Note: Please forward this newsletter to your friends, networks, fellowships, co-workers, college and career ministries, and all young adults who may be interested in participation with a global mission initiative in our generation!
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SVM2 (Student Volunteer Movement 2)
www.svm2.net |
October 2004 |
SVM2 is a Global Mission Initiative among the younger generation calling new message bearers to a life of abandoned devotion to Christ and the urgent global proclamation of His gospel.
IN BRIEF
1. Abandoned Devotion Reflection
2. Global Proclamation Reflection
3. October Day of Prayer and Fasting
4. What is the SVM2 Initiative?
5. All Hands on Deck
6. Resources
7. Recommended Reading
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Abandoned Devotion Reflection |
MISSIONS’ GREATEST GENERATION
By David Shibley
David is the president and founder of Global Advance, based in Texas, which provides ministry training and resources for thousands of pastoral leaders in over 50 nations.
What do Mary Slessor, Hudson Taylor and Cameron Townsend share in common? They were all impacting nations and changing missions paradigms before they were thirty years old.
The advance of the gospel throughout church history has generally been on the backs (and backpacks) of twenty-somethings. On-fire young people today are following in a train of faith that is centuries long. A “golden chain” of young mavericks for Jesus stretches from the days of the Moravians to the present.
A Baptist pastor in his twenties, William Carey dared Christians to embrace world evangelization. Carey did not know at the time that God was using him as a catalyst to launch the modern missions movement. Hudson Taylor (barely out of his teens), David Livingstone, Mary Slessor, Cameron Townsend, Donald McGavran – all of them were young, fresh thinkers and high-risk believers who changed the course of missions in the early decades of their lives.
Charles Simeon (arguably the first “youth pastor”) challenged Cambridge students to missions in the 1790s. The reverberations of his ministry continue to the present and helped forge the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Across the Atlantic, the impromptu Haystack Payer Meeting at Williams College in 1806 launched the American missions movement. Half a century later evangelist D.L. Moody’s summer retreat for student leaders would help birth the original Student Volunteer Movement. The “golden chain” continued as the Student Foreign Missions Fellowship formed in the 1930s and SVM2 is now the heir of a rich history.
Add to this the fact that more North American young people have been on mission trips in the last decade than any other ten-year span in the church’s history. Something historic is happening. The high level devotion of young radicals is in stark contrast to the painless Christianity espoused by many adults. Today’s SVM2 generation are forcing a tougher (and more biblical) faith walk on the church. They are calling us back to “mere Christianity.” My generation owes these young people an all-consuming passion: a passion for God’s glory in their lives and in the lives of every people group on earth. These young missions addicts will take nothing less.
No one doubts the amazing strength and selfless sacrifice of the World War II generation, those Tom Brokaw calls the greatest generation the United States ever produced. But with all due respect (and much is due them), Brokaw may be wrong. For, hidden behind the piercing and tattoos, behind the headlines of the dopers and the spotlights on the rage-filled rappers and self-absorbed princesses, there is another emerging generation. Hidden from our view in classrooms where they daily take the jeers of teachers and students, tucked away in upstairs bedrooms where they are carving out a private history with God, a generation is being fashioned the likes of which we’ve never seen. God is constructing Missions’ Greatest Generation.
I am convinced that God is going to give this generation the grand prize for which twenty centuries of believers have prayed, worked, dreamed and died for – the fulfillment of Christ’s Great Commission.
(Taken with permission by Charisma House publishers)
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Global Proclamation Reflection |
WHY BUSINESS AS MISSION?
By Jim Tebbe
Jim is the Director of Urbana, Director of missions, and a Vice President for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.
As of late we have been thinking hard about how the paradigm for missions is changing and what that means for Urbana. In 1979 Christy Wilson wrote a book entitled Today’s Tentmakers. That book popularized the word “tentmaking” in Christian mission vocabulary. The apostle Paul supported himself by making tents in order to preach the Gospel. So modern tentmakers work in secular jobs in order to be able to share the gospel cross-culturally. The concept was not much discussed prior to this book. Many of us are convinced that this is the future of missions for North America.
Recently there have been further developments in the tentmaking movement. There has been a shift towards an emphasis on business entrepreneurs as opposed to Christians working professionally for other organizations or governments. The concept is not new. The “father of modern missions”, William Carey engaged in business, starting an indigo factory so he could continue his ministry in Calcutta. Islam spread in the Indian subcontinent through traders and shopkeepers. Businesses are essential for society today. They will be there whether Christians are in them or not. Why shouldn’t they be a part of Christian mission?
The western church has been suspicious of profit-making business. Perhaps it is a reaction to colonialism which was driven by profit-making, or more recently the exploitation of poor people by faceless multi-national companies. Both are abuses of power. But this thinking misses the fact that there are literally thousands of ethically run businesses led by godly women and men, to the great benefit of tens of thousands more. Business can and should be ethical and, indeed, Christian.
There are many Christian organizations stepping into this initiative and I believe there is a great fit here for today’s young people. Justice and righteousness are issues for today’s student population. In countries where corruption is rampant, modeling ethical business practice helps to stem the tide of devastation that comes to an economy through corruption. In places where exploitation is the norm, humane and fair treatment of employees and fellow workers is a Christian witness. This glorifies God.
Businessmen and women are just as much a part of the church as missionaries. They even have an advantage in that they are less likely to be labeled as leaders or pastors. The opportunity for serving under or alongside is even greater. Missionaries are often labeled as professional Christians while legitimate business people are not. Opportunities for sharing alongside are countless. I believe this will be highly attractive to this generation of students.
Young people today are committed to ministry to the whole person. In the former USSR the crying need in the mushrooming church is jobs for young people. Businesses provide jobs. The mission call today is the same. But the methodology is adapting to the needs of the times.
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October Day of Prayer and Fasting |
Don’t miss out on standing with many others around the world from the younger generation on this coming month’s SVM2 Day of Prayer and Fasting. Since our selected day of the 2nd of each month falls on a Saturday this month we will be pushing the date of this month’s day of prayer and fasting to Monday, October 4th. Attached to this e-newsletter is a prayer guide for the day to give us focus as we cry out to God together for our generation and it’s involvement in Global Proclamation. Gather your friends together on campus, in your church, or in your dorm room and seek His face in prayer and intercession with all your heart! Remember to spend the day fasting from food as well and giving the extra time to seeking God on behalf of the least reached and forgotten around the world!
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What is the SVM2 Initiative? |
SVM2 is an global mission initiative among the younger generation calling new cross cultural message bearers to a life of Abandoned Devotion to Jesus Christ and the urgent global proclamation of His gospel.
The Two Pronged Vision of the SVM2 Initiative:
A. Going
The “going” component of the SVM2 Initiative is to corporately, across the younger generation, call forth 100,000 new message bearers from around the world, who will “GO” to the least reached areas of the world for at least two years following graduation.
B. Praying
The “praying” component of the SVM2 Initiative is to inspire a grassroots prayer movement among the younger generation by encouraging the initiation of 50,000 new Global Prayer Teams and periodic campus-wide Abandoned Devotion prayer gatherings on campuses and in churches which dedicate themselves to praying for the expansion of the kingdom of God globally and the younger generation’s involvement in this great endeavor.
As each mission minded student, mission fellowship, campus ministry, and collegiate ministry in a local church commit to their part in calling their peers to a greater standard of going & praying, momentum is gained and the opportunity for those that are least reached to have the gospel proclaimed to them is made possible. This is done with the knowledge that other young adults around the nation and world are committed and involved in the same endeavor.
Ways to implement the SVM2 Initiative in your community of believers:
1. Commit to and sign the Message Bearer Creed and challenge your peers on campus to make this longer term mission commitment as well. You don’t need to know where you will go or who you will go with at this point, simply step out in faith trusting that God will lead the way regarding the specifics of carrying it out. Please go online and fill out the Message Bearer Creed form at http://www.svm2.net/index.cfm?PAGE_ID=224&EXPAND=104 We want you to receive a Message Bearer Manual to get you growing in the three parts of this commitment (see below). We also want you to receive various encouragements and resources by way of e-mail, so let us know your contact info at the above site.
2. Initiate one or more Global Prayer Teams in your community. Why not invite other student leaders to start groups of their own, and create an environment of radical, global prayer and intercession on campus? A Global Prayer Team is a gathering of students or young adults getting together for prayer with a focus on reaching the world for Christ in our generation, local and global revival, and for an increase of missions vision on their campus or in their church. Go to the website http://www.svm2.net/index.cfm?PAGE_ID=44and scroll down to find and download the Global Prayer Team Handbook to get you started, or to connect an existing prayer group to the SVM2 network.
3. If you are a student leader on your campus or in your church, consider giving a portion of your time and taking on the role of Student Coordinator in your community. Contact Paul at paul@svm2.net to receive a Student Coordinator Handbook full of information regarding SVM2, its strategies and resources, to help you see this grassroots initiative take off. A Student Coordinator is one who commits to being a voice and an organizer to see the SVM2 Initiative implemented on his/her campus, campus fellowship, or local church.
4. Participate and promote the October Day of Prayer and Fasting held on Monday, October 4th this month. Attached to this newsletter is a prayer guide that can be used for focused prayer and intercession on this day.
5. If you are a leader of the younger generation and want to learn more about the SVM2 Initiative and how to implement the various strategies in your ministry, contact Paul at paul@svm2.net to receive a Networking Partners Notebook. It clarifies the vision of the SVM2 Initiative and details ways that each of its strategies can be implemented within a specific ministry by the individual leader among the younger generation.
6. Consider hosting an Abandoned Devotion Prayer Gathering on your campus or in your church. We can send you all the necessary materials to get you on your way to an extended meeting which challenges students toward involvement in reaching the least reached, and crying out to God in prayer for the nations. Contact Kelly at Kshaw@SVM2.net for more information.
Message Bearer Creed
By God's grace, as a Message Bearer, I covenant to:
Abandoned Devotion
Wholeheartedly devote myself to the person of Jesus Christ and be committed to the marks of a true disciple.
Global Proclamation
Sacrificially pursue revival and the spread of the gospel in the midst of the forgotten, through disciplined prayer and the commitment to go for two years or more.
Spread the Vision
Intentionally influence others to develop an awareness of the global purpose of God toward the aim of their personal involvement.
Visit the SVM2 website at www.SVM2.net to get your hands on various resources that will prove helpful to you as you seek to influence others with a passion for Abandoned Devotion to Jesus Christ and the urgent Global Proclamation of His gospel. Go on-line to http://www.svm2.net/index.cfm?PAGE_ID=44 to download any of the following resources.
1. The research booklet called This Generation for the Nations. This is a compilation of a nationwide research project that took place in 2002 which sought out the various trends taking place in the student world with regards to missions vision and involvement. This research was the precursor to the launching of SVM2 as many of the findings were implemented into the various strategies looking toward a movement in our generation.
2. The Fellowship of The Unashamed. A powerful quote made by a young African pastor who was martyred for his faith. Read it! Pray it! Live it!
3. Prayer for My Generation. Use this as a launching point to pray for various areas relating to this generation of young adults and their Abandoned Devotion for Christ and their role in Global Proclamation.
4. The 2-Year-Go Opportunities list. Look over this list to find organizations and ministries that cater to a two year term among the forgotten peoples of the earth. Use it to contact these organizations for info for yourself and encourage others to use it as well.
5. Next steps... Steps to Abandoned Devotion, Steps to Global Proclamation, and Steps to Spread the Vision. See http://www.svm2.net/index.cfm?PAGE_ID=185&EXPAND=185 to download these lists of Next Steps to take.
6. The Global Prayer Teams Guide contains helpful information for students and others who desire to gather together for prayer toward God's global purposes. We would be happy to send a free copy to you by request to info@svm2.net
Abandoned Devotion - Books for personal discipleship:
The Attributes of God by A.W. Tozer – This writing from a man called “A 20th Century Prophet” in his own lifetime shines amazing light on 10 of God’s multitudes of attributes. Some of them include His Justice, His Holiness, and His Grace. For those seeking to grow in a full understanding of who the person of God is, this book is indispensable.
Intimate Friendship with God by Joy Dawson – The author uses personal and practical experiences of everyday living to emphasize and explain from the scriptures, the holiness of God. As we rightly understand the Fear of the Lord, she conveys, we can attain Intimate Friendship with Him.
No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green by Melody Green - Now you can experience the impact of Keith Green's life, courage, and commitment to holiness. Keith was a man who lived on the edge of eternity. And he was ready to step into it. Even if you've never heard his songs, it's time to hear his powerful message of life.
Passion for Jesus by Mike Bickle - Author-pastor Mike Bickle is convinced that seeing the passion and splendor of God's personality will help bring you to personal wholeness and spiritual maturity and awaken a fervent devotion to God and a passion for Jesus.
Revolution! by Michael Brown – This book is a call to live out the gospel with all its radical claims, a call for the people of God to impact this generation with the prophetic message of repentance, a call to spark the most sweeping counterculture movement in our nation's history, a call to take back the moral ground that has been stolen from under our feet, a call to follow Jesus by life or by death.
The Calvary Road by Roy Hession - This is an updated edition of a book written by Missionary and evangelist Roy Hession in 1950 in which he profiles the nature of religious revival and lays out the prerequisites and consequences of the activity of God in the heart of the hungry seeker.
Global Proclamation - Books concerning reaching the world
The Great Omission by Robertson McQuilkin – A thorough investigation of why so few Christians attempt to carry the Gospel to the unreached. Outlines the Bible’s basis for evangelism in practical ways. The challenge of world evangelism presented in an understandable and unforgettable way.
Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr.& Mrs. Howard Taylor - J. Hudson Taylor was truly God's chosen servant. From his early life in England, through the founding of the China Inland Mission, to reaching millions of Chinese, his life of faith gives glorious testimony to God. His spiritual secret could change your life.
Let the Nations be Glad! by John Piper - Since its publication a decade ago, Let the Nations Be Glad! has provided thousands of seminary students, missionaries, pastors and others with a sound theological foundation for missions. Piper now offers a revised and expanded edition of this theological and biblical defense of God's supremacy in all things.
The Missions Addiction by David Shibley - In these action-packed pages, you will discover a Global Jesus Generation that is creating discomfort in the church and change in missions worldwide. God is injecting a missions serum into spiritual bloodstreams. David Shibley draws from a rich wealth of missions history, calling a new generation to become anchored radicals with the missions addiction!
The Move of the Holy Spirit in the 10/40 Window by Luis Bush - This is an absolutely thrilling and faith building book on how God is supernaturally revealing himself and shining his light in the vast darkness of the 10/40 window...This is a must read for those already with a heart for missions, and a should read for all Christians, to help create the heart.
Operation World by Patrick Johnstone - Based on the supposition that "When we pray God works," Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk have put together a prayer guide covering the entire populated world. Whether you are an intercessor praying behind the scenes for world change, or a missionary reaping the benefits of intercession, Operation World will give you the information necessary to bring the good news to those who have not heard it. It offers demographic and geographical information for every country in the world, as well as answers to prayer (for applicable countries), and prayer requests.
Scaling the Wall by Kathy Hicks – "What is keeping more people from becoming involved in the great commission?” At the Urbana 2001 Missions conference hundreds of college students were posed this question. Their fears were written on a large wall and later collected, compiled and categorized into this book. Fears such as loss of friends, loss of money, disapproval of parents, inadequate experience surfaced as common obstacles to be overcome.
Imprisoned in Iran by Dan Bauman - While on a short trip to Iran, Dan Baumann was imprisoned in the infamous prison in Tehran, “Evin Prison.” Accused of being a CIA spy and for being a Christian witness, he was unofficially given two death sentences. The miraculous story of his release from prison demonstrates God’s power to sustain His children and spread the gospel even in the most difficult places and circumstances.
Most of these titles are available very reasonably, used and new, at www.amazon.com, www.cbd.com or www.usa.om.org/books
SVM2 Abandoned Times
Phone: 519.268.8778 / Fax: 626.398.0784
Email: info@svm2.net / Website: www.SVM2.net
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SVM2 Team
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