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The Third DegreeMission possible?‘I wish I’d known it would be like this; I would have brought a bus load!’ This was just one comment from a student after attending the recent missions conference for university students at New Tribes Mission, North Cotes. Students gathered from universities all over the UK and indeed Europe, to be part of it. Until they arrived they were not quite sure what they were letting themselves in for, as it was the first conference of its kind … but a pleasant surprise for waiting — it was a super weekend. Entitled ‘Mission Possible’, the conference aim was to raise an awareness of people groups who have never had a chance to hear the great news about Jesus. Although the NTM European HQ was the venue, the focus was on all those working among the unreached. Through talks, multimedia presentations and interactive activities the students were presented with the challenge of, what seems at first, the overwhelming number of people groups still needing to hear about Jesus. Statistics tend to vary from one source to another, but according to joshuaproject.net, out of the 10,100 people groups of the world, 4,400 are still unreached! Looking at individuals, 39.2% of the world’s population are from an unreached people group! ChallengingWayne Sutton, pastor of Carrubbers Christian Centre, Edinburgh, taught students with excellent Bible exposition from Luke 10 (Jesus sending out the 72). Anna, a student from Sheffield summed up her thoughts in two words: ‘Very challenging!’ Missionary speakers gave the conference delegates excellent insights to their work, using examples to bring to life their thoughts and concerns for the mission field. Creative access countries (countries closed to missionaries) were also considered, challenging and encouraging the conference partners as they saw how God could take people who have completely surrendered their life to him, and use them in quite amazing ways. This was more than just an NTM event too, joining forces with missions societies such as WEC (Worldwide Evangelisation for Christ) and SIM (Serving in Mission). Journey into missionSaturday afternoon kept everyone occupied with ‘The Journey’, an excellent simulation that took the group through the process of training to be a missionary right up to the point where they reached the ethnic group they were seeking to reach. It enabled the students to get a feel for what it is like to be a missionary. ‘It was so fun’, commented one participant, ‘rather intense, very funny and they made sure it didn’t all run smoothly!’ Divided into several (unsuspecting) groups the ‘missionaries’ started off in their home church, moved on to visa application, through Bible school training, and on to missionary training (including culture study and language learning techniques). After training, they went back to their church, to the visa office, travel agents, airport check-in, the ‘plane’, immigration, journey to village, and finally ended up with a delicious ethnic meal! The meal was served to them as they sat on floor mats by NTM college students who refused to speak any English, so they were faced with the true-to-life challenge of trying to communicate with them effectively, with little or no common language. On the spotThe Saturday evening drew to a close with a ‘Grill a Missionary’, an opportunity for the students to ask those burning questions to a panel of experienced missionaries. ‘The weekend brought home to me that missionaries are just normal human beings who have given their lives to be used by God. Could be me, could be you. God uses the weak who rest fully on him. “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12.9)’, said one girl, who was deeply challenged by the weekends experiences. Testimonies of individuals from ethnic groups that have recently been reached with the good news challenged the students that unreached tribes are normal people, just like me and you…and they deserve the chance to hear the gospel no less than we do. The insights given into the lives of ‘remote’ people made them feel a lot less remote than before. This was the first such weekend that NTM have hosted but with such a positive response from the participants, it is hoped that this will become an annual event. It cost the students just £20 for the weekend and accommodation was provided in the excellent HQ of NTM in North Cotes. Facts: Jonathan Carswell© Evangelicals Now - June 2005 |