Perspectives- Tad de Bordenave

Tad de Bordenave, the Director of Anglican Frontier Missions, was small as a kid and nicknamed "Tadpole," which stuck. He addressed the Perspectives topic of "The Task Remaining," which he expanded to "The Scandal of the Task Remaining," which he thought was more appropriate due to the clear potential to reach all people groups with the gospel but lack of mobilization. Here are a few thoughts that Tad shared on why the task remains, how to recover the vision, and the tools that are available:

• Many Christians never go into missions because they ask the wrong questions. The point is "where is the greatest need," not "where am I called." How could you be called to a people group you have never heard of?
• Some don't sense the need because there are many missions efforts already. But over 70% of evangelical missionaries work within groups that are already predominantly Christian.
• There are many reasons to delay, from more pressing needs that take precedence at home (once we fix the floor over there we'll go), to the heresies at home (we need to get our house in order first), to the messiness of missions (we just want to get it right, so we'll keep training). These will never be resolved; at some point you just need to invest.
• We can regain the vision by recognizing the call of the church, which is to be God's witnesses to the ends of the earth. The Bible is clear on this. God's glory is being usurped by idols.
• Tad brought up justification without distinction, the idea that we as Americans have done nothing to deserve grace, yet we have all the toys (money and stuff). Why do 22 million people in Yemen live without Christ? Because we would rather enjoy our toys than accept God's call to serve.

To start to get involved, Tad recommended living virtually in a local foreign community, learning all you can about a people group, meeting them, hanging out with them, and praying for them. A two-year commitment will change you. Tad closed by narrating amazing stories of breakthrough in the Aceh of Indonesia, the Qashqa'i of Iran, and the Marwari of India, each unique demonstrations of how Christ can overcome what seem to to be insurmountable barriers.