The onset of the world-wide missionary outreach of the assemblies began rather unpretentiously on a misty warfside in Gravesend, England, on June 12, 1829. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Norris Groves and their family sailed for St. Petersburg, Russia, en route to Baghdad. Mr. Groves had been associated with the small group of brethren in Dublin, Ireland, that had recently rediscovered the simple principles of the New Testament Church as set forth in the Scriptures. Severing his connection with the Church Missionary Society, he set off for Baghdad looking to God alone for his support. Mr. Groves has been called the “father of faith missions.”
Mr. Groves was a Bible scholar and a man of great vision. However, I doubt that he realized as the yacht slipped its moorings almost 170 years ago, that he was the vanguard of over 6,000 men and women from the assemblies that have encircled the globe with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There have been many missionary societies and organizations used of God in world evangelism during the past two centuries, but “no single body perhaps more significantly than the assemblies of brethren…missionaries have gone from these assemblies to practically every area of the world, depending for their support solely upon the faithfulness of God. The impact which has been made has been out of all proportion to their number or to the size and importance of the assemblies from which they went.”1
As the assemblies grew and multiplied so did the number of missionaries. For assemblies, missions was never an elective, but an imperative. Hudson Taylor once said, “The commission is not an option to be considered, but a command to be obeyed.” In a film made about “the Brethren” for Ulster Television several years ago, Sir Fred Catherwood, member of the European Parliament, said, “The Brethren are tremendous evangelists.” On the same film, Harold Rowdon of the London Bible College noted, “From the beginning, the Brethren have seen the world as its parish.”
Generally speaking, the size of individual assemblies is not large; yet with their burning zeal for evangelism, thousands have responded to God’s call to “go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.” Just considering the assemblies in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, more than one out of every hundred believers is directly involved in missions today. No other church group can come close to that figure.
Everyday Publications (Toronto) publishes a combined list of missionaries from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The list for this year (1998) has the names of 1,250 missionaries serving the Lord in 100 countries. Add to that number fellow laborers from other European countries, South America, Africa, and the Asian Pacific countries and the number is more than 1,500.
Alec Pulleng, former editor of Echoes, wrote in his classic exegesis of New Testament missionary principles, Go Ye Therefore, about the missionary outreach of assemblies, “The wonderful story of gospel enterprise can never fully be told. It is surely remarkable that it has grown to its present dimensions without any publicity, organization, or appeal either for men or money. Ours is a wonderful heritage. May we of this generation prove ourselves worthy of it, and at least maintain the high standards of godliness and sacrifice which the pioneers showed.”2
CHANGES
The twentieth century has been one of major changes and unparalleled developments. Just in the last half of this century we have witnessed great strides in medical research and aerospace and computer technology, just to name a few areas. Inevitably, changes have also taken place in missions.
During this century, we have seen location changes in the mission fields. At the beginning of the century, Africa and Asia were the major fields of missionary endeavor. China, once open to the gospel, is now closed. In India, missionaries are no longer welcome, but there is still an open door for professionals. There has been a hemorrhaging of missionaries from Africa and Asia and a dramatic increase of workers in Europe. Just in the last 25 years, the number of missionaries to Africa has dropped 30%, while the Asian numbers have decreased 32%. During the same period, the missionary force in Europe increased by 141% and in Central America by 86%.
There has also been a change of focus on many fields. Years ago on many mission fields, it was necessary to provide medical aid to the local nationals. Lack of education was also a problem and schools had to be organized. In many areas today, the missionary is no longer involved in this type of ministry.
Years ago, living conditions were primitive, but this, too, has seen a vast improvement. As the churches on the mission fields grew, it was obvious that nationals were far more effective in evangelization than expatriate missionaries. Many missionaries are finding they need to encourage, teach, write, and translate. No other language has the wealth and treasury of Christian literature that is found in English. For some missionaries, translation work has become a top priority in order to give nationals the needed helps to “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
We have also seen change in methods of operating. Transportation has gone from foot and horse power to Land Rovers, motorbikes, and planes. Years ago, when the Logan girls in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) went to school at Sakeji, it was an adventure. It was a 350-mile trip from Chavuma through Angola to the school. They would walk, run, and be carried in hammocks by their guardians. They would negotiate the trip in ten days. Today the same trip by plane takes about an hour-and-a-half. Preaching around the campfire has often been replaced by videos and cassettes.
This century has also witnessed a change in the center of missions outreach. Throughout the nineteenth century and until World War I, the United Kingdom was the center of mission activity. That center shifted to North America after the Great War. If the Lord tarries, that center will shift again to Southeast Asia. Believers in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, and Japan are even now looking beyond their own borders. It is also a fact that today our Asian brethren are welcome in countries where Westerners are not.
That fact suggests another change: from the conventional missionary to tentmaker. Today there are a number of tentmakers–professionals working in closed countries and carrying on a bright witness for our Lord.
CHALLENGES
There are many challenges facing the missionary outreach today and in the coming years.
There is the challenge of unreached peoples. Throughout North Africa and Asia there are hundreds of millions unreached in closed countries. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ stated, “We have the technology and the money (to reach the world), but the main stumbling block is the lack of prayerful concern on the part of Christians.”
There is the challenge of urbanization. As we entered the twentieth century, roughly 80% of the people lived in rural areas. Today we find that almost two-thirds of the population are in urban areas. Cities present new problems. The negatives are: they are not easy places to work, they are not always pleasant conditions, and they are often very rough. Cities can be dangerous due to drugs and crime, but the people need the Lord! There are positives, too: urban areas are ideal for mass media, large evangelistic efforts, and easy access to people.
Perhaps the most serious challenge is that of Islam. It is the fastest growing religion in the world today. There are over 1.1 billion Muslims in the world. The majority of Muslims live in South Asia, not in the Middle East. It is estimated that 80% of the Muslims have never heard the gospel.
There have been many changes and there are daunting challenges ahead. Many mission boards and societies are seeing a decrease in the recruitment of missionaries and in the sending of funds abroad. Thankfully, the number of missionaries from North America has not decreased nor has there been a decrease in support for missions world-wide.
But the work is not done and we must avoid the temptation of resting on our oars. Missions is an upstream battle and the minute we relax, we will drift backwards. It appears some have the attitude that the Lord’s commission is “come and hear” not “go and preach.” The zeal for evangelism has been one of the hallmarks of the assemblies down through our short history. Let’s keep that fire burning brightly.
In our assemblies today we are blessed with many fine, dedicated, concerned young people with a vision, who are looking for involvement. Let us properly equip them for involvement. Let us not be jealous of their youth and the talents God has entrusted to them. Let us thank God for them and, like Paul, or Aquila and Priscilla, let us feed them, lead them, and be an example to them. Let us pass on our enthusiasm for evangelism and missions. Let us use the wonderful resources the Lord has blessed us with. Let us continue to “go out,” for if we don’t, we will “die out.”
Endnotes:
1. Cover of That the World May Know.
2. Go Ye Therefore, p. 12.