Missiology: An International Review

Christian development agencies often purport to work with the physically and spiritually poor. Do they? To answer this question, several measures of poverty are combined into two indices to better define “the poor.” World maps and a scatter plot are used to show physical and spiritual poverty. The question is then answered for one Christian development agency. World Vision International.

The paper concludes with implications for mission. What does presenting the gospel mean in a world in which the physically poor are often the most spiritually impoverished? Now add restrictions to speech, especially in Muslim countries, where the verbal gospel is unwelcomed. In such situations, holistic practitioners would seem to be the messengers of the hour.

This study examines the common problem of skewing or distortion (“interference”) that frequently occurs when communicating the biblical message from a Western linguistic and conceptual perspective into another cultural setting. Four specific areas of concern are surveyed: evangelism crusades, theological education, sermon preaching, and Bible translation. Four potential strategies of interference-reduction are also suggested, that is, with respect to the processes of program indigenization, staff instruction, team interaction, and subject investigation.

Opposing news items about Christian churches in the People's Republic of China (PRC) are almost a daily fare. One article might speak of renewed religious fervor and the growth of churches, while the next one might tell of persecutions and arrests. The Catholic Church in China is symptomatic of this seemingly puzzling and precarious situation. This presentation briefly considers changes in the official policy of the central government toward religion and the variations in application at the local level. Then, it focuses on the divided Chinese Catholic Church and its relationship with the Holy See and the other local churches. Lingering obstacles as well as signs of healing are discussed.

Taking stock of the values and experiences accumulated in the history of medical mission is essential before entering a new millennium. This article offers a terse account of the development of the medical missionary movement viewed from the point of indigenization. In this end phrase of the classic medical mission, the new concept of mission in six continents has not yet been thought through for the new era of the Christian ministry of healing. An archaeology of medical missions has to be attempted in order to determine which values are worthy for transportation to a new millennium.

Drawing on archival research, this article interprets the initial interactions between American Congregational missionaries and Hawaiian Islanders in relation to basic value conflicts surrounding the abolition of the kapu (taboo) system within the Hawaiian society of the 1820s. It is argued that the missionaries were aware of these conflicts and acted, often unintentionally, in ways which implied “taking sides.” Although they sought the support of the expatriate business community, they also challenged oppressive dimensions of the indigenous authority structure regarding women and commoners. This emancipatory dimension of missionary praxis is suggestive of social ethical implications for cross-cultural ministry today.

Partnership between missions (the organizations of expatriate missionaries working under a common sending agency in a particular locale) and national churches (the cooperating bodies of national Christians to which the missions relate, called “conventions/unions” in this article) has emerged as a critical issue in world evangelization. One attempt at just and effective partnerships between missions and conventions/unions is the Declaration of Ibadan. Its engaging features include the proposed role of the mission, joint decision making regarding evangelism among unreached people groups, and the deployment of missionary personnel.

This article is a reflection on the proposals set forth in the Ibadan Declaration with particular reference to their implications for evangelism.