|
Empowering
others to hear
Almost everyone involved in missions shares with those
on the mission field lessons that we have learned at home. Ellis
Baptist Association in Texas is doing the opposite. They are taking
lessons learned on the mission field and are developing a strategy
to use them in Ellis County.
Larry Johnson, DOM, led the association to do strategy
planning and change its structure to fit its strategy. The association
also analyzed the large number of people who were unevangelized
in the county. They knew they had to do things differently. In a
conference led by IMB personnel at Southwestern Seminary, Johnson
learned about chronological Bible storying and the church-planting
results it was having internationally. Armed with that information,
with research that indicated that Ellis County had 54,000-plus adults
who were oral learners, and with IMB material on church-planting
movements (CPM), the leadership team adopted a CPM strategy for
the association that included chronological Bible storying. This
emphasis stresses understanding the worldview of the hearers, determining
what the bridges and barriers are for sharing the gospel with them
effectively and determining which biblical stories are needed to
reach the specific oral learners. Ellis Association formed a Gospel
Communication team to work on the stories, which estimated that
approximately 40 biblical stories are needed. When these are completed,
they plan on putting them on CDs and tapes. They hope to start new
work specifically for oral learners.
Ellis Baptist Association also is looking at establishing
a strategic relationship with the Lenca people group of Honduras.
The Bible storying skills learned, along with other God-given abilities,
should help them reach the Lenca effectively. The Lenca are Mayan
Indians who have lost their language and are located in Honduras
(100,000-plus) and El Salvador (36,000). The association’s
initial trip is set for January.
Before the SBC adopted the theme of Empowering
Kingdom Growth, Ellis Baptist Association had determined to empower
people in Ellis County to hear the gospel in a manner that communicates
to them. They also are looking forward to mobilizing their churches
so that the Lenca people of Honduras may be empowered to hear the
good news of Jesus.
|
