EMQ

I was making my way across Cuba in a Tico, which has the interior space the size somewhere in between a toaster and a VW beetle. My companion was Otoniel Martinez and we were headed to Camaguey to train thirty-five leaders to begin new churches. Otoniel had planted twenty-seven churches despite the resistance of persecution. 

Iraq is suffering, Assyria is in pain. Biblically, the Assyrian Empire was stretching all over the Middle East, including Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and parts of Iran, and some other regions. As the Bible talks about doom in Assyria and Iraq, we can sense strongly that the children there are resurrecting hope, peace, and forgiving those who trespass against them. They are Christ-like.

I write as a follow up to Gene Daniel’s important contribution on shahada confession, which appeared in the July 2014 issue of EMQ. The author notes that among Christian missionaries “there is disagreement about whether a believer in Christ can, with a clear conscience, say the second half, that Muhammad is his [God’s] messenger.”

The concept of North American missionaries serving overseas as part of a team is popular. The present generation of missionaries feels more comfortable working with others rather than launching out on their own. Mission agencies have picked up on this phenomenon and recruit people to be a part of a team for their organization as a mission strategy. While the idea is admirable, what is the difference between a team and a group?  

McGavran was a prolific writer of letters, articles, and books, as well as a world traveler. No one, to my knowledge, has visited as many mission fields, conducted as many interviews, or researched the growth and decline of Christian churches as widely as McGavran. He influenced mission theory and practice internationally and the movement he started continues to move forward, empowered by appreciative followers.