New Blog Series Explores Healthy Mission
The term “mission” can evoke a range of emotions—some inspiring but others clouded by colonial baggage. What does a healthy approach to mission look like in today’s changing world? A new series from Resonate Global Mission on the Christian Reformed Church’s Do Justice blog explores that question and more.
In the series, titled “(International) Mission Postures,” Resonate ministry leaders, partners, and volunteers share stories about mission around the world and explore various postures that help lead to healthy local partnerships and fruitful ministry.
“Many people don't realize how closely the biblical concepts of mission and justice are related,” said Resonate director Kevin DeRaaf. “We can proclaim the good news with all our might, but if we do not have love, our message sounds like an annoying [clanging] cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). How we show up is as critical as what we say.”
“The stories in this series all represent beautiful examples of showing up with love, integrity, care, and a listening heart. When we demonstrate love for people who feel marginalized, or when we show that we care deeply about the brokenness of people’s lives and circumstances, we embody the whole of the gospel message—that the heart of Jesus is about the renewal of all things,” he added.
DeRaaf kicked off the series with a post that explores how mission has changed in Canada and the United States and globally.
“Today, the church is thriving throughout Africa, in parts of Asia, South and Central America, and beyond. Meanwhile, the Church in North America, by every metric, is in a state of decline,” he wrote. “No longer can we pretend that the West is the geographical centre of the Christian faith. Instead we speak today of a ‘from everywhere to everyone’ paradigm, a polycentric movement of the gospel that reflects the massive movement of people around the globe, including the U.S.A. and Canada. Across North America, in our largest cities and smallest towns, as we welcome immigrants and migrants from across the world, we are discovering that the gospel is also coming to us in fresh ways—accompanied by fresh opportunities to learn and to serve.”
The Do Justice series also includes reflections from Alisha Kuperus, a volunteer with Resonate’s Cohort ministry in Berlin, Germany; from Jonathan Nicolai-deKoning, program director at the Micah Centre at The King’s University; from Mclowlly (Mac) Soré, a Resonate local mission leader and partner church planter in Milwaukee, Wis.; from Jacynthe Vaillancourt, who works with Christian Direction coordinating Resonate partner Mission Montreal; and from Taka Ashida, pastor of Shin Urayasu Tokyo Bay Reformed Church in Japan.
From the stories in these reflections, readers gain a glimpse of a much-needed church plant for Spanish-speakers in Milwaukee, churches in Japan working hard to spread the gospel in a country where less than one percent of the population identifies as Christian, and mission at a homeless shelter serving people from diverse backgrounds in Berlin.
“Coming to Berlin, I wasn’t sure what missions would look like here, but after working at the shelter, I’ve come to believe that mission work, at its core, requires meeting people where they are,” wrote Kuperus in her reflection.
Read more and find the entire series on Do Justice at crcna.org/do-justice/international-mission-postures.
