May 27, 2003

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. - The recent "Summit on Baptist Mission in the 21st Century" produced a proposal for an international Baptist mission agency that would send and support Baptist missionaries from the two-thirds world who feel called by God to missionary work beyond their own borders but lack the financial resources to do so.

That call was presented by the Rev. Dr. Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, which sponsored the event held May 5-8 in Swanwick, England.

The need to help missionaries from what is now described as the new "South" was underscored in the "Call to Mission" issued during the gathering.

That statement noted that as Baptists "called, invited, commanded and empowered, we offer our lives once more to the task of making Jesus known in word and deed. This we affirm is the task of all disciples of Christ...."

American Baptist participants who helped craft the statement were the Rev. Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III, executive director of National Ministries, who represented General Secretary the Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley; the Rev. Dr. John A. Sundquist, executive director of International Ministries; the Rev. Charles H. Jones, area director for Africa, International Ministries; the Rev. Stanley D. Slade, Mission Explosion team leader, International Ministries; the Rev. Benjamin S. L. Chan, area director for East Asia and India, International Ministries; Francesca Crane, International Ministries missionary in Bolivia; and Lauran Bethell, International Ministries global service missionary.

The "Call to Mission" in part states:

"We recognise that models of mission used in the past will not be wholly adequate for the new era that has dawned with the startling speed of modern technology. Notions of sending and receiving are unhelpful if we assume that it is the role of some simply to send and others simply to receive. Mission is 'from everywhere to everywhere' but such movement requires resourcing and too often resources are held in the hands of the few. We plead for a global, as well as a local, interpretation of Acts 4:32 ("All the believers were one in heart and mind. No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.") Strategic partnerships can energise the mission of the whole church. Issues of mutual trust, responsibility and accountability will need to be addressed with respect and understanding....

"We commit ourselves to address the problems of those who suffer -

"We grieve for the lost innocence of childhood taken from those who are the victims of war, of physical, sexual and mental abuse, and of inadequate access to basic health care and education....

"We grieve over the fate of vulnerable women, those mutilated and disfigured by acts of violence, exploited for sexual gratification and consigned to lives of untold suffering....

"We grieve for all who are deprived of basic human rights regardless of creed, race, gender or national origin....

"We grieve for those who suffer religious persecution, denying them the inalienable right of humankind to worship God. We especially call our churches to pray and take action on behalf of those of our own family who are suffering persecution because of their faith in Jesus Christ....

"...We call upon our churches to rededicate themselves to the mission that reaches out with the healing and restoring love of Jesus Christ.

"We call upon Baptists in all nations to explore creative means of being peacemakers in a world increasingly torn asunder by divisions. We believe that war is always an indictment of humankind's failure to resolve problems in a Christ-like way. We advocate the gospel ministry of reconciliation to overcome the sinfulness of racial enmity, ethnic conflict and tribal wars.... We long for a peaceful resolution to the many conflicts around the world, and especially to the pain and struggle of the peoples of the Holy Land. We pray that every effort towards peace will be made in the days to come....

"We commit ourselves to live in the light of a purposeful history, toward the time when Jesus will return and a new heaven and a new earth will be the inheritance of all God's children."

At the summit, American Baptist International Ministries medical missionary Dr. Gustavo Parajon testified about his involvement in health care to the poor in Nicaragua. Parajon is the founder of the Nicaraguan Council of Evangelical Churches, an interdenominational relief committee begun in 1972 to aid earthquake victims, and PROVADENIC, a health clinic. "When I returned from my medical training in the United States," he said, "I went to a village to observe some work and a mother brought her child to me. The baby had diarrhea. I gave some treatment but when I returned two weeks later the baby had died. I started thinking I must do more to help people help themselves."

When Parajon began the health clinic more than 30 years ago 250 babies out of 1000 were dying. Today the mortality rate been reduced dramatically because of the training of village women in basic health care and of involvement of many churches and more than 5,000 pastors, who provide a strong witness to their communities.

American Baptist News Service