Tom and Nancy Lin

At a recent Verge Conference, I spoke to thousands of church...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 23:04:10 -0400

At a recent Verge Conference, I spoke to thousands of church leaders about “Why Leadership Isn’t Sexy” and the importance of this North American generation being willing to engage in discomfort rather than comfort.

Top 10 Personal Highlights from Urbana

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:58:00 -0500

There’s so much to be thankful for as I reflect on the Urbana 12 Student Missions Conference. I’m so proud of my team and the 1,500+ InterVarsity staff across North America, who rallied together around a vision for this Urbana to be clearly connected to its historical vision, clearly rooted in Scripture & the Gospel, and clearly contextualized to the language & culture of this generation.

Many robust reports, articles, videos, and stories will undoubtedly be circulated in the coming months, but for now, I’d like to share 10 PERSONAL highlights from Urbana 12 (in no particular order):

1. Morning Tea with former Urbana Directors - Dave Howard (73, 76), Barney Ford (2000), and Jim Tebbe (03, 06, 09). As part of my due diligence in taking on this role, I wanted to learn as much as possible from these former Directors who have laid so much on the line for Urbana and global missions. So in the 24 months prior to Urbana 12, I scheduled regular phone appointments and meetings with each of them. To gather in person and in the same room at Urbana 12, and share stories together, was a rare treat that I’ll never forget! (See pic above).

2. An Extremely Challenging, Gospel-centered, Biblical Call to Missions. Many missiologists and missions leaders commented on how Urbana 12 was extremely “clear” – clarity on the Gospel, clarity on God’s invitation to mission in the Scriptures (Luke), and clarity in the call to long-term missions. A tear-jerking moment was seeing over 4,200 participants stand and make long-term commitments to missions, the most commitments we’ve seen since 2000. As students were challenged from the outset to “ditch the shallow,” several Urbana historians shared that “This was the most challenging Urbana in several decades.” The classical biblical expositions by Calisto Odede anchored us throughout the Conference, while one of the most challenging calls was given by a missionary serving in a sensitive country. I was crying and was inspired as I heard her story of the cost of commitment (unfortunately, we can’t post the video of the talk publicly). Finally, the most tweeted talk was a powerful Gospel presentation and call to faith by Ram Sridharan (pic below). It was one of the most powerful Gospel invitations I’ve ever heard!

3. Big Gospel and Big Mission. Upon visiting the Business Changing the World track, I was greeted by many who were so encouraged to see Urbana integrate missions and diverse vocational fields, as expressed in dozens of seminars, the “God of Mission” plenary video, and Toby’s testimony from a global healthcare company. It was a highlight to see the energy of business and healthcare students (over 1,000 graduate students), who gained a vision for the big-ness of God’s mission and how they could “JOIN IN” through their vocation. It was a joy to see us tackle some difficult topics well – transforming “arm chair” charity & activism to Gospel-centered mission, not reducing the Gospel to just praying a prayer nor “reducing Jesus to a puny Savior” (David Platt’s message), and our emphasis on both the demonstration and proclamation of the gospel throughout the week.

4. New Interactive & Action- Oriented Learning. As an entrepreneur myself, I was blown away visiting our first-ever Launch Lab, an interactive learning lab where participants incubated and developed their missional ideas with the help of coaches (pics from my visit below). I also rejoiced over our first-ever Urbana Mobile APP for the Urban Poverty Track, and enjoyed following Urbana’s first-ever “social media squad” which invested in live blogging and saw over 40,000 Tweets from participants! To see the responses to morning Bible studies on the screen in the dome and the long-term commitments to missions on Twitter was definitely a highlight! (Urbana also trended to #1 at various points during the Conference.)

5. “A JOIN-IN” Evening Session. The most interactive and action-oriented learning activity, which also happened to be our biggest new undertaking for this Urbana, was our Dec. 30^th session done in partnership with World Vision. It was an amazing picture - seeing the floors cleared and semi truck trailers in the Dome, and 16,000 participants assembling a record 32,000 AIDS caregiver kits in one evening (World Vision’s record is 40,000 in one year). The kits are used by the real hero of the evening, Shortie, a volunteer caregiver in Swaziland who shared a testimony on stage. Shortie was greeted with admiration and hugs by thousands! I was in awe of how this generation’s heart and mind were engaged, and how the elements of the evening came together in a powerful message about how all of us can join in the chain of what God is doing. It was a beautiful display of how each of us can partner with the global Church. A Tyndale Seminary blog article summed it up, “What a night!”

6. Partnership with the global Church. In addition to the “Join In” Session, it was so encouraging to see my convictions about the North American Church partnering better with the Majority World Church come alive at this Urbana. Not only was Calisto our first-ever sub-Saharan African to give our 4 expositions, but also our testimony from a Latin American missionary serving in Europe and Ziel Machado preaching in Spanish were powerful images of our need to learn from other regions of the world. I loved that we kicked off our first Urbana Book of the Day with Paul Borthwick’s “Western Christians in Global Missions” and ended the last night with a testimony from Daniel Bourdanne, who hails from Chad but leads the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students from Oxford. Tyndale Seminary’s James Brooks shared this as an Urbana takeway, “We are no longer the privileged white Jesus-loving westerners we once thought we were, but we are a broken people in need of God’s love who are partnering with other broken people from around the world to continue to share God’s love.” (If interested, I’ve blogged previously about the New Normal in missions and our need to learn from the Global Church.)

7. St. Louis Mayor names January 1st “InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Day!” One of the behind the scenes highlights was the world-class work of our Operations Team. The precision needed to to check-in 16,000 people in 24 hours (with practically no wait times!), to feed dinner to 16,000, to logistically organize the Join-In session, etc, was substantial! But most meaningful was how hard our team worked at building relationships and serving as Christ-bearing witnesses with the city of St. Louis. On January 1^st, the St. Louis Mayor recognized these efforts by officially declaring that day “InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Day!” See the press release and photo of the declaration here.

8. Ethnic Diversity and Multicultural Worship. In addition to greeting 800+ participants in our International Students Track, it was a highlight to see perhaps one of the most ethnically diverse North American conferences take place – 45% of participants were (non-White) ethnic minorities, including a sizable contingent from a partnership we formed with Hispanic mobilization network COMHINA. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the quality of our multicultural worship led by a very gifted Urbana 12 worship team – my kids are still singing songs in Hindi and other languages around my home as I write this! (And our Urbana 12 Worship CD hit #6 in the iTunes Christian music charts!) Finally, I enjoyed strolling through the ethnic lounges, safe spaces for participants to connect and process with their own communities. Perhaps the most surprising and fun was stopping by the Native & Indigenous Ministries Students Lounge, where I was greeted with a song, gifts, and formal presentation (pic below)!

9. A Student Generation That Inspires Me (and many others). Typically, a Live 58 film event sees a 7-8% response rate, but our afternoon film showing at Urbana saw a 65% response rate, of students committing to specific actions to address global poverty. “There’s something amazing about the group of students at THIS Urbana,” was a phrase echoed by many exhibiting organizations as they interacted with thousands of students. “We saw a passion for sharing the gospel that we haven’t seen for decades,” echoed groups like Wycliffe, Pioneers, and OMF. (Indeed, over 6,400 students committed to lead an evangelistic bible study with a non-believer after Urbana, a record number since the invitation was first given in 2006.) Their eagerness for mentoring was also apparent throughout the Conference – from hundreds looking for coaching in Launch Lab, to hundreds of 1:1 mentoring appts in the Business Track, to over 2,300 participants who sought 1:1 appointments with prayer ministers. One of my favorite memories was a reception held by the U.S. Student Leadership Track, and fielding a question by one eager student, “We want to apply the talk we just heard. How can we be a light in the dark places, NOW, on campus?” Indeed, as my friend Adam Jeske blogged, this generation gives me a lot of hope!

10. Family and Community Among Speakers.Urbana 09 speaker Patrick Fung recently shared, “Tom, the most amazing prayer experiences of my life happened at Urbana 09, as speakers and Urbana leaders prayed together before each session.” Urbana 12 was the first time for me to experience the community and sense of family we strive to develop among Urbana speakers, and it was a highlight for me as well! I was extremely blessed by our four-day Speakers Retreat in August, Devotionals before each general session, laying hands on the worship team and the performing artists, and of course, being prayed for by the other speakers. It was also special because literally, families were present — the adult sons of Calisto and Ziel also participated in our speakers community. My wife Nancy accompanied me to every 1-minute greeting, track presentation, leadership briefing, press conference, backstage meeting, and general session — what a privilege to share those moments together! Finally, my two daughters will never forget it either, as Abby & Livy walked the Edward Jones Dome pre-Conference, chatted it up with staff at the “Urbana hotel,” played with David Platt’s two boys (pic below), and watched daddy via Live streaming!

A TASTE OF URBANA 12: All of the Urbana general session talks...

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:21:00 -0500

A TASTE OF URBANA 12: All of the Urbana general session talks and performing arts sketches are now available on this page for free viewing! In addition to strong biblical exposition by Calisto Odede, I was moved to tears by powerful artistic sketches like The Deep and Prodigalia. Keep in mind that these videos only represent a small portion of Urbana 12, as the morning Bible studies in Luke and afternoon programming provided significant foundations and follow-up to the general sessions. Please share with your friends, as we’d like Urbana to bless as many as possible!

Hot Off the Press: The Urbana Onward Series!

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 01:27:00 -0500

How can we take Urbana’s best learning and share with a wider audience about the lifelong journey of missions? Together with my colleague Nikki Toyama-Szeto, we worked with some outstanding authors and co-edited 6 mini-books, just published and now FOR SALE. Titles include Deepening the Soul for Justice, The Mission of Worship, Partnering with the Global Church, Spiritual Warfare in Mission, Your Mind’s Mission, and Pursuing God’s Call.

Seven Deep Trends Leaders Can't Ignore

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:17:00 -0500

Seven Deep Trends Leaders Can't Ignore:

Leaders need to pay attention to deep trends that are shaping society and its institutions. Gregory and Nathan Jones do a great job of describing seven deep trends and how to cultivate patterns of discernment, guided by the Holy Spirit, on adapting faithfully and creatively to them. Here are the seven:

The digital revolution
A multinodal world
Reconfiguring denominations and emerging forms of congregating
Questioning institutions
Economic stress on Christian institutions
Shifting vocations of laypeople
The lure of cities

David Platt Speaking at Urbana 12

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:58:39 -0400

David Platt Speaking at Urbana 12:

For our upcoming Urbana Student Missions Conference, I’m excited to have a host of global voices speaking to our 18,000 participants. One of the very few American speakers is David Platt, who my InterVarsity team interviewed this past year. I appreciate his heart, his passion, and his commitment to global missions, which came through as we spent 4 days together with our speakers’ community on retreat this past August. Read his interview online and hear why David is excited about Urbana 12!

Billy Graham Center Interview

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:02:59 -0400

Billy Graham Center Interview:

From an interview I recently gave to the Billy Graham Center regarding challenges in the North American Church and the Global Church…

Article: The Cost of Your Call

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 19:12:22 -0400

Article: The Cost of Your Call:

From a recent interview I did with Relevant’s Reject Apathy Magazine, exploring the changing context of global missions and the hope I have with this student generation’s engagement in God’s call to mission… Enjoy!

What is calling? How do you know the will of God? Something...

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 00:57:00 -0400

What is calling? How do you know the will of God? Something we’ll explore with more than 6,000 students at 12 select campuses across North America during our Urbana On Campus “tour.” We’re thankful for event partners like World Relief for challenging us to think through God’s purpose in our lives through video. Click to see a list of all of the campuses, starting with my alma mater!

Billy Graham and John Stott gathered top evangelical leaders...

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 00:41:00 -0400

Billy Graham and John Stott gathered top evangelical leaders from around the world in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974 with the hope of reaching the whole world with the good news of Christ. Since then, The Lausanne Movement has hosted two additional global Congresses, one in 1989 and one in Cape Town in 2010. On July 24-26, I hosted a follow-up Lausanne Consultation for North American Younger Leaders for 130 influential leaders in their 20s and 30s to share vision and work together on 10 missions issues which came out of Cape Town.

As the co-chair of the Consultation, I was impressed with the new partnerships forged between the leaders. I was encouraged by the robust academic and practical discussion, resulting in a future book which I will serve as Editor on. Click here to hear AUDIO of the outstanding speakers!

Six Self-Reflections on this Millennial Generation

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:57:47 -0400

From Urbana Associate, Paul Borthwick:

As co-laborers in the work of the Kingdom and fellow partners in the world of fund-raising, I thought you might like to read these words from a 27-year-old Christian responding to questions I was asking about raising funds from the under-30 crowd. [NOTE: The respondent is from a upper-middle class background and a liberal arts secular college grad, who prefers to remain anonymous.]

“Concerning giving among my generation, my observations are:

1. Many people in my generation feel entitled. We ‘deserve’ to drive in luxury, we have ‘earned’ the right to be pampered and take exotic vacations, and we are worth being spoiled with facials, manicures, spas, new clothes, gyms, professional trainers, dinners at fancy restaurants, followed by fancy drinks, fancy coffee, etc. etc. etc.   If this all sounds like the Kardashians, you’re right!! This type of life-style takes lots of money, often leaving us broke, or worse, in debt. I think a good bell weather for our cultural narcissism is the American wedding. It captures much of what is wrong with our culture.   After all this, we don’t have any money left to give to others.

2. The second largest debt in our country is from student loans. Financial gurus believe it the next financial crisis, and it could possibly be as large as a melt-down in the financial services industry we just experienced. After all this, we don’t have any money left to give to others.

3. Men and women in their 20s and 30s have experienced wealth unlike any other generation, which is due entirely to the wealth of our parents. We’re given credit cards to ‘have fun’, weekend trips to high end places (paid for with frequent flyer miles coupled free stays in luxury hotels), international travel all over the world, and this is all before college! After all this, we don’t have any money left to give to others.

4. My generation has been tutored to get high scores on the SATs, we’ve been trained by professional lacrosse players all summer with the hopes of earning a starting spot on the varsity team, we’ve had movies made of our outrageous successes that can be sent to the colleges of our dreams, we’ve been chauffeured to school every day, and professionally chauffeured in limos to the prom, concerts, and other events. After all this, we don’t have any money left to give to others.

5. The level of narcissism is growing exponentially.   Consider TV. Who do you think is watching all the dating (e.g. The Bachelor and Bachelorette), romance, living together, and navel gazing (Anna Nicole Smith, Gotti Girls, Kardashians, Osbournes, etc. etc. etc.)? It takes a lot of money to live the way these shows project living.

6. In short … my generation has been born into wealth - it’s all we know. We enjoy the attention, but we’ve been so busy receiving there’s little time left to consider the needs of others.   Some day we’ll make a difference in the world, but today we’re engrossed in Facebook, making it to the next major party and/or wedding. We’ll give to breast cancer, because someone in our family has been diagnosed with it. We’re aware of abject poverty, human trafficking, and inhumane living conditions around the world, but like everything else in our lives, someone else will take care of it (i.e. pay the bill).”

Speaking to 250+ InterVarsity Directors at National Leadership...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:31:51 -0400

Speaking to 250+ InterVarsity Directors at National Leadership Meetings in April. The Directors committed to sending over 5,000 InterVarsity students to Urbana 12. (Typically only about 25% of all Urbana participants are InterVarsity students.)

Scripture Engagement and Missions

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:14:00 -0400

I’ve been recently excited about the development of common vision around Scripture engagement among various ministry organizations and leaders. It is one of our 4 objectives for Urbana 12, to see student’s not only study the biblical basis for missions but also grow to love studying God’s Word. In November, a national Summit in Orlando around Scripture engagement will involve various organizational leaders. Next week, I head to Wycliffe Bible Translator Board meetings, where the Directors are passionate about advancing the work of Bible translation. And in my role in InterVarsity, I also see significant new initiatives around Scripture engagement, esp. engaging young students in God’s Word and growing them to be passionate about God’s Word.

We just launched a new online daily, inductive Bible study for students called “Thirsty” — which provides a passage and 3 inductive questions, delivered each day to your inbox or smartphone. Those who would like to discuss the passage or share personal application can interact on the daily “Thirsty” site or Facebook page. (See a video introduction in my prior blog post.) Two of my current staff and one of my former staff are significant leads in this new initiative, so I’m especially proud of this good work!

Scripture Engagement Initiative Launched

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:54:00 -0400

are you thirsty? from canabana on Vimeo.

Live from IFES World Assembly in Krakow

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 05:40:00 -0400

About 650 Christian leaders from 150+ nations are gathered this week at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, for the quadrennial World Assembly of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. I am leading a delegation of 44 InterVarsity/USA staff who feel honored to be here. What’s perhaps most encouraging is the presence of 130+ student leaders from movements around the world! See my World Assembly reflections on InterVarsity’s blog and yesterday’s Mission Network News report. Or listen to a six-minute interview, where I share on-site reflections from Krakow.

Lausanne 2010 Congress Documentary

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:24:00 -0400

As Lausanne North American International Deputy Director, I often get asked what the Lausanne movement is all about. The Lausanne Congress last year has been called “the most representative gathering of Christian leaders in the 2000-year history of the Christian movement” (Christianity Today). Four-thousand Christian leaders representing 198 countries attended the Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. Learn more by watching this short documentary.

Live from Kolkata: Transportation Perspectives from our Trek

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:12:00 -0400

Getting around Kolkata will either make you a saint or a mean, crazy son of gun. I’m serious. I see a lot of saints and last night I was one crazy son of a gun. We left home at 1:00 pm to travel from the North to the South to help YWAM folks give a program at an AIDS Hospice. We got home at 10:00 pm. For this 2 hour program, it took 2 subway rides, 1 taxi, 2 cycle-rickshaws and 5 auto-rickshaws. Add 98% humidity, the temp at over 30 degrees, diesel fumes, and never a place to sit that wasn’t squashed next to another sweaty body for close to 6 hours. Also you have to add sounds of honking horns at all times, a political rally leader yelling at full blast, and the constant task sound that Indians make with the side of their mouth to show they are frustrated. Parked cars, construction equipment and people bulge into the already inadequate driving space because there are no rules for where you can and cannot park, and most sidewalks are filled with hawkers. When we arrived home, our host mother said, “you look tired” which I took as a compliment because I was so filled with rage at the inconceivable inefficiency and over-stimulation that I felt ready to rip someone’s head off. But I was too tired for violence and so we ate dinner quickly and headed upstairs to bed.

Days like this is exactly the reason why people come home from trips like this and say pithy statements like “It made me so thankful for what I have”. Because before coming here, we didn’t think to be thankful for the fact that commuting for a church service takes only 5 – 20 minutes rather than 4 hours. Nothing I do at home in Vancouver requires as much effort as getting anywhere, to do just about anything in Kolkata. And I even walk to get my groceries in Vancouver! Other mission teams from Western Countries get around this massive irritation by renting large Air Conditioned Buses that drive them door to door where they are going to serve. It’s easier, more comfortable and more efficient, depending on strikes, traffic and what the cows are doing that day. But after raging for awhile, here are my 3 thoughts on why my soul (and everyone on the team’s souls) are all better from the experience of local transportation:

1. All of our souls really are on a life-long path to being more of a saint or more of a mean maniac. Towards God, love and peace or away. The difficult circumstances of life, those that make us most uncomfortable, help rise to the surface the stuff of character, which produces perseverance, which produces hope which produces faith. That’s somewhere in the bible I know it.

2. Certain kinds of transport can only get you certain places, part way of a larger journey. We may want to get to Kalighat, but first we have to stop at 3 other places, each with their own unique feel. Just like we may want to get to intimacy with God, but we have stops of self-awareness, and skills for loving others and disillusionment that come along on the trip to intimacy with our Creator.

3. Each mode of transportation has it’s own unique feel and way. Just like personal prayer feels different than public worship, or journaling feels different than service. Each mode is good, but not complete in itself to get us to the end of the journey of experiencing the fullness of God.

While I think scripture commands us to be thankful for what God gives us, I also think we have so many other commands to consider when we realize our position of privilege. I can choose to go home in 2 weeks to traffic lights and walking to church, but my friends here cannot. And how do I steward that choice when I follow a God who didn’t stay up in heaven and be thankful that he never had to step in cow poop on a crowded street in Kolkata? It’s not clear what my choice should be, which I suppose is why I have a few more stops and rickshaws to take on my journey with God.

- Today’s Reflections from an InterVarsity Staff who is leading the Kolkata Trek

Live from Lima: Student Perspectives from our Urban Trek

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:48:00 -0400

The following is from an American student at the Lima site on InterVarsity’s Global Urban Trek: “Meet Carmen… A loving wife and mother of two young boys. Together with her husband, she has started a non-profit ministry aimed at helping children develop into leaders for the future in their churches and their communities. When asked, Carmen details how she would like to expand the program to offer more, but the only people who fund it are Carmen and her husband, selflessly giving everything they have even while raising two growing boys.

“Meet Luis… A pastor at a local evangelical church that is overflowing on Sundays and has four church branches in the mountains. Despite a continually growing congregation and typical services with around 100 people attending, he is still in despair. When asked about programs the church has for children, he sadly says that there are no programs, yet dozens of children, because of the lack of resources. No one can give time, either, as members struggle to help their families eat on a daily basis.

“Meet Isabel and Elena… Unpaid directors of the comedor, these two women work tirelessly so children in the neighborhood can get free, nutritious lunches during the week— perhaps the only balanced meals they get. Neither young woman knows how long to remain at the comedor, as working there means that they cannot get a job to help support their families. Selflessly, neither woman has decided to leave, because quitting means that 40 children go without meals.

“These are just a few of the examples we have seen— people sacrificing what little they have and dedicating their lives to raise a generation of confident children. But in every case, I witness such a lack of resources. These programs and many more that we have worked with are noble causes that help the youth in the community. It’s difficult to see so little being offered. Being an American and having the “if there’s a problem, fix it” mentality, I’m at a loss with how to help here. And maybe that’s part of the problem. Coming in with the mindset that I, in my own way, can help fix this problem.

“I’ve learned here that the problems run much deeper than it seems on the surface. Issues of drug use, abusive relationships, child neglect, gang violence and others run rampant in the streets where we work and live. I’ve taken a learning posture in this experience by sitting back and taking in as much as I can. The more I see, the more questions I seem to have. What has caused people to be in their current situation? How can I help? Can they get out of it?

“I’ve learned that the answers aren’t clear. The sad reality is that the people we’ve met can work extremely hard the rest of their lives and still be consumed by poverty.

“Present among the poverty, the waste, the hungry, is truth: God is here. I see it in the kindness of the mothers’ hearts and the sheer joy on the children’s faces. God is bigger than all of this and gives Peruvians and me a reason to hope for the future. With him, anything is possible, and because of that, we can be truly grateful, even when answers are unclear.”

(All names have been changed in this post.)

My New "Hat" with Lausanne

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:18:00 -0400

A press release went out today about my new role with the Lausanne movement — Tom Lin named as new North American IDD. While there are many great opportunities for the future of Lausanne, many people do ask about the relationship of Lausanne to Urbana, among other questions. Here’s some excerpts from a recent interview I did:

Q: Why did you agree to serve as Lausanne IDD for North America?

Tom: Like the InterVarsity student movement and Urbana, I believe the Lausanne movement is a very strategic ministry which influences the future of the global church and connects those who are most passionate for God’s mission around the world. I also believe that North America is a region that still has much to contribute, and I look forward to the opportunity to discern what our best contributions might look like in the future.

Q: How will this role intersect with your positions at InterVarsity/Urbana?

Tom: It intersects quite well, as Lausanne leadership has always had strong overlap with the leadership of Urbana and International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), of which InterVarsity is a member movement. The Lausanne Cape Town Congress was a perfect example of this, as many former Urbana speakers gave plenary talks and Urbana leaders served as consultants in program, operations, drama, etc. Many IFES leaders also continue to serve as IDDs, so I am not alone in experiencing this type of intersection! Finally, Urbana’s experience and perspective on the student generation will be helpful for Lausanne in considering what emerging leaders and the global church might look like in the future.

Q: You have both North American and International mission/evangelism experience. How will that influence your role with Lausanne?

Tom: Indeed, along with my family background and culture being from Taiwan, I hope that it will help! My experiences serving in a missions organization that focuses on North Americans (InterVarsity) as well as my experiences planting new ministries in the majority world (IFES-East Asia) and serving on the Board of one of the largest international agencies (Wycliffe) will hopefully give me a well-rounded perspective of what’s going on in North America in relationship to the rest of the world. It also gives me a keen sense of urgency for the significant amount of work that is to be done in North America, in addition to work to be done outside North America.

Q: What are the major issues facing the church in North America with regard to mission and evangelization?

Tom: There is much to be said here and many challenging issues ahead. I’ll start with one on a long list: a growing diversity in the evangelical church. As we know, the North American church is rapidly changing in its ethnic and gender make-up as well its denominational make-up. This, along with a new generation of leaders in the church, is significantly impacting the way we engage in mission and the way we think about evangelization. The North American church will need to embrace these future realities, or it will see greater fragmentation and ineffectiveness in mission.

Q: Are you encouraged or discouraged by what you’re seeing in the North American church and in the lives of Christians? Why?

Tom: While there certainly are many reasons for discouragement and concern, I’m actually overall quite encouraged and hopeful about the future of the North American church. I have hope because of what we’re seeing in this student generation. For example, in the past 5 years, InterVarsity has seen more first-time decisions made for Christ than in any other 5-year period in our 70-year history. We’ve also seen more students engaged in cross-cultural missions projects than in any other period in our history. There are thousands of gifted evangelists in North America who are graduating from universities every year, and the future looks bright because of what I believe God can and will do through this generation.

3 Challenges, 3 Hopes for the Next Generation

Mon, 16 May 2011 18:19:00 -0400

The transcript for my talk on “The Role of the Next Generation of the U.S. Church in Global Mission” is now available on this link, along with other resources from the Orlando Consultation last month. As a follow up piece, I was able to recently visit my old stomping grounds in Boston and speak to a group of local missions pastors, senior pastors, and parachurch ministry leaders. It was a joy for me to learn from them, to hear about what they are seeing in the next generation. I ended our time sharing not just about my 3 hopes, but also about 3 challenges that lie ahead for the next generation:

1. Current financial model of American missions is unsustainable. DEBT and increased resistance to raising support by this generation’s innovative missionaries are huge concerns. The WSJ Online reported this week that the Class of 2011 is graduating from America’s colleges and universities with a dubious distinction: the most indebted ever — $22,900 is the average student debt of newly minted college graduates!

Looking at large, well-known Christian colleges that have traditionally been fertile recruiting grounds for mission agencies, the picture looks even more bleak. The average debt for a student graduating from one of these schools can be around $35,000. And when you consider that many mission agencies have debt policies (typically driven by a value for strong member care and wise financial stewardship) that limit the maximum debt to $20,000 or $25,000 in order to be a viable missionary candidate, you begin to see the challenge that’s ahead!

Not just debt, but donor trends also make this a challenge. Increasingly, American missionary budgets seem irrational to supporters, especially when compared to the perceived inexpensive cost of non-Western workers.

2. Learning how to empower and walk alongside global church partners, rather than race ahead with our own agendas. Leslie Newbigin accurately depicts the global reality that the North American Church and this generation are wrestling with today: “We are forced to do something that the Western churches have never had to do since the days of their own birth – to discover the form and substance of a missionary church in terms that are valid in a world that has rejected the power and the influence of the Western nations. Missions will no longer work along the stream of expanding Western power… We [need to] learn afresh what it means to bear witness to the gospel from a position not of strength but of weakness.”

Working from a position of weakness has not typically been a strength for Americans, and I believe it is one of the most difficult challenges for American missionaries today. After over 70 years, one major international agency recently appointed the first three non-expat country directors for their mission. But shifting to these new models and structures which mobilize more non-Western workers and indigenous leaders is challenging for Americans.

Shifting North American identity and roles from being North Americans “drivers” of the global bible translation enterprise, to being “servants” that bring value when “supporting” indigenous leaders or when “invited in” by indigenous communities is challenging for us Americans.

3. Increasingly dangerous persecution and violent global anti-Americanism. We certainly live in a time of growing global political unrest and violent terrorist activity. Many believe that the number of Christian workers killed could mount up quickly for this next generation.

Not just limited to political unrest, but a growing anti-Americanism within certain places of the majority world church as well, as some are even saying, “send us American money, but not American people.”

This is a huge challenge for a Net Generation that values “playing and fun” in their work and “freedom and choice” in everything they do. Going to these difficult places in the world might become increasingly less attractive among the menu of options that they have to consider (and they certainly do have more options than any previous generation before them!).

Having shared the above 3 challenges, I do have great hope in what God can do through the next generation. As I interact with this student generation and see their passion and their love/compassion for the world, I can’t help but believe that they are more than equipped to meet the challenges that will certainly come there way.