A New Look for ELLS International: Where Theology Meets Missions

​I am excited to share with you that ELLS International has launched a new website and social media platform! You can now follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. We will have weekly updates, blogs and other resources related to our vision of strengthening the global church by equipping leaders in the developing world. 

However, the social media platform of ELLS International isn’t just going to be about “our brand”, but a resource for helping the church at large understand the critical relationship between biblical theology and world missions. In our day unfortunately, “theology” and “missions” seem to be at loggerheads.  On the one hand, you have the folks who are passionate about “sound doctrine” and making sure all their theological ducks are neatly lined up. And may God increase their tribe! The church of Jesus Christ stands or falls on the stability of its theological foundations. However, most theological neatniks seem more interested in winning arguments than they are winning the unreached peoples of the world to Christ.

On the other hand, there are the folks who are passionate about God’s work around the world, and are willing to sacrificially give their lives away to reach the unreached. May God increase their tribe as well! Without those willing to be “goers”, the Great Commission will never be accomplished (Matt. 28:16-20). But in my experience, most missionaries are practitioners at heart and don’t have the time or patience for worrying about how accurately their theological X’s and O’s are getting crossed. They just want to get on with the work of leading people to Jesus, and leave all the heady-stuff to someone else.

So where do we go from here?

By design, ELLS International is a theologically-driven missions organization with biblical teaching as its primary focus. Given this, we believe that ELLS International is positioned to help integrate the seemingly disparate worlds of biblical theology and world missions. So while our website will be promoting the critical work God has called us to do in terms of training pastors in the developing world, we also want to create a platform for helping the broader church reflect on how biblical theology, rightly understood, actually provides the necessary fuel for world missions; and world missions, rightly done, is the appropriate application of robust biblical theology and sound doctrine. We see this blend of theological astuteness and passion for reaching those far from Christ modelled beautifully in the life of the Apostle Paul (and not to mention numerous other figures throughout church history. In future posts, we hope to introduce you to some of them). 

As we continue doing the critical work of advancing God’s kingdom by training and equipping pastors in the developing world, ELLS International also hopes to also inspire a new generation of theologically-grounded and biblically-informed, wild-eyed, Christ-exalting risk-takers whom are willing to throw their lives away for the greatest cause in all the world: making the name and fame of Jesus know amongst those who have not yet heard. 

Interested in learning more? Check out our website, sign-up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.