June-August 1991

June/August 1991

The Community: Who are the USCWM People?

Behind "Behind the Scenes"

The Strategy Division - Taking the Pulse of the World

PERSPECTIVES: CHANGING THE WAY THE WORLD THINKS ABOUT MISSIONS

The M.A. Program

The University

Global Prayer Digest

Mission Frontiers

William Carey Library Publishers

Adopt-A-People for Children

The Community: Who are the USCWM People?

--Ron Shaw

When the question is asked, "Who are you?" (or more discreetly, "Tell me about yourself") a common response in America would be:

"I work at ______Company."

Or "I do ______ for a living."

This really doesn't tell us much about people, does it? Not about their characters or deep-down beliefs. Not about who they really are.

So in answering this question, "Who are the USCWM people," we want to tell you something about us as individuals, plus what we do.

The U.S.C.W.M. is a group (rather small, at present--we keep "losing" members to the mission field) of believers in Christ who are controlled by a passionate concern. Our concern is the many thousands of people around the planet who have no Christian church in their culture, nor any Gospel witness in their language!

We have gathered here in the Los Angeles Basin, in answer to a call we each feel we have received from the Lord. Some of us are volunteers, some are supported by gifts from loyal churches and interested friends. But all of us feel called to be missionaries--of a special variety, serving the rest of the mission enterprise.

We are mission mobilizers, pointing God's people to see that His goal: a church for every people group, sets the direction for all of us to take. Another word for our job is multipliers, helping send workers to the field so that far more is accomplished for Him than if we went ourselves.

What Do Mobilizers Do?
The Center's original purpose was and is to call the attention of mission leaders and Christians everywhere to the needs of the unreached peoples. By common consent the first part of this purpose (alerting mission leaders) has largely been accomplished.

Now we feel the next phase of the spiritual battle for the planet is to wake up the "sleeping giant" which is the Church! That is, to help churches cooperate with mission agencies to pool their resources (pray-ers, workers, money on the one hand; church-planting expertise on the other) so that the 12,000 unreached groups can be penetrated with the Gospel. In order to wake up the Church, we must give the interested handful of "mission zealots" tools to work with, and tell them where to get more.

All this will take a massive recruitment and mobilization, something like the United States did when it suddenly transferred 400,000 soldiers, sailors and pilots to the Persian Gulf, while still leaving armed forces on duty around the world!

Our Biblical Mandate
But there is more to the answer of who we are than: "mission mobilizers," which is really an occupational reply. We are a fellowship of mission workers, a community of servants of Jesus Christ, who see that our relationship with Him and with each other is as important as what we do for Him.

The importance of this concept of "community" is best seen when high- lighted against our Biblical mandate for being missionaries. You see, we have found that "missions" is not a new discovery of the last few centuries. The Old Testament reveals that one Abram of Ur was approached by the Lord and told to leave his father's house to go to the land he would be shown. There he would be blessed and in him all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12).

All through the Bible we find continued references to this desire of God that His people be "blessed in order to be a blessing." And we have found that "blessed" is not a warm feeling but a family relationship, the privilege of being a part of God's family along with all other believers. It is an identity as much as an escape from guilt, a relationship both horizontal and vertical as well as a purpose to serve.

Growing as a Family
Part of the joy of serving God at the U.S. Center is the "family members" we have to work with. I had been here several months before I thought to ask someone where he worshipped. It was a surprise to learn that he was not of my denomination. And he was such a nice fellow, too!

As I found out more, I realized some were from churches we would not have been in the same softball league with back home. But in spite of being from all kinds and stripes of churches, we share this vision of God's insistence that there will be some from every people, tribe and tongue before His throne in Heaven.

Daily Life Together?
To foster this family relationship, part of life at the Center consists of time spent together in matters other than work. For instance, we start each day off with a Morning Meeting. At first we are in groups of four or five, sharing from what God has shown us recently in His Word. Then we gather in one large group to learn from God's works, as news filters in from around the mission world. We pray for each other, for our regional offices and for our homemakers. We then separate to our tasks, refreshed in our conviction of Who it is we are serving and of the certainty of His victory.

Although we are not a church, we do have Elders, not for ruling but for help and counsel. "Member care" can become far more effective in our mission fellowship than it is for a local church, because we spend our entire work week together. Because our purpose is so focused, oneness of good relationships is not only possible, but highly rewarding.

Weekly Staff meetings, quarterly days of prayer and a yearly retreat for a time at the mountain top contributes to team spirit. Our Personnel department is concerned about encouraging spiritual growth and about placing people in the most appropriate jobs. Those needing help with their support-raising are a special concern. We pool used clothing and furniture and have child-care provisions. This fall we will open a K-7 Christian school for our children. All of these help build a sense of belonging to the family.

These efforts are not beside the point of our work--they give point to our concern for unreached groups. Missions is not an assignment Jesus thought up to keep us busy. It is a logical extension of the concept of the "family of God." Those outside the family need to hear of God's invitation as we did, and so our growing in being a family is essential to our work to extend the family.

What This Issue Is All About
This is part of why we want you to know who we are. We are reaching out in an appeal to those readers who are also feeling the call of the Lord on their lives, who want to grow as well as go, to love their fellow workers as well as those they are working to reach. On the pages following you will find out our names, something of who we are, what we do as our part of the total job of mobilizing and pictures of many of us.

We have also included job descriptions of the places we have not filled at this time. This is an out-and-out appeal. We know some people respond when shown how they might fit in with their present skills, not having to wait until they get more education or more experience. We know because some of us came here when shown that we could be used as we were. After reading through this issue--

Ask yourself these penetrating questions:
I am a member of the family of God, right?

Am I convinced that He wants His family extended to the uttermost parts of the globe?

Would I like to be a part of a fellowship of Christians, working and living together as brothers and sisters in Christ, on a project in line with His revealed will?

Can I see myself helping to wake up other Christians to the enormous privilege that is ours, in this last decade before the year 2000, to be part of God's working around the globe in unprecedented ways, perhaps even to finish the task?

Is my situation in life such that I could leave it--soon, and transplant to another place, depending on God for my supply of daily bread?

Am I willing to pray for God to show me if He wants me to serve Him by becoming a part of the fellowship of mission mobilizers at the U. S. Center for World Mission?

If your answers are such that you can say, "Yes! I believe God wants me to be working there with you," or if you want more information, please contact:

Rhonda Sherwin Personnel Dept. 1605 Elizabeth Street Pasadena, CA 91104

We hope that you enjoy this guided tour and meeting the people who are the U.S. Center for World Mission. Come see us. Better yet, join us!

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