I have just arrived in Seoul, Korea for a major consultation
occurring this next week. Called Ethne 2012, it is the third major meeting of
global mission leaders who are focused on strategies for completing the Great
Commission.
What makes this particular meeting stand out from others
I’ve been to, is that it was initiated and envisioned more by non-Western
mission initiatives than by North Americans.
As their own literature states:
The Ethnê vision is to see “Peoples Glorifying God among All Peoples”. The
Ethnê purpose is to Celebrate Great Commission Progress; to
Assess (and Connect) Resources and
Needs; and to Accelerate Progress in
Reaching the Unreached
In fulfilling its vision and
purpose, Ethne strives to exemplify two characteristics. The first is trusted relationships - many
non-Western participants have said that this is the first global network where
they feel like equal partners. The second is that Ethne strives to be practical
- the goal is do something together,
not just talk.
Previous Ethne meetings that occurred in 2006 in Bali, Indonesia and in 2009
in Bogotá, Columbia made significant progress identifying families of unreached
people groups that were least impacted by evangelism and church planting
efforts. As a result, key networks have now sprung up in those regions thanks in
part to the partnership and dialog from these Ethne meetings.
At this event, the objectives will go further in identifying more
regions of the world that need proactive mission activity plus provide plenty
of workshops designed to develop useful plans of action. As it says above, the
theme will be to DO something together and not just TALK about it.
For me personally, it will be fun to attend a meeting for once without a
specific agenda or responsibility that I have to fulfill. Instead, I’m here to
learn as much as I can about the latest dynamics fueling these indigenous mission
thrusts and hopefully discover new ways that my role as mentor, encourager and
consultant for national ministry leaders might be used. I also hope to become
introduced to some of my key colleagues working with OC International as a
means of getting to know them and their ministry work better.
Stay tuned to this blog for some further updates as the week goes on.
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