AD2000 Handbook 1993 Version

Luis Bush

Purpose

In a spirit of servanthood, the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement seeks to encourage, motivate and network men and women church leaders by inspiring them with the vision of reaching the unreached by the year 2000 through consultations, prayer efforts and written materials.

The intention is to encourage cooperation among existing churches, movements and structures to work together towards this same vision.

The expected result is the establishment of a mission-minded church planting movement within every unreached and unevangelized people and city by AD 2000 so that all peoples might have a valid opportunity to experience the love, truth and saving power of Jesus Christ in fellowship with other believers.

Rationale

How did it begin?

"A church for every people and the gospel for every person by AD 2000" has become the rallying cry of the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement.

By July 1990, researchers reported more than 2000 evangelization plans focused on the year 2000 and the number is increasing weekly. The perception of AD 2000 as a magnetic target has grown over the past twenty years, but only in recent years has it become a primary focus of many in the church. One-third of these programs are from the Two Thirds world. This is truly a global evangelization movement.

Although most of these plans operate independently of each other, there is a felt need among these leaders for greater mutual awareness of their efforts to mobilize the worldwide body of Christ for world evangelization by AD 2000.

Furthermore, as we approach the year 2000, many national leaders are developing their own AD 2000 country strategies. Never has the need been greater to see the worldwide body of Christ coordinate its efforts for world evangelization.

Why the Year 2000?

As Christians approach the end of this century, many groups within the worldwide body of Christ are seeing the year 2000 as a symbolic milestone for humankind. This has been true for years, but only recently has this phenomena come to the forefront, due to various writings, relationships and consultations. Because of the significance of the year 2000, this movement emphasizes the importance of calling the church to world evangelization both as we approach and as we enter the 21st century. Although no eschatological importance is attached to the year 2000, this milestone is intended to serve both as a focal point for evangelization plans and a transition time into a new century of world evangelization.

The AD 2000 & Beyond Movement grows out of a desire to respond both to the imperative of Scripture and the Great Commission mandate of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the unique opportunity to mobilize all of God's people to reach the unreached by the year 2000, as God's people everywhere establish unprecedented faith goals to the year 2000.

What is the Purpose of the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement?

In a spirit of servanthood the people involved in the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement seek to encourage, motivate and network men and women church leaders by inspiring them with the vision of reaching the unreached by AD 2000 through consultations, prayer efforts and written materials. The intention is to encourage cooperation among existing churches, movements and structures to work together toward this vision. The expected result is the establishment of a mission-minded church planting movement within every unreached and unevangelized people and city by AD 2000 so that all peoples might have a valid opportunity to experience the love, truth and saving power of Jesus Christ in fellowship with other believers.

The understanding of terms in the purpose statement is based upon the definitions and facts presented at the Lausanne II Congress in Manila in July 1989 in the Manila Manifesto under the heading 11, titled, "The Challenge of AD 2000 and Beyond." The term "unreached" refers to those approximately two billion people who are not within reach of Christians of their own people and do not yet have a vital, indigenous church movement. The term "people" refers to the larger ethno-linguistic groups, estimated to be 2000 among which there are an estimated 12,000 smaller peoples.

What is the nature and role of the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement?

The AD 2000 & Beyond Movement refers to the registered organizational unit seeking to add catalytic impetus to the various movements of the world that make up a global movement of the Holy Spirit. Through a survey done in preparation for GCOWE, held in Singapore in 1989, in which 1100 people participated from sixty countries, it became clear that the greatest obstacle to world evangelization by the year 2000 is lack of vision. Thus, according to this survey the greatest single factor contributing to the fulfillment of the Great Commission is the development and sharing of vision.

The AD 2000 & Beyond Movement shares the vision and communicates what the Holy

Spirit is doing through the body of Christ throughout the world. The two key verbs are "motivate" and "network". The two main avenues of sharing the vision are through "national consultations" and "common interest groups." The scope of the vision is to see an AD 2000 spiritual initiative in 200 countries around the world. The primary focus of the vision is the resistant belt between ten to forty degrees north of the equator from West Africa to East Asia, called the 10/40 Window, where the vast majority of unreached are located.

Several words summarize the common commitment of many people involved in the national and global initiatives related to the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement. The first word is "mobilization", referring to the awakening of the church in every country of the world to find their place in the task of national and world evangelization. The second is "empowerment" which underscores the fact that the Lord has provided not only technological tools but mainly his own Spirit, to empower his people in the task of evangelization. The third is "penetration" which suggests the targeting of spiritual ministry primarily on the unfinished task of planting the church where there is none and proclaiming the gospel to every person. The fourth word is "compassion" which reflects the concern for the whole person and the need to minister as servants. The fifth is "collaboration" which expresses the need to network and to work together to share Christ's love. The sixth, "intensification," underscores the urgency of the hour as we move to the milestone date, AD 2000. The seventh is "fulfillment." It expresses the conviction that, yes, it is possible to bring the gospel to all people by the year 2000.

Dr. Bong Rin Ro, general secretary of the World Evangelical Fellowship Theological Commission and coordinator of the theological issues track, emphasized that AD 2000 is a "grass-roots networking structure." Dr. Bill Taylor, general secretary of the WEF Missions Commission, calls it a "grass-roots movement, a network of networks, a fusion of visions." Dr. Peter Wagner, professor at Fuller Seminary School of World Missions notes: "We are all controlled from the bottom up rather than from the top down." Phill Butler of Interdev observes that the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement has a "...focus on catalyzing, mobilizing, multiplying resources, thru networks." The intention of the movement, as stated in the general purpose statement, is to "encourage cooperation among existing churches, movements, and structures to work together toward this vision."

Why is the 10/40 Window a primary focus?

The strongest focus of the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement is on the 10/40 Window, the termed coined for the area of the world between 10 degrees and 40 degrees North latitude, which stretches from North Africa and southern Spain to Japan and northern Philippines. This is not to say that AD 2000 & Beyond Movement is unconcerned about the rest of the world. Its ultimate vision is that none should perish in any part of the world.

However, there are compelling reasons why committed Christians need to focus on the Window. The first is because of the historical and biblical significance of this part of the world. The entire account of the Old Testament deals with lands inside this area. Secondly, most of the least evangelized people and countries of the world are here. In fact, 97% of the people living in the fifty five least evangelical countries are in the 10/40 Window.

A third reason Christians need to focus on the Window is because this is where the three main religious blocks, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, are located. Adherents to the Islamic religion are growing. Yet it is reported that many Moslems who, having studied the Koran in great depth, have discovered that the highest prophet described in the Koran is Jesus Christ and not Mohammed. We must pray that the eyes and the hearts of the Moslems will be opened to recognize that the Christ of the Koran is the Son of God, who died for the sins of mankind and rose again for our salvation.

The Muslim block makes up 22% of the 3.14 million people living in the Window, the Hindu block comprises 23% of this area's population, and the Buddhist block totals 5%. A fourth reason to focus our attention on the 10/40 Window is because the poor are there. There is a remarkable overlap between the fifty poorest countries of the world and the least evangelized countries of the world. In fact, 79% of the people who are poorest are also among the least evangelized. And when you relate them to the 10/40 Window, you discover that 99% of these least evangelized poor —2.3 billion people—live in the 10/40 Window. Only 6% of the missionary force now works among this 44% of the world's population. This certainly makes up the greatest challenge of this decade for the committed Christian!

The fifth reason to focus on the 10/40 Window relates to "quality of life". One way of measuring the quality of life is to combine three variables: life expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy. When the world's fifty countries with the lowest quality of life are identified and mapped, the overlap with the countries in the 10/40 Window is evident. A sixth reason to focus on the 10/40 Window is because it is a stronghold of Satan. As the Christian presence has expanded around the world, it appears that those people living in the 10/40 Window have suffered not only hunger and a low quality of life compared to the rest of humanity, but have also been kept from the transforming, life giving, community changing power of the Gospel. Evidently Satan has established a territorial stronghold with his forces to restrain the advance of the Gospel in this area. If we are to advance into this territory in a significant way, we will need to put on the full armor of God, secure our borders, and fight with the weapons described by the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 10:3: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds."

Work going on in other places of the world is certainly important, and should not be curtailed. Rather, we need to increase our efforts to reach those who live in the Window. If we are to be faithful to Scripture and obedient to the mandate of Christ to see a mission-minded church planting movement established within every unreached people, so that all peoples might have a valid opportunity to experience the love, truth, and saving power of Jesus Christ, we must get to the core of the unreached: The 10/40 Window.

The Poor, The Least Evangelized & The 10/40 Window 99% of the least evangelized poorest of the poor are here.