project criteria, totaling 2,841,516,000 individuals. Of these 6,955 groups, 5,892 are in 10/40 Window countries. That means 85% of all unreached people groups are in the 10/40 Window. 1,063 of the unreached groups are NOT in the 10/40 Window, totaling 84,003,000 individuals. These groups are relatively accessible to the Gospel.  Of the 6,955 Unreached people groups, about 3,553 (51%) are small groups under 10,000 in population (or population unknown) and all these groups total less than 8,000,000 individuals. Of the remaining 3,402 unreached groups, about 1,314 are under 50,000 in population. That leaves 2,088 Unreached groups 50,000 and over in population. A vibrant church in a large group may take the gospel to a number of smaller satellite people groups that have ethnic similarities.

We still have 35% of all people groups in the world not hearing the message of the gospel which transforms lives and give eternal significance to a dying world. 

The Project's Progress Report:

You’ll also notice a world map that shows the location and progress report on this big task of reaching the nations for Christ. 

The map actually signifies the bigger picture of the present need to evangelize and establish a Christ-believing church in these regions.

Below is the screenshot of this report:

If you count the progress stage above, almost 2.7 billion people are mostly located in the 10/40 window and all of them has not heard the message of the gospel. 

Surely, you’ve heard this very verse from Paul, the Apostle:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?- Romans 10:14-15a

His epistle to the Romans may have been sent more than 2,000 years ago but the challenge it presents still rings true today. Paul's question is actually relevant to the very command of our Lord Jesus Christ before he ascended to heaven:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This command is not just given to a fateful few but to every believer and disciple of Jesus Christ. 

Our Challenge

The figures speaks for itself and personally, I think the task is BIG for just one group or denomination or even a Christian nation can accomplish. It takes every believer to make himself available to accomplish our task commanded by our Lord.

We can do better when we work hand in hand, regardless of denomination or location. Our common ground is not just our faith in Christ but also the great commandment and commission.

The church (referring to the local congregations) need to understand this concept. We need to establish this truth seriously. 


I strongly believe that there is only one church established by Christ (His bridegroom), one Lord over all believers and therefore only has one great commission to accomplish. (more on this topic next time)

The task may be big but it doesn't mean it cannot be accomplished when we work hand in hand.

It may sound challenging but we do have a BIG GOD who is Lord of ALL. 

Points to Ponder:

• What do you think can we do, as Filipinos and believers in this great task?
• What probably is the reason why this great task is still not completed?
• Which could possibly be harder - uniting the body of Christ or fulfilling the great commission?
• Who could probably answer the call of the Lord of the harvest - “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

"Raising generations of Filipino Youth for cross-cultural missions"

Unreached Peoples Do You Know The Real Deal - Youtube

"Raising generations of Filipino Youth for cross-cultural missions"

NYMM's 2012 Focus

NYMM blog has been around the blogosphere for almost six years. I have to admit that it has been a rough road updating this blog especially with my work and among other things. 


In it's existence, most of the blogs were about updates on what is going on with the movement. It's main focus was for mobilization and missions.


For 2012, the focus will shift on becoming an online resource for missions and mobilization. I believe there's a vast resource online but only a few that caters to the Filipino youth. The main initiative is to share video clips, testimonies and articles about missions. 


Of course, it will still update it's faithful followers on activities that revolves around the youth and missions.


Hopefully, it will not only create an opportunity to minister and mobilize but also capture the bigger audience in the online world, which is dominated by young people and professionals. 


Lastly, NYMM blog needs additional people. One man can do so much but I think three more brains can be better of. It can become a brainstorming team for future NYMM activities nationwide.


For prayer concerns, please see details below:

1. God is stirring the hearts of the new generation for missions,let's pray for opportunities to touch base with local based ministries that we can share the vision of NYMM.
2. We need people with the same heart and vision for NYMM. Pray that the Lord will call those whom are His and imprint in their hearts the need to come and prepare the harvesters in the field.
3. Wisdom and strategy on how to impact this generation and stir their hearts to reach the UPGs of the world
4. That the Lord will raise a new NYMM Director to oversee the ministry

In Christ,

Vir Antonio Silva

"Raising generations of Filipino Youth for cross-cultural missions"

John Piper: Sermons on missions

I was browsing through Youtube and found some insightful clips about missions from John Piper. Here are a few of his sermons about why missions, why we should go and what matters most when answering the call to the nations:

So, should we go to missions or not?

"Raising generations of Filipino Youth for cross-cultural missions"

Our Heart's Desire for 2012

The desire of NYMM is to see every young Filipino believers answering to the challenge of the harvest field and fulfill the great commission and hasten the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ!


Our prayer is that this video will stir in you a desire to see "the nations worship" our true King:

Know More About Us:
About Page

Email: virsilva613@gmail.com

NYMM Facebook Group

Blog Post: My NYMC StandPoint (Vir Silva)

"Raising generations of Filipino youth for cross-cultural missions…”

Being part of the “think-tank” meeting last June was a learning experience for me. I simply couldn't resist sharing what I want the forum to accomplish and hopefully, be established in the youth missions movement. Like what Ate Bibien has said, God is reviving the movement in his own way and I couldn't agree more.

The “think tank” meeting and previous discussions led to the Youth Forum this July 2011 wherein the goal is to revive the movement that focuses on youth and missions. After the meeting, I strongly believe that the Lord wants us to focus on areas that we should establish and strengthen to become better on what we do and plan to do for NYMM.

So, how should the movement move forward? What are the things that we need to pursue and not to pursue? These are questions that I believe can be answered through the Youth Forum scheduled this July 2011.

I personally envision the movement to have the following qualities:

A Strong Team comprising of young and old alike

Although the movement is focused on developing the younger generation, I strongly believe that the movement should be led by a young team of leaders. Like any other youth ministry, the backbone of the movement is to have people on the top like “one of them”.  I personally came from a ministry that’s being led by servant-leaders who were students just like me.

Although these leaders must know how to stand on their own, we can never deny the need of the “wiser generation”. My personal belief is that the older generation plays an important role for the movement to flourish. They do have the wisdom, training and expertise on the challenges up ahead.

The “wiser generation” should be part of the movement as mentors, advisers and friends. They should not imply or push their own (or their agencies) agenda but must fully support whom the Lord has placed in the movement as leaders.

A Steady line of Activities Focusing on Youth Discipleship and Missions

The role of the movement in the body of Christ is not just to promote missions but to raise and train missionaries. Partnerships with mission agencies are vital for the movement but the movement itself should become the very training ground.

Although this will take time, money and effort, we need to develop a strategy wherein the involvement of the youth doesn't just end after a missions’ camp, congress or the like. We should have a solid follow-up system that directly involves them to missions work whether it’s prayer, supporting missionaries abroad or going to short-term missions.

Planting the “seed” for missions is just the first step; we must cultivate and develop it to become a reality.

A Solid Marketing and Fundraising Campaign

As Tita Ramona has said, our major setback in doing mobilization is the availability of funds. The movement should be sustained with a solid financial plan for it to accomplish its goal. Let’s face it, the movement is young and will be led by leaders who probably uses their own allowances.  In order for us to avoid this particular setback, the movement should have a fundraising team solely focusing on raising our finances.

Although donations seem to be the only solution, there are still a lot of ways that can support the movement and in a way, lessen the financial burden of mission agencies and youth ministries involved.

A Commitment to the NYMM Vision

It is my prayer that whoever the Lord will place in the leadership position will capture the vision of NYMM and will have the commitment to pursue it no matter what.

Having a strong team, a steady line of activities and a solid fundraising campaign can work but will not be enough. Unless the people behind the movement capture the real purpose of why such a movement was born, everything that we do for the Lord’s work will be in vain.

I strongly agree with Kuya Bob's statement that we should focus on building the movement that will result in a biennial congress and not the other way around.

We also need to develop our leadership style. The "baton" must be passed to the next in line, equipped with the right training and perspective of the movement's work. The movement’s mandate is to raise missionaries, if we divert to another cause or focus on another ministry other than what the Lord has established for NYMM, then the vision has died down and our goals will be affected.

The new leaders may do it differently but its end result must be consistent to the entire vision of the movement as a whole.

Conclusion

My prayer is that we all learn from our previous experiences and hopefully, in doing so, strengthen the movement and fulfill the mandate given to us. I strongly believe and envision that whatever the Lord has done and will do in the movement; it will be for His glory alone and not for any system or person.

Disclaimer:

The things I've shared come from my own personal views and thoughts and not of the movement.

Reviving the Movement

Greetings! 

It's been two years since this blog been updated! And I'm not even sure if someone is still reading this blog aside from me. Just a quick update, NYMM has been in the "rebirthing" stage as I call it.

The Philippine Missions Mobilization Movement has been gearing up for a consultation forum this July 16,2011 inviting the key players in missions and youth mobilization. I personally joined the "think-tank" meeting and is excited to what will happen during and after the forum.

Below is Kuya Nono's invitation letter to those who are interested to join the forum. Please read through and be I hope that you will be challenged and join us during this event as well;

Dear colleague in missions,  

Last 2003, there was an initiative to establish a partnership to prepare young people who may be considering to work overseas to become intentional tentmakers.  The partnership had embarked on mobilization and training events in different parts of the country to provide young people with information, inspiration and exposure to the opportunities as well as challenges of establishing a viable witness in a cross-cultural context.   

Two years later, forty mission agency executives, trainers and mobilizers forged a partnership to leverage the Filipino diaspora and OFW Phenomenon in order to raise multitudes of Filipino tentmakers to make an impact among the least reached peoples.  It has been recognized that many of the youth can significantly contribute to the fulfillment of the vision of the Philippine Missions Mobilization Movement or what is known simply as the PM3.  Since then, hundreds of thousands of Filipino believers all over the world have come to see the strategic role of the Philippine Church in fulfilling the Great Commission.   

Wishing to further build on these two missional breakthroughs, I wish to invite you to a consultation among youth groups and organizations to explore how we can move forward together to ignite a massive mobilization of the youth in churches across the country for meaningful involvement in cross-cultural ministry locally and globally.  This consultation will be held at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, 4th Floor of the Evangelical Center, 62 Molave Street, Project 3, Quezon City.  This will be from 8am till 3pm this coming July 16, a Saturday.  There will be a small registration fee of P100 to cover lunch and snacks.  

You are receiving this invitation because your organization is acknowledged to be passionate to see young people engaged in world missions.  It is my fervent hope that you and another leader in your group will be available to participate in this Youth Missions Mobilization Forum.  I can assure you that there are compelling reasons why the Filipino youth must be empowered today to become the future tentmakers, missionaries, mobilizers and member care providers, that we will be sharing with you on July 16. 

Please email me (lbadoy@yahoo.com) or text me (SMART 0920-905-4021 or GLOBE 0917-719-4509 and SUN 0922-471-2008) to indicate whether you and/or another representative from your group can join us for the Youth Missions Mobilization Forum.  May the LORD continue to inspire us to serve Him faithfully and to spread His fame among all nations!  

God bless!  

Nono Badoy

Executive Director 

Philippine Missions Mobilization Movement

So, what are you waiting for? Call now and take part in building the Kingdom of God on earth!