The Poor Wise Man (Woman)Who Saved the City
Ecclesiastes 9:13-16
+ Proclamation(of the Kingdom, Luke 4:18)
Incarnation (individual then communal, John 1:14)
brings Transformation(The Kingdom Of God transforming Society)
Last Night: Evangelical Theology for Reaching the Urban Poor
Tomorrow:Reconciliation as Foundation of Citywide Revival and Transformation
The Poor Wise Man (Woman)
Who Saved a CityOnce upon a time there was a little city, with few people in it. And a great king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siegeworks against it.
•But there was found in that city a poor wise man. He by his wisdom saved that city. But no-one remembered that poor man.
•But I still say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is not heeded and his words are soon forgotten. Ecc 9:14-16.
1. Poor
• Choice of poverty shows his wisdom - he could have been rich.
• The cares of the world, the delight in riches, the desire for other things enter in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Repentance: Sacrificial Simple Lifestyle in U.S.
• Earn Much• Consume Little• Hoard Nothing• Give Generously• Celebrate Life
• Let the cares of the world, the delight in riches, the desire for other things go so the word might not be choked in your life (Mark 4:19).
2. Wise
• Christ is our wisdom (1 Cor 1:30). • The wisdom of the streets is the starting point for
defining the academic agenda. Action-based learning communities.
• Knowing the God of continuous creativity, the God of doing, results in an action-reflection approach to doing theology. The knowledge of God begins in obedience, not books. Academia helps interpret the obedience.
Jesus is the AnswerJesus is the AnswerWhat’s the Question?
• Human Needs• Spiritual
–Separation–Death
• Social–Alienation–Injustice–Oppression
• Economic–Poverty–Opulance–Exploitation
• Divine Resources• Spiritual
–Spiritual Life–Eternal Life
• Social–Community–Justice–Brotherhood
• Economic–Food / Work / Land–Equal Distribution–Management of
Resources
Wise in the Knowledge of God• 3 Main Streams of the Knowledge of God
– Way of Devotion• Classic Wesleyan Disciplines
– Way of Obedience• Way of love (1 John 4:16)• Way of doing justice (Jer 22:15,16)
– Way of Wisdom • Protestant Apostolic Orders
– Action-based Learning Communities– Networks of devotional communities among the poor.
– Living by faith, and dependence on God to provide
3. Besieged Cities• 66% of Kolkuta live one family per room• 600,000 prostitutes in Bangkok, 600,000 drug
addicts, 4 churches in 1024 slums• 300,000 prostitutes in Mumbai• 1000 new Chinese cities• Cities Springing up in the Sahara desert from
nothing.– Nouakchott, city of the Moors, from 5000 to 800,000 in
20 years
4. Saved the City• One person, one grain, one movement….• Wesley - Give me a hundred men (or women) who fear nothing
but God and hate nothing but sin.– Asissi (4000 evangelists among the poor in 10 yrs)– Xavier– Jackie in Hong Kong– Cory and the Manila Urban Poor Network– Viju and Ivan in Mumbai
• What will you believe God for? 1500, 15,000 converted, discipled, churched, a Bible School?
• Hearts aflame, delight in work, sacrifice and suffering, lifestyles of simplicity.
5. But no-one remembered…
• His words were not heeded
• He was soon forgotten• But, well done, good and faithful
servant, come rule over a city
• A call, a choice, a destiny
– Come walk with us behind Jesus
Sudan to issue decree against building of churches in shanty towns
• Khartoum (dpa) - No churches will be built in any part of the Sudanese capital without the approval of the government if the decree being drafted by the Ministry of Social Planning comes into force in a few days' time, al-Rai al-Aam daily reported Wednesday.
• The shanty churches are constructed by war-displaced Christians from southern and western Sudan who have settled on the periphery of the Sudanese capital.
• They use the churches also as schools and sometimes as health centres as well.
Oct 7, 2002
Cities Up the GangesNAME OF CITY POPULATION
('95 EST)NO. OF
CHURCHMAJOR LANGUAGE
NATURE OF CITY RELIGIOUS MAKEUP
Allahabad, UttarPradesh
982,000 171/58,000
Hindi Educational Center
Hindus 60%Muslims 35%Christians 2%Evangelical 0.1%
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
700,000 201/35,000
Hindi
Batala, Punjab 110,000 201/5,500
Hindi, Urdu 50%? Muslim, 50% Hindu
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
1,469,000 441/33,000
Hindi, Urdu Industrial 8-9000 Christians
Chandigarh, capital Punjab & Hariyana
1,138,000 251/45,000
Punjabis Beautiful Only planned city
1000 believers
Jabalpur, MadhyaPradesh
1,253,000 251/50,000
HindiPunjabiMarathi
Educational Center
70,000 Christians, 30% in churches
Jaipur, Rajasthan 2,000,000 261/77,000
Hindi (Marawi)Sindi, Madrassi
City of Temples 1000 believersChristians
Jalandhar, Punjab 600,000 7+1/85,000
Hindi Producer of Sports Goods
Delhi, capital of India
10,857,00034% slums
3001/36,000
Hindi Power centre, Administrativ
Five Phases to Global Urban Evangelization
• Phase 5: Transformation of the cities
Phase 1: Mobilization of teams of cross cultural missionaries to the slums of the 200 mega-cities and 1700 least evangelized cities
40 cities, 400 workers, perhaps 1200 globally
•Phase 2: Pioneering initial churches in the slums of each city
Manila, Lima, Mumbai, Delhi, etc
•Phase 3: Indigenous leadership and movements
of 5000-15,000 in each cityLatin movements, movements in some African cities 677 in Manila’s slums
•Phase 4: Transformation of some slums
Communities Produce Movements
• What makes up a multinational pioneering team?– An apostle and his wife, a pastoral couple, a
comics designer, a microenterprise extpert, a 55 year old woman who works with the handicapped, a social worker, an evangelist, a childrens’ worker…
– 6-12 people meeting every two weeks – 10-15 years– Phase 1
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art
Growth of Servants-Style Incarnational Urban Growth of Servants-Style Incarnational Urban Poor Churchplanting MissionsPoor Churchplanting Missions
Initial Seed Sowing, Training Bases (78-93)Initial Seed Sowing, Training Bases (78-93)
& New Zealand Expansion (81-96) & New Zealand Expansion (81-96)
Kairos (Sao Paulo)
Servants to Asia's Urban Poor(New Zealand)
Lima
MexicoManila
Servant-Partners
Viv - Urban Leadership Foundation
Phnom PhenBangkok
CalcuttaDhaka
Delhi
SwitzerlandUK
Innerchange
Brisbane
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art
Growth of Incarnational Urban Poor Growth of Incarnational Urban Poor Churchplanting MissionsChurchplanting Missions
Brazilian and Latin Expansion Brazilian and Latin Expansion
Kairos (Sao Paulo)
Servants to Asia's Urban Poor(New Zealand)
Lima
MexicoManila
SpainPortugal
North Africa
Cabo Verde
Ecuador
Columbia
VenezuelaSenegal
CalcuttaBangladesh
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art
Growth of Incarnational Urban Poor Growth of Incarnational Urban Poor Churchplanting MissionsChurchplanting Missions
US Mission Expansion US Mission Expansion
Kairos (Sao Paulo)Servants to Asia's Urban Poor(New Zealand)
Lima
MexicoManila
Servant-Partners
Innerchange
Istanbul
Nairobi
Calcutta
Bangkok
Tegulcigalpa
Mumbai Phnom Phen
Caracas
LanchouXian
In process
Workers or Teams in place
North Africa
Growth of Similar Incarnational Urban Poor Growth of Similar Incarnational Urban Poor MissionsMissions
Kairos (Sao Paulo)
Servants to Asia's Urban Poor(New Zealand)
Lima
MexicoManila
Servant-Partners
Phnom PhenBangkok
CalcuttaDhaka
Delhi
SwitzerlandUK
Innerchange
Brisbane
Action
Oasis
St Stephens Society
Word Made Flesh
Addis Ababa
Phase 1b: Movements at Home
• Second Order– Prayer movements
• Third OrderEarn much, consume little, hoard
nothing, give generously, celebrate life
Live simply that others may simply live