Insights on Arts and Mission in Oral Cultures
By Rocelyn A. Madinger | After personally experiencing the power of the arts in my own life, I’ve discovered how the arts can be helpful and transformative tools for workers to bring the good news to oral cultures. The arts reflect the values of and dynamics in a community, bridge generations, and aid in discipleship. They also provide avenues for the hearers of the gospel to creatively and meaningfully express their understanding of the gospel, their growing faith, and their worshipful response to God.
Are Local Arts the Key to Reaching the Basque People?
By Juan Arvelo Montero | After repeatedly failing to communicate the gospel to the Basque people, God showed me that the arts offer a key to open hearts. The arts are a crucial form of gospel communication that move people’s emotions in a way that only sharing information does not. This makes it a powerful discipleship and evangelism tool.
Redeeming Local Arts for Worship
By Bronwen Cleaver | The Altai people of southern Siberia have a rich artistic history. A local Bible translation team studied local art forms to see which ones could be used to convey passages of Scripture from the Psalms and Judges. The result was a worshipful rendition of biblical passages performed using local arts. This deeply resonated with local audiences while also affirming the value of the Altai culture.
Indigenous Composers Bridge Traditions
By Elsen Portugal | About 50 years after evangelical missions started among the Xerente people of Brazil, singers and other musicians started composing their own songs. These compositions blended traditional Indigenous elements with aspects of popular music typical of the region. This fusion is a result of the cultural shifts that occurred over many years.
Sparking New Arts for Mission: Practical Steps and Conversations
By Laura Roberts | Engaging with local arts opens doors to encourage cultures to use their own resources in the world of the church and mission. The Creating Local Arts Together (CLAT) approach offers a practical method for anyone to engage with the arts in their own culture or across cultures.
Collaborative Contextual Theology: Lessons from Thailand
By Steve Taylor | Contextualizing theology is challenging, and discernment is needed to know the difference between biblical truths and cultural beliefs. Local and outsider perspectives can benefit these discussions. A three-step framework used by the Thai Christian Thinkers group offers helpful guidance on how to do this well.
The Arts in Conversation with First Nations Peoples
By Jhonny A. Nieto Ossa | Finding and encouraging Indigenous cultural expressions that harmonize with Christian faith rather than bringing in and teaching established Western cultural expressions has proven to be a far more effective means to spread the gospel. As Indigenous arts are encouraged, they are reshaping global Christianity and fulfilling God’s diverse, multicultural vision of the body of Christ.
Creating Sacred Songs in Waorani
By Matt Connor and Rachelle Dell | God continues to work in the lives of the Waorani people of Ecuador. Recently, the community participated in a songwriting workshop to create new worship songs. Through translation challenges and cultural discoveries, we learned that authentic worship often means returning to traditional tunes while creating new meanings. Watch how God works when we let indigenous voices lead the way.
Outside a Building: Worshipping in Natural Spaces
By Abel Stewart | Worshiping outdoors offers rich possibilities to deepen faith, care for creation, and transform spaces into sacred places. It has a long history starting in biblical times and continues through modern movements like Forest Church. Intentionally participating in outdoor worship provides a way for any Christian community worldwide to rediscover God’s first sanctuary and its profound impact on our spiritual lives.
A Paradigm for Family Integrated Evangelism in Islamic Cultures
By George Dumitrascu | Over two billion people identify as Muslims worldwide. Due to globalization, they live across the world and are our neighbors and co-workers. This makes it even more important to understand their context. Approaching Muslims with the gospel from an individualist perspective is often unsuccessful. A shift in approach to a family-based incarnational ministry using a contextualized house-church model could improve missions outcomes.