The Whole Bible for the Whole World: Asbury’s Global Initiatives
When we meet with international pastors, one of the humorous observations we make with them is, “You all do church planting naturally, as if planting was a normal part of pastoring. In North America, we have to study church planting before we actually start a new congregation. We have a lot to learn from you. We desperately need church planting to be second nature to us as well!”
This pattern points to one of the reasons the Office of Global Initiatives includes Asbury Theological Seminary’s Church Planting Initiative. Our relationships include bible colleges, seminaries, mission agencies, denominations and equipping organizations like Overseas Council and Langham Partners. All of them are committed to raising up Christian leaders for Christ’s mission. Evangelism, disciple-making, church planting, social holiness and theological education emerge for strong leaders from the mission of God. Yahweh’s missional menu cannot be segmented.
After nearly a century of preparing leaders for the Church, Asbury’s 10,000+ graduates reside all over the world. Missionaries embody the love of God in diverse locations. Pastors equip the saints for ministry. Teachers raise up the next generations of those who will help make the Kingdom of God more visible. Marketplace leaders leaven their companies with their Christian witness. Chaplains serve in the military and other institutions faithfully. This vast international community of Asburians can join in the work of Global Initiatives through prayer, learning and regional events.
Prayer is another one of those “second nature” practices for our international partners. Dependence on the Lord, especially in areas where Christians suffer persecution, can be seen in full-bodied prayer and fasting. The Gospel thrives when God’s people give themselves to intercession. To paraphrase the eminent missiologist Andrew Walls, the supernatural becomes perfectly natural when sacrificial prayer and fasting distinguish the congregation. Will you include Asbury’s first strategic value, commitment to the global church, in your prayer discipline?
The majority world has much to teach the Church, particularly the western Church. Our cultural biases too often narrow our understanding of what the Spirit is doing around the world. Asbury pulls together insights from our international brothers and sisters to create a bi-directional learning network. Online resources include “Seven Minute Seminary” videos and other articles on Seedbed, updates on international partner projects at www.asbury.to/global, and church planting stories at www.asburychurchplanting.com. A new online resource due out in early 2020 is a series of case studies collected from participants at the 2017 Global Church Planting Summit in Manchester, England.
Asbury collaborates with international ministries to host events and share courses. President Tennent and other faculty frequently travel to serve with global partners. For example, Drs. Jay Moon and Steve Offutt just returned from training church planters with Africa Gospel Church in Kenya. Asbury alumni and friends are welcome at any public event in their region. This may include auditing a church planting course in Brazil or attending a preaching mission in India. Some of these events will include both Asbury faculty and students who come to learn with their international colleagues in a new context. Some will be co-sponsored with New Room. (Do not miss the pre-conference event at this year’s New Room in Franklin, TN, September 19-21.) Whether in the U.S. or somewhere overseas, bring others to the events with you to introduce them to Asbury.
The flow of people groups through migration, voluntary or forced, continues to bring the world to where we live. Diaspora is becoming commonplace. Asbury has much to learn and much to offer as we walk alongside our international colleagues, wherever they are located.
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