diaspora
? the dispersion of any people from their original homeland: the diaspora of boat people from Asia.
? the people so dispersed.
While most think of the Diaspora within the historical context of the Jews living outside Israel, a self-described “city-reacher” believes the diverse populations of diaspora living in South Carolina represent a rich opportunity for South Carolinians to begin evangelizing unreached people groups around the globe.
“The nations of the world have come to our cities.” – Jarvis WardJarvis Ward, a missions and evangelism strategist who will be among the session leaders at a pan-denominational Christian ethnic ministries summit in Spartanburg in April, said South Carolina Baptists can begin reaching those in the “uttermost parts of the world” – without leaving their own state.
“The nations of the world have come to our U.S. cities,” he said. “The unreached people groups now have people living here.
“While we’re busy reaching our Jerusalem and Judea, we’re going to be having some impact in the uttermost parts of the world, because those persons who are part of the unreached people groups who are in our cities and communities have relationships and ties [in their countries of origin].
“It is a Great Commission strategy,” Ward said. “Some of the people we’re reaching are linked directly back to people in countries that we’ve been trying to get into.”
Ward, 49, lives in Pearl, Miss., and heads the City Reaching Initiative of the Mission America Coalition. Both groups will be among several entities taking part in the Ethnic America Network’s Ethnic Ministries Summit, to be held April 19-21 in Spartanburg at Evangel Cathedral. The South Carolina Baptist Convention and the Spartanburg County Baptist Network are key sponsors of the summit.
Jim Goodroe, director of Spartanburg County Baptist Network, said the city of Spartanburg alone is home to residents representing more than 70 countries.
Ethnic America Network is a coalition of more than 75 evangelical denominations and agencies that minister within the context of the growing diverse population in North America. The summit will include multiethnic worship services, plenary sessions, seminars on increasing outreach effectiveness, networking opportunities for affinity groups, and opportunities to earn academic credit. (For more information, or to register, visit www.EthnicAmerica.com.)
Ward said the upcoming summit is “strategically important,” not just for South Carolinians, but for evangelicals across North America. “This meeting has the potential for catalyzing so much over the next eight to 10 years as it relates to [impacting the] unreached nations of the world,” he said. “That is not an overstatement.”
The summit will provide practical guidance on “ways we can be more effective in reaching the ethnic diaspora in our communities,” he said.
Ward is convinced that successfully reaching and engaging people with the gospel of Christ lies not in programs and campaigns, but in a simpler approach embodied in the phrase: “Prayer, care, share.”
“Right now, most of the people sitting in our pews are not doing that,” he said. “Even in the Southern Baptist Convention, sometimes our projects and programs last [only] for a moment.”
The key, he said, is to challenge leaders to think of ways to engage people on a “relational” basis.
“That’s why the marketplace emphasis is such a big one,” Ward said. “Most of the people in our pews work somewhere. With workplace colleagues, are you praying for this person? Are you caring – even if only picking up an extra cup of coffee from the break room? Are you trusting the Lord for a way in which you can share?”
Ward hopes the summit and breakout sessions will provide a framework for developing strategies for reaching communities, particularly ethnic diaspora communities, through a “prayer, care, share” strategy, adding, “the way in which it is done is developed on a local level.”
“How can a church serve [with other churches and evangelical ministries] to reach the entirety of a community – not as an event, not as one action, but as a process?” Ward said. “We are seeking to identify men and women out there who have a heart for wanting to see the church working better, together, in reaching their entire community with the gospel – in word and deed.
“It’s this idea of the body of Christ working together to pray for, care for and share Christ with everybody in their community. The ethnic makeup of our communities is changing. Many folk are not reaching them; it’s not on their radar screen.
“No local 90-member church is going to do it all alone, but by serving with others – if Southern Baptists can serve with other evangelical groups with a long-term strategy for reaching a community – we can positively impact them with the gospel.”