Apostolic Function and Teams
I just finished reading Alan R. Johnson’s Apostolic Function in 21st Century Missions. I found the book to be quite intriguing on a number of levels. While he summarizes the book’s message at the end, “Go where the church does not exist” he goes out of his way to balance his arguments in favor of a holistic approach to missions.
Johnson addresses many issues but one that particularly caught my eye was his comment on Banks’ work:
He summarizes that nature of Paul’s church planting band as a grouping of specialists identified by their gifts, backed by sponsoring families and communities, with a specific function and structure focused on preaching the gospel, founding churches and helping them to mature. (68)
This is exactly the model Kandra and I are excited about. We believe that God is forming a team of gifted specialists, each with a specific function. We will found churches and help them to mature and multiply all across the Baltic states!
There is an excellent diagram on page 92 (Figure 4, Possible Models of Apostolic Function)
Pray with us for this to become a reality in the very near future.
