1989The Logic of Evangelism. Eerdmans. Defining evangelism as
initiating people into the kingdom, Abraham critiques
contemporary church growth and evangelism from a theological
perspective. A good text for a graduate level course on
evangelism.
Agbet, J.K.
1990 West African Church History: Christian Missions and
Theological Training 1842-1970. E.J. Brill. This is an
account of how missionaries trained indigenous leaders. It
covers British, German, Swiss, and American Protestants as
well as two Roman Catholic orders.
Allan, J.D.
1989 The Story of a Great Movement. Baker. A very simple, well
illustrated summary of the expansion of Christianity, with a
focus on evangelical missions.
Anderson, Gerald H., J.M. Phillips, and R.T. Coote, eds.
1991 Mission in the Nineteen 90's. Eerdmans. A collection of
recent articles from the International Bulletin of Missionary
Research. A very helpful source for contemporary issues in
missiology and introduction to some leading missiologists.
Bonk, Johnathan J.
1989 The Theory and Practice of Missionary Identification 1860-
1920. Edwin Mellen Press. A well documented study of
identification by missionaries from the London Missionary
Society in central Africa and China. The spheres of study are
linguistic, material-social, political-economic, and
religious-educational.
Bosch, David J.
1991Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of
Evangelization. Orbis. Bosch, a Professor of Missiology at
the University of South Africa treats six historical epochs of
Christian history as paradigm shifts in which the transcendent
and immanent are intrinsically linked. He responds to the
challenges of Enlightenment and the onset of postmodernity.
Bowen, Earle and Dorthy Bowen
1989"Contextualizing Teaching Methods in Africa." Evangelical
Missions Quarterly, 25 (3):270-275. Drawing from his
dissertation on cognitive styles of African theological
students, a distinction is made between field-dependent
(seeing whole instead of the parts) and field-independent
(separating the elements). They tested 205 students in
Africa, 91% were field-dependent. Suggestions are given to
shift theological education to the African style of learning.
Carpenter, Joel A. and Wilbert R. Shenk
1990 Earthen Vessels: American Evangelicals and Foreign Missions,
1880-1980. Eerdmans. North American churches are sending
more missionaries but 90% of them are not affiliated with
mainline Protestant mission boards. The book traces
premillennial eschatology, fundamentalist-modernist
controversies, rise of independent missions, role of World War
II, and growing Two-Third World's evangelical leaders.
Chao, Jonathan, ed.
1989The China Mission Handbook. Hong Kong: Chinese Church
Research Center. An invaluable resource for Christianity in
China. Part I gives the history of Christianity in China and
the dynamics of its growth. Part II is a guide to Chins's
provinces and minorities. Part III has six very practical
chapters on bibliographical sources on China, city
directories, directories of registered churches and tips for
Christian visitors to China.
Coggins, James R. and Paul G. Hiebert
1989 Wonders and the Word. Kindred Press. A critique of the
Wagner/Wimber "signs and wonders" philosophy of church growth.
Dayton, Edward R. and David A. Fraser
1990 Planning Strategies for World Evangelization. Eerdmans. A
major revision of the 1980 edition that helps sending churches
and missions teams ask the right questions at ten phases in
the process of evangelizing worldwide. A good text for
sending churches and mission committees.
Demarest, Burch H. and Richard J. Harpel
1989 "Don Richardson's Redemptive Analogies and the Biblical Data
of Revelation," Bibliatheca Sacra, July - September, 583:330-
340. Richardson's concept of redemptive analogies is
critiqued and rejected, claiming only scripture will bear
lasting fruit
Douglas, J. D., editor
1990 Proclaim Christ Until He Comes. Minneapolis, MN: World Wide
Publications. The text of the papers, videos, and reports at
Lausanne II in Manila in July, 1989. The major divisions of
the book follow the conference theme: "Calling the Whole
Church to take the Whole Gospel to the Whole World." While
this conference lacks the theological and informational depth
of Lausanne I, it broadened worldview and motivated people to
action. Presentations by Colin Chapman, Peter Kuzmic, John
Stott, and Os Guinness were exceptionally good. The 42
"tracks" or topics provide valuable criteria for "covering our
bases" in missiological training.
Echerd, Pam and Alice Arathoon, eds.
1989 Understanding and Nurturing the Missionary Family. (Volume 1)
William Carey Library. This volume represents the papers of
the 1987 Quito, Ecuador meeting of the International
Conference on Missionary Kids (ICMK). It covers topics like
identity formation, stresses, parenting, and educational
options.
1989Planning for MK Nurture. (Volume 2) William Carey Library. A
volume specifically for professionals who minister to
Missionary Kids. There are papers from the ICMK in Quito in
1987.
Engle, James F.
1990"The Road to Conversion: The Latest Research Insights,"
Evangelical Missions Quarterly, April, 26(2):184-193. A
review of major findings from over thirty studies on decision
process research. Implication and unresolved issues are
given.
Garrison, David V.
1990The Nonresidential Missionary. MARC. Garrison directs the
work of 46 nonresidential missionaries in 30 countries for the
Southern Baptist Convention. They are targeting 200 million
of the world's least evangelized peoples. Garrison presents
an innovative strategy for missions beyond such barriers as
restricted access countries. Appendix Two (p. 147-155) gives
very helpful instruction on how to research population groups.
Gilliland, Dean S., ed.
1989 The Word Among Us: Contextualizing Theology for Missions
Today. Dallas: Word Publishing. A study of the foundations
and ministry of contextualization produced by the faculty of
Fuller Theological Seminary (SWM).
Hedlund, Roger E.
1991 The Mission of the Church in the World: A Biblical Theology.
Baker. A diachronic approach to mission theology in the Bible
with a critical evaluation of contemporary theologies and
issues.
Hesselgrave, David J. and Edward Rommen
1989Contextualization: Meanings, Methods, and Models. Baker.
Both professors from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School,
Hesselgrave and Rommen give the historical background to
contextualization. They give a very balanced basis for
analysis from the perspectives of philosophy, theology,
anthropology, hermeneutics, and communication.
Huffard, Evertt W.
1989"Missions and the Servants of God (John 5)," Johannine
Studies. James E. Priest, editor, Pepperdine University. An
essay in a volume dedicated to Dr. Frank Pack. Three
missiological themes are developed: the sovereignty of God,
the glory of God, and partnership with God in missions.
Jansen, Frank Kaleb, ed.
1989Target Earth: The Necessity of Diversity in a Holistic
Perspective on World Mission. Global Mapping International.
An excellently illustrated overview of 159 topics and 219
countries on human needs and global concerns.
Langmore, Diane
1989
Missionary Lives: Papua, 1874-1914. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press. A detailed biography of 327 European
missionaries who lived and worked in Papua.
Larkin, William J., Jr.
1989
Cultural and Biblical Hermeneutics: Interpreting and Applying
the Authoritative Word in a Relativistic Age. Baker. A
professor of Bible at Columbia Graduate School of Missions,
Larkin contrasts evangelical and non-evangelical perspective
on hermeneutics and culture. A good summary of evangelical
thinking on the issue from the 1970's to the present. A good
grasp of missiological issues, but does not offer adequate
solutions to the problems. Proposes a step method of
hermeneutics in a cultural context.
McGavran, Donald A.
1990Understanding Church Growth. Eerdmans. Revised and edited by
C. Peter Wagner. In this second revision of McGavran's
original 1970 volume, about 35% of the 1980 revision has been
deleted, including two whole chapters ("Discipling Urban
Populations" and "Indigenous Church Principles and Growing
Churches.") A chapter was added on "Divine Healing and Church
Growth," with less than scholarly references to "hard-headed
Christians" who were skeptical about divine healing (p. 150).
Other deletions include common reasons for growth (1980:292-
293), two of seven principles for coping with redemption and
lift (1980:307-9), and a majority of the case studies.
Mulholland, Kenneth
1991"Donald McGavran's Legacy to Evangelical Missions,"
Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 27(1):62-70. Five theses of
McGavran are identified as his legacy to missiology: God
wants churches to grow, growth as a criteria, culture rather
than geography, urban priority, and strategy based on
research.
Niemyer, Larry
1990 "Church Growth in Nairobi, Kenya: A Case Study," Urban
Missions, 8(1):45-54. A demographic study of Nairobi reports
the growth of 27 new churches each year from 1973-1985.
Pollock, David C.
1989 "Strategies for Dealing with Crisis in Missionary Kid
Education," International Bulletin of Missionary Research,
13(1):13-19. An essay on the issues in missionary kid
education with evaluation of eight alternatives.
Roberts, W. Dayton and John A. Siewert, eds.
1989Mission Handbook: USA/Canada Protestant Ministries Overseas.
14th edition. MARC/Zondervan. A basic reference for church
and para-church ministries worldwide. Note essays on
opportunities, sending church, and vocational mission in this
edition.
Schreiter, Robert J.
"Teaching Theology From an Intercultural Prospective," ATS
Theological Education 26(1):13-34. A discussion of
methodological issues in intercultural hermeneutics.
Schultz, Dorothy Holsinger
1989
Mini-Missions Conference: A Missions Adventure for Children.
Fullerton, CA: R.C. Law and Co. A 32-lesson, 7 volume
mission education program for all ages.
Shaw, R. Daniel
1990"Culture and Evangelism: A Model for Missiological Strategy,"
Missiology, 18(3):291-304. Shaw shows the value of the
"Three-Cultural Model" in developing an evangelistic strategy
in a kinship, peasant, or industrial society.
Swanson, Allen J.
1989 "Decisions or Disciples? A Study in Evangelism Effectiveness
in Taiwan," Missiology, 17(1):53-68. A case study of
retention in Taiwan leads to the conclusion that evangelism
will need to be viewed as a process rather than a specific
action. The survey of drop-outs revealed only one in three
had any follow-up.
Thomas, Norman E.
1990 "Globalization and the Teaching of Mission," Missiology,
18(1):13-23. In response to the ATS call for globalization as
a major emphasis in the 1990's, he predicts missions will move
from the periphery to the integrative core of theological
curriculum. A new paradigm in theological education will
change the role of missiologists and the resources for
missiology.
Williams, C.P.
1990 The Idea of the Self-Governing Church. E.J. Brill. Williams
gives evidence that Henry Venn was not the lone advocate of
the 3-self formula. He represented the thinking of many, and
after his death it was the standard principle for CMS. Under
the influence of Eugene Stock, after the turn of the century,
it was abandoned.
White, Charles O.
1990The Missionary Myth: A Realistic Look at Mission Work. J.C.
Choate Publications. As missionaries in Lyon, France, the
Whites struggled with seven myths about mission work. Charles
White has written a practical thirteen lesson book that every
mission committee and missionary needs. Topics include
decision to go, qualifications, mission philosophy, fund-
raising, spirituality, family relationships, apprentices,
sponsoring church, and furloughs.
Missions and Modernity
Barna, George
1990 The Frog in the Kettle: What Christians Need to Know About
Life in the Year 2000. Ventura, CA: Regal. Much of the data
and projections Barna provides can be applied to mission
interests in American churches by the end of the 90's. What
will be the plight of missions when time becomes the primary
value (p. 39)? When high expectations force churches to do
only a few things but with excellence (p. 44)? When church
programs include more entertainment-related activities (p.
93)? When giving will not be viewed as a priority (p. 107)?
Birch, Charles
1990A Purpose for Everything: Religion in a Postmodern Worldview.
23rd Publication. Birch is an Australian biologist
specializing in genetics who argues for a post modern view of
the world as purposeful events and processes. Anyone seeking
World Christian perspective in a modern society will find his
axioms of a post modern worldview worth studying.
Bonk, Johathan J.
1991Missions & Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem.
Orbis. Bonk, a Mennonite, addresses the problem of affluent
(in the eyes of the world) missionaries living among the poor.
He addresses contemporary and biblical perspectives on the
problem, offering a challenge to live simple life styles to
avoid feelings of hostility among indigenous leaders.
Dyrness, William A.
1989How Does America Hear the Gospel? Eerdmans. An excellent
essay on three cultural values that challenge evangelism and
missions: pragmatism, optimism, and individualism. This is
of particular value to a new team as they cope with their own
American cultural values.
Gallagher, Michael Paul
1990Struggles of Faith. Dublin: Columbus Press. A series of
essays representing Catholic struggles with modernity in
Ireland. Of particular value is the essay on the results of
faith formation of 290 youths that would help in cultivating a
sense of world missions on a campus.
Myers, Kenneth A.
1989 All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and
Popular Culture. Crossway. In my judgment, this is one of
the best books available to help us understand the cultural
challenges to our college students who are thinking about
missions or ministry. The distinctions between popular
culture and traditional culture (p. 120) can easily be applied
to non-mission and mission minded Christians in matters of
reflection, immediacy, individualism, secularism, and
consumerism.
Newbigin, Lesslie
1989 The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Eerdmans. Globalization
and urbanization continue to create new problems for
evangelists as they engage a pluralistic world. He continues
the attack on a privatized religion typical to evangelical
circles that he began in Foolishness to the Greeks. "There
is, and there can be, no private salvation, no salvation which
does not involve us with one another" (p. 82). He calls for a
church with a greater public life.
Schaller, Lyle E.
1990Choices for Churches. Abingdon. Rapid changes in society
affect churches and too often their mission ministry.
Schaller gives a helpful analysis of options for churches in
deciding their style of ministry, whether to relocate, what an
old downtown church can do, and so on. He recognized that the
rarest approach to ministry is a church organized around the
support of and involvement in world-wide missions (p. 36). If
the most popular style is a preacher centered church, more
needs to be done to orient preachers to missions.
Wuthnow, Robert
1989The Struggle for America's Soul: Evangelicals, Liberals, and
Secularism. Eerdmans. A sociology professor at Princeton
University, Wuthnow critiques the privatization of religion in
America. Of particular interest is his assessment of the
influence of culture on religious schools. He argues that
evangelicals and liberals are very much related to their
culture when churches really need to engage in a rethinking of
public values.
Urban Ministry and Development
Beisner, E. Calvin
1990Prospects for Growth: A Biblical View of Population,
Resources, and the Future. Crossway. The ninth book in a
series which takes seriously the task of becoming a "World
Christian" and thinking globally. Beisner assumes we have
some responsibility for the escalation in poverty, pollution,
and population explosions. His attention to these mega-
challenges would make it a must for those interested in
agricultural or other vocational missions in the Third World.
Coffey, Ian, et. al.
1989 No Stranger in the City: God's Concern for Urban People.
InterVarsity. Nine essays on communicating the gospel to
people in the city.
Ellison, Edgar J., ed.
1989Christian Relief and Development: Developing Workers for
Effective Ministry. Word. A serious and well researched
attempt to integrate benevolence and evangelism. A
comprehensive study of historical, theological, and
anthropological perspectives of Christian relief and
development. This should be required reading for anyone
involved in medical missions.
Greenway, Roger S. & Timothy M. Monsma
1989 Cities: Missions New Frontier. Baker. Possibly one of the
best texts available on urban missions. It is not a manual
for doing it, but provides a basis for developing a philosophy
of urban missions. A wide variety of issues are addressed:
Biblical basis for urban missions, evangelism and benevolence,
ethnic diversity, models of outreach, stages of church
development, poverty, raising a family in the city, and the
question of church buildings.
Grigg, Viv.
1990Companion to the Poor: Christ in the Urban Slums. MARC. A
revision of the 1984 volume, the author shares his struggles
with the temptation to treat people's spiritual needs in
isolation from their poverty.
Lupton, Robert D.
1989Theirs is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban
America. Harper & Row. Lupton moved to a high crime area of
Atlanta to evangelize. The experience changed many of his
assumptions about himself and the nature of poverty. A series
of vignettes that should be required reading for anyone
working in benevolence or urban evangelism.
Mann, David P.
1990"Toward Understanding Gift-Giving in Relationships,"
Missiology, 18(1):49-60. The growing distance between rich
Christians and a poor world creates constant problems for
missionaries in Third World countries. Mann addresses
critical issues that may help many of our missionaries by
understanding the economic anthropology of gift-giving and how
poverty affects what is sacred, relationships, obligation,
power of the "rich man," and poor churches.
Ro, Bong Rin, ed.
1989 Urban Ministry in Asia - Cities: The Exploding Mission Field.
Taiwan: Asian Theological Association. Theological issues in
urban evangelism are developed in the specific context of
Asia. Case studies focus on Taiwan, Jakarta, Singapore, and
Manila. The chapters on factory evangelism, teaching grass-
root Christians for ministry, and the role of students in city
evangelism give useful suggestions for those involved in
ministry in Asia.
World Religion
Crawford, S. Cromwell, ed.
1989 World Religions and Global Ethics. New York: Paragon House.
Cross-cultural evangelism requires emic perspectives of
worldviews different from our own. This reference work is of
special value to those who seek to minister among the
unreached populations of the world: Hindu, Buddhists, Jains,
Chinese, Jews, Muslims, and Africans.
Dhammika, Shravasti
1990Encounters with Buddhism. Singapore: Buddhist Research
Society. A biographical account by fourteen men and women
from East and West explaining why they became Buddhists.
Lamb, Christopher
1990 "An Evangelical Theology of Pluralism," Evangelical Review of
Theology, 14(1):78-91. A recognition of truth in other
religions is found in a theology of pluralism. An outward-
looking church will build on existing truth and not conceal
his or her faith.
Mallon, Elias
1989Neighbors: Muslims in North America. Cincinnati, Ohio:
Friendship Press. A series of interviews with nine Muslims
for the purpose of introducing Christians to Muslims and
create new images.
Warner, Paula M.
1990"African Healer vs. Missionary Physician." Evangelical
Missions Quarterly, 26(4):396-404. Treatment of psychiatric-
emotional illnesses in Zaire involves both medical and
traditional help. Solutions to this problem of dual treatment
includes touch, involvement of the community, explanations of
illness, time and a holistic approach.
Wessels, Anton
1990Images of Jesus: Portrayed in Non-European Cultures.
Eerdmans. Perspectives of Jesus among Jews, Muslims, Indians,
Africans, Hindus, Buddhists, and Taoists. He investigates how
Jesus and culture interconnect.
Woodberry, J. Dudley, ed.
1989 Muslims and Christians on the Emmaus Road. MARC. The most
complete publication to date on Muslim evangelism addressing
the issues in contextualization, means of witness, spiritual
encounters, and resources.
Videos
A Letter Home.
Peek over the shoulder of translator Ken Swift as
he writes "A
Letter Home" to a friend, describing work among the Caquinte
Campa people of Peru. "God's timing is perfect," Ken says.
While a Caquinte man searched for the creator, Ken and his
wife Joy were growing up as missionary kids in Peru. God
called them separately and then brought them together to
answer the heart longings of the Caquinte in their search for
God. Sit beside Ken and Joy as they establish friendships
with these highly skilled jungle dwellers. In this video, you
will glimpse some of the complex steps which were taken in
Bible translation and literacy - steps which eventually led to
changed lives. This video is not a complete description of
all that translators do, but it explains the role linguistics
plays in translating scripture into an unwritten language.
Wycliffe Bible Translators, P.O Box 2727, Huntington Beach, CA
92647, (714) 969-4630.
A Tough Place to Play.
Illustrates the growing urbanization and
urban poverty in
developing nations around the world, produced by UNICEF.
Emphasizes access to resources, migration, self-reliance, and
survival skills of urban dwellers. Lifelong Learning,
University of California, Extension Media Center, Berkeley, CA
94720, (415) 642-0469. [Also note their films on Religion,
Geography, History, Poverty, Urban Crisis, Anthropology, and
World Affairs].
Hudson Taylor.
An 85 minute film available in English and
Spanish covering the
early years of Taylor's ministry, arrival in shanghai, death
of Maria, and the development of CIM. Good dramatization of a
man who believed "God's work done in God's way will never lack
God's supply."
Sword & Spirit:
A Six-Part Documentary Series Explaining the
Cutting Edge of
Christianity Around the World. The host, Charles Elliott goes
to Korea, Brazil, Poland, China, Ivory Coast, and USA to ask
the question: "Why is it that people have chosen to risk
their lives for their faith in these places?" Mass Media
Ministries, 2116 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD, 21218 (Co-
produced with BBC-TV).
To Every People.
A four-part series exploring the tribal world,
social dimensions
of Hindu worship, strong cultural ties in Islam, and the
experiences of the Chinese church. A colorful documentary of
rituals, history, pageants, and people. Intervarsity Video,
P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895/(800) 828-2100/(608)
274-9001.
This site mirrors the JAM site at the ACU web site.
Mirrored by permission of ACU Missions Personnel
Direct questions and comments to Ed Mathews,
http://bible.ovu.edu/missions/jam/missres.htm
Last updated on February 4, 2013
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