Dear ATN viewers,
LIFEdevelopment.info, a new evangelism initiative developed by the Trans-European Division (TED) for reaching secular people, was successfully launched recently. You'll enjoy reading about this innovative program in the report by Pastor John Surridge, Communications Director, British Union Conference.
As one component of this multi-faceted evangelism outreach, Pastor Dwight Nelson, satellite speaker from NET '98, will be the host and speaker for a unique satellite series to originate from London in October 2003.
Prayerfully consider how your church or home bible study group can participate in this unique series designed to reach out especially to secular people. May God bless the launch and pre-work for this program
Sincerely,
Kandus Thorp, ATN
NEW EVANGELISTIC INITIATIVE TO BUILD FRIENDSHIPS WITH SECULAR PEOPLE
SWANWICK, DERBYSHIRE, ENGLAND - [ANR] "LIFEdevelopment.info", a new evangelistic initiative sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the British Union Conference (BUC), was launched at a special meeting in Swanwick, Derbyshire, England, in mid-February as over 170 ministerial workers gathered, coming from throughout the British Isles, as well as Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Yugoslavia.
The main objective of "LIFEdevelopment.info" is to help church members build lasting friendships with secular people and lead them through the process of becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. This journey of friendship and discovery of Biblical values will be supported by a multi-media package being developed by the TED.
"This is not another evangelistic programme," says Miroslav Pujic, executive director of LIFEdevelopment.info, "but a strategic vision based on building friendships with secular people. It will be an ongoing process with not only the full commitment of members, but also of pastors and church administrators. If we don't meet these people on their terms, where they are, we won't reach them for Jesus Christ. This is a long-term process, not a single event, so this concept of lifetime evangelism represents a paradigm shift away from short-term evangelism."
The uniqueness of this initiative is that "each church can customise the way they participate," says Pastor Cecil Perry, BUC president. "This creates a unique situation where every member and different departments of the church are mobilised under one common mission."
A key element in LIFEdevelopment.info is to get connected with secular people "and this is going to be a major challenge for Adventists who do not relate easily to those who look at life differently," says Pujic. "Friendships will be further developed in small group settings, café churches, and Life Development centres."
Pastor Peter Roennfeldt, Ministerial Association secretary for the Adventist Church in the TED, Pastor David Cox, BUC small groups director, and Pastor Martin Vukmanic, evangelism director for the Adventist Church Sweden, have all had experience in revitalising existing churches and forming groups and new church plants. They helped pastors see ways to implement the concept and material of LIFEdevelopment.info in these settings.
Part of the package will be television programmes with Pastor Dwight K Nelson of Pioneer Memorial Church, Andrews University, Michigan, USA, as the main speaker. Pr Nelson attended the February meetings at which "LIFEdevelopment.info" was introduced to the ministers. In his powerful opening message he told of the man who one night persuaded his friends to help him search for his lost car keys. After a fruitless search, one friend asked if they were looking in the right place. "This isn't where I lost them," the man replied, "but the light is better over here."
This illustration set the theme for Nelson's presentations. "For too long we have been seeking the lost in the wrong place," he said. Referring to Adventist theology and Biblical understanding, he continued, "The light may be better where we, as Adventists, are standing, but we are not likely to find many lost people there." Nelson spoke of the varied attitudes of secular people today. "Secular people are driven by experience rather than knowledge. A secular person coming to your church will need to belong before he will believe."
The television programme will be produced in October 2003 in England and transmitted around the world by satellite and the Internet. All small groups, café churches, and Life Development centres will be able to connect to the LIFEdevelopment.info website and share information, concerns, questions and experiences.
"We need to know the language that is understood by people living next to us with very different life concepts and values," said Pastor Bertil Wiklander, TED president, in his message sent to the conference. "To acquire this language we must fundamentally change the ways we communicate our faith. Only then may the Holy Spirit bring the seeds we sow to a growth that brings fruit, and only then can we reach the majority population in Europe."
Pastors and members may receive training in every element of LIFEdevelopment.info strategy--from the skills required for building friendships with secular people to the development of small groups or Life Development centers, and the planting of new churches. One resource to be used in becoming contagious Adventists infected by the fever of love for the lost is the "Becoming a Contagious Christian" training kit produced by the Willow Creek Association.
"There are no easy answers, and there is no single way to share one's faith within a postmodern environment," said Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the world Adventist Church, in his message to the LIFEdevelopment.info conference. "But I am confident that this initiative will provide church members with a valuable new resource for communicating God's love to a society that desperately needs it."
[ANR Staff/John Surridge/ANR 010]