EMQ » January–March 2023 » Volume 59 Issue 1
Advancing Models of Mission: Evaluating the Past and Looking to the Future
Kenneth Nehrbass, Aminta Arrington, and Narry Santos, Eds.
EMS Series, No. 29
William Carey Publishing, 2021
226 pages
US$17.99
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Reviewed by Dennis J. Horton, associate professor of religion and director of ministry guidance, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
Models matter. The model or approach that missionaries adopt influences their objectives and informs the strategies to reach those objectives. A geo-political country model differs from a people group model which differs from a city-centric model. Realizing the importance of models for the fulfillment of the Great Commission, Kenneth Nehrbass, Aminta Arringon, and Narry Santos have collected a group of excellent essays that “critically examine the past and reimagine the future of evangelical missions” (ix). By looking through the lens of the models that missionaries have used to guide their work, these editors have created a cohesive message that reflects an appreciation for the past while pushing the readers to embrace the complexity and challenges of the future.
The editors arranged the essays into three helpful blocks of materials: missionaries and models from the past, critiques of recent prominent models, and future trends and challenges. The essays, however, are not simply a general survey of missions past, present, and future. Rather, each essay offers deep insights into a slice of missiological studies.
The readers learn in-depth how early missionaries to China debated the best approaches to reaching the Chinese people (14–15), how indigenous missionaries like Apolo Kivebulaya played key roles in evangelizing parts of East Africa (21–22), how a former slave, Rebekka Protten, incorporated innovative approaches to sharing the gospel that have stood the test of time (40). Other pioneer missionaries like Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg incorporated what would now be considered “best practices” in cross-cultural ministry when he served as a missionary in India during the early 1700s (51). Readers also learn about persistent challenges from the past such as women’s struggle to find support for their leadership capabilities in both China and Korea due to the intermingling of Confucian ideals with hierarchical Christian theology (70).
The essays provide a thorough critique of the Unreached People Group (UPG) approach to missions that has dominated missionary strategy for the last 50 years. The authors of these chapters reveal the complicating factors that limit the effectiveness of focusing primarily on UPGs as the goal of mission work. Migration, hybridity, and the breadth of the biblical mandate tend to work against such neatly separated categories of people. Fulfilling the Great Commission requires a comprehensive goal to reach all people, everywhere, including those with disabilities. Accomplishing this task in a pluralistic world requires compassion and service on a level that becomes a type of “social apologetics” or social action that is “presented as a relational and incarnational way of providing a reason for the gospel” (155). The authors also point the way forward by offering perspective on the importance of global Christianity and the inclusion of significant global leadership.
Given the valuable insights from these essays and their readability, this book accomplishes its purpose of informing future mission strategies by learning from the past. Missiologists, mission leaders, missionaries, and cross-cultural ministry students will find it informative and instructive, making it useful for individuals and as a textbook for an introductory missions course.
For Further Reading
A Hybrid World: Diaspora, Hybridity, and Missio Dei, edited by Sadiri Joy Tira and Juliet Lee Uytanlet (William Carey Library, 2020)
EMQ, Volume 59, Issue 1. Copyright © 2023 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
