Articles

Sebastian (fictitious name) met us soon after the border officials checked all our necessary papers and approved us for entry. For several days, Sebastian led us on a whirlwind tour of the church in mainland China. He told us stories about untold suffering. Along the way, Sebastian recounted his own journey as a Christian leader.

When I asked missionary colleagues, “What would cause a missionary to be tempted not to be totally honest and transparent?”, two main answers surfaced.

Even the most sincere followers of Christ can easily misunderstand C5.

Dear Chris, Thanks for your e-mail and your interest in development on the mission field. That excites me. You asked about our philosophy on development. I have to admit that most of my development philosophy comes from my fiascos rather than my successes.

This seven point scale defines contextualization of gospel and church in the Hindu world. Where are you on the scale? Where should you be?

We need a new paradigm for understanding Hinduism not merely for the purpose of clear and accurate thought, but as a necessary prerequisite for comprehending contextualization in the Hindu world.

I was somewhat shocked to read the following statement by a respected Christian leader who is involved in a controversial approach to Muslim evangelism: “I am praying Phil will lift his Fatwa against our ministry among the followers of Ishmael.”

By the second half of the twentieth century, missiologists had recognized the inaccuracy of the colonialist assumption, “West is best” and replaced it with the culturally sensitive assumption that “Indigenous is best.” In a culturally complex and changing twenty-first century world, isn’t it time to challenge the simplicity of both?

Cross-cultural workers today are blessed with many options for children’s education. Each choice has its own advantages and challenges, and there is not one right option.

As a missiologist in the European-continental tradition, qualitative research has always come more naturally to me than quantitative. This bias was reinforced through my anthropological studies that emphasized participant observation over statistics.