Can You See It? BY CLINT MORGAN
A Chinese proverb proclaims, “If you don’t see it before you see it, you will never see it.” Though it sounds like a real tongue twister, this statement contains a great truth about vision casting. Those charged with casting a vision must see things others do not see and believe those dreams can become a reality. Eventually, the vision becomes a mission, and the mission leads to the realities envisioned. Most studies of mission history divide it into three main eras of mission work. Each reflects a philosophical shift influenced by such factors as navigational tools (i.e., the compass, radar, GPS); communication equipment (i.e., the printing press, telegraph, smartphones, etc.); transportation options (i.e. ships, trains, cars, planes); world events (i.e. colonization, world wars, etc.); natural disasters (i.e. earthquakes, diseases, etc.); demographics (i.e. different people groups in a nation, diaspora, etc.); and more. The First Era: The Coastlands (1792-1910) William Carey (August 17, 1761-June 9, 1834), a British Christian missionary, is known as the “father of modern
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missions.” His passion to reach the “heathen” established a new model in the understanding of extending the gospel to the nations. He could see what others did not see! What did he see? He saw the shipping industry as the means of passage to transport the gospel to existing ports around the world. Even more importantly, he saw explorers’ ships as the means for expanding God’s Kingdom where the gospel had never been preached. He, along with hundreds of other missionaries, boarded these ships—often with their personal effects in a casket—and traveled to the regions beyond. These committed men and women began setting up mission