Mobilization conference - Brazil

This last week, I’ve been at the Global Mobilization Consultation in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 In both Europe and in Latin America, the term Mobilization applied to missions is only just beginning to be used, so it might need a bit of explaining. It refers to the groundwork done amongst Christians and churches in order that every believer understands God’s passion for all the nations to know him and participate in His global mission, whether that’s through praying, giving, sending or going. So mobilization work involves teaching, and training and accompanying churches and individuals in this process of learning and participation.

I went to the first GMC 4 years ago in Nairobi, as I was beginning to understand the need for this in Latin Link. This year, I have been able to convince 3 others from Latin Link to attend as well. (It helps that this time the gathering was held much closer to home!) It has been a really good week of learning from others and of being inspired and challenged to press into this area of work. 

We started the week challenged by TV Thomas to radical collaboration, as we recognize that God is the chief mobilizer, so rather than relying on programmes and courses to help people understand, but we also trust God to inspire and convict people into personal engagement in missions, which calls for humility. 

Mary Ho (who’d I’d sat next to on the plane, without realizing we were going to the same conference) highlighted some of the reasons to celebrate, amongst them the recent surge in indigenous church planting movements globally even within majority Muslim countries, and the accelerated rate of Bible translation projects. 

Amongst Bible studies, workshops, new resources and meeting great people, I was really encouraged by a talk calling for a mobilization based missiology (study of missions). The speaker highlighted the difference between a mobilization/ recruitment based on the mission recipients, which focusses on the needs of unreached people groups and can sometimes result in a guilt-based calling, and a mobilization / recruitment based on the identity and needs of all the church to understand God’s heart and to participate in His global mission, with each person fulfilling their personal calling or vocation in it. The latter is based on the church understanding more fully the heart and desire of the God we worship and serve. 

In Latin Link, we aim to be a ‘community with a calling’, as we enable individuals to discover and fulfill their personal calling within the support and encouragement of a local community. Although many of our teams have some form of recruitment, we have not so far put much work into mobilizing, which is an essential groundwork for missions recruitment. Two years ago I was given this area of oversight, so we have begun to focus more on this area. Our dream would be to have a mission mobilizer/ mission educator within each country team, to undertake this vital work. With my recent transition, I have begun to undertake this role in Guatemala, and a couple of others in other countries have a passion for it too, but we have a long way to go. I’m praying that God would raise up people for these vital roles, as we see the fields ready to be harvested. 

And in amongst all the conference programme, we also found time to celebrate Paul’s birthday!

And I might have had a swim or two.