I remember when he first said it. I was at a leadership conference and the speaker made a simple statement that startled me into attentiveness: “I believe that the local church is the hope of the world.” Wow. I was floored. He said it with such conviction, assurance, and passion. It was either an incredibly brilliant statement, or, possibly, utterly insane. I was challenged: did I believe that? This was an especially challenging question since, at the time, I was a pastor in a local church. If I didn’tbelieve that statement, maybe it was time for me to get a new job!
That moment started me on a multi-year journey of thinking, learning, reflection, and deepening conviction. Today, I’m the one who would make a statement such as that. I do believe that the local church is the hope of the world. As I look at God’s Story in Scripture, I see that God’s strategy for healing the world’s brokenness is to form a “people” who will live in and be a signpost to God’s Kingdom: Abraham and the people of Israel in the Old Testament, Jesus and His sisters and brothers (i.e. the Church) in the New. (Caveat: I know that ultimately Jesus is the hope of the world. But His Body is the church and the Church is how He is enfleshed on the planet until He comes again.)
This is why I am so pleased with where CBM landed last year in our reVisioning process. We clarified and focused our mission by realizing that our primary work was to accompany and empower local churches to be centres of transformation for their communities. In other words, CBM is not the transforming agent, the church is. We walk with them. This is expressed in our new Mission Statement: Partnering with local churches around the world to bring hope, healing and reconciliation through word and deed.
Today I met with Rupen Das, CBM Field Staff in Lebanon, who oversees the Syrian refugee relief program we operate in partnership with the Lebanese Baptists. What is distinctive about this program is that it has been rooted in local churches, and as a result, those churches are being transformed even as they bring healing to their communities. When recipients know that the reason these followers of Jesus are working so hard to care for them is because they are compelled by God’s love, this bears witness to the Gospel and begins a journey of investigation and growing faith in Christ. Remarkable.
Next time I hear that phrase, I won’t be so startled. Instead, silently or out loud, I will say “Amen!”
Cut to the Chaise 
Thanks very much for being in touch with our ministry. We are still waiting to see what the Lord could let us do jointly in Sierra Leone. Kenso
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