EDITORIAL: BY ALL POSSIBLE MEANS
Timothy K. Park
The Apostle Paul, a great model for missionaries, confessed that he became all things to all people so that by all possible means he might save some. Do we become all things to all people for the sake of the gospel? Are we truly incarnational to communicate the gospel effectively? The Apostle Paul was very strict to the law but was so flexible when it comes to communicating the gospel…[read more]
THE ISSUE OF REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY OF THE CHRISTIAN ZIONISM
John H.N. Chung
(1) The founding of the nation of Israel (1948). (2) Israel’s recapturing of East Jerusalem from Jordan (1967). (3) The reconstruction of the third Jewish Temple on the temple grounds of Jerusalem (future). According to the Christian Zionism based on dispensationalism. All of the above: (nos 1,2, and 3) are all fulfillments or preparatory to fulfillments of a biblical prophecy. Approximately 27 years ago (Sept, 1989), an Arab pastor and I were attending a meeting at his church in Bahrain and were both asked whether we agreed with the previous three statements claimed by dispensationalists. While I was hesitating to answer, the Arab pastor hastily answered “yes” and explained his answer. This caused a great commotion among the church people. Although he belonged to the Egyptian Presbyterian church, he was heavily influenced by dispensationalism rather than reformed/covenant theology. In truth, the reason for my hesitancy to answer was the same at the time even though I also belonged to the Korean Presbyterian church…[read more]
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN VIETNAM’S COMMUNIST CONTEXT
Tu Thien Van Truong
This paper will first present the context in which the Vietnamese Communist Party came into being in the North of Vietnam and its governing system of the entire country after it took over the South in 1975. The next part will review briefly the Vietnamese Protestantism and the forms by which the churches do their leadership training. The last part will talk about the objectives that the churches in Vietnam set forth for their leadership development…[read more]
DEVELOPING DISCIPLE MAKING SELF-THEOLOGY THROUGH INTEGRATING EVANGELISM & MISSION: TOWARDS SHAPING CHRISTIANITY IN ASIA TRULY ASIAN AND BIBLICALLY GLOBAL
S. David Park
Why Christianity is still regarded as “western” religion though the center of Christianity has moved into the majority world that includes Asia? It is because westernized Christian theology has not yet answered some of the Asian questions about God in deeper level. It is also because modern Christian mind assumed that ministries based on prosperous economic and scientific usefulness from Christianized modern society would help answer the life questions for the majority world.
However, the main theological question seeking the truth of God has not been answered, because only local theologians who know the question deep enough can answer those questions. Though some of the pastors and missionaries are emphasizing self-theology as part of fourth self, after self-propaganda, self-supporting, and self-governing, it has not significantly developed among evangelical churches in Asia. It subsequently hinders Asian Christianity from rooting down deeply as Asian religion into communities in Asia…[read more]
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN ASIAN CONTEXT
Esther L. Park
Many nations in Asia and Africa won their independence from the super strong imperialists in the 20th century. These countries also have been through times of political convulsions under the military regimes and historical transitions to democracy. The wounds of these nations from the past, especially from foreign exploitations are not completely healed. Even, today, the people from these hurting nations, somehow show their suspicions or overly sensitive reactions toward foreigners, including missionaries. Some scholars rationalized that it comes from the inferior mentality of the long history of colonization. I hope this article will contribute some thoughts for the cross-cultural workers, how important knowing the culture and the people of the countries where they are working. My observations and studies are confined in South-East Asia, particularly in the Philippines where I served as a missionary for 17 years. The following is an exemplary study of the Philippines…[read more]
THE STRATEGIC CONTRIBUTION OF MEDIA IN AFRICA
Sandy Day and Gibbs Mweemba
The following media ministries: Bible translation and Scripture use; Communication (radio, audio scriptures, television); and use of Films have different focuses that play particular roles in contributing to the unfinished task of discipling nations in Africa. Much work is being done here, some of the work being done in Southern Africa is highlighted.
BIBLE TRANSLATION AND SCRIPTURE USE
Zambia: The Bible Society conducted a survey worldwide in which it was discovered that only 20% of the body of Christ read their Bibles. Those 20% were usually the ones to do most of the work in churches and were regular givers but less than 10% read their Bibles systematically. Reasons for this were varied but some common reasons were that people were too busy to sit down and read, work demanded so much energy that they were too tired to read…[read more]
COMMUNICATING THE GOSPEL IN NEPAL
Thir Koirala
Looking at the history of Christianity in Nepal, we would likely find a Portuguese Jesuit person named Father Juan Cabral entered Nepal in 1628. King Laxmi Narshing Malla (1620-1641) presented Cabral with a Tamra Patra (a copper plate) and gave him permission to preach Christianity in Kathmandu valley. This is the first recorded Christian foreign alliance visit in Nepal.
In 1661, King Pratap Malla also received missionaries Albert d’Orville (Belgian) and Johann Grueber (Austrian) in Nepal. King Pratap Malla also granted them permission to preach Christianity in Kathmandu but they did not stay long in Nepal…[read more]