Ministry: Updates

Updates: September 2008
Northeast Leaders Congress 2008
Date: 09.07.2008
This week I attended Northeast Leaders Congress on Transformation. There were more than 200 leaders from all over northeast region. The emphasis was on networking to reach out the unreached and on empowering every Christian to plant a Church.

There was lots of energy in the congress. Testimonies, stories of victories, and mission challenges filled the air. However, the purpose of the conference to set a goal to reach the unreached by every delegate began to become clear only on the last day. One of the speakers, Dr. Augustine from Philippines, very aptly said, "If the interpretation of the scripture without application is abortion then a vision without action plan is hallucination." His emphasis on the planning and the need of a right theology caught my attention.

Unfortunately, the planning session was hurriedly held. There was not much brain storming, much less the prayer. The emphasis seems to be on the “number”. We tend to emphasize the numbers, which provokes “halleluyah,” but not so much on the “discipleship,” “sound theology,” and “strategies that might prevent duplicity and wastage of God's resources” in missions. The latter of course are not appealing and may not get many “halleluyah”. This is the general trend in our mission. Missions of Jesus Christ are caught in the glamour of quantity, sometime at the expense of quality. Both must be emphasized. In fact, the latter may need more emphasis.

On the positive note, a comprehensive research data on the potential mission field of northeast region was presented. The leaders were made aware of the 42,250 villages in the northeast where we do not have a single Christian. Dr. Chowdhary, a surgeon and the retired Director of CMC, Ludhiana, who is also considered as the “Guru” of house Church movement in the north India emphasized on participation of every Christian, rather than just missionaries. However, how every Christians be equipped, empowered, and encouraged to fulfill this task was left unaddressed.

Much will depend on prayers, careful planning, and dedicated follow up of this conference. Please pray that the Lord will enable our leaders to think clear and plan prayerfully to reach out the unreached northeast.

Updates: September 2008
© 2002-2024 TLA Ministries, Inc.