Notwithstanding the remarkable achievements of the Adventist Church, there are specific challenges in carrying out the gospel commission worldwide. Missiologists categorize the three most significant mission problems as "the three windows." The window is officially known as the "10/40 Window," denoting a hypothetical rectangle between the 10th and 40th parallels to the north of the equator. The 10/40 Window encompasses 5.37 billion individuals and is classified as unreached. This region is inhabited by approximately 60 percent of the global population, home to the world's most impoverished individuals, and is also the birthplace of many major world religions. [1] Tragically, the Adventist church has only 2.6 million members, representing only 12 percent of worldwide membership. The second window, known as the "Post-Christian Window," includes Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries experiencing a rapid shift away from Christian values.
This phenomenon is seen through the decrease in church attendance and the substantial proportion of persons, especially young people, abandoning their religious faith and beliefs. The third window is the urban window, which is worldwide in scope and is currently undergoing substantial population expansion. In all, there are 543 cities with a population over 1 million. The average ratio of Adventists to the population within these cities is 1:89,000. This is interpreted as one Adventist per 358 persons. Among the forty-nine cities with a population of one million or more, less than ten have Adventist adherents, and forty-three of these cities lack any Adventist contingent.
Based on these pressing challenges of the church, Mission Refocus was organized to address these missional issues. The work of Mission Refocus is to provide training, missiological development, and deployment of missionaries within the division and beyond SSD fields. The Mission Refocus initiatives aim to proclaim the gospel globally by fostering the participation of Mission Refocus missionary families to go beyond their cultures, colors, races, and ethnicities to establish the kingdom of God, with the goal of profoundly transforming communities towards having the holiness of God. The earnest desire of mission refocus initiatives is to bring the world closer to God.
What is the purpose?
The purpose of the mission refocus initiatives is to cultivate and shape the missional activities of the committed Adventist missionaries who will bring the righteousness of God into the community by presenting the love of Jesus despite colors, beliefs, and practices, therefore promoting Christlikeness into the people’s lives.
How can I be part of it?
Mission Refocus calls for denominational workers to be part of SSD's missional program. Those interested shall send a letter of intent to serve as missionaries and be assigned anywhere in the world. Along with the application is the curriculum vitae. The letter of intent shall be addressed to the president of the mission/conference for the approval of the executive committee, and from the local committee, the approval will be forwarded to the union for another approval, and send the union approval to SSD, and together with the missionary assignment, the SSD mission refocus committee shall approve the applicant.
Why should I be involved?
People today are living in a downward spiral of sin and degradation. They are suffering in pain and sadness without any hope of eternal life. The need is great, for Jesus is coming soon. The gospel should be preached in all the places of the world. The proclamation of the good news of salvation shall reach the hearts of all people. The righteousness of Jesus shall be preached to every kindred, nation, tongue, and people. God has called everyone to participate in the holy commission of sharing His power and love with the people in the world. Transforming the communities to God is urgent, for time is running fast. There should be no delay in serving God.
Carlito Quidet, SSD Mission Refocus Director
[1] Kohler, Erton. Three Windows. https://am.adventistmission.org/m360v11n1-12.