Welcome to Mission Hits, a fortnightly blog highlighting stimulating and significant recent resources related to world Christianity, world church, and world mission.
Mission Hits is a ministry of www.fromeverynation.net
For questions, comments, or suggestions, email chris.howles@fromeverynation.net
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(1) General, (2) Video/Audio, (3) Digging deeper, and (4) Books.
GENERAL
"We must abandon this absurd idea that Christianity is a Western religion." Article from Christianity Today magazine about Christianity's multicultural, multiracial, multiethnic nature. I especially enjoyed this part beginning "It is a common misconception that Christianity first came to Africa via white missionaries in the colonial era..."
"The temptation is to say that we need to be colour blind, we need to treat everyone the same..." British theological-research Eddie Arthur argues that we should not treat everyone as if they are the same, or we lose the joy of cultural diversity in our churches.
You have to enjoy this. The Guardian reports on Kenyans coming out onto their apartment balconies to join in a corporate worship service. Just imagining this in the UK...
"As it turns out, at about that time, “God” as depicted in the form of Jesus Christ was beginning to look more and more like me. Only I didn’t know it." This New York Times article captures some of the different viewpoints involved in the issue of how we represent Jesus worldwide. Really interesting.
Related to that, these are my personal favourite representations of events from the life of Jesus: The Cameroonian 'Mafa' series of paintings...
And one more quickly - a photographer who dressed up people of many different ethnicities as Bible characters. Fascinating and beautiful.
Christianity Today article: "Because of this opposition, there has been a prayer movement that resulted in great unity among the national Christian community. Churches have begun to overlook their historical denominational divisions, bringing the Indian church to the cusp of revival"
"Pastors, leaders and thinkers outside the Majority World need to grow some gurus from within the Majority World. It will be so good for them." Paul Windsor, Director of Langham Preaching, suggests why Western Christians should read books from outside their own cultures, and gives some great suggestions on where to start...
VIDEO/AUDIO
Along similar lines, GAFCON (an Anglican movement) has produced a 2-minute video of Christians around the world reciting the Nicene Creed (although all in English, which somewhat dilutes the point they're making). Again, a powerful illustration of Christian cultural diversity.
A 40-min podcast from American ministry 'Upstream Collective' for missionaries wanting to think hard about how they communicate with partners in their sending churches. Some great advice on effective use of social media.
DIGGING DEEPER
Articles include 'Korean Christian Students' Adaptation and Integration in British Society' and 'Transcultural Insights into the Christian Conversion of British Gujarati Hindus'.
Looks like there's some good content here. I'll certainly be coming back to Karl Dahlfred's article 'The Sinner’s Prayer in Animistic Cultures: Problems and Solutions'.
Brent Fulton gives a warning relevant to all those interested in or working with mission movements outside their own Western contexts: "Those partnering with China’s emerging missions movement would do well to consider what they may be passing on without even realizing it. Careful filtering of concepts and methods—but more importantly, values and unspoken assumptions—could help guard China’s future mission leaders from replicating painful mistakes."
BOOKS
From the blurb: "A contemporary account of the global refugee situation and how the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ is shining brightly in the darkest corners of the greatest crisis on our planet...It includes biblical, theological and practical reflections on mission in diverse diaspora contexts from leading scholars as well as practitioners in all major regions of the world'.
Mission hits is a ministry of www.fromeverynation.net
For questions, comments, or suggestions for the next edition, email chris.howles@fromeverynation.net
Please note that I choose links to resources I find stimulating and/or significant. Posting a link does not mean I personally agree with everything there!
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