Evangelism Explosion: “Reaching All the Nations”

by D. James Kennedy

In a March morning last year, colorful flags streamed down the center aisle of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church carried by delegates celebrating the establishment of Evangelism Explosion International (EE) ministries in all 211 nations of the world.

In a March morning last year, colorful flags streamed down the center aisle of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church carried by delegates celebrating the establishment of Evangelism Explosion International (EE) ministries in all 211 nations of the world.

Some in the missions movement might dismiss the accomplishment of reaching all the nations as a gimmick intended to draw attention to EE. Others might have wished to declare that this achievement heralded the fulfillment of the Great Commission mandate to make disciples in all nations. The former position dishonors those who have risked their lives and liberty for the sake of the gospel. The latter would certainly be a misinterpretation of the Great Commission.

Why, then, did EE set the goal of reaching all nations? And what is the practical effect of EE’s accomplishment?

First, let me explain what Evangelism Explosion is and how it works. EE was founded in 1967 to teach pastors the methods that Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church used to build its membership from 17 to more than 8,000. EE offers a system of church-based training that includes both a carefully developed, effective, simple-to-administer evangelism and discipleship ministry, and a means of developing lay leaders. In other words, EE not only helps churches develop "soul winners" but "trainers of soul winners" as well.

From its beginning, we felt that EE had the potential to be a means for overcoming barriers to worldwide evangelism and achieving the Great Commission. Within seven years of its founding, EE was launched internationally. From a base of 66 nations in 1988, we set our goal of reaching all the nations of the world by the end of 1995. Our plan was to have at least one EE-trained individual actively making disciples in each country through the EE ministry. Our recently revised purpose statement recognizes our international focus: "to glorify God by equipping the body of Christ worldwide for Friendship, Evangelism, Discipleship and Healthy Growth!"

Why did we set such an ambitious goal? First, we were acting in obedience to Christ’s command to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19, NIV). Does our accomplishment of reaching the nations mean that we have achieved the Great Commission? We would not make that claim. It is true that EE’s definition of reaching each nation implied that disciple-making was occurring. But even our training ministries are only one step forward-albeit an important one-toward the broader-range of disciple-making implied in the Great Commission.

What’s more, most biblical scholars would agree that the word "nations" in Matt. 28:19 cannot be precisely equated with political nations. The underlying Greek ethnos can be more closely related to our modern concept of people groups.

Some may ask, if reaching people groups is the true goal, is it necessary to reach Andorra, San Marino, Monaco, and North Korea, not to mention all the Arab nations? After all, aren’t members of the same people groups found in neighboring countries?

Although beachheads among people groups in one country are often key to further cross-cultural outreach within that country, I would also point to the other biblical presentations of the Great Commission. Jesus commands us not just to reach all "nations," but to "preach the good news in all the world," "to all creation." (Mark 16:15 NIV). We believe that "all the world" means "all the world." That can only be achieved by crossing political boundaries. We believe our accomplishment in doing so was vital to the ultimate achievement of the Great Commission in all its aspects.

Another reason for setting this ambitious goal was to challenge and encourage EE staff, supporters, partners, and other mission organizations. Reaching all the nations was a reasonably attainable and measurable milestone toward our ultimate goal of reaching all people groups. Reaching all the nations gave EE a world visionwhich shaped and drove our international outreach. Our ambitious timetable stretched and challenged our people to pursue strategies they might not otherwise have considered.

Now, one might ask what effect EE’s reaching all the nations will have on the cause of missions and world evangelism. I believe the effect will be at least threefold.

1. EE’s accomplishment helps set the stage for the completion of the Great Commission. With a foothold in every nation of the world, our next stage is to reach every people group with EE. Admittedly, our foothold is stronger in some countries than in others, and the task of reaching and discipling every people group is far more daunting than that of reaching every nation. But we believe that working with other mission organizations we can achieve that goal. To do so, we have set intermediate goals of having 700 leadership clinics in a single year, and establishing strengthened leadership structures in each continent, region and, where appropriate, each nation.

2. EE’s accomplishment provides a field-tested tool for missionaries pursuing the same goal. In many countries, missionaries from other organizations who have been trained stateside in EE and are aware of its value as an evangelism and discipleship method were the first to establish our training. In fact, several missionaries, having experienced the success of EE in their own countries, are currently on loan to us.

EE is valuable as a missions tool because it works. It provides an effective, proven means of presenting the gospel and equipping soul winners. With minor adjustments, EE has been used in nearly every culture and on every continent.

EE is also useful because it is multidenominational without being ecumenical. It is grounded on a biblically based presentation of the gospel and a historically based evangelical statement of faith. This has allowed its use by denominations across the evangelical spectrum.

EE has also demonstrated its usefulness as a missions tool in penetrating "closed" nations. One newspaper reporter pointed out that in entering North Korea, EE has done what even the CIA could not. EE has an active ministry in Cuba, and has reached all the Muslim nations. One Iraqi congregation that EE played a major role in establishing uses a church organ donated by Saddam Hussein!

EE activity can flourish even in closed countries because it is lean, nonbureaucratic, and church based. Furthermore, it is an extremely useful tool for tentmakers who capitalize on job skills to enter closed nations or to support themselves, because it provides a complete training and discipling program that can be easily managed by a part-time worker.

3. EE offers the potential to close the gap between local and world evangelism. In Acts 1:8, Jesus states that his disciples should be witnesses in "Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." In making this statement, Jesus describes a continuum of outreach from the local community to people around the globe. The modern church has broken this continuum by creating an artificial and unbiblical division between local and world evangelism. I believe this is one reason churches today are losing their vision for world missions.

With an effective ministry in hundreds of North American churches and in every nation on earth, EE offers the opportunity to restore the link that Christ intended between local evangelism and world missions. One way in which EE is restoring this link is by creating partnerships between local and international churches. North American EE churches provide financial support for churches using EE training in other countries. Another area we are working to expand is short-term mission trips. Locally trained EE participants, working through translators, serve as trainers in clinics in other countries. By intimately involving lay people at home in similar ministries abroad, we are defeating the "let missionary George do it" attitude soprevalent in missions today.

All of us at Evangelism Explosion recognize that reaching the nations is not an end, but a beginning. The next step of reaching all people groups is an enormous and expensive task. We have much left to do in training, developing leadership, and translating materials. It is a task we cannot do alone. It will require partnerships with many other mission organizations.

But these challenges should not cause us to overlook the accomplishments of the many dedicated evangelists and missionaries who worked to bring EE to all the nations. Nor should they keep us from giving praise to the Savior who is truly responsible.

To paraphrase our purpose statement, "His last command remains our first concern." EE’s success can serve as an encouragement, example, and tool to missionaries working to carry out the Great Commission in the coming millennium

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