Missions

This Mission unit is exciting because it cuts to the heart of the Father’s agenda for his creation, that is, his mission to reconcile all things to himself through the person and work of his son, Jesus Christ. It is the church’s joy to participate in this mission by following Jesus through the empowering of the Holy Spirit to be agents of reconciliation. Students will gain insight into this remarkable privilege through considering the history of the church on mission, the Trinitarian heart of mission, and modern missional issues for the church in the 21^st century.

One may not be a full time minister or missionary in the ‘typical’ sense of the term, but each person has a mission field and is called to be a witness in their respective environs. It may be it their family, their workplace, or elsewhere. Whatever the case may be, it is for this reason that an understanding of the history of missions and the God who engages people through mission is vital for one’s understanding of their place in God’s story.

John Piper states that the Church exists to worship God. But because not all of humankind neither knows the Triune God, nor worships Him, missions exist to introduce people to their Maker, so that they will worship Him! The local church is central in reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and, therefore, should understand its own identity and task within God’s universal plan.

The Bible, and especially the New Testament, gives us a good understanding of the principles of what the Church is, what her role is in reaching the world, as well as some principles in missionary methods. This course will seek to integrate current missiological discussions while simultaneously staying grounded in Scripture, particularly the letter of 1 Peter.

Over the course of the semester we shall move towards a missionary theology for the local church by looking at some of the relevant issues that concern the church both today, and will be on the agenda in the not-too-distant future.

This unit provides the opportunity for cross cultural exposure, ministry and field research in a context chosen by the college. 

The student will be required to undertake a group field trip to a cross cultural context of at least 2 weeks and consider among other things the following:

1. The cross cultural issues of the context
2. The worldview and religious distinctives of the context
3. Approaches to communicating the gospel in the context
4. The theological and ministry challenges of the context
5. The personal impact of cross cultural involvement for life and ministry