Dr. Bruce Snavely, Global Baptist Training Foundation
To say that the Covid-19 virus has changed our world would be an understatement. Literally, everything as we have known it has either been reevaluated in a new format or is under review for possible change or alteration. When this is all over, our world is going to look like a different place. I hope that some things don't change and that we can feel like there are and will continue to be some things that haven't been forced to succumb to the demands of this invisible enemy. One of the many things we have learned in our changing world is that the church is alive and well! Millions of people have digitally touched gospel-based ministries for the first time. People are asking questions and looking for answers which we all trust will result in discovering the gospel. Other things have become painfully apparent to us as well. We have seen that our ability to physically travel the world with the gospel can literally be brought to a standstill overnight. Missionaries can be forced to return to their home countries and the specter of evangelism no longer rests in the hands of the visitor, oftentimes the westerner. It now rests upon the national pastor or Christian leader to reach his or her own nation. We have discovered through Global Baptist Training Foundation that training nationals is the answer to it all. There is coming a time when, for various reasons, we may no longer have access to the nations. What will happen to fulfilling the Great Commission when we can no longer take it ourselves to the people of the world? Will the gospel continue to move forward and multiply? It can only do so on one condition. It will move and multiply if the indigenous Christians present in each nation have been trained and equipped to effectively preach the gospel and start new churches as the engine of evangelism. In the process of discovering this reality, GBTF has learned something which we all may have known all along but never really understood as clearly as necessary. The reality is that the indigenous can reach their own people more effectively than anyone else because they already know the language, understand and know how to navigate their own culture, and most importantly, they already love and care about their own people. There are many things that are still unclear about our future, but one thing has become unarguably clear. It is past time to unleash the power of the indigenous to reach their world for Jesus Christ.
Learn more about the author and the Global Baptist Training Foundation at https://www.facebook.com/globalbaptisttrainingfoundation/
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