Mission Refocus Report: Mission is Our Calling

Ted Wilson, president of the global Adventist Church and chairperson for Spring Meeting 2023, introduced the first official Mission Refocus Report as a “very important aspect that is becoming a standard across all divisions.” He added, “Mission Refocus [is]…, helping to finish God’s work. I firmly believe that the end of this earth is in sight and Jesus is coming soon.”

Erton Köhler, General Conference secretary and advisor to the Office of Adventist Mission, presented the Mission Refocus Report on the second day of Spring Meetings, April 11, 2023.

“Is Mission Refocus a project? Is Mission Refocus an Initiative? What exactly is Mission Refocus? Yes, Mission Refocus is a project…an initiative, a movement, but more than everything, Mission Refocus is a call for integration,” Köhler opened.

Integration in Mission

Integration was emphasized throughout the segment, as Köhler appealed to Adventist world leaders to turn to the prophetic mission of the Church in the face of crises and conflict.

“Behind this movement is a prophetic movement. At the same time that this world is falling apart–is falling desperately–God is raising a movement where we are working integrated.”

This integration, Köhler notes, is a collaboration in which the entire Church must be involved, not growing complacent and celebrating the second coming as we focus on the negative signs unfolding around us, but remembering “the main sign, the positive signs, are related to a Church that is raising mightily to fulfill the mission.”

Fulfilling the Mission

Throughout the Mission Refocus Report, Executive Committee members were reminded of the importance of movement. Köhler carefully explained how the initiative is moving worldwide through two major steps, or “wings.”

The first “wing” of Mission Refocus began in January 2023 by reorganizing Code 1 International Service Employees (ISEs), or missionaries that serve outside of their home division, and required careful analysis of divisions, unions, missions, and entities. Meetings with each division will take place to help reorganize 70 percent of resources to front-line work.

The second wing necessary to mobilize Mission Refocus throughout the world’s territories is adopting non-reached and low-reached areas by prioritizing 30 carefully chosen groups first. The report identified ten countries, ten urban areas, and ten people groups from three missionary windows: the 10/40, urban, and post-Christian windows.Commenting on this action plan, Köhler shared, “Mission Refocus is not a project that we are organizing and expecting something from you. We don’t have a time limit. We don’t have a number of people. We don’t have an exact place that you need to go or to adopt. We are just trying to raise a culture of worldwide mission–everybody supports everybody because our global mission is a responsibility for each one of us.”