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UTILIZING MUSIC & the ARTS for MISSIONS MOBILIZATION
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MOBILIZING THIS GENERATION
to take their Place in the Great Commission:
CAN THE ARTS IMPROVE OUR EFFECTIVENESS? - Pt 1
By Grace Wiebe
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(Part Two - continued HERE)
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Having been a missions mobilizer for many years, it seems to me that we as missions, churches, missions mobilizers and educators, etc., have, for the most part, not yet fully realized or developed the potential available to us through music and the arts to aid us in mobilizing this generation into their place in the Great Commission.
Although there are some exceptions (ie. YWAM, Caleb Project, etc.) and although there have been encouraging developments in this area in recent years, I would suggest that this is yet a vast realm of missions mobilization which has yet to be explored and developed to its potential.
For the most part, our usual mobilizing tactics and approaches include:
Brochures, books, ads and articles in appropriate magazines and schools, displays at missions conferences, some missions dramas, speakers – seminars/workshops, missionary’s testimonies,
Perhaps some music and drama teams, and more recently, web sites, interactive CDs, etc. There may be others as well.
In an age where music, media and the arts are such an influential way of communicating, especially to Gen X and Gen Y (whom we are wanting to see God raise up as cross-cultural missionaries locally and overseas, perhaps it is time for us to seriously integrate the development of creative music and arts as a VITAL and significant part of our overall mobilizing strategies.
In a communications/teaching class I took many years ago, I learned that because people have different learning styles – for example some learn more by doing, others learn better by seeing, others learn better through auditory stimuli, etc. – the more senses that we can involve in the learning process, the more effective the learning process can be. In mobilization, I believe that the more senses that we can involve in hearing the call to missions – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch -- the more we will be able to connect with people of many learning styles and use music and the arts to make people increasingly aware of the biblical call to THEM to become involved in the Great Commission (whatever their role – to pray, give, send and maybe go), thus cooperating with the stirring of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those He is already calling into His harvest field!
Following are some examples of the kinds of things that are being done. These are far from exhaustive but are meant to begin to stir your minds to think outside the box and help to encourage you to consider some artistic approaches you could use as well.
SOME IDEAS & SOME CURRENT EXAMPLES OF WHAT’S BEING DONE:
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1. Worldview Productions - Contact: wrldview@apk.net
Worldview Productions uses high quality music/drama and other visual arts to help make the Church aware of the needs of suffering people around the world – whether refugees, the poor and needy, street kids, persecuted believers, etc.
2. Wait of the World – movie
This is a movie from the 80’s which shows several potential scenarios where a number of Christian journalists are asked to do stories about certain regions, and each of them is sent into a situation where God gave them a burden to reach the lost in that type of situation. I remember finding this very entertaining and yet getting the message through when I watched it many years ago.
3. Behind the Sun – an excellent movie by OPEN DOORS about a Muslim who became a believer in the US, went back to his home country, and it shows what he went through regarding his faith. Very effective in helping to raise the awareness of the need for prayer for persecuted believers. For ordering info, contact Open Doors at: usa@opendoors.org
4. Drama - Blackie Blackwell
– contact: blackie_blackwell@wycliffe.org
Blackie has been developing drama for mobilization of potential missionaries. You might want to connect with him for further info about that.
WORLD CLASS MISSIONS DRAMAS
Simple Sketches
Missions Focused
Keyed to Perspectives Curriculum
$15US including shipping
Order from: Ron Binder, Wycliffe Southwest, 7049 Eastondale Ave., Long Beach, CA 90805
562-531-9099 ron_binder@wycliffe.org
Dramas included:
Biblical Focus:
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The Bottom Line
Tough Day
Defending God's Dignity
While the King is Away
All Nations?
Historical Focus
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The Jerusalem Council
Quiet Invasion
General Assumption
All God's Children
Cultural Focus
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A Taste of Culture
Dynamic Equivalence
Sharing the Blessing
Blind Trust
What We Have Here
The Role Model
Strategic Focus
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The Contest
Flaming Fires
Deface the Nations
The Call of the Wild
Before He Finished Praying
5. International Music and Arts Festivals – what about the idea of putting together local festivals of music and the arts by musicians and artists of the various local Christian ethnic fellowships in our cities? This could help to give us all a glimpse of the beauty of the multi-cultural Body of Christ and the various gifts He has graced her with, and also help to give a deeper appreciation to our fellow believers of the need to reach out to these ethnic communities in our cities, as well.
6. Missions Note Cards/stationary: Over the years I have come across a number of excellent paintings, charcoal drawings, line drawings, etc. of themes from other nations which have been used as the cover of blank note cards which can be used as ‘thank you cards’ to send to missionary’s supporters, etc. How about more these being created with Great Commission themes, and perhaps stationary as well which could be utilized by missions committees, missionaries, missions and missions-minded folks, etc. Perhaps missions minded artists could put together note cards which have, on the cover, ethnic musicians and artists with their instruments or artwork? If you have something like this and would like some help in promoting it, let us know: gcwac@hotmail.com
7. Dance – perhaps there are various dances that could be created with missions themes, and possibly incorporated into a major missions production which also would utilize music and drama and other artwork in the visual arts, etc.
8. Missions Banners – many churches have banners of worship around the walls of the sanctuaries. Perhaps banners could also be created with Great Commission themes?
9. Symbols – are there certain Great Commission symbols which could be utilized in various kinds of artist ways to help promote missions for missions conferences, etc.?
10. Photo Tour/Multi-Media – although many of us well remember the ‘missionary slides with the sunset at the end’, I’m not sure that Great Commission-minded photographers have utilized their incredible gifts as much as they could in order to encourage people to consider the call of Christ on our lives regarding missions. I think there could be all kinds of incredible photography displays and multi-media productions where photography can be used. There could be all kinds of shots of folks from various cultures worshipping God through their own cultural traditional artistic expressions. For example…perhaps once something like this would be put together, the photographer could go on a tour to various churches and schools to show this at different places to help raise up missions awareness, etc., especially re music and the arts in missions. Perhaps several missions could sponsor the trip together, or perhaps this could be done in conjunction with other music/arts aspects of mobilization. One place to do this kind of thing might be to have a showing at the growing number of Missionsfests internationally.
11. Presenting delicious Ethnic Food Samples – many missions conferences include tasty samples of ethnic foods as part of their interaction re missions. The creative displays of ethnic food and the incredible variety of flavor is a wonderful expression of God’s beauty expressed through various cultures.
12. Wearing International Costumes – wearing international costumes at missions events is not a new idea, but perhaps there could be more done with ethnic costumes in culturally-appropriate missions dramas and skits.
13. Another way photography might be used might be to put together a huge artistic and creative collage of various ethnic peoples – perhaps especially the ones in the area surrounding your church, and then put it on a wall in your church – perhaps somewhere not too far from the usual big map of where the church’s missionaries are located, and have over it an artistically designed sign with the theme of your Missions Conference above it…
14. There is so much potential for HI-QUALITY musical/drama productions which focus on Great Commission themes. Again, these kinds of productions should be utilized by various partnering missions, for example, or by denominations who can send them on a tour from church to church or city to city. It would be good for them to be sponsored by the missions/churches that they would be representing.
15. Artistic reminders of God’s heart for the world – ie. crafts, paintings, posters, pictures for living rooms, Scriptural quotes re the Great Commission to be posted ‘on our doorposts’
16. Music and Arts EVENTS in local churches/schools which focus on missions, through music, drama, video, poetry, architecture, construction, paintings, drawings, sculpture – whoever is artistically inclined in the church or school could be encouraged to produce some artistic work along the lines of the missions theme…other local churches/schools could be invited.
17. Local ethnic musicians and local ethnic artists can be invited to share their artistically-expressed worship of God with our churches/missions/schools, etc.
18. Have local ethnic artists teach some local indigenous worship songs, or one of their arts, or do a local ethnic dance (a redeemed one) and teach the congregation
19. Art galleries in churches or partnering churches with missions themes
20. Gather pictures of music and the art of the particular people your prayer group of artists are praying for….might help to connect and help to pray more effectively – do some research on their musical and artistic forms and begin to pray for their musicians and artists to come to Christ and the strongholds to be broken in that nation
21. Break up into groups in your church or school or house church/cell group to put together a missions presentation using the artistic gifts in that group to communicate missions vision
22. Storytelling with Great Commission themes
23. Poetry about missions – one example of a poem about missions written by a friend of mine. It might be helpful for your people to encourage them to write a poem about their perspective of missions and the biblical perspective of missions and how they relate to each other?
25. Come up with more ideas….
SOME RESOURCES FOR YOU TO CONSIDER as a starting point:
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The Dramatic Arts: Mobilizing Vision and Spreading the Gospel Cross Culturally
CALEB PROJECT
-- has a lot of excellent missions dramas and skits that they make available
International Worship & Arts Network
P A R T T W O - continued HERE
#### If you have other ideas to share with our readers or could send us stories of what you have tried and found to be effective, we would gratefully pass these ideas on to our readers. Please also let us know of any existing resource you have in this regard. Many thanks! (dtnations@hotmail.com).