Mission has been defined by Collins English Dictionary as a group of people sent by a religious body, especially a Christian Church, to a foreign country to do religious and social work. The defective part of this definition is that it limits it to a foreign country. The Oxford’s Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines mission as, “A group of religious people sent especially to remote areas to teach others about Christianity.” It goes on to say a missionary is, “a person sent to teach the Christian religion to people who are ignorant of it.” In view of the fact that traditionally, missionary activity has been to foreign lands, the term ‘Foreign Missions’ was coined. When it became apparent that many around those who were going out to foreign missions were outside the kingdom the term ‘Home Missions’ evolved. Therefore, missions should focus their attention in propagating the gospel of Our Lord Jesus both far and near.
Why Missions?
Every Christians’ priority in life is to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ whether in public or in private. The Bible tells us that the Christian must preach the word in season and out of season II Tim. 4 v2.
The Public Arena is the Christians’ workshop to carry out this responsibility, in short, it is the mission field.
All believers in Christ are commanded to go into the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything the Lord has commanded them (Matt 28: 18-20). Paul emphasized this command when he said in Rom.10:14 “How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
What is a Public Arena?
A public arena is a space provided for or sanctioned by civil authorities in a country with specified but unrestricted use by its citizenry. It may be specified for use as a market place, stadium, theatres, parks, garden, etc. This is the context in which we shall use the term Public Arena.
Missions in Public Arena
In countries where open markets and other public spaces are operational, they provide avenues for evangelism or mission activity. Where there are strong government restrictions to public and open air preaching, in such situations, effort should be made to obtain permission from the authority and the prospective host. These could be the officials of the market place.
After the preliminary contacts, posters, hand bills, radio and television advertisements can commence stating the date, venue, time and speakers. This information should be made available in order that people can plan to be in attendance.
Pre – Outing Preparations
The scripture says in John 15 v 5b“apart from me you can do nothing.” So we need Godly wisdom to plan a public mission outreach. All mission activities must therefore be guided with prayers. John D Robb (Ralph, D. Winter and Stephen C Hawthorne 2009 p 90) says “prayer is the most powerful form of spiritual and social action because God responds directly to praying people. Prayer is the most powerful part of mission to unreached peoples, because God does what only He can do even in the most hopeless of situations. He breaks the false dominion of the enemy, brings spiritual light, and breathes life for lasting spiritual and social transformation.”
Again, our warfare is not against flesh and blood as expressed by Paul in Ephesians 6: 12. We should therefore use the appropriate weapons that have been provided in the book of Ephesians 6 v 18. We should use God’s power that can destroy fortresses. We should destroy arguments and every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing the Lord. In this verse we are told to “Pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
In the light of the above, it is important to cover all programmes with prayers, i.e. speakers, interpreters, stewards, musicians, all gadget operators, counselors, prayer groups, testimony givers, helpers controlling the crowd, gadgets for communication, loud speakers, media equipment, good weather, conducive atmosphere with people who are ripe for harvest, peaceful political atmosphere, vehicles, doctors with first aid givers, people attending to the needs of children etc.
At the end of the prayer, the theme of the mission should be clearly spelt out and made known to all participants.
The Venue of Mission Activities
Adequate public address system and functional communication gadgets are very crucial to missions in public. Everybody present at the venue should be able to hear the message via speakers that adequately amplify the sound. The choice of a convenient place such as the market is important. The market is a common ground where people go with the best of expectations to have their desires met. Expecting to get what they do not have at home for themselves and their family members. Therefore the market place is a good starting point to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations of the earth majority of whom have not yet had Christ as their personal saviour (Matt 28: 19-20).
Paul as a missionary used public places for mission activity. In Acts 19 v 17-32 he met his audience in the public places and those of them who believed openly confessed their evil deeds and turned from their wicked ways.
Missions in Markets as Public Places
Open markets provide the avenue for evangelism or missionary activities. Except where there are clear and strong government restrictions to public and open air preaching, a group could set up a music stage by the market. It will obviously attract attention. In-between music presentations, sermons or gospel messages can be delivered. Altar calls should not be overlooked as is gives people the opportunity to invite Jesus into their lives. Prior arrangements to ensure that counselors are available to meet with those who have made decisions at the end of the exercise are necessary. Contacts address and other information for subsequent follow up is equally important.
When Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he addressed the crowd where 3000 repented. He conducted his activities through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is a good example of preaching in public. In Acts 2 v 41 we read that those who accepted his message were baptized and added to the Church.
Missions in Offices as Public Places
Public workers serve in various offices. Unfortunately, some Christians see a dichotomy between their office life and Church life. They erroneously imagine that one needs to keep his or her faith (or church) out of the office. Whereas the real issue here is that Christians are a new creation (1 Corinthians 5:17); therefore, they are the light of the world and should let their light to shine before men so that they may see their good work and glorify their Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). It is a pity when there seems to be no difference between the life of one who says he or she is a Christian with one who is not. It is sad when the dailies in our nations report convicted criminals with Christian names. Whether at home, at work, or at play, we should be a witness to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ through our verbal witnessing and by our deeds.
Missions in High Density Areas as Public Places:
Most cities have sections in them that provide housing for the under privileged, the poor and the down-trodden. These are places that usually have less attention of government facilities, utilities and services. Besides the problem of economic hardship, there are usually insufficient schools, medical facilities, clean water supply and other services. In these circumstances, we need to learn from our Lord himself whose ministry sought to reach the total man wholistically. In other words, our efforts should include social and charitable actions so that we are not only concerned about the people’s spiritual needs, getting them ready for heaven while ignoring their physical and material needs. Jesus taught the people issues concerning the Kingdom, but also fed the hungry and healed the sick. So should our missions in the less privileged areas be wholistic to be better effective.
Mission in the streets provides another opportunity for Christians to explore. It may require a gospel/media van to play messages as it moves around the streets or could be stationed at a convenient spot where films will be shown and speakers preach the gospel to passer-by. Tracks and Christian literatures can also be useful for distribution to those who are willing to receive them.
Missions in Parks as Public Places:
Nature in parks provides for entertainment, sports, serenity, meditation, rest, prayers amongst others. This can be exploited for mission use. Picnics, games, fasting sessions, get together are organized with the aim of winning souls to Christ as well. Church members can invite their friends and others in the park to attend such sessions. Alternatively, the approach could be personal and quiet, using tracks to preach to people in the parks.
Outreach programmes as described above in the instance of the market or public places can also be applied to parks, theatres, stadiums, transport stations and recreation centres.
Mission through personal witnessing can also be applied to mission in public places. Since evangelism is actually “fishing” men for the kingdom of God, we know that there are many different ways of fishing. One may use a net or a hook. Using the net is like mass evangelism and using a hook is like personal evangelism. One person talking to another at a time is like a hook catching one fish at a time. Both approaches to evangelism will be necessary for effectiveness.
Missions in Public Places with Children in Mind
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matt 19 v 14; Mark 10 v 14; Luke 18 v 16. All the three gospels laid emphasis on this. We all know that children are the future generation. Some of them will be leaders in their societies. Therefore our mission activities where ever it is taking place must make provision to reach out to children in their special ways using materials that will appeal to them.
Mission in Public Places through Medical services
Healing formed a great part of our Lord’s ministry. Provision for medical services with Christian doctors at mission places has attracted many to the Lord. While they receive medical treatment, they will also hear the Word of God. This could happen in hospitals, clinics or a corner in the market place where the preaching programme is taking place. Many have had their lives changed as a result of this act of charity. Sometimes the hospitals are visited with message of salvation. Christians with special gifts for healing should use it for the benefit of the Kingdom in public places.
We must follow the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matt 4 v 23. Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness among the people. This account is also found in Matt 9 v 35. In Matt 10 v 1, the Lord gave authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. From the foregoing, we can see that we should and must not ignore the healing ministry in public missions.
In conclusion, in Rev. 14 v 10, the Bible refers to hell as burning ‘sulfur’ where those who will be thrown in to it will be tormented under God’s fury which has been poured out full strength. In Isaiah 33 v 14 we are told that the final abode of the non-repentant sinners is the consuming fire with everlasting burning. Again in Isaiah 66 v24, we read that the body of those who rebelled against the Lord will be burnt with fire that will not be quenched. Mt 13 v 42 describes hell as a fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
With time running out, and the destination of the unsaved being eternally tormenting; we should catch the vision for world evangelization and go out to where the unsaved are, be they in the market places, parks, gardens, theatres, stadium, high density areas, streets, hospitals, clinics, schools, pubs/bars, train & bus stations, shopping malls, hotels, children parks and play grounds, vocational centre, restaurants etc and share the gospel message of salvation. Since missions and evangelism mean “to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord, now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Holy Spirit to all who repent and believe”. It will be woe upon us if we do not preach the gospel.( Dayton, E. R. & Fraser, D. p.51). The urgency to reach more people is stronger when we realize that every minute thousands of people are dying.
We realized that the methods of reaching out to people may vary from country to country. In a country where there may be restrictions for the gospel, the Christian should be wise to adjust accordingly as dictated by circumstances. In fact the Lord sent out his disciples in Mark 6 v 7 to go in twos and we must not lose sight of the one-to-one witnessing and other ways that the Lord will show the individual Christians. He owns the world and he will show us how best to reach the people.
References
1 Winter, R D & Steven C. H. (Editors). PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT. (Fourth Edition); Pasadena, California: William Carey Library; 2009 p 90
2 Dayton, E. R. & David A. F. PLANNING STRATEGIES FOR WORLD EVANGELIZATION. (Revised Edition). Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. E. Publishing Company; 1990 p. 51
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Issues for Discussion
1 Discuss various locations and appropriate ways of reaching out to people with the gospel in each of the public places in your country.
2 What are the challenges of mission activities in public places and suggest ways to overcome them.
3 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of missions in the public arena.
4 What are the advantages and disadvantages of the use of modern technology in public missions?
5 Critique a short video presentation by an NGO depicting a mission work in Plateau State of Nigeria.