Abstract
Set against the backdrop of colossal violence and forced displacement in Colombia, Eight Million Exiles narrates the journey of ‘Faith and Displacement’ from its inception as a purely academic collaboration between two seminaries in California and Colombia, to its eventual implementation as a missional action research (MAR) project – a theoretical approach developed by the team. The story is recounted by its Director, Christopher Hays, whose honest yet informal narrative style, vignettes and poignant biblical insights from Luke and Acts make the book an accessible and engaging read.
As readers will discover, there are many innovative aspects to the project, and a real strength that emerges through the book is the way ‘Faith and Displacement’ has mobilised churches across the country not only to recognise their gifts, but also to reflect on how to use these in the service of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in their midst. Nevertheless, given its focus on integral mission and the local church, and its use of insights from development studies, a question that lingers is why the book did not include deeper engagement with the approaches of faith-based organisations (FBOs) whose work is grounded in integral mission, especially those partnering with local churches in Colombia and Latin America more generally. What is distinct about MAR, it seems, is its missional component, which entails the development of an ecclesial-based intervention (p. 201). However, this is precisely its point of connection with such FBOs, particularly those whose approaches are rooted in local churches. Regarding the integration of social-scientific and theological insights within the project, Hays writes, ‘our academic predecessors in integral missiology did not provide much guidance’ (p. 47) and further, that it ‘all seemed very plausible in theory. But it remained, at that point, unclear precisely how to put the theory into practice’ (p. 48). Yet as a concept that emerged in the 1960s, integral mission has a decades-long history of organisations wrestling with these very issues. As a piece of academic research with social action as an integral element, it is a shame that this history is not discussed in the book. Such organisations often draw both on missional theology and research from within the social sciences to inform, evaluate and improve their practice, as well as to measure its impact. Bringing the primarily academic approach of the project into conversation with these practice-oriented approaches could have led to fruitful dialogue within the methodologically-focused chapters in particular, especially where integral mission and MAR are unpacked and defined.
Nonetheless, the book is to be commended as a valuable window into socially beneficial action research. For those embarking on such research, the opening chapters contain wisdom related to important topics such as encountering grief during research (p. 101), and for those who have engaged in similar projects many of the intricacies of the process will likely resonate with their own experiences.