JAKARTA DECLARATION CHRISTIAN WORLD MISSION

The Seventh Convention Of The Asia Missions Association, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2000

We, Asian Christian mission leaders, are gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia, a key South Pacific nation located at a crossroads of East, West, South, and North, of six continents and five oceans for the Seventh Triennial Convention of the Asia Missions Association (AMA) and to commemorate its 25^thanniversary. Official participants have come from twenty nations of Asia, and fraternal participants from many other nations of the world.

In the convention, held from October 23 to 27 of the year 2000, we shared our vision for the third millennium in the Bible each morning; we heard from prophetic voices in the Plenary Sessions; we learned the current status of the mission movement of every nation in Asia through the National Reports; we challenged Indonesian Christians to world mission in the Mission Rallies each evening.

Finally, we have agreed to proclaim our findings and commitments to pave a new way for Christian world mission in the new millennium as followings:

1. As the second millennium of the Christian era passes into history, so does conquering religion from the Western world. In the past half-century, the decolonized nations developed, from past colonial churches, their own spontaneous churches. These churches are multiplying by the power of the spirit.Christianity is no longer a Western religion, but a global religion. The church of the decolonized nations has become a new force for the Christian world mission of the future. We, the Asian Missions Association, moved many stones and paved the way for the advancement of the new Christian world mission. We herewith declare that is no longer a Western religion, but a global religion suited for every nation. We wish our Christian mission to be one of peace, reconciliation, love, and hope for the powerless and endangered people of the world

2. We found the number of non-Western missionaries is much larger than that of traditional Western missionaries. The mission force is coming from virtually every nation in today’s world. The number of the non-Western missionaries is over 160,000, nearly two times of the size of the Western missionary force. Asian missionaries are a major force, large in numbers and scattered in every part of the world. We hereby commit to continue to send missionaries; to train, support, nurture, and care for them through strengthened Christian world ministries.

3. We found weaknesses of our non-Western missions:
   Lack of access to information about our needs, such as publications, accurate data, current research, use of internet, and many other media-related applications.
   b. Limited financial resource, lack of missionary awareness, and pettiness in the operation of mission agencies. We, therefore, encourage every AMA national association to cooperate with each other to advance and strengthen each other in these areas of weakness, for the advancement of Asia’s global outreach.

4. We affirmed our responsibility to revitalize our disorganized efforts in the field and to seek harmony among our missionaries involved in these ministries. Innovation in mission structures of every nation is needed to avoid competition and duplication of projects in the fields. We have to cooperate to maximize our efforts and avoid draining our resources. We herewith announce the creation of the All Asian Forum as a cooperative structure of global ministries and to revialize the Asian Missionary Fellowship. We encourage every member nation to join the forum and the fellowship, to work together as co-laborers for the truth.

5. We reaffirm the Biblical mandate of witness, but not as it sometimes been displayed in the history of mission. We should not simply immitate the erratic history of Christian mission, but should declare ourselves successors to the New Testament order of witness, which is demonstrated in the Pauline mission recorded in the Acts of Apostle and in his letters to the churches. The apostolic mission moves from powerless and oppressed to the world of powers. We were the powerless and oppressed nations under Western colonial powers. Therefore we have no reason for fear worldly powers, just as the apostles were not afraid in their day. A break with the past erratic pattern of mission is the most essential requirement if we are to succeed in following the Pauline pattern of mission.

6. We declare that the mission of the future should not focus on a developmental approach, but should anticipate the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We have to be prophetic in our witness. We have to be apart from worldly development. We therefore affirm that the Christian mission of the future should be to save every nation, because Jesus promised to call them to His throne at the day of His glorious coming again to the earth.

We, the Asia Missions Association, will endeavor to renew the Church as the Church  of the Nations. The church should become the Church of Witness, overcoming its sometime erratic history in Asia. The new leadership of Christian mission in Asia commits itself to the responsibilities to renew missionary vision in the new millennium in order to accomplish this task, which was the commission of the Lord Jesus Christ to us as He ascended to the heaven.

For the sake of our Lord, the Savior of all nations, we have to be useful, available, and faithful.

Amen.