Articles

Emergent and revitalized non-Christian religions threaten the churches of Asia like storm clouds on the horizon of the ’70s, while in Africa, sunshine and bright skies suggest a decade of many open doors.

The title suggests two fundamentals: the primacy of the evangel, and the propriety in asserting this primacy in the context of true, mature nationalism.

THE MUSLIM WORLD The region being considered is both geographically and religiously near the heart of the Muslim world. It embraces, however, a number of different nations, races and varieties of religion and culture, so that it is impossible to make statements regarding the work of missionaries from the West that would be true in every situation.

For simplicity’s sake, permit me first to characterize the missionary of the seventies in a five-fold manner: (1) He must be rooted in Christ; (2) he must be anchored in the Word; (3) he must be filled with the Spirit; (4) he must be related to the church; (5) he must be geared to the times.

Since the chief concern of this article is the differential in the growth rates between the missionary society oriented churches and the lower-class churches, it is now time to look at these missionary churches.

In his book, The Bible Speaks to Our Times, Alan Redpath writes, “If you are a Christian and not a church member, then you are out of the will of God!” Mr. Redpath is right!

The claim of God’s Holy Spirit on an individual’s heart regarding commitment to service is certainly a most sacred and cherished matter. However, the way in which a potential missionary candidate finds his place of service is often characterized by some as a sort of “mission board roulette.”

The Kalahari Mission is young in years but has been active in growth and development of its own life style in the Christian community. It has been the avowed purpose of this work to allow the church to be truly indigenous, not only in its finances and government but in every aspect of its life.

The title of this article is important because impressions of Urbana ’70 are likely to be as diverse as the people who went there. People there were plenty of: 10,937 students from 48 states and 72 countries and 50 denominations, plus 406 missionaries and 961 “miscellaneous.”

The most pressing need of the church in Asia today is for adequately trained and deeply committed national leadership in the life and service of the church. This crisis in national leadership is being felt particularly in the sphere of theological training in view of the increasing restrictions on foreign missionary work in most countries in Asia.