The book of Acts teaches us that despite the obstacles, the spread of the word is unstoppable. Dave Lawton has just returned from a visit to Mongolia. Since the fall of communism Mongolia has seen the emergence of church planting movements. Thousands have come to know Christ.
Unfortunately, foreign interference and funding has caused the movement to stall. Often the greatest hinderance to a church planting movement is Western funding and control.
It’s not all bad news. Here’s Dave’s interview with a Mongolian movement leader who has resisted the temptation to rely on outside support.
Count how many times you hear the phrase, “reach whole of Mongolia”.
Augie from Steve Addison on Vimeo.
2 Comments
Steve, I heard someone from China say that the last thing they needed is for well-meaning Westerners (primarily Americans) to come in and build theological schools and dump a lot of money into China. The reason is that it would stall the movement.
A few years ago, I asked a friend, “Is the Bible and the Spirit enough?” (Today I would add community to my question, but I digress.) He responded that it should be and he wanted it to be, but he really struggled with it because he wanted to impart a hermeneutical framework to those he taught, and mentored overseas (and he does do that today.) He wanted to help people get the “right” interpretation and the “right” view of scripture.
Good comment by David. Someone in China might say to us Westerners, “Thank you for your expertise, but I like our way of actually doing it rather that your way of just talking about it.”