singapore group photo

Singapore, March 30, 2016– Key evangelical educators and ministry agency directors from around the world gathered in Singapore, from March 2-5, 2016, to discuss diaspora training for the global church, and to prepare for the launch of Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology, a comprehensive tool for training published by Regnum Books.

Deliberations focused on setting priorities and developing strategies for effective institutional and local church based (formal and informal) training in diaspora missiology and culminated in the crafting of the Singapore Resolution which reflects several areas of consensus about the way forward in equipping the next generation of researchers and practitioners of diaspora mission.  Dr. Tetsunao Yamamori, President Emeritus of Food for the Hungry and former International Director of the Lausanne Movement, was among those at the consultation and he concluded:

“Those gathered in Singapore affirmed the importance of advancing diaspora missiology to grapple with the issues facing the church today. In the coming decade, churches will experience the fruit of God’s blessing among the peoples on the move beyond belief.”

The Singapore gathering of 40 participants was a strategic follow-up to the Global Diaspora Forum 2015 in Manila which brought together hundreds of leaders from around the world. Global Diaspora Network (GDN) is an international body of evangelical leaders commissioned at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa to lead the global Church in fulfilling God’s missional purposes among diaspora peoples.

Dr. Sadiri Joy Tira, Lausanne Movement’s Catalyst for Diasporas moderated the consultation and often referred participants to the formative diaspora documents of the Lausanne Movement, the Seoul Declaration on Diaspora Missiology and the Cape Town Commitment which called for ministry initiatives in reaching  people on the move. “I gained valuable insights and tools at the consultation on how to nurture and equip the Church for missions in the 21st century,” admits mission theologian, Dr. Miyon Chung of Moorling College in Australia.

In addition to crafting the Singapore Resolution, participants reviewed the forthcoming Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology; evaluated sample syllabi from diaspora mission courses being taught around the world; provided feedback on the Lausanne Global Classroom curriculum on diaspora mission; and developed a basic curriculum framework for training in diaspora missiology. Many like Asian Theological Seminary Academic Dean, Dr. Joanna Feliciano-Soberano, left Singapore “to work on the diaspora missiology curriculum template for the Missions Department.”

3 Comments

  1. Mark Naylor 2016-04-07

    Well done! Those of us who teach missiology are grateful for your efforts and look forward to the final product.

    1. Cody Lorance 2016-04-07

      Thank you, Dr. Mark!

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