In just a few years, ABWE will turn 100 years old.
Almost a century ago, God moved in the heart of Dr. Raphael Thomas to take the gospel to the Philippines through the means of medical missions. Since that time, ABWE has been sending missionaries around the world through a variety of ministries to share the good news of Jesus. Thousands upon thousands of people have heard and responded to the gospel. Churches have been planted. And missions’ agencies have been established around the world.
About ten years ago, the ministry in North America (United States and Canada) became a priority for ABWE as opportunities at home became more and more clear. The result was the birth of EveryEthne, the North American team of ABWE.
Our vision is to see people from every people group in North America in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. There are currently over 600 different people groups in the U.S. and Canada. This incredible need does not even include subcultural groups like the military and the LGBTQ+, who have their own values and ways of thinking. What drives our team is a deep passion to see individuals from every one of these groups pursuing and loving Jesus.
Spoiler alert: I do not think our team can accomplish this vision. It’s too big for us. But I do strongly believe the church can accomplish it. This was the plan of Jesus when He spoke those important words to Peter in Matthew 16 when He said, “I will build My church.” These words give us hope that this vision is possible.
This promise by Jesus shapes our mission, which is to mobilize the church to reach every people group in North America through disciple-making that multiplies leaders and churches.
This means we love the local church. We want to be on mission with local churches. We want to discover ways to help local churches MULTIPLY from the smallest to the largest levels (disciples, leaders, and churches). We want to come alongside local churches to help them take the gospel to REACH the nations that are now their neighbors. We want to serve local churches to SEND more missionaries here and around the world. Our mission is to mobilize the church to Multiply, Reach, & Send (more coming on these three ministry channels in the coming weeks).
There is one more thing. This mission to love the church means we love the leaders of the church. We love pastors. We love elders and deacons. Many church strategists believe the church in North America is about to enter a time of pastoral famine as more retire each year than enter this profession. Maybe that will be true. What I can tell you about our team is that we love every opportunity we have to serve the pastors the Lord brings across our path.
This gets us to the purpose of this new blog. We are developing a blog for pastors by pastors. We are asking pastors from all over the country to help collaborate with our team of missionary pastors to provide ideas, thoughts, and maybe even some strategic ideas on how to Multiply, Reach, and Send. There are three ways you can interact with us through the blog.
First, come back every Monday for new content. There may be other articles posted from other sites from time to time, but at the beginning of each week, we will have something to share that hopefully will bless you in your ministry.
Second, if it is an encouragement to you, will you help us get the word out? Invite others to read it. Help us by sharing it on your social media. The blog is for you and your friends.
Third, if you are a pastor and want to contribute, we invite you to collaborate with us. Please see our blog submission page for more information on how you can help us write articles for pastors from pastors.
Thank you for joining us on the journey.