David Sitton is the President of To Every Tribe, a ministry which has been planting churches among unreached people groups of Papua New Guinea and Mexico for many years now. The ministry is led by a distinguished board of directors and three executive officers. As it happens, they are seeking to hire a Director for their Center for Pioneer Church Planting.
To Every Tribe is hosting a conference this October 22-23 entitled Reckless Abandon: For Jesus and The Nations. In light of this conference, and as a means of spreading the word about To Every Tribe, I’ll be posting a three or four part interview with David Sitton. Part 2 was posted last week (and Part 1 the previous week). Here’s Part 3:
Are there any new developments at To Every Tribe that you’d like to share with us?
The big thing for us is seeing the gospel advance into previously unreached areas. I like to talk about the “advance” of the gospel. Advance denotes movement, action, intentionality and progress; setting targets for the gospel and then going after them for Christ. To do that well requires teams of well trained church planting missionaries. And that’s what we’re attempting to produce, with God’s help, in our Center For Pioneer Church Planting (CPCP). Beginning in September, we are transitioning into a two-year training program, 40% of which is focused upon on-the-job training situations in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Mexico. For example, we’ve discovered a whole new region in the Black Water swamp lands of PNG where the evangelical gospel is virtually unknown. Plans are being made to get the gospel established into that area as quickly as possible. We also have a reconnaissance research team, right now, in the remote parts of Oaxaca (Mexico) gathering data in order to determine the most strategic place to launch a church planting team. These are the things that excite me the most.
You’re hosting a Mission Conference with the title Reckless Abandon: For Jesus and the Nations. Why that title?
I got the Reckless Abandon title from Ed McCully, who was one of the Ecuador 5 that were martyred in Ecuador in 1956. Here’s his quote:
“I have just one desire now; to live a life of reckless abandon for Christ and I’m putting all of my strength and energy into it. Maybe the Lord will send me some place where the name of Christ is unknown.”
–Ed McCully (in a letter to Jim Elliot, September 22,1950)
It’s our conviction that most of the easy-to-reach places have already been harvested. The ones that remain unengaged are hard to get to, and oftentimes hostile. It requires a certain missionary mentality for a man to take his family into these dangerous places. It requires a reckless abandon that comes out of deep conviction that Jesus and the gospel are worth it. Whatever the hardship or suffering, Jesus is always worth it. If there is a line, over which, Jesus is no longer worth the sacrifice, that line points directly at the thing that we value more than Christ; whatever it is we value more than Christ is an idol in our lives.
I noticed that the speakers have worked in Romania and Ethiopia, whereas To Every tribe has historically focused on Papua New Guinea and Mexico. Tell us a little bit about why you chose Josef Tson and Getaneh Getaneh.
Josef Tson lept nearly to the top of my “greatly admired” list when I read about his response to a Romanian prison guard that gave him a choice to either deny Christ and be released, or be killed by firing squad. Josef said, “Sir, let me explain to you the situation. Your greatest weapon is killing; but my greatest weapon is dying. I see no good reason to renounce Christ now. If you kill me, I go to heaven and my sermons will spread around Romania all the faster because people will know that I died for my faith. If you release me, I will go on preaching. Do with me as you wish!” And they released him! I want Josef Tson at our Reckless Abandon conference!
Getaneh Getaneh is from Ethiopia and has been tortured more than I can imagine for his faith in Christ. Getaneh has an incredible testimony and is one of the strong voices within Voice of the Martyrs that speaks on behalf of the “suffering church” around the world. I look forward to hearing about his exploits for the gospel in the midst of severe suffering.
Are there any particular themes you’ve asked Josef and Getaneh to address?
Once they heard about the “Reckless Abandon” theme, Dr. Tson and Getaneh Getaneh both accepted our invitation immediately. I know they will speak powerfully to the subject. I will be sitting with everyone else in the conference eager to hear whatever these brothers want to challenge us with. In my sessions, I expect to develop what I believe is the biblical rationale for encouraging extreme risk for the gospel. The outline will be something like this: Risk is always determined by the value of the mission; the gospel is so valuable that no risk is unreasonable; life laid down for Jesus is eternal gain. If I live, I win. If I die, I win bigger (Phil. 1:22-24).
(To Be Continued……)