EMQ » October–December 2019 » Volume 55 Issue 4
By Andrew T. Kaiser
Eugene, OR: PickwickPublications, 2019
261 pages
USD $34.00
Reviewed by Mark A. Strand, professor, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota.
Many people interested in mission history are familiar with Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, but few are familiar with one of Taylor’s contemporaries in China mission history, Welsh Baptist missionary Timothy Richard. Richard’s impact on mission methods in China was no less significant than Taylor’s. In this, his second book on China mission history, Dr. Andrew Kaiser has once again brought history to life.
Beginning his mission work in Shandong Province in 1870, Richard followed the modus operandi of the day, itinerant preaching. But by 1873 Richard grew restless. Having been disillusioned by the low number and low commitment of converts won by itinerant preaching, Richard determined to find a better method. His search began with spending more time conversing with people who were truly interested in spiritual matters, to go deeper with them, including understanding their own beliefs and values. Quoting a contemporary of Richard’s, Kaiser writes, “the best way therefore for missionaries to meet such ideas as were under discussion, was to make themselves masters of the history of the false religions around them” (71). Richard believed that, through careful conversation, he could determine which of these individuals were the kind of people referred to in Matthew 10:11 as “the worthy.” Richard was persuaded that such people were more ready for the gospel and would be in the best position to establish a Chinese church that was rooted in local habits and values.
A significant event in Richard’s life was providing famine relief in Shanxi Province during the north China famine of 1876–79. This action alone was innovative for evangelical missionaries, who up to that time, considered such work a distraction from the business of evangelism. Driven by a deep empathy with the people, and moved by their suffering, Richard considered such work a manifestation of the kingdom of God, and natural proto-evangelism. In fact, his work in famine relief proved to be a seminal activity in the founding of the first church in Taiyuan. While Richard’s approach was radical at that time, his combination of mercy ministries and evangelistic outreach is standard mission practice today.
Kaiser is a fine story-teller and has a keen eye for historical events which have particular modern relevance. For example, his description of the tensions that existed between the missionaries feels eerily modern, even though it was happening 135 years ago.
This book will satisfy both the academic and the casual reader. Kaiser avoids hagiography, allowing the reader to see the very human side of a mission luminary such as Richard. Each page contains footnotes documenting his sources and providing additional detail, but readers can still fully enjoy the book without the footnotes.
Every generation of missionaries has to wrestle with the degree to which they will accommodate mission practice to the local culture. In Encountering China, Kaiser provides critical historical insights into this issue. Whether it is the value of learning about local religions (68–71), or the role of mercy ministries in mission strategy (190–191), this book offers rich historical insights with penetrating application to current mission practice.
For Further Reading
Covell, Ralph R. 1986. Confucius, the Buddha, and Christ: A History of the Gospel in Chinese. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis.
Hollinger, David A. 2017. Protestants Abroad: How Missionaries tried to Change the World but Changed America. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Myers, Bryant. 2011. Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis.
Winter, Ralph. 2008. “How to Best Help China: The Story of Two Very Different Missionaries to China.” Mission Frontiers. US Center for World Mission, Pasadena, CA, 12-14. Accessed May 13, 2019, at https://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/how-to-best-help-china.
