The Poor Wise Man (Woman) Who Saved the City Ecclesiastes 9:13-16.

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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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