Recent decades have seen radical changes in mission methodologies. Talk has turned to partnership. Increasing numbers of short-term missionaries from the West offer weeks, months, or even a few years of their lives in service. This essay explores some of the implications and outcomes of three approaches (models) to “mission” in Africa in particular, and […]
Philip 8.4.8 group member prays with Arab American in New York City Nearly one million people immigrate to the United States every year. Many of these immigrants come from countries where evangelism is illegal and Christians are openly persecuted. Settling in immigrant communities within large metropolitan regions, they often form isolated subcultures and can live in the […]
Between 1978 and 2004 the urban population of China grew from eighteen percent to forty-one percent of the total population, commonly said to be 1.3 billion.1 Given the annual increments in this massive urbanization process, it is not hard to estimate conservatively that China’s urban population is now close to forty-five percent of the total […]
Muhammed Omar as told to David Munyere Editors Note: Muhammed Omar is a chaplain to the Somali people in Kijabe Hospital, Kenya. He also reaches out to his native Somalians in areas like Eastleigh and the North Eastern province. In Nairobi, about fifteen born again Somalis meet every month for prayer and encouragement. As Muhammed […]
The astonishing fact of our time is that the majority of the world’s six billion people now live and work in sizeable cities. Moreover, we live at the time of the greatest migration in human history. The southern hemisphere is moving north, East is coming West, and everyone is coming to New York! I remember […]
Interfaith dialogue is currently experiencing a significant methodological shift where participants represent not only the liberal side of the faith spectrum, but also include conservatives with commitment to their respective religious traditions. This gradual shift from “old” to “new” paradigms is a change that is only beginning to take root, but is providing evangelical Christians […]
As I sit and write this article, I can hear automatic weapons firing. I cannot imagine the tragedy going on outside our compound at this very moment. Constantly, I have people asking me to help them escape to another nation. It is not pleasant to live in one of the most dangerous places on earth. […]
Bible storying is a powerful tool in India. The year was 1488. A young boy accidentally left a wooden shape dripping with dye on a piece of parchment overnight. In the morning he discovered an image remaining after removing the wood. It was an “aha!” moment that led to the invention of the printing press. […]
Introduction When we look at the remaining task to be finished of reaching and making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20), we quickly realize that there is much resistance to the gospel. We also see that there are some common characteristics that non- or less-reached nations share. For example: Resistance to the gospel Strong community/family-based […]
Should short-term mission be granted status as a new, bona fide missiological strategy? New it’s not—but bona fide, and potentially strategic it can be. Yet before we ponder either the age or strategic possibilities of what Ralph Winter (U.S. Center for World Mission) termed one of the “least anticipated major mutations in modern mission,” let’s […]
I had just been treated to a wonderful dinner by a group of eight Muslim high school teachers and our conversations had been warm and engaging. However, when we returned to their apartment, things turned ugly. They had prepared objections to the gospel and studied the Injil (New Testament) to formulate questions designed to prove […]
Over the past one hundred years global Christianity has experienced a profound southern shift in its geographical center of gravity. Whereas in 1900 over eighty percent of all Christians were from Europe and North America, by 2005 the proportion had fallen to under forty-five percent. It is no surprise then to discover that the center […]
