Social Entrepreneurs as the New Missionaries  

In our strategic mission mobilisation seminars for the local churches, we often use a video entitled "The Harvest" which tells the story of a farmer's death and how his bereaved family had to scramble resources to bring in the harvest for that year.  

With a string of young children, how was the lady of the homestead going to cope? Then came the climatic end to the story when friends and neighbours emerged to help bring in the harvest.  

This story never fails to make my eyes moist with hope and conviction that this has to be the way the harvest can be completed... when we work together rather than by ourselves.   

Over the past two months, as I meet with pastors, mission leaders, business executives and fund managers, the Lord has shown me His presence and His people who have been moved by His Spirit to want to do something to change the world.

Many Christians have always felt that missions belong to the domain of a select group of Christians with a special calling, and since they have not had any, they were not burdened with the missionary mandate.  

However in their own special ways, they are sensitive to the needs of ministries and communities around them.  Obedient to the Spirit's leading, some have taken a step forward to investigate the needs and found themselves able to contribute something to the needs especially of individuals in their midst.  Consequently they found themselves developing and championing a vision to help bring about a little change in a little way.

Over the years, the notion of social enterprise has taken a small step forward as governments and politicians have backed the growing people sector comprising of a growing community of global citizens who desire to make a difference and bring about social change in their communities and around the world.  

Funds and venture capital have been made available by governments and foundations to encourage social entrepreneurs in their start ups. Corporations have also given of their profits as part of their corporate social responsibility as they seek to do good even as they are doing well.

Churches have produced a long string of missionaries over time with their missionary enterprises.  These days missionaries and mission workers can also be called faith entrepreneurs, or simply social entrepreneurs in the broad sense of the term as their spiritual mission is usually embedded in their social impact.  

Social entrepreneurs need to include men and women, young adults and senior citizens, and people of different races and backgrounds as we seek to touch and transform lives of people across ethnic and generational lines.  As Christians respond to the Lord to become social entrepreneurs in the little ways they know how, they inadvertently begin to respond the call to missions involvement.

The local church can encourage and empower the rise of the social entrepreneurs as the Lord initiates and inspire, and plant the passion in the various ones in the local church. They may seem the least likely of them all to become changemakers, but this has always been the story along the journey.

Come journey with us as we consult, coach and mentor the social entrepreneurs among us.  They can be our faith entrepreneurs as the Lord guides and provides, our new missionaries of today and the answer to our prayers to the Lord of the Harvest.  

Lawrence Ko, National Director, 12 May 2012 

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• ·  Mission Consultation on Social Enterprise Development on 19 May 2012 and the
• ·  Forum on Social Entrepreneurs for Missions  in Aug 2012 as well as the
• ·  Workshops for Entrepreneurship Coaches Jul 13-14 2012,
•    Workshops for Social Entrepreneurs Jul 25-27 

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SCGM STRATEGIC THRUST 2012

Catalysing the National Missions Movement...

SCGM AGM 26 April 2012

Strengthening Asian Strategic Alliances and developing Asian Missiologies.

In this new decade and new century touted as the Asian Century, SCGM seeks to spotlight what God is doing in and through evangelisation and social impact in Asia.  We want to give of our best here at SCGM and in 2012, we want to do even more.  We are renewing our board to bring stronger leadership to SCGM.  We are building a training team to mobilise local churches for effective missions involvement.  We want to document the best practices in missions so as to accelerate the rate of missionary mobilisation, preparation, sending and membercare.  We want to make available the myriad of missionary strategies and skills which churches can use for great effectiveness in missions.

Programme Highlights of 2012

1.       Contextual Asian Missiology

·         Developing Asian Partnerships with Asian mission leaders and practitioners for understanding Asia

·         Organising regular Lausanne meetings and Chairing Lausanne Movement Singapore Committee.

·    Attending AEA Meetings in April 2012 and Chairing Asia Evangelical Alliance (AEA) Mission Commission.

·         Annual Lecture on Asian Missiology highlighting the Orality method of gospel communication

·       Editing ALCOE Compendium and Serving on Executive Committee of Asian Lausanne Committee for Evangelisation (ALCOE EXCO).

2.       Social Enterprise Development for Missions

·         Organising Mission Consultation on Social Enterprise Development for Mission in May 2012

·   Mission Mobilisation Talks to teach and gather business leaders/ executives for personal participation as a part of Business as Mission strategy from May to Aug 2012

·         Training workshops and personalised coaching for Business leaders and Social Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurship Development from Jul to Aug 2012

3.       Christian Environmental Stewardship (Eco-Mission)

·         Organising Forum on Christian Environmental Stewardship for youths in Jul 2012

·         Partnering local churches and developing environmental field trips and projects in SE Asia, China and India

·         Participating in Lausanne Network on Creation Care in Oct 2012

·         Developing a Missiological Paradigm for Environmental Missions

4. Strategic Mission Mobilisation with Local Churches, Training Institutions and Christian Organisations

·         Consultation with Pastors, Missions Committee and Laity for personalised participation

·         Training the Trainers programmes for local church leaders to equip them as mission mobilisers

·   Developing emerging leaders and membercare personnel for church missionary initiatives and implementation

For these vision to become reality at SCGM, we need your generous support, prayer and partnership. Support us financially as your gifts will help resource SCGM.  Volunteer with us as programme coordinators, project managers or associate trainers.  Pray for us and partner us in every way the Lord opens up windows of opportunities.

Journey with us as a Partner of SCGM and let us help Catalyse the National Missions Movement in Singapore.

Lawrence Ko

National Director

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Mar 2012 

The Chinese has a saying: A spark as small as a starlight can set a prairie ablaze.

It is an assertion of confidence that a little fire is dangerous thing.  More importantly it is an encouragement that small things can grow if we tend it well, like a spark on dry leaves, a seed on good soil and an idea when its time has come.

The prophet Zechariah exhorts us “despise not the day of small things” (Zech4:10)

The small steps we take to build friendships of co-operation in missions, the prayer we pray in small groups, the small gifts we make as our commitment towards missions... are the little things that can become much as we tend the fire, and keep blowing on the embers of a glowing coal till it bursts into flames.   

As SCGM enters into a new season of serving the churches and missions community in Singapore, we thank God for the friends and support we have enjoyed as we continue to tend the flame of missionary movement in and from Singapore. 

The little red dot that is our city-state of Singapore has been blessed in many ways.  We thank God that the Church in Singapore, supported by the many missionary organisations, has become active and a blessing to many nations and people groups over the past decades.  We as Christians remember our mandate and mission to be messengers of the gospel to a world that is precious and perishing. 

But more can be done as we can create greater synergy among the church missions movement and bring the resources of the many mission agencies to create a greater impact and outcome. 

SCGM is committed to pray for and serve alongside the churches and mission organisations as we ask the Lord to generate a greater swell of the missions movement in Singapore. We continue to seek to listen and learn the strategies developed by the churches and organisations and will assist in documenting and bridging the different efforts to make our Singapore missions movement more strategic and impactful for the nations in Asia and beyond. 

We hope to work with pastors and missions leaders to train more trainers, strengthen the local church’s mission committees and share research and resources to shorten the learning curve for churches wanting to grow more rapidly. We will work with the churches to mobilise every member for mission-related ministry. With our strategic partners in Asia and in the global missions arena, we can help extend these resources and reduce duplication of efforts as we multiply our vision and missions.

In other words, we want to help as a catalyst, a bridge-builder, a partner in your missionary endeavour.

As a member of SCGM, we are part of this catalytic mission.  We can become the spark that ignites a flame.  We can become the starlight that blaze brightly.

Please join us as our partners in missions, reaching out to invite your home church, your friends, the churches and mission organisations you know as well as  like-minded Christians with the passion to serve in growing a greater movement of missions-minded believers to fulfil God’s mission in this present age.

Join us as members of SCGM. Thank you for being a member of SCGM.

Lawrence Ko, National Director, SCGM.