GCOWE '95 Wrap Up: Report by Brigada

Doug Lucas
GCOWE '95

GCOWE 95 NOW HISTORY -- They came together from all over the world -- 186 nations to be exact. It was called the Global Consultation on World Evangelization -- and global is right! Our count revealed 3293 delegates plus a total of 827 guests, intercessors, staff and volunteers resulted in 4120 individuals gathered for one and only one purpose -- to glorify God and hasten the evangelization of the world in which we live. May 17-25 won't be soon forgotten, whether in Korea or in parts far flung. What themes will be remembered??? Among them will be ...

1. Reconciliation -- Japanese with Koreans, Arabs with Jews, Russian Orthodox with evangelicals, denominations with other denominations.
2. 10/40 Window -- From the sermons and presentations to the planning and even the singing... we won't forget the imaginary rectangle stretching from ten to forty degrees North of the equator, from West Africa to East Asia, where the greatest concentration of unevangelized people reside.
3. Int'l participation -- Not only were two-thirds of the participants from Africa, Latin America and Asia, but the majority of the consultation's funding came from those nations as well. Western missionaries took notes as African, Asian and Latin American leaders presented their successful methodology. They had become full partners in the task.
4. Prayer -- At the great evangelical consultations (Lausanne I, Lausanne II in Manila, etc.), prayer has always been an ingredient. But some -- even the "old-timers" -- said they couldn't remember a time when prayer permeated every component so thoroughly. Who can forget the Cities Track closing, where Viv Grigg organized separate, targeted prayer for each region being reported on? Who will ever forget the Concert of Prayer during the plenary? Prayer in the hallways, prayer in the national meetings, prayer here, prayer there...... prayer as a major weapon or tool in our confrontation with the enemy. It was clear that prayer had finally "arrived" -- and was seen as a superior "weapon" in the international worker's tool box, along with less powerful tactical strategies or scientific church growth approaches.
5. Networking -- Some said that the most valuable times came not during a main plenary session, or even the tracks, but rather in the hallways, over the dining tables, and on the buses, where international workers from around the world met up with mutually helpful contributors from continents around the globe.
6. Promise -- From all the media accounts and reports from the International Office, you'd think this would be the consultation to end all consultations! Well it just might be! As strategies are completed and partnerships gel, God just might raise up international forces that would reach parts of our world that have never been reached before. For another related perspective, check out this letter from missions author and statesman, Leonard Tuggy, sent to Brigada during GCOWE 95:

When we were serving in the Philippines some years ago, we learned what I felt was an important lesson by observing the results of two programs which had contrasting philosophies. The first program was the "Christ the Only Way" movement, which was a saturation evangelism strategy to reach the Philippines for Christ. A well-known parachurch organization sponsored this program for several years and sought to enlist churches, denominations and missions to come aboard and adopt the strategy that they laid out for all of us. There was fruit from this effort, but in the end there was some disappointment with the results.

The second program, which came along a few years later, was the Discipling A Whole Nation (DAWN) program, led by Jim Montgomery (who had also worked in the first program). I remember well joining Jim and Dr. McGavran in a series of conferences in the Philippines, launching this program in 1980. The difference in this program was that it was an effort to enlist as many churches, denominations and missions as possible to commit themselves to the stated goal, which was "a church in every barangay (village or district) by the year 2000." That would be a total of 50,000 churches. This program is still going on, and excellent progress has already been made in reaching the goal.

Seminars were given in connection with DAWN instructing churches and groups how to set goals and develop strategies, but the actual work of doing these things was left to the churches, denominations and missions themselves. The result was a unity as far as the overall goal was concerned, and diversity as far as individual strategies were concerned.

Thinking about this reminded me of the contrast between communism and capitalism in economic theory. Communism with its strong emphasis on centralized planning of the economy sounds so efficient, but it doesn't work, primarily because a large economy is so incredibly complex that centralized planning can't handle it. On the other hand, capitalism seems to be so "messy," yet it seems to work with its singleminded goal of making a profit.

Maybe the best thing that could come out of GCOWE would be a deep commitment of all involved to the goal of "A church for every people by the year 2000," a better understanding of all that need to be done to accomplish this, and the establishing of networks of communication and cooperation to enable all participants to keep informed and focused on the goal until it is accomplished.

Praying for you and the conference,

Leonard Tuggy

May Dr. Tuggy's dream come true!!!

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Thank you for allowing us to share these last few days together, via this email channel. We pray that as the next few months and years become reality, we'll be able to see God's hand at work through the enlivening of the plans, goals, and dreams set at GCOWE 95 and other similar meetings. But apart from all that, we pray that God will be glorified and that His name will be exalted. Because in the end, =that= is the chief aim in life.

God bless!
Doug Lucas

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Doug Lucas
at GCOWE '95 in Seoul