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Confirmation has been received from Woodrow Phillips,

President of San Jose Bible College, that he will participate ,
in a Mass Communications forum in Santiago,- Chile, S.A, dwraag

May 18 - 26, 1975*

The purpose of the meeting is to analyse

the mass communications work of the Church of Christ., Christian

Church missionaries in Chile.

The Chilean Bible Corresponf^ence program has more than

23,000 students enrolled in its four courses. The entire pro

gram consists of a four-step plan: 1) contact; 2) conversion;

3) new church establishment; and i|.) leadership training. The
program has just recently moved into the second and third
phases.

Besides analysing the first step (contact). Brother

Phillips will devote one week to discussion with the missionaries
about how to attain successful results in the remaining three
phases of the program. If other missionaries or recruits are
interested in participating in the seminar, or would like to
know more about the Chilean work, write to:
Centro de Difusi&n Cristiana

Casilla II4.OI7 Correo 21

Santiago, Chile S.A,

Where We Are Today In Missions? - Woodrow Phillips (900 \vords)

Every great missions movement tends to reach a plateau, remain

at that level for serveral decades and then decline.

Since the close of World War II our Direct Support Missions move
ment has been one of the most rapidly expanding adventures in world
evangelism among Bible believing people.

Mow,we are at a plateau*of

achievement in fields entered, missionaries supported, churches es

tablished, benevolent work underwritten and converts reached with the
gospel.

The easy course is to be'isatisfied with consoliding this tremen

dous growth. After three decades of almost uninterrupted advance,

the temptation is to see the mounting costs of missionary recruitment,
training and commissioning as well as the logical case formore of the
work being done by the national -coverts in their own fields, and to use

these facts as our psychological brake against-futther outreach.

We,- as a people enlisted as disciples under the commission of
Jesus Christ, dare not let these.achievements deter us from even great
er mission thrust.

Our crossroads of missionary destiny is either already here or

immediately in bur future.

To count the cost for world mission and

curtail our expansion because of the high investment in lives, prayers

-and funds it requires is to leave the task unfinished at the one moment

in history vdien globe girdling evangelism is possible.

We may argue for better teaching of the conVerts already won.

We

see the need for more benevolent v/ork in medicine, orphan and aged care
as vital in the fields already opened.

New printing ventures and more

Page 3

tive strategy for expansion. Never have so many seriously searched

again through the Scriptures, early church history, great missionary
movements of the past and peoples movements of today to see patterns
for church grov/th.
Never have trained minds committed to mission worked so hard to

borrow all that is good and helpful from every mental discipline men
know to apply their gleanings to gospel proclamation,
V/e are at an apex in mission interest and involvement in all evan

gelical Christendom, The free exchange of knowledge, ideas and results

has brought a unity in Christ on our mission fields,never before pos
sible,

Without compromise of our commitment to the New Testament we

are crossing old lines of separation that can only lead to further
"oneness" in the gospel message and mission work,
Bible translation

is rapidly reducing the number of tribes and

people who cannot be taught the Word of God in their own tongue in
their own culture.

Now is the day when the church can triumph by the power of the
Holy Spirit in His Word and in His people.
We stand at the threshhold of opportunity for church growth un

precedented in 20 centures of Christian history.

It is a day to put

all we are and all we are provided by His grace into the missionary ad
vance that can change the history of the human family.
The technical toolfe, the travel opportunities, the financial re
sources, the potentialimanpower are all ours to marshall for world
wide sharing of the "good news".
Today is the "day of salvation" for all and a challenge we can
meet to bring glory to God and our Savior Jesus Christ,

Page 4

The time to act is upon us. It cannot wait for national conveo"

tions or even church board action. This renewal must begin with every
individual disciple.

We are, right now, at the moment of our greatest decision as a

Bible people. We can move forv^ard in faith to become the greatest

vehicle for world mission that has ever been knov/n or we can pleasantly,

busily, stagnate on our high plateau of current evangelistic achievementj

slowly atrophy and fail to meet the "high calling" to world wide mis
sion that is the open door we face NOW!

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