Wednesday, September 27, 2006

WHAT ALL IS HAPPENING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE NATIONS?

One example of an exciting to ministry tool is the continuing development of 4K. The map below, difficult to see because I've taken a shrunken sample for this post, is an example of what 4K will enable missionaries to do when they are determining their strategic focus.

The International Coordinator of 4K for Youth With a Mission, Dustin Barrington, defines it this way: “4k” is a global information system that uses databases and maps to visually represent where we are, and more importantly, where we are NOT... in our progress toward reaching the entire world with the Gospel. By helping the different parts of the Body of Christ to understand how they relate to one another 4k creates a foundation for global partnership, strategy development and mobilization.
How does "4k" work? “4k” is a tool that uses political boundaries, population and the availability of the gospel to divide the entire world into 4,379 “4k zones.” - Where the gospel is widely available, 4k zones have a limit of 9 million in population.- Where the gospel is partially available, 4k zones have a limit of 6 million in population.- Where the gospel is not available, 4k zones have a limit of 3 million in population. 4k zones use the recognized boundaries that the nations of the world have established for their own administrative levels (e.g. country, states, provinces, regions, etc). By using existing geopolitical boundaries, 4k is able to make huge amounts of ‘public access’ research and statistics easily accessible to Christians in a highly visual and interactive format. There are currently over 200 pieces of statistical and demographic data available for each 4k zone through a cutting edge web-based dynamic map generation tool developed by the 4k team.
“Go into ALL the world” 4k includes the entire world while gently focusing on where the gospel is needed most. 4k visually represents reality in a way that causes us to perceive things that have previously escaped our attention. 4k is a tool that helps us, as the Body of Christ, to work together to fulfill the ‘Great Commission.’ See..See the world in a new way...the way it really is...Pray...Pray therefore to the Lord of the Harvest... to send laborers into His harvest fields...Hear...Hear from God about how to respond... “ here am I, send me…”GO!“ Go into all the world…” “Go and make disciples…” 4kA visual tool… communicating God’s vision… to a visual generation…
For more about 4K go to http://www.ywam4k.org and http://beta.ywam4k.org. The work in progress at the beta site is still "in progress." But it will give you an idea of the work being done and what is to come. Check it out and let me know what you think!

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