The Goal of Missions at Grace Church
To spread the Gospel and make disciples.
To save lives--eternal lives.
To glorify God.
The Missions Committee is open to any Grace Church member
interested in missions.
It meets the second Sunday of even numbered months at 12:00.
The Great Commission
Matthew 24:14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the
whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will
come.
Matthew 28:19 As you go, make disciples of all nations…
Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and and preach the good news to all
creation.
Luke 24:47 Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his
name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem.
Acts 1:8 You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Revelation 7:9 I looked and there before me was a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.
The Spread of Christianity: 33-400
~ 33 AD: Following Pentecost the gospel spread around the
Mediterranean and Middle East.
40-50s: Paul spread the gospel in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy.
60s: The disciples spread the gospel after persecution in Jerusalem-Middle East, North Africa, Southern Europe, Britain, maybe India.
300s: Emperor Constantine
made Christianity the Roman
Empire’s official religion.
Constantine
From Gonzales, The Story
of Christianity
Evangelized
Significant Evangelism
The Spread of Christianity: 400-800
400s: The Barbarians conquered Rome, assimilated Christianity and
spread it to Europe.
400s: The Nestorians spread Christianity to the Middle East, India,
and maybe China.
600-700s: Islam replaced Christianity in North Africa, the Middle
East and Southern Spain.
Saint Sophia Cathedral in
Constantinople
From Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity
The Spread of Christianity: 800-1200
800-1000s: The Vikings conquered Europe and assimilated
Christianity.
900s: The Eastern Orthodox Church spread to Russia.
1054: The Eastern and Western Churches divided.
1100-1200s: The Crusades spread long lasting ill-will to the
Muslims.
The Spread of Christianity: 1200-1600
1500s: The Reformation divided Roman and Protestant Churches.
1500s: Spanish and Portuguese spread Christianity to the Americas.
1600s: The Jesuits spread Christianity to Japan and China.
Martin Luther
The Spread of Christianity: 1600-2000
1800s: William Carey started mission agencies and went to India.
1865: Hudson Taylor realized that missions worked in coastal areas
but not inland, and started the China Inland Mission
1930s: Townsend & McGavran realized that there were unreached
people groups.
Great Commission Christians
Percent of World Population
15
12.5
10
7.1
5
4.5
1.2
0.37
0.28
0
0
500
1000
Year AD
1500
2000
Ralph Winter USCM
Winter and Koch
Finishing the Task
The Unreached
Peoples Challenge
World Protestant Missionaries in Thousands
250
200
Rest of World
150
100
North America & Europe
50
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
Operation World
The role of U.S. missions appears to be changing from direct missions
to support for indigenous missions (international partnerships). (Pate)
Wycliffe Vision 2025
To see a Bible translation program started in every
language group that needs it by 2025
6900 world languages
2700 have at least part of the Bible
1900 have language projects in progress
(Wycliffe & others)
2000 languages need translation projects
Unreached People Groups Can Be Reached
People Groups
16,400
Reached People Groups
9,300
Unreached People Groups
7,100
Great commission Churches
7.1 Million
GC Churches/Unreached Group
1000
There is a shift from looking at the world in terms of individuals
who need to be won, to people groups that need to have churches
planted among them. (Dick Elkins)
Grace Church Missions Principles
Focus on New Mexico and unreached people groups of the world.
Use the cycle of evangelism, discipleship, church planting, and
leadership training.
Maintain cultural and familial connections.
Promote clusters of relatively small, growing churches.
Strive for churches that are self-governing, self-supporting, and
self-propagating.
Trust that the Bible, Holy Spirit, and presence of Jesus will grow
the church, without our control.
Reliance on prayer is an integral part of the missions enterprise.
Grace Church Mission Selection Criteria
1. Qualified individuals with strong ties to our body who have been
called to special ministry outside of our immediate area, or
2. Qualified individuals who have been called to work with us in
local ministries that are an extension of our own church ministries,
or
3. Qualified indigenous Christians with a clear call to serve the Lord
in their native land who have an accountable relationship with
someone in the Grace Church body.
Grace Church Supports Missions
in the Following Areas
Community Evangelism & Discipleship
(Albuquerque & New Mexico)
Cross-Cultural Resource Development
Cross-Cultural Leadership Development
Cross-Cultural Evangelism & Discipleship
In August 2004, Grace Church “Adopted” the
Gond, an Unreached People of South-Central India
By “Adoption,” we Committed to Participate in Evangelizing the
Gond through an established ministry in India.
Cell Groups Meet in 222 Villages With 3691 Believers.
Last Year, 605 Were Baptized.
In 2012 Grace Church Raised $26,000 to Build
and Operate an Orphanage for Gond Children