THE CHURCH'S MISSION IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND THE WORLD

PAPER PRESENTED AT THE CONSULTATION
ON MISSION OF THE CHURCH IN 2000
IN PNG, IN ASIA & THE PACIFIC AND THE WORLD.
September 10-11,2000 Madang Resort Hotel, Madang

Preamble.

The mission of the church derives from God's own mission and is embedded in the self-revelation of God. The church participates in God's mission by proclaiming in word and deed both the presence and the coming of the kingdom and by conveying the message of salvation in Jesus Christ to the world. The mission of the church always takes place within specific, changing historical contexts and differing cultural situations and therefore bears their marks. Its continuity, however, is based on God's own activity in the world as revealed uniquely in the person of Jesus Christ and in the sending of the Holy Spirit.

Such activity of a church in mission is regarded as an experience of a living church as Dr. Zirajukic Kemung rightly pointed out in his thesis that "A living church is one which joins spiritual truths and cultural context and makes it possible for faith, thanksgiving and services to God to be properly understood and authentically expressed. Since the church and the Mission of God are placed within time and history they pose no exception. They, too, need to follow this particular process of meeting and dialogue so that the local congregations who hear the Gospel may be able to claim that the Mission of God is an entity to which they have been invited by God through the Gospel to be part of. Such a close identification of a given people with the Mission of God will lead towards the local Christians viewing the Mission of God not as a foreign element but an important part of their own identity and life." (Z. Kemung, Nareng-Gareng. A Principle for Mission in Papua New Guinea).

We commit ourselves as a "living church" to respond faithfully to the call of God to be in mission and to gladly reflect the wonders of God's mighty work already begun in us and to actively pursue that mission in our church. In this endeavor we allow ourselves to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be God's instruments for mission and let God continue to fill us with dimensions of wisdom and knowledge to find creative and effective ways for mission. May we be fully certain in our hearts and fully aware how the Spirit enlives the faith within us with the same power and strength and vigour to involve ourselves in the mission of the church.

The Mission of the Church in Retrospect.

Mission belongs to the very being of the church, and thus the apostolic character of the church refers primarily to its missionary nature. It is not an optional activity but is participation in the continuing work of God. The church's role in this mission is rooted in the proclamation of the gospel and in the administration of the sacraments, in which Christ continues to give himself. The church's goal in this mission is not itself but the world.

The primary goal for the church's participation in God's mission is expressed by Christ himself in the Great Commission: to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). Mission directions are also given to the disciples earlier. They include preaching good news of the kingdom, healing the sick, casting out demons, and feeding the hungry. Proclamation of the gospel, calling people to believe in Jesus Christ and to become members of the new community in Christ, participation in the work for peace and justice and in the struggle against all enslaving and dehumanizing powers are therefore an integral part of the mission of the church. All such activities point to the realty of the Reign of God and to its final realization at the fulfilllment of history.

The Contemporary Mission Challenges.

One of the great challenges for mission of the church today is to bring its witness to people influenced by secularization and modernization and thos ewho are at the heart of this trend. Mission does not aim to turn a secular society back into society dominated by Christianity or controlled by churches. Rather it bears witness to Jesus Christ, calls people into discipleship worldview is rejected. It finds ways to witness a new to those who under the impact of secularism are unable to understand the ethical values inherent to Christian faith. Moreover, it seekd to bring the Christian message to those who set the tone for societies and local communties.

Another major challenge to the church's mission today is urbanization. The speed with which urbanization is proceeding today in the world, particularly in the developing countries, has taken most churches by suprise. Lutheran churches are to a large extend rurally oriented and their structures and patterns of ministry have usually been developed in the context of villages and small towns. These churches are not well equipped to serve people in big cities characterized by religious, ethnic and economic pluralism and in which patterns of life are molded by industrialization the entry of new technologies, fluctuation of economic conditions and the steady influx of people from rural areas. Moreover, life in the rural areas which have traditionally been the stronghold of Lutheran churches is also changing under the impact of urbanization and new technologies and may I add the influx of new religious groups.

There is an urgent need for the church in its mission to take seriously the challenge of urbanization. The Christian community needs to find its ways into the patterns of life and thought which are characteristic of urban settings. The church needds to met the millions of uprooted people with the gospel and meaningful service. The poorest and the weakest of most societies are in the slums or in our case in the squatter areas or settlements of the big cities, as are most of the unemployed youth. In these same cities are the centers of higher education, the growing segment of professional people, and the cultural and political leaders of nations.

This challenge calls for national and international surveys of opportunities and resources for mission in urban settings, for the establishment of team ministries, for the founding of congregations, for the launching of training programs on urban issues for pastors and church workes and for intensified sharing of information and experiences in urban ministries on different continents.

The Church's Mission is also face with another major challenge in Youth and Women. Youth challenge the church also from within. Many young people with a Christian background fail to find in the organized church a genuine, accepting community, and consequently drift away and become aliented from it. There is need to reexamine the place of young people in the church to recognize the potential of young people themselves as partners in mission and to face the challenge to renewal which they bring. The inolvment of the youth in mission is impertive if the message of Christ is to be brought to young people on every continent and also if the mission of the church as a whole is to be restored in all its. fullnedd.

As Chritian community we are becoming aware that our cultures (PNG cultures in particular) have traditionally exploited and oprresed women. Women's value and potential have often gone unrecognized. The church is called to accept responsibility for participation in this exploitation. In solidarity with all women the church should recognize and affirm the valies, participation, and contributions of women in church and society.

Women have historically been at the center of the church's life and mission (even in the history of this church). Women make up more than half of the baptized membership of the church. At the forefront of the church's mission outreach women have been at the heart of the church's invlvment with human suffering. However, the intellectual, spiritual, administrative and leadership gifts of women are only beginning to be recognized. It is essential that all God's gifts to women as well as to men be used in true partnership as the church participates in God's mission.

Revisioning the Church's Mission for the new millenium.

A church which seeks to fulfill its missionary vocation today should both equip its pastors and members to meet the specific demand of its immediate frontiers and also train and assign some of its members to serve as messengers of the gospel outside its own setting. Furthermore, special attention should be given to helping the laity to be strengthened in faith so that they can intentionally participate in God's mission as they pursue their daily occupations in today's changing society and world.

With the emphasis on mission as an essential task of every church and congregation, there is an urgent need to reafffirm the indispensable character of specific missionary vocations.
It is not possible for churches to reach out to peole who are far from them in faith or convition, in ethnic origin or culture, simply through the work of local congregations and the structures supporting them. Crossing such frontiers is possible only with the help of Christians who are prepared to step out of their own religious, cultural, sociological and even geographical confines, and whom the church equips and sends out with the gospel.

The preparation of missionaries in churches of every region needs to be given concerted effoert and attention. Today, as far as Lutheran churches are concerned, systematic training and equipping for cross cultural mission is made available only by churches and mission organizatioms of the western and northern Europe ans of North America. The same applies to structures of missionary support. The churches in other regions, and especially churches whose witness has been tested in the midest of drastic social, economic and political change, should also be recognized as a potetial source of missionary renewal and also of missionary personnel.

The Lutheran World Federation at its Ninth Assembly in Hong Kong in July 1998 had become keenly aware that all Lutheran churches today exist and witness in contexts which are multi-religious ans multi-cultural. That in each context our witness to Christ must be sensitive to be particularities of context and as gospel encounters certain context, our witness finds concrete expressions.

The multi-faith context challenges Christians to find appropriate approches to pastoral care, eg. in religously mixed families, to people in hospitals, prisons, etc. It also calls for an evalution of the content and methods of theological and Christian education at different stages of chuch life. Christian witness should pay social attention to the religious and cultural backgrounds of those with whom we work, eg. indigenous people. Thus, the LWF at its Ninth Assembly in Hong Kong committed itself "to strenghten our missiological and missionary efforts to deepen our understanding of the gospel, and to explore new ways of sharing God's love with people who do not yet or no longer kno Christ as their Lord and Saviour."

The Asian Church Leadership Conference in Chennai, India, in November/December, 1999 had its theme: "Mission in Asia for the 21st Century". Some of its recommendations on mission stated, "Mission churches coordinateand network their mission activities and programms within the Asian region" and "Theologicak seminaries provide courses for the study of mission..." There is now a strong call and a felt need for "a paradigm shift in theology of mission, shift in the theology of mission, a shift towards seeing transformation as mission imperative and dialogue in mutual respect with people of diverse faiths, as well as trying to have a deeper understanding of the meaning of God's mission in the world. This paradigm shift in mission theology also implies the nedd for new approaches to both mission training and practices."

In Summary.

The Church's Mission in Papua New Guinea and the world presents us with a challenge to:

1. Maintain and encourage effective local commitment to Mission & Evangelism by emphasizing appropriate and effective preaching, correct teaching and careful nurturing.

2. Coordinate and facilitate appropriate programs for renewal and revitalization of the church in its efforts to reach the young generation and to adequately address the relevant issues and challenges facing the church.

3. The vehicles in achieving the goals and objectives of the church's mission should beencouraged through better coordination and cooperation of the existing departments of the church and through support and mutual cooperation of the Lutheran Overseas Partner Churches.

4. Review and Reactivate the Far North Queensland Mission Programm in Australia through mutual consultation and cooperation between the two Lutheran Churches (ELC-PNG & LCA).

5. Strengthen and encourage the Exanchange Program, especially of pastors, between the Lutheran Overseas Partner Churches and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea.

6. Be well informed and be prepared to undertake new challenges in mission in Asia, Pacific and the World.

Bishop Dr. Wesley W. Kigasung
ELC-PNG
September 2000