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Much of missionary methodology has been subject to a type of faddish cycle. The cycle begins when missionaries are exposed to a new technique that has captured the fascination of the Western missiological world.

Moody magazine recently devoted much of an issue to the subject “What’s Ahead for Missions?” The series of articles, which presented a mixed picture at best, addressed some serious concerns plaguing world missions today:

One of my teammates in the Philippines, anticipating his first furlough, worried that if some of his supporters really knew how we did ministry, they might drop him.

In June, 1996, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution calling upon its churches to direct “energies and resources toward the proclamation of the gospel to the Jewish people.” American Jewish community leaders reacted with howls of alarm. Some in the SBC appeared to break rank.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

A college friend of mine who became a physician was turned down for missionary service because he flunked the board’s physical exam. He had only one kidney. Another board, however, accepted him for work in Zaire, where he served with distinction for 35 years.

In a March morning last year, colorful flags streamed down the center aisle of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church carried by delegates celebrating the establishment of Evangelism Explosion International (EE) ministries in all 211 nations of the world.

When Mustafa Kemal Ata-turk founded Turkey’s modern republic 74 years ago, the jury was out on whether a secular democracy could long survive in a predominantly Muslim nation. It still is.

Roland Allen, in Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? looks over the panorama of churches established by Paul with wonder and incredulity: wonder that so many growing indigenous churches over such a broad territory could be established in just 10 years; and incredulity that so many in missions today consider the feat impossible to repeat.