Core Value: We value world missions

God has given us the privilege and opportunity to take the Good News to the ends of the earth by going, praying and giving. (Acts 1:8)

#1: Establishing a strong church in Lawrence.

This is the foundation of all the other initiatives. Missions is the work of the local church, which is God’s primary tool for accomplishing His purposes in this age. Our primary focus is to plant and establish churches, raising up new leaders who can do the work of the ministry, and we must also be devoted to good works. A strong local church is prepared to participate in expansion of the church! A “strong church” can be described as one that is:

• Connecting with Christ and His Church—the equivalent of “baptizing” in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19). “Baptizing” represents the formal identification (connection) of a disciple with Christ and His Church.
• Growing to maturity in Christ—the equivalent of “teaching” in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20). “Teaching” is the task of “rooting and building up” (Colossians 2:7) believers and churches in the teaching of Christ and His Apostles found in the New Testament.
• Serving the Body of Christ—the equivalent of “going” in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19). “Going” implies that a disciple is equipped for ministry and is prepared to participate in the expansion and establishment of church. Some serve behind the scenes, some lead, some speak, some organize and some mobilize, but all serve—helping others to connect, grow and serve. A key aspect of “serving” is leadership development. Some leaders will serve locally as elders and deacons. Others will lead the church to think and act with a global vision.

#2: Developing a missional house near Kansas University.

Our college ministry leaders, Nate & Meghan Morsches, are renting a home near KU to be used as a tool for reaching out to college students. They offer a weekly Bible study and plan to offer a meal once a week as well as simply providing a place where students can explore the Biblical, Christian faith in a safe and welcoming environment. Members of CBC are contributing more than $500 per month toward this effort.

#3: Welcoming Internationals to the United States.

There are more than 2,000 international students from 110 countries on the campus of Kansas University—and this doesn’t include their families and other people from around the world who live in the Lawrence area. This is a significant missions opportunity—similar to the Day of Pentecost described in Acts 2 when “devout men from every nation” were visiting in Jerusalem. Jesus had told His disciples to “make disciples of all the nations” but then sent them back into Jerusalem! “All the nations” had come to them. Thousands were won to Christ and then sent back to their native lands to serve Him where they already knew the languages and the cultures. We are working with a great ministry at KU—International Friends—that provides training, resources and ideas for how local churches can reach out to international students. International Friends is fully committed to working through local churches and CBC is planning to join hands with them in reaching international students with the gospel.

#4: Encouraging short-term mission trips.

We plan to encourage short-term mission work in Lawrence, Kansas, the United States and around the world as opportunities arise. Many CBC members have participated in short-term mission trips and all agree that such trips can be very beneficial for all involved. We especially want to organize trips through organizations that are active in planting and establishing local churches.

#5: Supporting indigenous missionaries overseas.

We are very committed to supporting indigenous (native) missionaries and church-planters overseas. K. P. Yohannan (founder of Gospel for Asia) explains the strategic nature of this type of support in his book Revolution in World Missions:

“The primary message I have for every Christian, pastor and mission leader is that we are witnessing a new day in missions. Just a few short years ago, no one dreamed the Asian Church would be ready to take the lead. But dedicated national evangelists are beginning to go out and reach their own. Even more exciting: God is calling all of us to be part of what He is doing. We can help make it possible for millions of brown and yellow feet to move out with the liberating Gospel of Jesus. Should all Western missionaries pull out of Asia forever? Of course not. God still sovereignly calls Western missionaries to do unique and special tasks in Asia, as He does in other locations. But we must understand that when it comes to nations in which Western missionaries are no longer able to do church planting as past eras allowed, the priority must then be to support efforts of indigenous mission works through financial aid and intercessory prayer. As gently as I can, I have to say to North Americans that anti-American prejudice is running high in most of Asia …The principle I argue for is this: We believe the most effective way now to win Asia for Christ is through prayer and financial support for the indigenous missionary force that God is raising up in the Two-Thirds World. According to Bob Granholm, former executive director of Frontiers in Canada, it costs between $25,000 to $30,000 per year to support a missionary on the mission field, and today that number is in excess of $40,000. And even though these figures may be true for ministries like Frontiers, Operation Mobilization, Youth With A Mission and a few others, in my research with more traditional agencies, the cost may be much higher. One mission organization estimates it costs around $80,000 per year to keep a missionary couple in India. With even a modest inflation rate of three percent, this cost will exceed $100,000 in less than 10 years. During a consultation on world evangelism in the 1990s, Western missionary leaders called for 200,000 new missionaries by the year 2000 in order to keep pace with their estimates of population growth. The cost of even that modest missionary force would be a staggering $20 billion per year. When you realize that in 2000 North American Christians contributed just $5.5 billion for missions, we are facing an astronomical fundraising effort. There has to be an alternative. In India, for only the cost of flying an American from New York to Mumbai (Bombay), a national missionary already on the field can minister for years! Unless we take these facts into account, we will lose the opportunity of our age to reach untold millions with the Gospel.” (pgs. 151-159)

Community Bible Church is helping to support and train three indigenous missionaries in India and China.

• Brother Jiang, in Mainland China, through Christian Aid. Brother Jiang ministers in the Yunnan Province helping Bro. Hou with the Southwest Ethnic Mission Seminary reaching unreached tribes. He is a government worker, but secretly helps to establish new branches of the seminary to train different Christian tribal workers locally.
• Apah Terang, through Gospel for Asia. Apah and his wife Ompho Engtipi, serve in Assam India. He is an evangelist among the Hindu majority in India, distributing Gospel tracts, witnessing from house to house, doing personal evangelism, organizing home fasting and prayer meetings, planting churches in the unreached villages and counseling believers in the Word.
• T. A. Thomas, Pastor and Master Trainer in Delhi, India, through the Take a Leader Program developed by BILD International. Pastor Thomas serves with Operation Agape (an indigenous mission organization) but will be trained by BILD to train other leaders. He will be training 50 missionaries over the next 4 years who will become Master Trainers themselves!

Our hope is to support at least one additional indigenous missionary each year. For more information about why we want to support the work in India, please visit Operation Agape and watch the videos offered on their Gallery page.

We also encourage you to read more about Gospel for Asia, Christian Aid and BILD International’s Take-a-Leader program. To read more about the need for Western Christians and Churches to support indigenous missionaries, please follow these links to two free books:

• Revolution in World Missions by K. P. Yohannan of Gospel for Asia. Read at least chapters 17 and 18.

• Reformation in Foreign Missions by Bob Finley of Christian Aid. Chapter 21 is a summary of this lengthy book.

“We face a humanity that is too precious to neglect. We know a remedy for the ills of the world too wonderful to withhold. We have a Christ too glorious to hide. We have an adventure that is too thrilling to miss.” —Theodore Williams of India