USA (MNN) — Thousands of college students gathered to be challenged to take the Church to the next level.
Oscar Muriu, senior pastor of Nairobi Chapel in Nairobi, Kenya, is speaking for a second time as a keynote speaker at an Urbana missions conference. Muriu spends much of his time doing what he can to raise up leaders in the church. The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship missions conference Urbana 09 is a perfect place to do so.
Muriu spoke with passion and urgency as he challenged Urbana students about money on the mission field. His main call was a challenge for students to respond to a new and higher calling for missions than ever before, using Jesus as a model.
"Moving from pride to humility, moving from power to powerlessness, moving from privilege to poverty, and moving from harmony to brokenness; this, then, was how Jesus incarnated into our world," urged Muriu. "And this is what then becomes a model for missions for us today."
Muriu insisted that this generation of students humble themselves as they go onto the missions field, always thinking of others as better than they in accordance with the Philippians 2 model. He pleaded with students to give up the power they have by voluntarily moving into poverty alongside the destitute, suggesting that this is exactly what Christ Jesus did for us.
"We need a new movement," Muriu challenged. "A movement of young men and women who will choose voluntary poverty to serve the destitute poor. A movement of young men and women who will give up privilege and power. A movement of young men and women who will serve for a lifetime or maybe 10 years in the slums of this world. Young men and women who are radical in their engagement.
"Will God find in your generation these young men and women, or must He wait for the generation that comes after you?"
With such a high challenge, students could hardly be apathetic toward Christ's Great Commission. To top off his talk, Muriu reminded students, "Within 10 and 15 years, you will be the missionaries on the field. Take us to the next level."
Many students at Urbana are looking to share the love of Christ by entering the mission field. Many have heard a call into missions during their time spent at Urbana. With a call to be more like Christ by giving all they have for His sake, this generation will assuredly rise to the occasion and may just give the missions world the revitalizing shake it needs.
Pray that students will take what they've learned at Urbana and put it into practice. Pray that the Lord would continue to stir the hearts of those who have been hearing messages like Muriu's all week, and that He'd prepare them for the large tasks ahead of them.
