Letter To CCCOWE Family

Letter to CCCOWE Family

In the past four months, I have had the privilege to serve in countries such as the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, Singapore, and Australia. Although each place has its own unique context and culture, it is encouraging to see that global Chinese churches are increasingly motivated to participate in global missions. However, in various gatherings, participants are often confronted with a question: How can we make mission not just the responsibility and passion of a few individuals in the church, but something that the whole church is on fire and participates in?

In many mission conferences, we are reminded of our mission to bring the Gospel to unreached people groups. Missions should not be limited to the local context or focused only on people of the same culture and language as ours. Christian missions are to bring the gospel to all nations.

However, for most Christians, engaging in missions to unreached people groups seems distant, and it is difficult to take practical action. Many people are inspired during mission conferences, but when lack proper follow-up steps, the burden for missions gradually fades away after a few weeks or months. Therefore, we need to build steps to help every Christian step out of our comfort zone for God’s mission.

Yet, we need to confront a fundamental question: If the local church lacks passion and action in proclaiming the Gospel and does not participate in cross-cultural missions in its own community, is it not like trying to enter a race without learning to walk first?

If the church is not willing to be transformed by the Gospel and individual Christians do not confront the shadows in their own lives, no matter how grand the ministry we talk about, how moving the scenes we present, or how much funds we raise for missions, we may not have the motivation to continue going out and moving forward in the long run. We should confront the reality of the church's inadequate understanding of the Gospel, the lack of continuous transformation by the Gospel, and the urgent need to regain the passion for preaching and living out the Gospel.

On the other hand, we should also avoid the other extreme, which is to talk about the renewal of the Gospel without taking practical action. We need to start with the "renewal of the Gospel," but at the same time, we must have the "evangelistic action driven by the Gospel" to avoid empty talk. For every church, stepping into the world of the younger generation and engaging in local cross-cultural mission work can be a very concrete step to move forward!

Local cross-cultural engagement should be the foundation for global cross-cultural mission. According to the 2023 Missions and Discipleship Survey conducted by CCCOWE (Chinese Coordination Center of World Evangelization), overall, the more a church values local cross-cultural work, the more she invests in overseas cross-cultural missions!

When we are willing to set aside our biases, perhaps we will begin to see the cross-cultural mission opportunities that God has raised around us! Perhaps we can start by welcoming local cross-cultural communities! On this foundation, Chinese churches should continue to pay attention to the needs of unreached people groups and send missionaries to those places to engage in cross-cultural missions and church planting.

In response to the challenges faced by global Chinese churches in missions, CCCOWE organized the "Global Chinese Missions Summit" in Taiwan from October 2nd to 5th after more than a year of preparation. The goal of this summit was to create a safe place for genuine dialogue, focusing on the difficult realities of global missions and confronting the elephant in the room that hinders our mission efforts. The summit attempted to answer a key question: Why is it that Chinese churches have organized so many mission conferences and mobilization events, but the progress in cross-cultural missions has been slow or even regressive? The questions addressed in the summit included topics such as generational tension, ethnocentrism, technology and media, and the concept of holistic mission.

During the preparation of this summit, the planning committee constantly sought ways to cultivate a gospel-transformed culture of listening, learning, openness, and collaboration, so that each participant could make friends who could walk together for global missions. I am grateful to see more than two hundred participants from all over the world, regardless of their ministry experience, titles, or age, willing to learn from each other and engage in genuine dialogues in trust and friendship. For me, this is a concrete manifestation of the Gospel.

After the mission summit, I saw many people sharing their feedback online. One of the young participant's sharing can be found in this link: 《We are the elephant in the room, aren't we? Reflections after Global Chinese Missions Summit》. My friend, Pastor Daniel Chuang, also left me a voice message, "David, in the end, we will all be forgotten, but I am grateful that we have each other on this journey."

Pastor Chuang’s sincere sharing reminded me of when the disciples were sent out to proclaim the Gospel and came back to share their "progress in ministry" with Jesus. Jesus reminded them: "do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20) May we all remember the words of the Lord Jesus and faithfully and joyfully follow him in our current context!

In this world, we will ultimately be forgotten,
but I am grateful to have friends walking with me on this journey.
In Christ, we will ultimately be remembered,
and we will reunite with one another in the new heaven and earth!
Therefore, let go of our ego, seize the present,
and enjoy every moment given by God;
Whether on mountaintops or in valleys,
whether praised or criticized,
whether remembered or forgotten,
Nothing can hinder us from walking the journey with hope!

Your brother

2023-11-21
Rev. David Doong,
General Secretary of CCCOWE