From Our CEO

Dear Friend,

Type in “The Changing World” on the internet, and it will list almost one billion results! This past year has been a stark reminder of just how quickly the world is changing. Disrupted and uncertainty are the words used to describe the 21st century.

When we evaluate ministry effectiveness, we look seriously at the context we are stepping into and how this is rapidly changing. By context we mean, what will the ministry environment be like? What is the worldview? What changes are the local people having to adapt to? How can we live among the people groups, and who has the greatest access to them for ministry? How can we develop sustainable ministry? What is the government’s view on foreign “religious workers”? This issue of the Ethnos360 magazine focuses on these changes and the challenges and opportunities we find within these contexts. We are blessed with many international colleagues within the global network of partners who minister alongside us in understanding and evaluating how best to engage in these changing contexts.

While understanding and adapting to this rapidly changing world can be daunting, I am encouraged as I read Hebrew 1:3: “upholding all things by the word of His power.” The picture here is that we do not see Christ’s work in sustaining His creation and plans as if He were laboring under the burden of it or as if He were an “Atlas-like” figure holding up the universe as a dead weight because of all that is going on. Not at all! The word upholds indicates that He is carrying it along, bearing it continuously toward His final plans!

Because it is His Church and He is the One who is doing the building, we have great confidence as we seek Him for wisdom in getting the Good News out to those who still are needing to hear it.

Yours in Christ,

Larry M. Brown, Ethnos360 CEO