7 Distinctives of P.E.A.C.E. - Warren Continues...

The definition of the PEACE Plan is "Ordinary People, empowered by God's Spirit, doing what Jesus did, together, wherever they are."

"You (ordinary people) will receive power (empowered by God's Spirit) when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses (doing what Jesus did...together) both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth (wherever they are). (Acts 1:8)

P = Promote Reconciliation
E = Equip Servant Leaders
A = Assist the Poor
C = Care for the Sick
E = Educate the Next Generation

What makes PEACE unique?

Here are Rick's 7 Distinctives for the PEACE plan.

1. PEACE promotes, plants, and partners with the local church.  It is a church-based strategy. It reclaims the primacy of the local church and its role in global missions. For too long we have abdicated the responsibility to the parachurch organizations. For 1900 years the local church was the center of global missions.
Today there are over 40,000 501C-3 organizations in America!

Rick told a parachurch CEO, "Do you know the difference between you and me? I trust pastors and you don't. I believe in the church and you don't."

What the parachurch does is a drop in the bucket compared to what we could accomplish if we could mobilize the local church around the world.

Sidebar: Rick says, "Here is the key to weddings.
The star of the wedding is the bride. The co-star is the mother of the bride. But remember, the person who gets the glory is the bride!  I think that is a spiritual principle; the Bride of Christ gets the glory."

2. Imitates Jesus' Model.

PEACE is a strategy built on the actual instructions Jesus gave his teams when he sent them out on mission. Luke 10 and Matthew 10 are instructions of Jesus' Mission Strategy.

Don't take a purse; don't take money when you go out on mission. Remember. The answer is not money!  If throwing money at poverty was the answer to poverty, we'd have no poverty.  We don't want to rob people of their dignity and create a dependency.

Don't take a staff; don't take a symbol of power. (Notice when bishops and popes walk around they carry a staff.  That says, "I've got the power and you don't.") Don't go in acting like you have all the power.

Eat what is set before you. Be polite to the people. Adapt to the local customs and local flavors. Don't ask them to become like you before they start following Christ. This principle applies in America too. A missionary may have the truth but no one will hear you if you don't learn the language.

What Jesus tells us to do is what PEACE is built on.

Go in the village and find the Man of Peace. Start your ministry with him.
The Man of Peace is the one who is OPEN and INFLUENTIAL.  It could be a woman. It could be a man. You can find the person of PEACE in every village, every town, every corporation and every city.  Notice, the Man of PEACE doesn't have to be a Christian yet. How do we know? Because every Man of PEACE Jesus disciples met was not a Christian.

Minimal pre-service training followed up with "on the job" training for the rest of your life.  We don't want professional students. 

Our pre-service is primarily "Do No Harm."

3. Led by Amateurs.

They do what they do "out of love." 
Revival always starts with the peasants, not the kings.

4. Links Public, Private and Church Sectors.

A one-legged-stool will fall over. We need the role of government. We need the role of business. We need the role of local congregations.

What is wrong with management? Nothing. It is the same word as "stewardship."

5. Attacks All Five Giants

PEACE is a comprehensive strategy. It attacks all the problems because they are all intertwined. Governments ignore the spiritual dimension and NGO's typically specialize, but the church is called to care about all!

6. Reorganizes efforts through a network.

Every time God's Word has been put in a new technology, revival comes! In 1440 the printing press was developed for printing the Word of God. Six decades later we get the Reformation!
1517 Martin Luther nailed his statements to the Wattenberg Door.  Someone pulled it off and printed it up and sent it all over Europe.
Internet is now available to all, with no taxes, no tariffs.

PEACE offers six modules for the Coalition Web Suite
a. Pastors.com Community
b. Mobilizing Your Members
c. Trip Management
d. E-learning Training
e. Word Database
f. Network for Project Collaboration

7. Shifts to sustainable funding.

The antidote to poverty is job creation.

We need to move away from donation-based projects. We need reproducable and sustainable projects.