Section

The critical discussion between religions has fallen on hard times. Due in large measure to what Francis Schaeffer calls “escape from reason,” men are coming to view religion as an exclusively non-cognitive activity, the doing of one’s “thing” which somehow infuses human life with transcendental significance.

An interesting development has taken place on the missionary scene at some time during the past hundred years: the rise of the notion of a lifetime commitment associated with a particular geographical location.

Twenty-three years ago I had the task of drafting a service application form for the fledgling Missionary Aviation Fellowship. I gathered samples from a variety of boards and agencies. One had this question: “If appointed, do you intend to make missionary service your life work?”

A milestone is a useful measuring device. It will show you how far you have come and where you are in the journey. Looking back may not be pleasant. Looking forward I trust will be profitable. We want to survey the seventies.

In the Summer 1969 issue of Evangelical Missions Quarterly, P.T. Chandapilla (General Secretary, Union of Evangelical Students of India) told “How Jesus Trained the Twelve.” He broke down his study into eight principles of Jesus’ ministry. The following story describes how another national Christian leader puts these principles into practice in Malaysia.

The military coup d’ etat that vaulted General Ne Win and sixteen other army officers into Burma’s political saddle on March 2, 1962 marked an important milestone for the Christian church in that land. Anti-foreign feelings, already present in some measure, were strengthened and implemented by actions of the new government.

The fact that a congress on evangelism has on its agenda the subject of the social responsibility of the church is a sign of Christian maturity. It indicates a healthy change of attitude in evangelical ranks.

The time is ripe for the formation of hundreds of new urban churches in Latin America because (1) mass evangelism is making a great impact, and (2) newcomers to the city are open to receive religious teaching. What is needed is an approach that meets their needs and circumstances.

Illiteracy has always been a problem for evangelical Christians. Their fervent desire that all people everywhere read the Bible makes them sensitive to this. That is why long before governments began to be concerned about illiteracy, or UNESCO was created, evangelicals were doing something about it.

There is no doubt after the Latin American Congress on Evangelism held in Bogota, Colombia that conservative evangelicals represent the overwhelming majority of Protestants in the southern hemisphere. Radical and secular theologians were conspicuous by their absence.