The world media specializes in bad news. What is some of the good news that Christians are not hearing enough about?

Peter Maiden

There are significant numbers of people coming to faith in the North African nation of Algeria. Amongst the Kabyle people there is phenomenal church growth and a determined discipleship occurring.

I’m even excited about Europe despite the usual gloom associated with it. There is a renewed vision in many churches, new teams in France and Germany and a desire for fresh outreach in many other places. Ministries among youth and immigrants are thriving. Globally we are working with Christian leaders in countries that were only a few years ago receiving missionaries. Today they are leading us in many ways.

Many churches in the West are written off as irrelevant by their societies. Is this a result of lacking a dynamic mission vision and thrust?

Sadly, we have to admit that a large part of society no longer sees churches as personally relevant. We need to ask why this is so. I believe it is because we have created a fatal division between the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘secular’, between our religious life and the rest of life. Reading our Bibles is spiritual; our 9-to-5 work is not. This has infiltrated the Church as well: singing and praying is spiritual; coffee afterwards (and especially washing up) isn’t. Mission is not exempt: preaching the Gospel under a banana tree is spiritual; fighting for human justice and community transformation is ‘different’. We have, by our separation, told the world that we (and by extension, God) have nothing to say about the very issues that concern them deeply.
This is changing, however—another encouragement. In OM, our interpretation of holistic mission even five years ago was insufficient, but we now embrace the fact that the Good News touches every aspect of human life.

Name one threat that could be decisive for the church’s future in the next five years.

Globally, it is an inadequate understanding and teaching of discipleship. Evangelism is doing well; people are coming to faith like never before. Even in the West, Alpha and other outreaches are having a huge impact. However, getting people to really understand what faith means—that it transforms all aspects of life—has been weak. It’s not only a Western problem; we see in it places like Rwanda and much of Africa, where leaders there tell us that Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep. Without a robust discipleship at the core, we will have huge but impotent churches.

What legitimate role do Western churches still have in world mission? Is it just to send money, prayer, and people i.e. one-way?

Absolutely not. If the Church starts to think that it should only send money, without direct involvement, it will soon stop doing even that. Unless you are vitally connected with mission, the enthusiasm will soon diminish. We’re at the stage in mission now that it is from everywhere to everywhere, so no one is with excuse. I don’t see that there will ever come a time when the western church can stop sending people.

I would like to say to western churches: Don’t believe the lie that the day of missions is over, or that the day of your country’s churches’ involvement in missions is over. Mission is at the heart of the purpose of God; our churches must be built around that reality. People who separate theology and missiology are making a huge mistake.

Is that really a valid phrase, ‘from everywhere to everywhere’? Shouldn’t it be ‘from anywhere to anywhere’? What’s the point of sending a Pakistani believer to the middle of Los Angeles?

There’s every reason to do so. Number One, there are likely a large number of unreached Pakistanis in Los Angeles. Number Two, Christians in the developing world are impacting their communities in ways that we either no longer do or have never done, and we have a lot to learn from them.

As OM grows numerically and matures, there is a danger that experience, expertise and efficiency can choke OM’s DNA: passion, risk-tasking, embracing change. How can we prevent management from overtaking leadership?

It is a constant danger and will continue to be so. In the last two years, I’ve been hugely encouraged by the attitude of our International Executive Committee (IEC). They are no longer a management group as they have been in the recent past. Instead, they are focused on discerning the movement’s priorities for the future such as Young-Hope.net, the re-emphasis upon reaching Europe, HIV ministry and so on.
Any movement 50 years old is in danger of settling down and letting well-oiled structures carry on. We need a prophetic voice to constantly speak into our movement. Allowing for that voice is something I feel personally responsible for.

What’s the best and worst thing about your job?

The best thing is the people I work with, both in the IEC and the International Coordinating Team (ICT). I enjoy seeing new younger leaders emerging into greater responsibility. The most difficult part of my work is the constant paperwork that ensues and follows me everywhere I go—it never ends.

You are given one month with no responsibility and no limitations: you can go anywhere and do anything. What’s it going to be?

There are three things vying for that month. One is my family. I’m very conscious that my lifestyle over the last 30 years has put huge pressure on my family. If I had a month to do anything, a good part of it would be an opportunity to concentrate on my family.

Secondly, I’ve never been to a theological college in my life, even though I chair the board of one! I would love to study the book of Job. As I travel widely, I struggle with suffering. Where does it fit in the purpose of God in the world? I would love to unlock some of these secrets.

Thirdly—and this sounds foolish, I know—I live in the Lake District of northern England, which hosts a race called the Bob Graham Round. You run 72 miles (116 km) in 24 hours across the tops of 40 peaks; the combined ascent over these peaks exceeds the height of Mount Everest. You scale much of this 30,000 feet (9100 m) through the night, carrying a light for visibility. It would take me more than a month to prepare for it, but…