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.m.g
 
M F
 
Ma–A
 
2009
35
RemembeRinga Life WeLL-Lived
TRibuTes fRom aRound The WoRLd
 Editor’s note: We have received hundreds o tributes, stories and refections on Dr. Winter’s lie rom those who knew him well or were impacted by him in some way. O course not all could be included here, and some o those selected had to be edited or space. Many more tributes will be posted online at www.ralphwinter.org, and there you can also write your own refections as well.
Friends oF ralph d. winter
B Gm
Evangelist 
Ralph Winter was a man o God who gave a visionto many Chris-tians o a worldin need o thegospel. I used tomeet with him onmany occasions, oten in small groupprayer. Some o my vision or worldevangelization came rom my interac-tion with him, and I am grateul.
dv rz
Associate Director,Missions Commission, WEA
As I learned o Ralph’s passing,a lot o personalmemories o my long-termriendship withhim came tomind—hislovely help or me during my time inCOMIBAM, his counsel during my time in GCR (the Great CommissionRoundtable), and his challenging writing. But the most special time was a “heavenly appointment” inGuatemala’s Airport when he wassurrounded by his grandsons comingrom Xela. He was ull o joy, especially  when he mentioned to me that one o his disciples was now the mayor o thecity. I was astonished by the sensibility o Ralph that, in the midst o the majorissues he continued developing, hekept a clear ocus on people instead o programs, and he made it the measureo success in his ministry.Please receive and share my eeling tohis amily and my personal gratitude ora lie invested in my country, COMI-BAM, GCR and my personal lie.
 J d
President, Youth With A Mission International 
On behal o ourounders, Lorenand DarleneCunningham,and the wholeinternationalamily o ministriesassociated with Youth With A Mission, I join withollowers o Jesus worldwide in honoringthe lie and work o Ralph Winter.I was present when Ralph introducedhis revolutionary ideas during thehistoric Lausanne Congress in 1974and personally witnessed the pioneer-ing o the U.S. Center or WorldMission in Pasadena. I have alsoobserved the proound inuence o his lie and teaching on the work o  YWAM missionaries worldwide.Many years ago during a time whenRalph aced seemingly insurmountablediculties, I told him I thought he wasa prophet disguised as an academic. Hedismissed such an idea but my reason was simple. I could see the Holy Spiritat work. A man o humility and dili-gence was being graced with revelation.Ralph’s ideas were much more thanthe educated hunches o a brilliantmind. His ideas were rened in prayerand bore a weight beyond reason. Tey became the efective strategies o ageneration o missionaries. Just a ew weeks ago, Ralph and Bar-bara visited our campus in Kona. He was as brilliant as ever and gave con-text to our whole journey. He validatedso much o what is happening amongus by giving an historic overview o our eforts and looking ar into the u-ture. He had particular praise or JimStier’s compilation on the discipling o nations. Ralph prooundly strength-ened our commitment to a missionary university that penetrates all spheres. Years ago, Ralph stepped onto theinternational stage as a pioneer andinnovator, however he walked among
I told hIM I thought he wAs A prophet dIsguIsed As An AcAdeMIc. —
 John dawson
 
36
 
Ma–A
 
2009
M F
USCWM • 1605 E. Elizabeth
 
St. • Pasadena, CA 91104 • 626-797-1111
us in Kona as a ather o athers sur-rounded by the evidence o a ruitullie. We love this man. He taught us,and he served us, and we owe him agreat debt o gratitude.As I contemplate his recent passing,I am overwhelmed with a sense thathis lie was a completed lie. Troughunrelenting diligence, he walked allthe way out to the boundaries markedout or him. Tank you Ralph. You are an inspira-tion. Tank you Jesus, or taking acomortable civil engineer and build-ing him into a blessing to the wholeearth, a man who laid oundations intime and eternity.
M p 
Missions Professor,Dallas Theological Seminary 
I have nothing butgreat memories o Ralph Winter.
 
In 1978, Ralphand Roberta wereconsidering thepurchase o thePasadena property to begin whatthey would call the U.S. Center or World Mission. Ralph came to theannual meeting o the IFMA, now CrossGlobal Link in Dallas. Aterlaying out the proposal or thecenter and why there needed to bea ocal point to study and engageunreached peoples, he concluded with what I have come to term a“pedagogical hyperbole” (o whichRalph was the master!). He said:“As I think about the probability o you mission executives adoptingthis idea, I think it will be aboutas dicult as changing the tire ona Mack truck while it is rollingdownhill!” We were a bit stunned. When thoseo us rom EAM got home, some o them asked me: “Mike, Ralph Winteris your riend. Was he trying to say that we agency guys are a stick-in-the-mud?” I replied that he probably was,but in any event his proposal was theonly thing we were discussing ater wegot home to Wheaton! Tat was the way Ralph was. Hegoaded mission leaders into mak-ing the main thing the main thing.As a result, countless agencies andindividuals have reoriented their work toward reaching unreached peoples,and that is principally why by God’sgrace we have identied, engaged andbegun to see ruit among Muslim,Hindu and Buddhist peoples in thepast thirty years.
d r
Missionary, Author 
Some leaders reachtheir maximumpotential whilesubordinating thetalents o others. A winsome aspect o Dr. Ralph Winter’spersonal greatness was his penchant or reely inspiringothers to maximize their potential.
Peace Child 
and my subsequent booksmight never have been written, letalone published, had not Ralph lookedthis young missionary in the eyeback in 1973 and said condently,“Write that story, Don! I guaranteeits publication!” And that is exactly  what he arranged (without requiringan agent’s ee!). How many thousandso other Christians younger andolder has Ralph encouraged as hisco-editors or USCWM publicationsand as managers, co-ordinators,teachers and graduates o USCWM’s worldwide course called
Perspectiveson the World Christian Movement? 
 How many new rontiers has theChurch bridged with the gospeldue to Dr. Winter’s persuasive ocuson reaching “unreached peoples”?Only in eternity will the ull rangeo Ralph Winter’s inuence becomeknown. o know Dr. Winter was tobe awed by his intellect, charmed by his candor, enriched by his air oranalogy and swept up with zeal tosee God’s kingdom come!
 J p
Pastor of Preaching and Vision,Bethlehem Baptist Church 
Nobody inthe area o missions had agreater impacton me. Others,like JonathanEdwards, had agreater impact onme in the area o missions, but noone actually in missions afected memore than Ralph Winter.First, he was a proessor o mineat Fuller Seminary and introducedme to the stunning works o Godin missions in the last two hundred years. His vision o the advance o the gospel was breathtaking.He wore a bow tie in those days,iconoclast that he was, and wasned by the seminary or not re-turning our papers on time. Noneo us begrudged him his scatteredapproach to lie. It was thrilling inthose days.Second, in 1974 at the LausanneCongress on World Evangeliza-tion, Winter reached up and pulledthe unseen rope called “unreachedpeoples” that rang a bell that rever-berates to this day.
[rAlph] concluded wIth whAt I hAve coMe to terM A “pedAgogIcAl hyperbole” . . . he sAId, “As I thInk About the probAbIlIty of you MIssIon executIves AdoptIng thIs IdeA, I thInk It wIll be About AsdIffIcult As chAngIng the tIre on A MAck truck whIle It Is rollIng downhIll!” —
Mike pocock
only In eternIty wIll the full rAnge of rAlph wInter’s Influence becoMe known. —
don richardson
 
.m.g
 
M F
 
Ma–A
 
2009
37
creative, encouraging lover o un-reached peoples who lived unstoppa-bly or the glory o God.
c c
Founder, Prison Fellowship 
 Te Church onearth recently losta great visionary.I you’ve everheard the terms“unreached peoplegroup,” “rontiermissions,” or “10/40 window,” it’s because o Ralph Winter’scatalytic efect on the Church to ully embrace the Great Commission. Winter burst onto the internationalstage in 1974 at the Lausanne Coner-ence on World Evangelization. Tereamong Christian leaders like Billy Graham, Bill Bright, and John Stott, Winter blew the lid of some o themost pernicious misconceptions o the day. Because the gospel had goneto every continent and nearly every country, many people had begun toassume that the work o missions wasover. Tey thought that the only thingnow was or local Christians to engagein evangelism.In a paper circulated prior to thegathering, Winter wrote, “Te awe-some problem is . . . that most non-Christians in the world today arenot culturally near neighbors o any Christians, and that it will take aspecial kind o ‘cross-cultural’ evan-gelism to reach them.” Winter knew that i every Christianin the world shared the gospel withhis neighbors, only hal the world would hear it. o illustrate his point, Winter ex-plained the case o the Batak churchin Indonesia, where the gospel hadtaken root and people were ac- Tis concept, and the subsequent em-phasis on unreached peoples (as op-posed to unreached “elds”) has beenglobally seismic in the transormationo missions. It gripped me and shapedall we have done in missions at Beth-lehem ever since the mid 1980s. Tird, in the 1980s he bought a $15million college campus with virtually nothing in his hand to start the U.S.Center or World Mission; and hepaid or it by persuading enough o us(thousands) to give “the last thou-sand.” Brilliant! I think I sent $2,000.Couldn’t resist the vision. Te point o the U.S. Center wasto trumpet the vision that there areunreached peoples in the world, andthen equip the church to reach them.Fourth, Ralph Winter was probably the most creative thinker I have everknown. I mean, on any topic that youbrought up, he would come at it in a way you have never dreamed o. Hesaw all things in relationship to otherthings that you would never think o relating them to. Tis meant that stalemates otenbecame resh starting points. I you were struggling with a tension in yourchurch, he might say: “Well, think about the Navy.” Or i you were havinga marriage problem, he might say, “Did you notice how that bridge was built?”Fith, Ralph Winter beriended me.He encouraged me. In my most rest-less early days, he would tell me tostay at Bethlehem because I could domore by sending than by going.Finally, he did not waste his lie, noteven the last hours o it. He was busy dictating into the last days. He taughtme long ago that the concept o “re-tirement” was not in the Bible. What a git he was to the church. othe world. Tank you, Father, or thelegacy o this visionary, risk-taking,tively evangelizing. But becauseo Indonesia’s mosaic o languagesand people groups, or the Batak to reach others—even in their owncountry—they would have to engagein cross-cultural missions. With America becoming more andmore multicultural, and with our sec-ular neighbors not even speaking ourlanguage, we would do well to seeour evangelism at home as Wintertaught us to see it around the world.Ralph Winter’s strategic emphasison reaching not simply every nation with the gospel, but every peoplegroup, dramatically altered thestrategies and budget allocations o missionary organizations around the world. In act, Billy Graham wrote,“Ralph Winter has . . . accelerated world evangelization.”A ew years later, Winter oundedthe U.S. Center or World Missionand soon ater the William Carey International University. He had nonancial backing at the time, andonly $100 to begin with. Audacious? Yes. But as Winter wrote, “We were willing to ail because the goal wesensed was so urgent and strategic.”But the center did not ail. Since thenthe center has not only trained thou-sands o missionaries and supportpersonnel, but also has worked tire-lessly to bring the vision o reachinghidden peoples to the wider Church.In 2005,
ime 
magazine included Winter as one o the top 25 mostinuential evangelicals. Last year, theNorth American Mission Coner-ence gave him the lietime serviceaward. But no doubt Winter will takegreater pleasure in meeting the menand women rom every tribe, tongueand nation who praise the name o  Jesus in glory—all because o his pas-sion to spread Christ’s message.
rAlph wInter’s strAtegIc eMphAsIs on reAchIng not sIMply every nAtIon wIth the gospel, butevery people group, drAMAtIcAlly Altered the strAtegIes And budget AllocAtIons of MIssIonAryorgAnIzAtIons Around the world. —
chuck colson
he tAught Me long Ago thAt the concept of “retIreMent” wAs not In the bIble. —
 John piper
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Fleur du Monde

e4unity, said, 3 months ago The world missionary enterprise is a very complicated and highly developed discipline of its own. The great majority of Christians never have the joy of knowing first hand even the "tip of the iceberg" of what God is doing through His victorious Son, Jesus Christ. Of all the leaders in the twentieth century, and there are many, perhaps Ralph Winter's life is one of the best to get a glimpse of what was accomplished in terms of advancing world missions in the 1900's.

reply10 / 26 / 2009
e4unity

The world missionary enterprise is a very complicated and highly developed discipline of its own. The great majority of Christians never have the joy of knowing first hand even the "tip of the iceberg" of what God is doing through His victorious Son, Jesus Christ. Of all the leaders in the twentieth century, and there are many, perhaps Ralph Winter's life is one of the best to get a glimpse of what was accomplished in terms of advancing world missions in the 1900's.

reply07 / 24 / 2009
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