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Tritt ein in eine Welt voller Geschichten

Hören und Lesen

Sarah Lunsford

Most of what we do in missions can be categorized as our missiological methods. As important as our mission methods are, we usually look to the social sciences to guide us, as we seek to find effective and reproducible methods for sharing the gospel and planting churches cross-culturally. The lack of theological reflection on our missiological methods bears consequences. We tend to look to Scripture and theology for our missiological purpose and goals, but we often struggle to know how theology speaks to the social sciences or to our pragmatic methods. The social sciences have contributed to undeniable advances in our methodologies. At the same time, we want our methods to be anchored in our theology and the fruit of our missional efforts to be theologically healthy. Missiological Triage provides a solid foundation for a holistic integration of theology, missiology, and the social sciences, and offers practical steps for applying the social sciences to our mission methods in a theologically faithful manner. Professors and students of missiology, mission leaders, and missionary practitioners will benefit from this framework for theologically analyzing the social sciences in our missiological methods.

Pickwick Publications

Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series

Missiological Triage: A Framework for Integrating Theology and Social Sciences in Missiological Methods

Derek Brotherson

As Christians seek to follow Paul's example of becoming like all people in order to win them to Christ, a key question arises: How far is too far? Is there a point where appropriate contextualization becomes gospel-distorting syncretism? With the growing prominence of Insider Movements in the Muslim-majority world in recent decades, these questions have become especially urgent and hotly-debated.

Based on an in-depth, biblical-theological study of key Bible texts used by Insider Movement proponents and critics, this book provides a ground-breaking new assessment tool for distinguishing contextualization from syncretism. It provides an invaluable resource for those engaged in ministry amongst Muslims, for those with questions about Insider Movement practices, and for all who seek to grow in their understanding and practice of biblically-grounded and authentic contextualization of the gospel.

Contextualization or Syncretism?: The Use of Other-Faith Worship Forms in the Bible and in Insider Movements

Banseok Cho

This book explores the theme of the missional conversion of the church, namely how the church is transformed toward its missionary vocation, from a biblical-theological perspective. The purpose of this book is to find biblically grounded, theologically sound, and practically applicable principles helpful for the church which seeks to be continuously shaped into a missional community which authentically and fully participates in God's mission today. 

The biblical-theological findings on how the triune God in the biblical narrative shapes the people of God toward their missionary vocation demonstrates, first, that, in Scripture, the missional conversion of the church is primarily the consequence of its continuous encounter with the triune God, and, second, that this divine-human encounter for the missional conversion of the church is ineluctable in view of the ongoing tension between the missional faithfulness of God in fulfilling the missionary vocation of the church, on the one hand, and the missional failure of the church in its missionary vocation, on the other hand.

Being Missional, Becoming Missional: A Biblical-Theological Study of the Missional Conversion of the Church

Valerie A. Rance

Trauma, from the fall of Adam and Eve forward impacts human lives in overpowering ways. A review of the lives of biblical personalities and missionaries reveals shared traumatic experiences. In addition to the stress of cultural adjustment, missionaries often live in contexts of violence, political unrest, economic instability, natural disasters, and relational conflict. The examined biblical personalities faced similar issues, yet a majority coped with trauma in ways that led to well-being. 

The proposed biblical theory of well-being assists missionaries to move deeper in their trust of God by utilizing the coping skills of the biblical personalities including asking God for help, lifting up their praise and worship to God, standing on a sense of call, working with God, lamenting/venting to God in healthy ways, embracing a theology of suffering, and accepting assistance from friends and family. 

The adherence to the constructs of this theory protects missionaries from the ravages of psychological trauma by avoiding negative coping and developing positive coping skills that lead to trusting in the only One who gives hope in seemingly hopeless situations.

Trauma and Coping Mechanisms among Assemblies of God World Missionaries: Towards a Biblical Theory of Well-Being

Chang Seop Kang

Currently, about 6 percent of the eighty thousand Chinese college students in Korea are Christians, certainly no small number considering their future role within the Chinese Church. In this study, Chang Seop Kang seeks to find out the factors, process, and types concerning the conversion of thirty Chinese international students. This qualitative study gives a rich picture of their conversion stories, providing many examples from their insider perspectives. The key finding connecting these stories is experiencing God. Overall, this book showcases how an inductive data analysis such as grounded theory can produce a powerful message that affirms biblical truth.

Conversion of Chinese Students in Korea to Evangelical Christianity: Factors, Process, and Types

Orality formed us. Orality forms us. Orality will forever form us. Orality is a central theme of our lives.
In this fast-paced world, few Christian workers take the time to look back to learn and build on the lessons of the past. Wise Christian workers, however, do not forge ahead into new horizons without first investigating past horizons. They understand in this complex world there are too many strong shoulders of the past to be overlooked. The dozen practiced researchers contributing to New and Old Horizons in the Orality Movement offer such inquirers wisdom from the past that can boldly and boundlessly improve the future of the modern-day orality movement.

New and Old Horizons in the Orality Movement: Expanding the Firm Foundations

Crisis is an invitation to both prophetic evaluation and new imagination. In this volume, Canadian missiologists and practitioners consider the past and how the past might enable the church to move forward in Christian mission--in the academy, agency, assembly, and the agora. How can the Canadian church welcome different voices from the periphery? What must be done to empower the next generation? How can we respond in light of the injustices done to our Indigenous brothers and sisters? Where does reconciliation fit into the picture? How might we navigate between secularization and fundamentalisms? How ought we move together in mission and in unity across denominational difference? How can we equip laypeople to live their callings faithfully in the agora? How can work in the marketplace be ministry? And lastly, how is the Spirit at work in our contexts in this day and age? These questions (among others) onboard us into the ongoing conversation about the state of evangelical mission in Canada, and each of these essays adeptly lead us into the beginnings of answers to these questions. These essays address how the past informs our future, and how we might answer the prophetic call with both hope and renewed vigor to participate in the mission of God.

The Past, Present, and Future of Evangelical Mission: Academy, Agency, Assembly, and Agora Perspectives from Canada

Christopher D. Sneller

Using new archival research, this book shows how Union Theological Seminary exported progressive Christianity to Communist China. Founded in 1836, the New York seminary disseminated its version of Christianity to China through its alumni. From 1911 to 1949, 196 Union alumni went to China. Thirty-nine of these former students were Chinese nationals. Many of these Chinese students--such as Y. T. Wu (Wu Yaozong), K. H. Ting (Ding Guangxun), John Sung (Song Shangjie), and Timothy Tingfang Lew (Liu Tingfang)--became key leaders in the Sino-Foreign Protestant Establishment and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The school became a dense hub of influential Chinese and American Christians. Union's role in liberalizing and indigenizing Christianity in twentieth-century China has been largely unnoticed, until now.

Exporting Progressivism to Communist China: How New York’s Union Seminary Liberalized Christianity in Twentieth-Century China

Eric Robinson

What does it mean to be called? How does one discern his or her calling? There has been much discussion about these topics within the church, and perhaps much confusion as well. What if we could root the nature of the believer's calling and vocation from a missional perspective? This book seeks to understand how a deeper understanding of God's mission can help believers discern the work to which they are called and equip them for missional witness in and through their work. Importantly, rooting our understanding of vocation and calling in God's mission gives space for new emphases within the conversations related to faith and work, including theologically and contextually grounded emphases on creativity, vocational freedom, and vocational discernment, along with innovative educational models which can support believers as they navigate their work as participants in God's mission. When believers connect their gifts, talents, and creativity with God's work in and for the world in a way that is contextually relevant, it opens up opportunities for transformative witness for both believers and for the organizations they serve.

Rethinking Vocation: A New Vision for Calling and Work in Light of Missio Dei

Brian Bain

Lead short-term mission trips (STMs) that catalyze trip participants into mission-oriented disciple-makers when they return home. STMs can be mutually beneficial service opportunities that have positive long-term impact on both trip participants and national hosts. While this is possible, it is not always the outcome of many STMs. STMs often prioritize the short-term experience of trip participants and miss the longer-term discipleship opportunity they offer. 

STMs can be a context of significant, mutually beneficial work between both trip participants and national hosts. This work can serve as a catalyst for meaningful, long-term growth for both parties, but an appropriate philosophy and trip structure is needed. This book studies and reveals best practices for both.

The Impact of Short-Term Missions on Long-Term Missional Development

The EMS Monograph Series publishes the best book length works of EMS members. The monographs may be reworked dissertations or original works based on missiological research focused on aspects of history, theology, culture, strategy, or spiritual formation all relating to the academic and practical nature of the missionary enterprise. EMS monographs are peer reviewed and authors work with an editing team from Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock). Typically, 3-5 monographs are published each year. 



Series Editors:

Anthony F. Casey

Rochelle Scheuermann

Edward L. Smither