Why has the Traverse Cross-Cultural Ministry Apprenticeship been created?
There’s a great need for people of all cultures to hear the gospel.
God’s plan is to gather to himself people from every nation, tribe and language through the saving work of his Son, the Lamb, the Lord Jesus (Rev 7:9-10). Jesus says in Luke 10:2 that the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. Today, 42.5% of the world’s population (3.25 billion) are considered unreached.* In addition, only a small percentage of gospel workers (3.3%) are being sent to share Jesus with these unreached people.*
The goal then of the Traverse Cross-Cultural Ministry Apprenticeship is to prepare future gospel workers for effective cross-cultural disciple-making amongst the unreached of our world.
There are great challenges in taking the gospel cross-culturally to the unreached.
Successfully taking the gospel to people of another culture is like traversing a mountain range. We face many challenges when seeking to effectively share Christ with those from a different culture to ours. Navigating these challenges successfully requires specific training so that we can better understand and address a people's hidden worldview - their beliefs, feelings and values that drive the behaviours we see in a culture.
Traverse aims to prepare people to navigate the challenges of cross-cultural mission work.
There are great opportunities to receive cross-cultural ministry training locally.
Recent global migration has brought many people to Australia from different cultures. Many of these people are either from unreached people groups or countries where gospel access is restricted. There are now many opportunities for cross-cultural ministry and training amongst new migrant communities in major Australian cites and regional centres.
The Traverse program can not only prepare people locally for future cross-cultural mission work overseas but also, God-willing, help extend the kingdom of God in new migrant communities here in Australia.
Migrants per 1000 head of population
-20 -10 -5 0 5 10 20 No Data
Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
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