EMQ » April–June 2021 » Volume 57 Issue 2
Edited by David Greenlee, Mark Galpin, and Paul Bendor-Samuel
Regnum Books International, 2020
184 pages
US$12.00
Reviewed by Nathaniel (Than) Veltman who currently serves as Mission Scholar in theology and community development with United World Mission’s Theological Education Initiative at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
As the title of this book implies, Christian witness can sometimes be theoretically partitioned to focus on specific geographic groups, methods, or models of mission. In practice, however, there is often significant overlap. Two editors of this book, Mark Galpin and David Greenlee, highlight the overlap between church planting, evangelism among the least-reached people groups, and community development. They note that although many mission initiatives explicitly focus on one or the other in theory, mission organizations in practice often engage in more than one as each organically emerges in the process of interacting with local communities. Despite these overlaps, few missiologists have explored the dynamics of this cross-pollination. The contributors to this book address this gap through what they term the “‘Community Development Least Reached’ space” (3).
The book consists of ten chapters, each presenting a principle that links together these three areas, and three reflections on overarching themes that tie the principles together. The principles originated at a meeting hosted by the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and further developed in dialogue with Operation Mobilization workers and partner agencies in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. They establish a foundation for the integration of what practitioners do and how they do mission among the poor with who they are called to be: being people of integrity, demonstrating professionalism and excellence, and embodying deep spirituality. The authors argue that integral mission is not a program, but a way of life that recognizes prayer and spiritual warfare as essential components of community development and transformation. In addition, the embodiment of excellence has significant overlap between community development and establishing communities of Jesus followers. Furthermore, the least-reached are such spiritually, materially, and physically. In essence, true community transformation among the least-reached will only come about with a vision for “vibrant communities of Jesus followers” embedded in the renewal of the whole person and community.
Undivided Witness contributes to missiological conversations by demonstrating how community development, church-planting, and the least-reached naturally weave together in practice. However, the authors are predominantly community development practitioners, resulting in perspectives that generally lean heavily on community development as the starting point. While the authors are cognizant of the tension of community development becoming a coercive tool for evangelism, some deeper engagement with church-planters and the literature on church-planting among the least-reached would provide additional nuance and insights for the reverse flow of the influence of emerging communities of Jesus followers on community development.
Nonetheless, church-planters and development practitioners among least-reached communities will benefit greatly from the principles offered here. It will particularly appeal to those seeking to faithfully navigate the challenges of community development alongside evangelism. In addition, missiologists may be challenged by the call to weave together various theories, methods, and models of mission to better acknowledge the practices of mission on the ground. All readers will be inspired by the call to an undivided witness that ultimately serves as a signpost of the unity of the gospel and the kingdom of God.
