SUMMARY OF THE COURSE:

UNDERSTANDING MISSIONS

Presented By: BOBONGHA YANNICK-NUEL DINNYUY

Department: MISSIONS

ACADEMIC YEAR
2019/ 2020
 COURSE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION

The course “Understanding Missions” by Dr. Dominic Enya Nsan was found to
be more interesting and soul inspiring. The lessons thereof birth the passion for
missions in the hearts of the openhearted.

Dr. Dominic started by stating quotes from the different “voices of

Missions Pioneers”, that is what they think about Missions. Some the quotes
that greatly ministered to me were:

“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me then no sacrifice can be too great for
me to make for Him.” – C.T Studd

“Why should so few hear the gospel again and again when so many have never
heard it once?” – Oswald J. Smith

“Some are dead, you must rouse them, some are troubled; you must comfort
them. Others are burdened; you must point them to the burden bearer. Still
others are careless and indifferent you must warn and woe them. Above all,
evangelize them.” – Charles H. Spurgeon

From here, Doctor went further to talk on the different misconceptions

people have about Missions

 The first is the misconception that God assigns the task of Missions only
to extraordinary people like Paul and Barnabas. He counteracted the fact
by stating that God’s standard is different from worldly views and that He
uses those who make themselves available.
 The second misconception is the belief that only the Pastor is saddled
with the responsibility to start a Church, evangelize the people, raise
converts and feed them with the word of God and nurse them. Contrary to
this view, he differed with this view by pointing out that, “All Christians

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 are called to witness and bear fruits.” While some are sent into the field,
some are called to support them with their resources and on their knees
backing them in prayers.

Dr. Dominic stressed the fact that the condition of the fallen man should
prompt us to go quickly. He elaborated on this saying “All humans constitute
one entity with a common ancestry in Adam, Acts 17:26 but that as a result of
sin and disobedience, humans were alienated from God and one another and
unable to alter this situation. At this point God sent His beloved, Jesus Christ to
remit man’s sin, Matt 26:28, redeem man, Rom 3:24-25, justify Rom 5:9,
sanctify, Heb 10:29 and to reconcile man to God, Eph. 2:11-16.

This was followed by the explanation of the “Atoning sacrifice of Jesus

Christ” where lies the solution of man’s fall. He stated here that through the
humiliating execution and triumphant resurrection of the Lord Jesus, all humans
regardless are offered salvation that will give them spiritual life and empower
them to stand for God.

“And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Cor. 5:15)

With what Jesus Christ has done, Doctor emphasized that the responsibility lies
on the Church to get involved in missions – for she has been given the ministry
of reconciliation.

Missions was also defined according different people. According to Steef

Van’t Slot, missions is defined as “the plan of the committed believers to
accomplish the Mission of God; the practice, implementation of the mission of
God; the carrying of Jesus’ Great Commission to make all peoples on earth His
disciples.” In his book “Practical Missions Worldwide”, first edition, Dr.
Dominic Enya Nsan defines Missions as “the act of sending someone forth with
a gospel task to accomplish.”

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He stated that scripturally, missions involve doing the will of God, John 6:38,
NLT and that it also involves going out to save sinners, Luke 19:10

After this, the course observed the challenge and task of world
evangelization. Here the doctor made reference to the research work of Joshua
project team and Luis Bush concerning the 10/40 window and the strategies of
taking the risk to reach such areas with the gospel despite the challenges on
ground.

The course material further describes the different shifts in God’s move
over time (the Revival Pendulum) beginning from the ministry of John the
Baptist, Jerusalem’s revival and its decline (with key leaders like Peter, James
the martyr, John the Apostle), the revival in Antioch (with key persons like Paul
and Barnabas).

This was followed by a brief history of world missions from AD 70. Here the
following periods were highlighted in world missions; the age of catholic
Christianity (70-312AD), The age of Christianity under the Roman Empire
(312-590AD), Islamic conquest and the dark days of the Christian Church (590-
1517AD), The age of reformation and revival in Germany (1517-1648AD) with
God using personalities like Martin Luther (1483-1546), John Calvin (1507-
1564) and the Revival in England with God using men like John Wycliffe, John
Wesley and other revivalists and the Age of progress (1789-1914AD). Also the
revival in America and Africa and the different vessels God used were
observed.

The following section observes “The Missionary and the Call”. Here Dr.
Dominic defines a missionary as, “one sent out to spread the Gospel. He is one
sent out with a commission from a higher authority.” John 20:21 He reiterated
the fact that all Christians are called to witness and not all are called to foreign
missions. He stated that God’s call can be confirmed through:

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  An inward urge of the Spirit, John 16:13
 Compassion for lost souls

Stressing on how to confirmed one’s call into missions he stated the following
criteria;

1. An inner persuasion, not necessarily associated with a desired location,

although it may come later.
2. God may be calling you as an individual to overseas, the matter of
location will follow later.
3. Conviction from the Holy Spirit.
4. Also there need to be some form of confirmation by a responsible
leadership concerning the individual.

The call of Abraham, Gen 12:1-8 was also examined and the end the author
pointed out that the God who called Abraham to leave behind his
comfortable routine and obey the command to “go” is the one who has called
us too. Through Christ we are called into a new commitment.

Paul’s encounter with the Lord and his divine commission were also
highlighted, Act 9. From Paul’s obedience to the divine calling it was drawn
that obedience makes us companions of Christ, Heb 3:1, 14.

Also it was clearly stated that if a chosen vessel fails to respond to God’s
will, God will pass by the vessel and find another, that is He will call in
others to take its place. This can be seen in God’s dealings with Israel. By
Israel rejecting God’s purpose God put them aside and passed on. Jesus said
in Matt. 22:43

Dr. Dominic stated here that “History has shown that God has so many in
His reserve bench, Mathias took the place of Judas Iscariot.”

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 The next subject that was examined was “The missionary task and
commitment.” Here it was stated that;

-God calls the missionary to be the light of the world, Matt. 5:14, John 3:16

-God calls the missionary, love controls and compels the missionary, 2 Cor.
5:14

-Christ calls the missionary to follow Him; Matt. 4:19

The next thing that was looked at was “The Call of the field missionary.”
The course stated that in regards to the Great Commission;

1. The Church is mandated to go into the entire world and preach the
gospel to all people. This includes the primary responsibility of
sending missionaries into every nation, Acts 23:1-4.
2. The Gospel preaching must be centered on repentance and forgiveness
of sins, Luke 24:47
3. The main purpose of the missions is to make disciples not just mere
converts who may not be willing to observe Christ’s commands.

The course goes further to handle the subject of “Revival.” Here the author
defines revival as “A time of exposing God and awakening of the consciousness
of sin guilt by the Holy Spirit, resulting in urgent need for repentance and
forgiveness. The basic qualifications of a chosen vessel include:

1. He must be born again, John 3:3-7

2. He must be a lover of Christ in an intimate relationship.
3. He must love those he is sent to make as disciples.
4. God’s vessel must constantly study and meditate on God’s word.
5. He must be a prayer warrior.
6. He must seek to have a clean life.
7. He must fit for ministry work – spiritually, mentally and emotionally

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 Moreover, the essential characteristics of a missionary were observed.
According to the course, to experience success in his work a missionary
must have the following characteristics:

1) Devotion to Christ and His gospel.

2) Spiritually minded.
3) He must hold unto the truth and live by faith in the mission fields.
4) The missionary is expected to be an embodiment of God’s love to man.
5) A missionary must have the courage to stand firm and defends what He
believes.
6) A missionary must have a God given vision.
7) He must be ready to acknowledge problems and their complexities.
8) A real soul winner must be zealous and enthusiastic.
9) A missionary must hold fast the profession of faith and remain consistent.
10) Every missionary must be equipped and ready to take leadership
responsibilities.
11) A missionary in a new field is to function as an Apostle.

From here the course examined the main goal of the missionary on the
field. The main goal of the missionary as stated in this course is:

1. To reach the people of a particular nationality, the establish them in the

word of God.
2. The missionary is to establish a work which will ultimately be run by
nationals. That is a work that is self-supporting, self-propagating and self-
governing.

The missionary is to make Jesus Christ as the goal, Mark 8:34. Christ’s goal is
to draw men unto Himself, John12:34. Christ’s goal is to save the world, John
3:17. As Christians we must surrender our goals to Christ’s and make them one.

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We pledge to live for Christ and make Him known. Therefore, mission should
be made a lifestyle so that men can be drawn to Christ.

The third part of the study looks at “the task of the Church in relation to
the missionary’s mission.

 Missionaries must develop a hearing ear, as they can’t preach to others

without first learning themselves.
 They must teach or preach what they heard themselves.
 The Church has a big responsibility to evangelize the world. Therefore, if
we put missions first we must also put our finances to keep missionaries
on the field.
 Also the Church must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His voice
concerning who He may want to use for missions, Acts 13:1-3

As concerns the role of the Church, the Church’s primary responsibility is to

send missionaries, Acts 13;1-3 with the main purpose of making disciples. The
disciples are made through teaching. At this point Dr. Dominic sounded so
clearly that “There is always the danger of the urgency of missions being lost in
the midst of unnecessary Church activities.”

The next part examines Rural Mission field. The major task of rural missions
is planting of evangelical Churches among the rural people. The aim of
Christian missions should be to disciple the people wherever they be found.
There is also the need for qualitative Church growth which involves the
establishment of disciples with the responsibility of making more disciples.
Missionaries should be moved by compassion to proclaim God’s Word and save
souls. Compassion leads to intercession and incarnation among the poor.

The next thing observed was then pattern of proclamation. The impact of the
kingdom comes from the proclaimed word which is the power of God unto
salvation (Rom. 1:16). There are many approaches to proclaiming the gospel.

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  The Slow Approach Procedure with initial acceptance and friendship in
the community. This approach is best during the few years during which
one is learning the language and culture.
 Evangelism Approach which involves entering the community with a
team and for a series of successive nights, proclaiming the gospel until a
significant group can be saved and can form a Church.

The combination of both approaches is effective. One strategy to win the hearts
of parents is effective ministry to their children.

Regarding the call to discipleship, Doctor Dominic still emphasize that

evangelism is not limited to preachers alone but is extended to include those
who are to believe in Christ through His disciples.

Furthermore, the masterplan of establishing Churches was observed while

drawing lessons from the early Church. Statistics of the world in relation to
religious affiliations were also examined.

The following part examined “What you need to know about senders and
sent ones.”

For senders;

 Be informed.
 Pray
 Support practically
 Support financially

For sent ones:

 Be informed.
 Pray and seek guidance.
 Get trained.

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 Be sent out by your local Church and with the expertise of a Missionary
Organization.

The last part of the course examines the different types of ministry in
relation to missions. The different types of ministry include; standard
missions, Service missions, Relief and Development missions, Indigenous
Missions or Native missionary missions, Short term missions and
Congregational-Direct Missions.

The last part of the course explains how to set up a mission strategy in a
local Church. Some of the tips given are outlined below.

-To bring missionary task-involvement to the local church we must aim at

active involvement of each individual member.

-The pastor of the Church carries the main responsibility regarding the
functioning and health of its members, locally. Therefore, if he is not
enthusiastic for local evangelism and world missions, his church faces a
serious problem.

-The youths and children should also be involved.

-Elderly people are also a powerful task force as concerns missions.

-The missions’ secretary/elder/pastor should also be appointed.

-The Local Church can function as follows: prayer, teaching/preaching,

short-term outreaches, faith promises to financially support in sender out
missionaries and holding of mission conferences.

Finally, the course looked at the hindrances to missions. There are two
kinds of hindrances to missions:

 Hindrances before going into the field like lack of finances or debt,
inadequate preparation, passive quality and lack of companionship

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 And hindrances while in the field like intense persecution, language
barrier, wrong attitude in the field, being unsociable and unfriendly.
Despite the challenges there is a guarantee from God’s Word that a
missionary will succeed.

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