Upcoming Mission Conference Focuses on New Wave of Int'l Missionaries
A mission conference focused on discussing the effects of the new wave of international missionaries joining traditional Western missionaries will take place early next year in Michigan.
A mission conference focused on discussing the effects of the new wave of international missionaries joining traditional Western missionaries will take place early next year in Michigan.
The first Global Learning Symposium at Cornerstone University’s Grand Rapids Theological Seminary will be held on Feb. 1-3, 2006 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Titled, The Changing Face of Missions, the theme of the conference acknowledges that an increasing number of missionaries are originating from international countries. The center of discussion at the conference will be the role of Western mission in response to global mission changes.
"The American missionary going overseas is now joined by an international group of missionaries who have been sent out by the Church in Russia, by the Church in Korea, Brazil and on and on it goes,” Dr. Dave Livermoore, executive director of Global Learning Center (GLC), said to Mission Network News (MNN).
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According to the GLC, for every missionary who goes to Nigeria today, there are five Nigerians who are going out as missionaries with a total of over 4,000 Nigerians serving as missionaries in more than 50 different countries.
The event will address questions such as: “What are the implications for our Western missions?” “How does it change the way that they think about a missions conference in a year?” and “How does it change the way a missions agency, based in the United States thinks about sending their missionaries to join an international missions force efforts?”
There will also be workshops for mission leaders and local church teams with topics that include: partnering with the Western Church, from the “national’s perspective;” mobilizing today’s 20-somethings for missions; ministering to the internationals in our backyard, including refugees, international students; church to church partnership; and the changing face of missions and AIDS.
In addition, Paul Borthwick – a missions professor at Gordon College and part of a training group dedicated to the character and ministry development of leaders in the under-resourced world – will host a plenary session titled “The Skyway Patrol View of 21st Century Missions: Is the American Church Going to be ‘Left Behind’?”
The Global Learning Center seeks to empower students, leaders, and churches to live out God’s mission in what has now unquestionably become a globally-connected, multicultural world. GLC collaborates with the Intercultural Studies Division of Grand Rapids Theological Seminary to offer GRTS students study abroad initiatives, Research opportunities, etc.
