Global Perspectives

For six decades, North American Mennonites have walked alongside African Independent Churches (AICs) as they have navigated their faith journey between the ancient traditions of the ancestors and the newer claims of Christ upon their lives. The story of these relationships is a fascinating pilgrimage in partnership, offering hope for a mutuality that slips the knots of colonialism and testifies to the unifying power of the Holy Spirit. Beginning with a historical overview by missiologist Wilbert R. Shenk, this volume contains the reflections of over fifty AIC and Mennonite colleagues concerning the significance and impact of this long-standing partnership. Their stories illustrate the disparate threads of a sixty-year experiment in shared endeavor, while offering insight into the history of the church and missions in Africa. This book is a powerful account of mutual learning, forgiveness, and growth. It is an excellent resource for lovers of story, students of post-colonialism and indigenous Christianity, and all those concerned with building relationships across cultural and racial divides.

The wisdom of tribal peoples has often been overlooked, both within the church and outside of it. However as the ideologies of consumerism, free market individualism, and nationalism grow more and more dominant across the globe, with devastating implications for our planet's shared future, it has become ever more urgent to make space for voices from the margins—voices offering alternative frameworks for understanding the nature of existence, spirituality, and what it means to be human. This book draws together contributors from diverse tribal and denominational backgrounds to reflect on the future of Christianity in Northeast India, a region rich in ancient myths, oral traditions, and a vibrant awareness of both the spiritual realm and the embeddedness of humans within creation. Joining a wider conversation regarding the integration of Christianity and primal traditions, the authors wrestle with crucial questions surrounding identity and the challenges of contextualizing the gospel in relation to their own languages, cultures, and traditions. Looking both backwards and forwards, they provide insight into the history of Christianity in tribal contexts, while exploring the vital significance of recovering and transmitting indigenous knowledge and the profound perspective it offers the church into the significance of Christ and his gospel.

Secular humanism has taken the world by storm – including the realm of African politics. Believing that religion is irrelevant, humanism asserts that men and women need no divine help in knowing what is right or wrong, valid or invalid, good or bad, as they are mature moral agents in their own rights. Integrity in Nigerian Politics challenges this assertion, providing an introduction to Christian political ethics and offering a powerful argument for its relevance in the complex moral terrain of today's political affairs. Rooted specifically in Nigeria's political history, and the social, religious, and economic challenges it has faced, this study explores the role of integrity in practical politics and the implications of its neglect. Establishing that it is the character of God that is the foundation for successful governance, Dr Aghawenu demonstrates that it is ineffective, impractical, and ultimately dangerous to ignore the ethical insights Christianity has to offer the political realm. This important work challenges the church to overcome the sacred-secular divide that so often permeates its public engagement and to recognize that it has what it needs to transform the nature of democratic politics in Nigeria, in Africa, and throughout the world.

The growth of evangelicalism in Latin America, specifically among indigenous peoples, is changing the religious and cultural paradigms of the region. In this important work, Dr. Marcelo Vargas A. explores the interplay between Neo-Pentecostalism and Aimaran indigenous identity in La Paz, Bolivia, identifying how the integration of the two has led to social, political, and economic transformation. This study offers insight into the growing impact of the Neo-Pentecostal movement, both in Latin America and beyond, as well as the significant role of indigenous peoples in shaping the future of Christianity across the globe.

The church is a contextualized reality, and if it is to flourish, its leaders must be raised up to serve their own communities. Yet our very techniques for teaching and learning are culturally defined. If the church is to be effective in developing the leaders it needs, our approach to training must be informed by its local context. In this immensely practical text, Joseph Nehemiah combines sound pedagogical research with rich cultural insight to provide a framework for training leaders in an Arab context. Examining principles of adult education in light of Arab cultural dynamics, Nehemiah offers a paradigm for experiential learning that is biblically rooted and contextually appropriate. Informed by the experience of professors in the Arab Gulf, along with extensive interviews from local church leaders, Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church seeks to place the development, teaching, and training of leaders into the hands of the local church.

The doctrine of the Trinity is the foundational doctrine for all Christian theology, doxology and practice. In this publication James Kombo brings a unique and valuable contribution to understanding the Trinity and how God can be understood within the context of any culture and language. Kombo first recognizes and brings into focus God's self-presentation in Scripture as the triune God. Moving from the early church through various church traditions over the centuries, he interacts with how each tradition viewed God and their interpretation of the Trinity. Closing with a distinctly African view of God from the Luo language tradition, used mostly in Kenya and Tanzania, Kombo emphasises the benefits of considering alternative models of interpretation from various regions of the world. Kombo's work applying his research across cultures makes this an excellent resource in any context of ministry and the academy.

From Calvinist to Catholic, from Charismatic to AmaZioni, the Rainbow Nation has one of the most colourful, variegated, and bewildering array of Christian churches in the world. Where on earth did they all come from? How did they develop? What do they believe? How are they related to one another? In this clear and readable history of Christianity in South Africa, Kevin Roy answers these questions with comprehensive, succinct and rigorous historical analysis with sympathy and honesty. Dr Roy does not shy away from the failures and sins of the participants in this story that intertwines with the history of the peoples and tribes in South Africa. This book is a testimony of divine love and patience in the midst of human folly and frailty, of successes and faithful service to God.

The Lausanne congress of 1974 marked the widespread adoption of integral mission as essential to the evangelical witness of Christ in our world. Ever since, there has been ongoing debate as to the roles of evangelism and social action. In this book, Oddvar Sten Ronsen argues that instead of the priority of evangelism over social action there should be the anticipation of evangelism as a result of social action. Although evangelism and social action may not occur at the same time, the author warns of the possibility of "mission drift," where projects begin with the intention of meeting the social and spiritual needs of the people, but fail to proceed to evangelism. In succumbing to this mission drift, projects cease to be true to the principles of integral mission. Combining theological reflection with case studies of microfinance enterprises in the Philippines and Thailand, Ronsen evaluates the sustainability of, and social good delivered by, these Christian projects to the communities they serve. The research sheds light on the causes of a drift from integral mission, how these can be managed, and whether microfinance can be a bridge for the gospel.

From generation-to-generation there has been an anguished cry from preachers about preaching – there is no imagination! The Scriptures present the wondrous hope and vision of "Kingdom Come" and yet contemporary preaching can often be mute and blind by comparison. This book explores what is possible when the Scripture to be preached is prayed through the agency of two ancient prayer disciplines: lectio divina and Ignatian Gospel Contemplation. Through the experiences of eight vocational pastor-preachers this study tracks the difficulties, discoveries and delights as they commit to utilizing these prayer disciplines as part of their regular sermon preparation. The reader will be orientated to what a biblical imagination entails and how praying the Scriptures affects the preacher, sermon and listener. Careful explanation of how to pray using lectio divina and Ignatian Gospel Contemplation is included. This work is, in places, a raw examination of the forces that regularly conspire against the preacher as they endeavour to faithfully expound the Scriptures. The study is a rousing exclamation of the joy experienced when a preacher's imagination and their preparation is formed by the Spirit, bringing the Scriptures to bear on all who speak and hear it.

Since the first interactions between Christians and Muslims, a central point of contention has been the nature of God in relation to the doctrine of the trinity and divine oneness. Yet the belief that God is one is vociferously upheld by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. In this detailed historical study and subsequent analysis, Dr Michael F. Kuhn explores the teaching of two Arab Christian theologians from the Abbasid Era (750–1250), 'Abd Allāh Ibn al-Ṭayyib and Iliyyā of Nisibis, and how they defended the Christian view of God as three-in-one in the Muslim milieu and in reference to the Islamic concept of tawḥīd, God's absolute unity. The intellectual contribution of these two Christian thinkers can be seen in fact that the concepts they articulated continue to feature in Muslim–Christian dialogue to this day. Dr Kuhn shows the great lengths that Middle Eastern Christians went to explain their view of God's oneness in the Trinity and the divinity of Christ to their fellow Christians and to commend it to their Muslim counterparts. There is much to learn from the historical debates investigated in this book to help Christians today to uphold the truth of the Christian scriptures, both in the Muslim context and beyond. Readers will appreciate the review of Nestorian Christology in light of recent studies and the important theological background to contemporary Muslim–Christian engagement that is provided. This book also makes a significant addition to the Christian understanding of the Trinity by linking the eternal attributes of God, a common theme in Islamic thought, to the three persons of the God-head deepening our understanding of the inter-relations of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Anyone engaging intellectually or academically with Muslims with hopes to dialogue thoughtfully in the area of theology, spirituality and ethics will find this book acutely helpful.

There are many books about the cross of Christ, but few are written from an African perspective or with an African context in mind. In this book, Dr. Robert Falconer offers the reader a holistic understanding of Jesus's atoning work that powerfully addresses African realities and concerns. Grounded in Scripture and Christian theology, this book gives careful attention to the implications of the atonement for African traditional spirituality. Presenting a biblical perspective of the cross—one rooted in penal substitution and Christus Victor theology—Falconer demonstrates Christ's power in all aspects of our lives, including over ancestors, evil spirits, witchcraft, and sin. This book provides a deeper understanding of contextual issues facing the African church, while also demonstrating the role of the atonement in addressing our cultural concerns and restoring the hope of liberty, reconciliation, redemption, and resurrection.

No one can avoid conflict, sin, and evil, or the hurt and brokenness they cause. The best way to transform conflict and hurt from being life-destructive to being life-constructive is to forgive and to be forgiven. Authentic, biblically based forgiveness is a gift that God offers to humanity so that hurt can be healed, the cycle of retaliation broken, a painful past soothed, and estranged relationships reconciled and restored. Dr John Tran explains how forgiveness in both Western and Chinese cultures differs from the practice outlined in God's word. Authentic Forgiveness calls us to examine our own cultural traditions and points us towards the search for true reconciliation, where people risk to communicate, extend trust, and work through anger and pain. Combining biblical and theological understanding with practical strategies for local church ministry, Tran offers an inspiring paradigm of action for Christians in urban Asian contexts and beyond.

In "Taking Up the Mantle" Dr Daniel Salinas helps the reader understand the development of Latin American evangelical theological thought over the past hundred years. Salinas challenges new generations to pick up the task of contextually living out the biblical message, learning from the example of the godly men and women that came before them. History is full of faithful servants who read their Bibles and their surroundings to communicate the message for the church and the world, and this 'double listening', as John Stott referred to it, is required today. From the Panama Congress of 1916 to the end of the millennium, this book introduces us to figures from the Latin American church and encourages us to continue their legacy today.

Asian Christian female servant-leaders have faced painful and humbling experiences in their leadership development – at every turn and at every corner. Asian women who are evangelical servant-leaders rarely have any real "voice" in their community. In this book, Rachel Rajagopal enrols ten servant-leaders who, speaking as one, seek to have their collective voice heard, recognized and valued. The testimonies of these women's encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ and their personal obedience to God's call, despite their challenges as female ministry leaders, are powerful examples of God using women in his sovereign plan. Many of the hindrances these servant-leaders encountered were simply because God made them women. Dr Rajagopal's rigorous examination of the Asian social, cultural and theological context in relation to women in Christian leadership allows these stories to jump off the pages and into readers' hearts. This thorough study not only illuminates the Asian context but is eminently transferable to other parts of the world in pursuit of releasing women into their gifting from God.

Strategic partnerships are on the rise around the world as denominations, organizations, local churches and individuals seek ways to work together to accomplish the Great Commission. In this book, Dr. Kenneth Shreve presents research from a creative access region, identifying five theological issues that impact partnership in Christian missions as well as exploring how partners interact with those theological issues. Partnerships in mission are grounded in relationships, relationships that flow from the Trinity and are manifested in the purpose of God, the body of Christ, the gifts of the Spirit, and the church. Through this book the body of Christ will be encouraged to strengthen cooperation and collaboration in the accomplishment of the Great Commission, and achieve far more in partnership than could be done in isolation.

Introducing an emerging academic field known as African British Theologies, this publication explores the significant presence of African Christianity in Britain. Featuring contributions from twelve scholarly African pastors engaged in ministry and theology in Britain, this book is a unique expression of theology from African Christians, contextualizing the gospel for a multicultural British society. Under three key areas of missiology, contextual constructive theology and transformative practical theology the contributors interact with topics such as reverse missiology, African pneumatology, prosperity gospel, and urban mission. This book rigorously examines new contexts of Christianity and articulates new theological perspectives that are required to understand twenty-first-century ministry, not only in urban Britain, but also across the world.

In this well-researched work, Dr Albín Masarik explores various features of funeral sermons arising from their unique context and homiletic process. While funeral sermons are an important element in pastoral care of churches and the wider community, theological reflection of this weighty responsibility can be hard to find. Addressing the definition of a funeral sermon, their categorization, purpose and context, this book brings clarity to inform the exercise of preaching a funeral sermon and help pastors and theologians grapple with how to best shepherd their flock and exalt our Saviour in the midst of bereavement.

The communities in which we live all suffer alienation from God and the sin, social disorder and brokenness that follows. As Christians, we yearn to see our communities saturated with the good news of Jesus Christ, but there are countless obstacles to overcome in our churches and mission agencies as we seek to fulfil this vision. In this book, Emerson Manaloto offers the model of New Testament-based house churches as the vehicle for gospel ministry in communities around the world with specific applications for the Filipino context. Examining four areas - leaders, learners, lessons, and locations - Dr Manaloto presents foundational principles of the New Testament that can be the basis for our own contemporary churches and ministry. Manaloto critically analyzes the house church in terms of its concepts in the first century, its context in the Greco-Roman world and its practices as outlined in the New Testament. This analysis is then used to draw conclusions for how twenty-first century small groups in the Philippines can be stable, mature, and multiply, resulting in the birth of more churches locally and globally, and the transformation of lives and communities as they encounter Jesus Christ.

Forces of division, conflict, and fear threaten to separate us from the neighbor who does not look, act, or pray like us. However, followers of Christ are charged with embodying a unity that celebrates difference rather than fleeing from it. Ethnic Diversity and Reconciliation explores the implications of the church's radical call to inclusive community in the context of Myanmar's long history of ethnic conflict. Dr. Arend van Dorp outlines the theological foundations for understanding the church's mandate as a diverse and unified missional body, while also engaging the very real challenges posed to this mandate by the cultural, religious, and historical realities faced by Christians in Myanmar. He demonstrates that while the challenges are vast, so is the potential for transformation and reconciliation when the church takes up its mantle and bears faithful witness to God's love in a fractured world.

Many pastors in the provincial towns and rural villages of Malawi struggle to find practical relevance in the letter to the Romans. While the majority of church leaders have received little or no formal Bible and ministry training, they often face formidable challenges from African traditional practices, folk Islam, poverty and poor education – creating barriers to authentic Christian discipleship. Reading Romans at Ground Level uses field research to characterize pastoral ministry in provincial-rural Malawi. By examining current preaching practice, it shows that Malawian pastors mostly use individual verses from Paul's letter within inductive needs-driven sermons or gospel calls for conversion. In this book, a three-horizon contextual approach is used to investigate how the letter might be applied biblically to address contemporary African socio-cultural and pastoral issues. It demonstrates surprisingly rich parallels between the way Romans might have been heard by its original recipients in the slums of Ancient Rome, and its potential meaning for Christians living in poverty in rural Africa today.

It is no secret that Christianity has been widely rejected in Japan with less than two percent of the population identifying as Christian. The dominant worldview in Japan is deeply animistic, with beliefs such as the Japanese mana-concept, ki (気), the Japanese soul-concept, and the concept of God/god(s), kami (神), being deeply rooted in the culture and fundamentally influencing society. Dr. Martin Heißwolf, with his years of experience in Japan, critically examines Japanese animism in light of core Christian beliefs, such as the concepts of "peace" and "salvation." Central to Japanese people's rejection of Christian truth is the diametric opposition of its supernatural message to the natural focus of Japanese animistic folk religion. Heißwolf's meticulous study is framed squarely within musicological thought and praxis so Christians serving in Japanese contexts are better able to communicate the message of the gospel by more fully understanding Japanese people, people by whom God wants to be known.