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The Global Mobilization Network (GMN) believes mobilization is essential to calling the whole Church to committed participation in reaching the whole world.

In December 2015, more than two hundred forty leaders involved in mission mobilization from more than thirty countries gathered in Nairobi, Kenya for the second Global Mobilization Consultation (GMC). To better welcome many different kinds and styles of mobilization and mobilizers, this paper was written before the event in order to provide a simple but clear idea of mission, along with a broad, descriptive definition of mobilization emerging from scripture and practice. Leaders from several countries worked together to produce this paper, with some modifications made at the event. The lead author was Steven C. Hawthorne.

Rites of Passage is a foreign concept to most evangelical churches, literally and figuratively. Somewhere along the way, the local church has lost this important value. Rites of passage are still common among institutions like fraternities and sororities, military and civic organizations. A few church traditions have kept this concept of development for their youth and new converts. The Catholic Church has baptism, catechism, and first Communion. The Jewish bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah still help young people move along the pathways of their faith. The Mormons (LDS) have elderships, Melchizedek priesthood, and the ever-present two-year mission after high school.

In 1900, Andrew Murray tackled the key question to the missionary problem as to why there were so few missionaries. In his report to the ecumenical missionary conference held in New York in April, he thought the answer was simple; it was the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Though I totally agree, I think there is much more to it than simply a Lordship question. I believe it is in how we, the church, view the cross.

Information is powerful. We’ve all experienced moments where the discovery of a particular piece of information has radically shifted the direction of our lives. Many of us in the mission community had our lives transformed when we discovered the theme of God’s global mission that runs from Genesis to Revelation. The realization that God has always been a missionary God continues to challenge countless Christians to consider the direction and purpose of their lives. Or maybe it was the discovery of the unreached, that millions of souls lived beyond the reach of the local church and had little to no access to the gospel that was the watershed moment in your life. State of the World talks that educate and inspire Christians are a regular feature of mission conferences. Thankfully, God has raised up hard-working men and women who dedicate themselves to helping transform Christian worldviews through powerful and up-to-date information.