You may recall last year I was asked by Dr. Enoch Wan to contribute to a book he was writing entitled, Diaspora Missiology—Theory, Methodology and Practice.

For many years I have been working with churches to raise awareness concerning the increasing heterogenous complexion of our communities. The reality is that our world is becoming increasingly global. In twenty-first century we have seen a movement of people around the world that is unmatched in history, or at least since the tower of Babel. This movement is called Diaspora and may result from people willingly moving from their country of origin seeking a better life or may be the result of people seeking to escape war, poverty, persecution, famine or drought. The reality is that our communities here in the US and in many other countries around the world are facing a huge influx of diasporic peoples.

One World Missions has worked to catalyze diaspora mission initiatives by educating churches concerning the opportunities for reaching ethnic minorities as a result of these changing demographic trends. Over the years, we have tried to raise awareness concerning the opportunities that local churches have to carry out Christ's redemptive mission among various people groups some of them typically classified as un-reached and least reached. This is the reality in many nations around the world, but none more so than Canada. Canada is an immigrant country that has welcomed new comers from around the world for over two hundred years. Having been ranked number one by the United Nations Human Development Index as the best country to which to immigrate six times in the last decade, the trend of increased immigration will only continue. According to the projection of statistics in Canada, by 2031, approximately 28% of the population will be foreign-born. The number of people belonging to visible minority groups will double and make up the majority of the population in the the Toronto Greater Area as well as Vancouver.

One World Missions has had an office in Canada for almost three years. We have partnered together with Pastors Gaetano and Natalie Sicilia doing mission work in more than 10 countries. We have held missions conferences and workshops and have begun to mobilize for mission across the dominion of Canada. Early in 2012 while holding a Mission Encounter in Toronto, Canada I felt led to teach on a diaspora paradigm of mission. Given the unique demographics of Canada it was very apparent that this perspective of mission was tremendously important to mission activity in Canada. We have come to believe that Canada, possibly more than any other nation will be used mightily and will play a significant role in these days in reaching the unreached living in diaspora. For this reason we have decided that in 2013 together with our office in Toronto we will offer a mission training program specifically focused on a Diaspora paradigm of Mission. We will train in a basic missiological foundation as well as practical skills needed to reach communities of people in diaspora. Dr. Enoch Wan has agreed to assist in advising us as we write the curriculum. We are very excited about this program because we believe it will play a significant role in equipping a new generation, a new nation of mission workers.

You may recall in May of 2010 I attended the Global Mission Consultation in Tokyo, Japan. This historic conference was convened as a celebration of the last 100 years of mission as well as a gathering of world mission leaders to address the future of mission as we strive to finish the task given to us by Christ more than 2000 years ago. Almost 1000 delegates from over 70 countries gathered for four days of intensive meetings, lectures and workshops.

During these meetings I had the honor of being able to participate in discussions about the declaration that would be issued following the conference. This very important document would serve many purposes. It would affirm the core beliefs of the church and the role man plays in working with God to accomplish His redemptive purpose in the earth. It would seek to sum up the guiding principles that the leadership desired to set before the body of Christ concerning the fulfillment of the Great Commission. There was hope that it would unify the body of christ like never before and there would be a new spirit of cooperation present in the Church. During the closing meeting in Tokyo I was invited to be one of the original signatories of this historic document.

However, the Tokyo 2010 Global Mission Consultation was not intended to be an end in itself, but the beginning of a movement to see all peoples discipled in our generation. With this vision, the Tokyo 2010 Planning Committee took the following steps in meetings September 1, 2010 and August 23-25, 2011 to create the Global Great Commission Network – Carrying Tokyo 2010 Forward: The ‘Global Great Commission Network was formed with the understanding that this network is autonomous grouping or a system of interconnected people and organizations. It is intended to be very inter-relational and highly collaborative.

The vision for the GGCN is to see every people group reached and in the process of being discipled in this generation. Our mission statement states we exist to stimulate worldwide mission efforts that promote the making of disciples of every people in our generation. The guiding document for the Global Great Commission Network is the Tokyo Declaration. If you would like to read this very important document you can click here.

An interim coordinating team was tasked with the responsibility to pursue initial network goals, to continue to build a coordinating team, and to research and report recommendations on possible network structure of the Tokyo 2010 Mission Network. I was asked to participate on this coordinating team and have worked with this team over the last year. During that time I have been primarily responsible for the development of a new world-wide communication platform that will provide mission minded individuals a secure, private social media site. This site will encourage missionaries, agencies, churches to connect, communicate and collaborate directly. Our sincere desire is that this new tool will assist in unleashing the synergistic power that now lies dormant in a Church fractured.

We believe that every member of the body of Christ is very important in the fulfilling of God's plans and purposes. Each one of us has a very important part to play and significance in our lives is only found in serving the purpose for which we were born. God has connected us within Christ as a body where each member can contribute to the well-being and the created purpose of the body. What this means is that all of us are connected both together and to God's eternal plan for all mankind. Each of us needs to determine where we are to be connected and how we are to contribute to God's plans.

We believe that a partnership is a special relationship that God uses to mutually bless all parties of that partnership. There are many ways that you can partner with One World Missions. All we are asking you to do is stand in faith believing God to speak to those He has selected to partner with us to see this ministry fulfill His plan. If you are one of those people, we believe that our partnership will be a blessing to all.

We believe it is very important to consider carefully and invest wisely the resources that our partners contribute. For this reason we work to avoid projects that would only increase long-term dependency. Each of our Global Initiatives is funded through the generous support of our individual and church partners.

Our new Global Initiatives will require long-term ongoing training but as these movements take hold we envision the seed that we sow will stretch far and wide into the world. We are already seeing the fruit of this in some of our current Initiatives. We believe that these efforts will result in churches being planted in traditionally Gospel resistant areas. We believe that mobilizing for missions on a global level is the only way to reasonably expect to reach the whole world. We believe that many unreached people groups will remain unreached unless we shift our mobilization efforts from a Western-focused sending model to a global-sending model. Our mission is global; our work-force is global. It is time we think like it, it is time we plan like it, it is time we act like it. Please click on the icons below to learn about our Initiatives and how you can partner with us.

US Initiative
We have been traveling to the nations for 17 years now. We have been working in missions mobilization and education for the last 11 years. We have worked with hundreds of churches and taken more than 1000 people into the nations. As we survey what God is doing around the globe to amass an army of laborers to complete His mission we are as committed as ever to seeing the US church fulfill its destiny to carry the Gospel to the nations of the world. The reality is that mission sending and support has been declining steadily since the 1960's. On the one hand, the organized church is more involved in direct mission work than ever before in history with mixed results; on the other hand, too few churches are corporately pursuing any type of coordinated and strategic plan for reaching the least reached peoples in the world. We believe that the church can learn to focus its resources and its missionary zeal by networking with other churches, mission agencies, researchers and educators to minimize the mistakes that are made and to have the greatest impact around the world. We believe that we can see the lack of interest in mission reversed as the church reconnects with the heart of God. Our desire is assist church leaders in identifying and implementing a mission strategy representative of the unique DNA of their church while remaining faithful to the DNA of God's mission. We will continue to interface with churches, serving as a resource for connecting them directly to networks working around the world. We will work to educate the church concerning God's mission both here and abroad. We will do this by speaking at and hosting mission conferences, as well as conducting forums for training church leaders concerning how to minister cross-culturally either around the world or in their own backyard. Please contact our offices if you are interested in receiving information about our speaking schedule, are interested in hosting a Mission Encounter, or if we can assist in connecting you and your church to God's mission.

Canada Initiative
Missionary vision was once very strong in Canada producing some of the greatest missionary statesmen and women of the last century but over the last 20 years it has been in a steady decline. We are working with a network of over 67 churches from across Canada. As the first step in our Canada Initiative, we opened an OWM office in 2009. We are working in conjunction with our OWM Canada office and a network of about 70 churches across Canada to educate the church concerning God's heart for the nations. We are working to raise awareness about missions, mobilize, equip and coordinate mission strategy. We hold missions conferences, speak in churches and at pastors and leaders conferences. Canada is a nation of immigrants having deliberately pursued a policy of immigration for many years. Today it has the world’s highest rate of immigration and receives large numbers of refugees from all around the world. These diasporic peoples can be seen across Canada and represent a unique opportunity to reach some of the least reached peoples in the world. Diaspora mission presents the opportunity to not only reach these least reached peoples living throughout Canada but provides a strategic opportunity to reach back into their lands of origin. God is doing something great in Canada and God has called Canada to something great among the nations. We believe that once again God will use the church of Canada to bless the nations both at home and abroad. This year we will be in Canada twice working with pastors, speaking in conferences and churches to assist Canada in catalyzing once again a great mission movement. Our projected budget for this Initiative is $1250.

Brazil Initiative
Our Brazil Initiative began in 2004 when I spoke at two mission conferences. Over the next few years, I continued working with a network of churches to mobilize and equip for missions. During that time I consulted with the church network on forming a new Brazilian mission structure. That organization has since worked in countries all over South America, Africa and Europe planting churches, starting new ministries and sending full-time mission workers. The church in Brazil has continued to explode and is now the second largest Christian nation in the world with more than 50 million evangelicals. With a strong economy and a prosperous church the church has increasingly looked to the nations. The passion and zeal for mission continues unabated and the churches are reportedly looking to increase their involvement in mission outreach, some dedicating as much as 75% of their annual budgets to fund mission initiatives. Brazil is now considered among the top five mission sending nations in the world with great emphasis on the un-evangelized and on church planting. The Brazilians’ faith, enthusiasm, adaptability and talents open many doors but poor preparation and support can undermine all these. Phase II of this Initiative is to return to Brazil where I will be teaching in mission conferences and mission training centers. I will be focusing on mission education and equipping missionary trainers. It is incredibly important that we do not miss this opportunity to equip the great force that is the Brazilian church to be the most effective they can be as they reach out around the world. We will be working with the already established mission structure concerning strategy for networking with other mission structures working around the world. We will be assisting the network of churches as they continue the process of mobilization. Our projected budget for this Initiative is $1750.

Romania Initiative
The church in Romania has emerged out from under communism to face many new challenges associated with freedom and the openness of their borders. Many foreign missionaries and agencies flooded into Romania to establish churches and do evangelistic work. National leaders were hired, many foreign initiatives begun. Churches were built, salaries paid, books printed all at the expense of local vision and local leadership. The result was an unhealthy dependency spiritually and financially. The dependence on outside money, created as a result of generous but ill-advised material assistance, crippled the ability of the church to expand without the assistance of outside funding. This has hindered the local church considerably. These actions have introduced potential divisions locally and difficulty in ministry partnerships as well as the dangers of manipulation and questionable motives. Over time the local leadership began to resent the patriarchal and condescending way in which they were being treated and recognizing the destruction of dependency broke from the cycle. This leaves the church to recapture lost vision and to rebuild, often slowly, the ministries they abdicated. None of this helps to address the enormous need for the Gospel in Romania. Today 9,500 villages (43% of all villages) are without a single evangelical church. This need is spread between the ethnic Romanian, ethnic Hungarian and ethnic Gypsy peoples. We are working with a group of national leaders to begin a church planting initiative in the northern portion of the nation focusing on the many Gypsy villages that are without a church of any kind. We have begun working to provide them with church planting training and we are helping them apply different strategies for initiating indigenous movements. They are putting together teams and working together and already they have begun to plant new churches. We believe that if we can teach them Biblical truths and provide them with a reproducible model there is no limit to the number of churches they can establish. Our projected budget for this Initiative is $1750.

Ukraine Initiative
It serves as a key nation in Europe, a bridge between East and West. Ukraine is considered the Antioch of the Slavic world with a burgeoning Ukrainian missionary movement. However, much is needed along the lines of mobilization, mission education and global networking. We are working with a network of more than 100 churches to catalyze a mission movement. We will be establishing mission curriculum in three Bible Schools and will start holding mission conferences to raise awareness about mission world-wide. Our objective is to identify future mission leaders that can work to mobilize and train future missionaries and serve as cross-cultural workers around the world. We are believing to see missionaries raised up to reach out to the Slavic world and beyond.

Italy Initiative
We have been working the last four years with a network of Italian churches to catalyze a mission movement in Italy. We have done pastors conferences, taught in Bible schools and in 2011 held our first regional Mission Conference. We have worked to mobilize and educate concerning mission methodology and strategy. In 2010 we assisted the Italian churches as they did their first mission outreach into Russia and we are assisting them in the planning of their next missionary outreach to China. Italy has a rich history of mission involvement reaching back to the very beginnings of the church; however, today we believe it still plays a very significant role in spreading the Gospel of the kingdom to the nations of the world. Not only are we seeing Italian churches responding to the call to go and reach nations but Italy plays a very significant role as a welcoming nation to the vast numbers of diaspora peoples that are pouring into Europe. Europe is now seeing large numbers of diaspora peoples coming from all over Africa and the Middle East and Italy is the point of entry for most of them. This presents an unprecedented opportunity to reach some of the least reached peoples in the world. We believe that Italy is an integral part of mobilizing the church all over Europe to once again take their place with the body of Christ in reaching the nations. Our projected budget for this Initiative is $1750.

Nigeria Initiative
I was praying for North Africa and I heard God say, the "the Nigerians are coming." I realized that I might not be able to reach parts of North Africa but I could reach Nigeria. Nigeria is a country with a total population of nearly 160 million people with more than half of them claiming to be Christian. Christianity has exploded all over Africa and many church leaders are proclaiming that, "Now is the time for Africa". Let me be clear about our vision for Nigeria, we are not going there to do evangelism or church-planting, the National church is proving especially adept at this. We are going to Nigeria to work with a network of churches to initiate a missions movement. Nigeria is already among the top five missions sending countries in the world. There are now over 5,000 Nigerian missionaries at home and abroad helping lead the way for Africa-wide mission mobilization. Recently Nigerian churches have outlined a vision called Vision 5015 to send 50,000 workers in 15 years with the Gospel across the north of Africa and throughout the world. But as is the case with any mission movement, mobilization efforts are needed and mission training begun in order to insure that this next wave of mission endeavors in the world does not repeat the mistakes of previous generations. We will be working to raise up a new generation of mission leaders by establishing mission training programs, teaching in existing Bible Schools and seminaries and holding conferences for church and church leaders. We believe that in order to reach the hardest portions of North Africa we must first equip African leaders. Please join us in making it possible for the Nigerians to come. Our projected budget for this Initiative is $1750.

Philippines Initiative
We began six years ago partnering with ministries throughout the Philippines to start ITC Bible schools. We now have 10 Bible Schools scattered throughout the Islands. This has given us an opportunity to train hundreds of pastors and church leaders. Phase II of our Philippines Initiative involves starting a full-scale training program that will serve to train Filipinos as bi-vocational missionaries. God is doing something unique in the Philippines. There are millions of economic migrants who live and work abroad as part of the Filipino diaspora. They are increasingly gaining a vision to use their presence throughout the world as an opportunity to shine the light of Jesus even into the most difficult countries, such as those in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. This diaspora presents an opportunity to equip and send an unprecedented number of mission workers into some of the hardest to reach places on earth. The church in the Philippines has collectively committed to send out 200,000 lay missionaries in the next 20 years. However, as the paradigm of mission shifts in the mind of the Filipino church we will need to envision new sending models, new training structures and both the missionary and sending church will need to re-envision their changing roles. Through our Philippine Initiative God is giving us the opportunity to participate in what may end up being the largest missions movement in history. We believe that the Kingdom impact of this Initiative on the world will be massive. Contact our office now; you do not want to miss being a part of this historic movement. Our projected budget for this Initiative is $1750.

Southeast Asia Initiative
Thailand was one of the first countries we started working in in 2001. Our initial involvement was with a local ministry that had an orphanage there. Over the years, we ministered to and ministered with these young people and their leaders all across North Thailand. These young people are now young adults with a passion for establishing churches across Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia, particularly in Burma, Southwest China, Cambodia and Malaysia. Phase II of our Southeast Asia Initiative begins in Thailand where we will be helping to establish and train indigenous church-planting teams. We will spend time equipping them with the ecclesiastical training and the practical strategy for planting locally sustainable and locally reproducible churches. Many church and mission leaders feel Thailand is poised for a great breakthrough in church planting and church growth. There is a growing passion to see a church planted in every one of Thailand's 80,000 villages but there is much work to be done. Over 6,000 of the 7,415 sub-districts in Thailand have no church. In the southern and northeastern regions, more than 90% of the sub-districts are without a church. For this to happen the Gospel must shed its Western trappings and become contextualized. A truly indigenous expression of Thai Christianity must be developed. In a recent survey of Thai non-Christians, 89% said the Christian message was unintelligible. This is due to the fact that foreign expressions of Christianity have typically dominated the church scene but today increased understanding of and sensitivity to Buddhist worldviews and Thai culture are shaping more effective missionaries and national workers. The only way to reach Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia will be to train local believers to contextualize the Gospel and conceptualize the church among their own people—only then will Christianity cease to be foreign. We will be partnering with local leaders to train church planters and future missionaries. Our projected budget for this Initiative is $1750.

China Initiative
China has witnessed the greatest movement of people to Christ in history. However, there is still much work to be done in establishing the church across China. Some church networks report only one trained leader for every seven thousand believers and even up to forty thousand in some areas – a shocking scale showing the need for trained leadership. For several years, God has given us the opportunity to work in China training underground church leaders and we are excited to continue to serve the Chinese leadership in equipping church leaders. One of the greatest areas of need is among the ethnic minorities of China. The reality is that the current move of God occurring in China has impacted less than 10 of the almost 500 distinct people groups in China. We plan to continue to work with Chinese leaders to continue to target the minority peoples for church planting across China. Our desire is to work with Chinese churches to mobilize the church to reach out to the ethnic minorities in China and then beyond to the nations of the world. Missions vision in the church to the un-evangelized nations beyond is increasing. The Back to Jerusalem vision aims to send up to 100,000 missionaries from China throughout the un-evangelized world. Some anticipate China may become the greatest sending nation in the 21st Century! We plan on working alongside Chinese leaders to provide quality preparation and mission training to equip Chinese churches for a task with which they are largely unfamiliar. Thousands of Chinese are already seeking to learn new languages and cultures and to live among other peoples in culturally acceptable ways. Inevitably, they will include trained ministers, business-savvy tentmakers, laborers and students. However, there is much to do if we are to ever see this vast army mobilized. They need mission and ecclesiastical training, strategic networking, cross-cultural understanding and practical skills. We will work with Chinese leaders in developing mission strategy, addressing missionary care and the role of the church and developing training models and sending structures. Our projected budget for this Initiative is $1750.

I still remember my first trip to Thailand. It was 2001 and I had arrived in Chaing Rai, Thailand to meet David and Paula Mahawon. They had been in Thailand for years, David being a national and Paula a missionary. The focus of their ministry has always been on David's ethnic people group the Shan. The Shan are an unreached people group numbering over 30 million scattered across Northern Thailand, Burma and Southwestern China. In 1996 they heard about the thousands of young boys among the Shan living at risk. Word had reached them about several hundred boys living in a camp across the border. These boys had been conscripted into a local drug warlord's army and faced almost certain death. In a daring nighttime crossing they crossed over into Burma where they found several most of the boys malnourished and their little bodies wracked with disease. That night they took as many as they could transport and smuggled them back into Thailand.

When I first visited they lived on a small undeveloped parcel of land in a few bamboo huts they had built. Much changed over the next several years. Each year we returned, improvements had been made on the land and they even began to build their own brick buildings starting with the cafeteria but soon including dorms, school, homes for staff, a church, gym, music studio and much more. Over time they were able to purchase the adjacent land and now are extensively involved in farming producing a majority of their own food.

During the early years when our teams would arrive we would do outreaches all across the Northern Thai border with Burma. We would go from town to town doing evangelism and laying the foundations for future ministry. This ministry was always done a considerable risk since the children had no legal status in Thailand. If caught they could be sent back into Burma and the life they had escaped. The ministry had to build their own schools because the children had to right to education. They were in affect stateless people. Living in Thailand but living on the margins. Slowly a few of the boys were able to secure limited status. They were not full citizens, did not have freedom to travel within Thailand much less outside of Thailand. We continued to do ministry but always with limitations.

Those young boys are young adults today. Some continue to assist in raising younger children that have come to live among them, they too orphans. Others have married and are raising their own children. Many of them head up the various projects at what has become now know as Faith Village. Some have gone on to receive higher education and several of them are following a call into full time ministry. This last trip I had the opportunity to ordain the first three of these young men into the ministry. What an honor for me to see them grown up and to see them now serving God wherever he has called them.

Politically things have taken a dramatic turn for the better over the last year. The Thai government has officially recognized the right of the Shan people to live in Thailand and is now extending to them full rights. The right to education, health care, and to travel. This is tremendously important. It means that these young leaders can now travel throughout Thailand evangelizing, starting churches, doing ministry freely in villages just like the one pictured here which have never had a Christian Church. We believe that God is making opportunity for these young leaders to step into new positions, new opportunities for ministry. Right now God is opening so many new doors among the Shan people. This new found freedom is also being experienced in Burma, where believers are enjoying unprecedented freedom. We believe now is the time for Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand and Burma. We believe now is the time for the Shan people. God has used us in a significant way throughout the years, but we know that it has only been preparation for this hour. We will see this new generation of leaders rise up and accomplish what previous generations have not. They will bring the light of the Gospel to all of the Shan people.

October 17, 2006. It was my second trip to the Philippines. I wasn't even sure why I was in the Philippines as it is traditionally considered a very Christian nation. I knew that the Lord had spoken to me about opening some Bible Schools in the Philippines to help equip local leaders but there had to be more. That morning, I woke up early and was praying. I really sensed that the Lord wanted to speak some things to me. As I prayed, the Lord began to speak to me about the role the Filipino church was to play in world-wide missions. He began to outline for me a very clear and detailed plan for using the Bible Schools to identify potential missionary candidates and then how we were to be instrumental in equipping and sending these new missionaries into some of the most difficult regions of the world. Reminding me that He is not limited to traditional Western sending models for equipping and sending laborers into the harvest fields, He showed me that He would send them as lay missionaries working in the hospitality industry. We were to train them in the particular skills they would need to be successful in that industry, and we were to equip them to be frontier missionaries capable of planting churches, discipling local believers, doing evangelism in the land that God would send them to work and ministering. They would be sent out through agencies that specialize in placing Filipino workers into the industry. They would have no problem securing visas, getting airfare, finding housing or making a living. They would immediately have context in their new adoptive countries and they could begin building relationships and doing ministry. As the Lord spoke I wrote everything down. I had never heard of such a thing nor did I have any idea at the time that the Filipinos, the world over, are the most sought after workers in the hospitality industry. Later that morning as I was riding in the car with one of the pastors, I heard an ad on the radio for an agency that specialized in training and placing workers in the hospitality industry. I asked the pastor “Is that common in the Philippines?” “Oh, yes,” he exclaimed, “as many as 500,000 of our people do this every year.” Wow, I thought. Can you imagine if only half of that number could be trained to serve the Lord as lay-missionaries? Later that day I asked one of the leading pastors we work with, "What is the one thing that you believe that the Lord is emphasizing in the Filipino church right now?" Without hesitation and having no idea what the Lord had been speaking to me about he proclaimed, "It's missions." He went on to tell me that in a recent gathering of national church leaders, the church had been challenged to send out 200,000 missionaries in the next twenty years. The big question was how? Since that time we have prayed and worked with this vision in view. I have shared this dream with other mission leaders and others too have said that God has shown them similar things. I truly believe that God is raising up an army of laborers for his last great harvest and the Filipino church will play a major role in these last days. I have said and continue to believe that God is going to give us a role in what may be the largest mobilization of mission workers the world has ever seen and it is happening in the Philippines.