Many have been processing deeply the implications of a fourth wave of modern missions, which we believe will include a flourishing of missional communities, a fresh movement of church planting with missional focus. Our goal is to ride this wave of change by fostering missional communities in university settings. We believe these missional communities will be very strategic if they work in collaboration with global missions, leveraging the resources of universities and NGO’s, and churches of all kinds.

Following the spirit of the Mount Hermon One Hundred (see photo above), the first 100 enrolled in the Student Volunteer Movement which launched in 1886, we have convened several consultation gatherings around the world, including N. American Consultations (’97, ’99, and twice in ’11), an Africa Consultation (2001), a S.E. Asia Consultation (2003), a European Consultation (2004), and South American and China Consultations (2005).

Why Gather?

These gatherings have forged long-standing friendships, partnerships, and collaborative projects. The UofN Student Mobilization Centre and Campus Ministries International have developed rapidly as a result of these important gatherings.

Participants meet new friends and create “Partners” out of “Friends” to coordinate new missional projects, especially for students. Coordinating with Partners takes place when, as Dave Konkol (Campus America, 24/7 Prayer USA) says, “it just makes a ton of sense to stop, tread water for a bit, look at each other, let God show us how big He is, and agree to do together what we can’t do apart.”

Collaboration begins when we notice the task is much bigger than our own organization can accomplish alone. And collaboration happens when we are willing to alter our own plans and resource allocation to make something even bigger happen.

Our consultations are made up of key people from different spheres, especially those in new missional communities, who connect with new and old friends around a shared heart and vision for Jesus in community, especially in university communities.

Missional projects, especially the smaller projects that produce easy wins, can help encourage momentum among emerging missional communities on university campuses. Our hope is to encourage and help foster some new developments, cultivating change in our approaches to world missions.

Our consultations are not necessarily centered around what “YWAM has to offer” as much as it is about what Jesus is doing and what God is raising up in various places.

Our consultations help us develop a network, and link a network of networks. These gatherings have already been historic!

Format

We invite several key participants to make short presentations, just 15 minutes, from their context. The major focus is at the tables and the 30-40 minute discussions around the ideas presented. The process times are collaborative, participatory, relational, non-hierarchical, encouraging, and prayerful. Everyone has opportunity to participate and contribute to what develops for university missions at these gatherings.

Themes may vary according to presenters. However, as an example, each presentation could be themed accordingly:

• Robert Wilder Talk: God on Campus
• Sam Mills Talk: Prayer & Understanding the Times
• Henry Opukahaia Talk: The Truth
• John Mott Talk: Student Leadership & Mobilization
• Robert Speer Talk: Unity & Diversity
• James Yen Talk: Development Projects
• Frank Buchman Talk: Social & Political Injustice

We typically have a time of worship and introductions at the first gathering. And the final dinner is a time of thanksgiving and wrap up statements.

We do not seeking “closure” or a necessary “buy in.” Instead, our closing sessions are where each participant writes on Post-It notes the various take away action items that God is speaking to them about missional partnerships and collaboration. Participants can then post them and then we can organize them according to “easy wins” and “more difficult” collaborative projects. We close with a prayer time and dedication to complete the “easy wins”.

Take Away

After the consultation, participants speaking with new friends about specific action items that serve their purposes, we find we have all extended our “radar” and effectiveness through new partnerships. Working together on easy wins produces a bit of momentum among those who are sincerely wanting to catch this next wave of missions.

Pray

“As I pray about these consultations, I see them like knitting together a new fabric for a new season, like repairing and preparing a dragnet to catch a new generation, especially in partnerships around issues of global human need. I think these consultations can help catalyze these new missional communities toward missional collaboration.”

- John Henry, SMC International Leader

Contact us about having a consultation in your area. And please pray for these gatherings and ask God for specific results, new partnerships and focused mobilization of university students from the campuses around the world. Thank you!

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