Hang on, God will give us the victory!

Be faithful

Adoniram Judson and his sweet wife, Ann, were missionaries in India and Burma. During their tour of service, Adoniram was arrested as an enemy agent when his homeland, England, and the nation in which he served became disenchanted with one another. Immediately, Judson was imprisoned. The tiny cell in which he was incarcerated was so crowded and small that the prisoners had to take turns sleeping. There was not enough room for all of them to lie down. The hot sun beating upon the dingy cell caused unbearable suffering through heat prostration. The stench also became obnoxious as the men were never allowed to bathe.

One day the government officials decided to punish the prisoners and Judson was hoisted into the air by his thumbs. Pain filled his body as he remained suspended in mid air for hours at a time. His precious helpmeet, Ann, would come by the cell daily, look inside, and weep. However, this soldier of the cross always encouraged her man by saying, "Hang on, Adoniram. God will give us the victory." As the days and weeks past, faithful Ann no longer made the visits and Adoniram's loneliness increased. No one had informed him that she was dying. All he had now was a memory of his sweetheart saying, "Hang on, Adoniram. God will give us the

Months later, upon his release, he immediately began the search for Ann. As he approached the area where he formerly lived, he saw a child so begrimed with dirt that he failed to recognize the little one as his own. He the dashed into the tent and saw the form of one so small and weak from malnutrition, that she appeared to be a skeleton. Her beautiful flowing hair had also fallen out and she was


As Adoniram called, she failed to respond. It seemed as though she were already dead. He took her in his arms and wept. The hot tears dropping on her angelic face revived Ann and she said, "hang on, Adoniram; God will give us the victory."


Adoniram lost his sweetheart, but not his faith and courage. He continued under dire circumstances to preach and to build churches, and when this man of God was buried, scores of churchs had come into existence through his labors. Adoniram and Ann ran the race faithfully unto the end and experience the "abundant entrance" I have been proclaiming. What will your homegoing be like, Christian?

Reduce the number of missionaries?!

Southern Baptist Agency to Cut Missionary Force by 600
Thu, Nov. 26, 2009 Posted: 12:09 PM EDT


The Southern Baptist Convention’s international mission agency will cut its overseas force by as many as 600 missionaries in 2010.

Due to a severe budget shortfall, the International Mission Board decided to reduce the number of missionaries it has on the field, with the process already starting this year. The board will not bring home missionaries already serving on the field, but the reduction instead will result from natural attrition.

“We are simply not going to be sending as many new missionaries,” explained Wendy Norvelle, IMB spokesperson, to The Christian Post on Wednesday.

Some missionaries serve two- to three-year terms, Novelle pointed out, and the IMB will simply let those terms expire. Other long-term missionaries will retire or resign to take on positions in other ministries.

There are currently a little above 5,500 IMB missionaries overseas and the plan is to decrease that number to about 5,000 by the end of 2010.

The decision to reduce the missionary force is based on several factors, but mostly because of the economy, Norvelle said.

IMB has three major sources of income: regular offering in churches through the Cooperative Program, investments, and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which makes up more than half of the agency’s annual budget.

Last year, all three sources of income were down by millions of dollars each. The 2008 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering was $9 million less than the total received in 2007. Moreover, it was $29 million short of the $170 million goal.

A smaller budget means less money to support overseas missionaries.

Norvelle said reducing the number of missionaries will have an effect on the Southern Baptist Convention’s mission work.

“Obviously, what we are about is taking the Gospel to people who never had the opportunity to hear and sending fewer people means there will be fewer forces and personnel on the field taking the Gospel where it needs to go,” she said.

“So yes, it will affect us. We are not able to, for instance, put some new personnel in an unreached people group.”

But Norvelle said SBC churches are widely becoming aware that the resources provided for mission work were not adequate and are discussing the concern. Many SBC leaders are “sounding the alarm” and saying the situation is unacceptable, she said.

“Southern Baptist [churches] took in $12 billion in 2008 in their offering plate,” the IMB spokesperson pointed out. “And so some of it may be a matter of priority of how churches choose to spend their dollar. Whether they use it to focus on reaching the lost world or spend it on programs and ministries that benefit themselves.”

The International Mission Board is an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest evangelical denomination. The SBC claims more than 40,000 churches with nearly 16 million members.

Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter

I don’t know for sure if I’m going to heaven

Pastor Breaks Islam Code for Christians
Thu, Feb. 25, 2010 Posted: 06:19 PM EDT


A megachurch pastor who understands Islamic theology said the majority of Christians would agree for the most part with the five core beliefs of Islam.

J.D. Greear, who holds a Ph.D. in Christian and Islamic theology, told Debbie Chavez of the eponymously named Christian internet talk show that the five core beliefs of Islam is a good conversation starter when talking with Muslims.

“That is a real key in learning to dialogue with Muslims is starting with the things that we share in common,” Greear, who is senior pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., said on the radio show last week to promote his new book, Breaking the Islam Code: Understanding the Soul Questions of Every Muslim.

The five core beliefs of Islam are: there is only one God; God revealed His will to mankind through a series of prophets; God ‘s revelations are recorded in holy books; angels exist; and there is an afterlife.

Greear, who had lived in a predominantly Muslim country in Southeast Asia for two years, said Muslims believe God revealed His will to mankind through a series of 25 major prophets, 24 of which Christians would recognize.

Muslims are taught, for example, that the first prophet is Adam, the 23rd is John the Baptist, and the 24th is Jesus. The major difference is they believe the 25th and last prophet is Muhammad, who brings together the messages of all 24 previous prophets.

Regarding the Islamic holy books, most Christians only know about the Quran. But Muslims also believe God’s revelation is recorded in other holy books, including the Suhuf Ibrahim, scrolls of Abraham; the Tawrat, the writings of Moses or Torah; the Zabur, writings of David or Psalms; and the Injil, or the Gospel.

“In fact, one of the verses in the Quran, in Surah (chapter) 10, says to Muslims that if you have questions about the previous prophets ask the Christians who have read these things before you,” Greear explained. “It actually points Muslims to Christians because all the Muslims get is little bits and pieces of the story of the previous 24 prophets.”

The pastor and church planter said he would cite the verse in the Quran that tells Muslims that they should ask him, a Christian, if they wanted to hear the full story of Moses. Then he would sit together with an interested Muslim and read together the story of Moses in the Bible.

Statistics show that over a third of all non-Christians in the world are Muslims, but only .05 percent of Christian evangelists in the world focus on Muslims. The area in the world with the most non-Christians is in the 10/40 Window – from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the equator, which includes the Middle East and extends from West Africa to East Asia.

But the Bible, Greear pointed out, says that before Jesus’ return “every nation, tribe, people and language” will come to God. Looking at the history of the Roman Empire and communism, which both opposed Christianity, Greear believes God will next move in Islamic countries.

“Islam is the one great stronghold that we've never really seen a massive breakthrough of the Gospel really ever take place,” he noted. And that is why Greear wrote Breaking the Islam Code, because he believes that the next movement of God will be among Muslims.

Though Greear readily acknowledges similarity between Islam and Christianity and that it is a good conversation starter, he is also quick to point out the differences between the two religions.

Muslims believe Jesus is only a prophet, not the son of God, and that he did not die on the cross. They also believe Muhammad is the prophet of God and that Muslims are saved by their good works that earn them favor with Allah.

Greear, while talking about the five practices of Muslims, highlighted their prayer and how it is connected to Islam’s merit system. Muslims are supposed to pray five times a day facing Mecca. They do not pray spontaneously from their hearts, but repeat verses from the Quran after going through a washing ritual.

Muslims earn credit towards entering heaven by keeping their prayer standard, so they have to do them or make it up if they miss the prayer because it reduces their chances of getting into heaven. If a Muslim prays in a mosque it is worth 25 times more than if they pray at home. If they pray in Mecca, it is worth 50,000 times more than if they prayed at home.

But despite Muslims’ hard work to enter heaven, there is no guarantee they will.

“This is probably the saddest things about Islam, because nobody knows for sure,” Greear said. “[I]n the Hadith (the collection of Muhammad’s sayings) you find out that Muhammad said, ‘I don’t know for sure if I’m going to heaven.’"

“It’s sort of classic religion, if you do more good works than bad works then it increases your chances of getting into heaven,” Greear noted. “But nobody knows for sure.”

Greear, who has led Muslims to Christ, said one of the best ways to share the Gospel with them is simply by being their friend and letting them see the Christian community. Muslims consistently say that one of the key factors that made them accept Christ is seeing the love that exists in a true Christian church.

“It is a love that they have never known,” Greear said. “Let them just see the community and brotherhood.”

The Durham pastor also recommends allowing Muslims to read the Bible.

“It is like what Martin Luther said, the Bible is like a caged lion,” he said. “If a caged lion is attacked, rather than defending it, just unleash it. Let the Bible do its own work. The main goal talking with a Muslim is not to convince them that Christianity is true, but to invite them to read the Bible because when they do that the Bible will do its own work.”

The Muslim expert said one of the biggest objections Muslims have about Christianity is the trinity. They believe Christians are polytheists because the Quran teaches them that Christians believe God the father had sex with God the mother and gave birth to Jesus and that constitutes the trinity. Greear said Christians should just plainly state that they only believe in one God despite what Muslims think.

The former church planter in Southeast Asia said, like many other missionaries, that many Muslims are coming to Christ through dreams and visions. In their dreams, some Muslims say they see a person dressed in white handing them a book. After repeatedly receiving these dreams, these Muslims would look for Christians to ask them to interpret their dreams.

“God can send these dreams, but there must be messengers on the ground who can share the Gospel,” Greear stated. “That is the way that God has limited Himself, if I can say it like that. The Gospel has to move forward by people preaching the Gospel.

“So yes, God will do His part, but we have to do our part by being there and witnessing,” he said.

Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter

Cities are where churches can reach the next generation

Tim Keller: Churches Worldwide Need to Move into Cities
Thu, Oct. 21, 2010 Posted: 06:45 AM EDT


CAPE TOWN, South Africa – New York pastor Tim Keller awed the crowd Wednesday evening with his well thought-out argument on why churches around the world need to move into cities.

Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan told attendees of Lausanne III that if Christians want human life to be shaped by Jesus Christ then churches need to go into cities.

Cities are where churches can reach the next generation (young adults want to live in the city); reach more unreachable people (people are far more open to the Gospel in the cosmopolitan city than in their hometown); reach people who have a big impact on the world (filmmakers, authors and businessmen); and reach the poor (about one-third of city dwellers live in shanty towns).

“Human beings, according to Genesis 1, are made in the image of God and reflect God’s glory more than anything else in creation,” said Keller, whose Redeemer City to City has planted more than 100 churches around the world.

“In these cities you have more image of God per square inch than anywhere else in the world,” he said. “So God makes the numbers argument.”

The influential pastor known for his deep thinking shared a story about a missionary friend. Keller’s friend once quipped that the country is where there are more plants than people and the city is where there are more people than plants. And because God loves people more than plants, He has to love the city more than the country.

About 300 years ago, less than three percent of the world’s population lived in cities. Today, more than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in cities and the number is growing rapidly. It is estimated that eight million people, or about the population of Bangkok, move into cities every two months.

“The people are moving into the cities faster than the church is,” Keller emphasized. “If you love what God loves then you will love the cities. If you want to go where the people are you got to go into the cities.”

But churches that want to go into the cities need to be contextualized in order to be effective, he said. Just like how urban China is different than China and urban America is different than America, an urban church is different than a church in the countryside.

An urban church, which has people from many cultures, is required to be extremely patient about accusations of cultural insensitivity and should expect to be accused of such. Pastors of urban churches need to accept that they can never fully solve complaints of cultural insensitivity, but that they can learn from criticisms.

Churches in cities also need to show people how their faith relates to their work because jobs are a much bigger part of urban dwellers’ life, Keller said.

“I had only known how to disciple people by bringing them out of the work world and into my church world,” the New York pastor shared. “But if you are in an urban church you can’t do that. You have to help people apply their faith to their work.”

Urban churches also need to expect disorganization and changes; be intensely evangelistic but at the same time famous for its concern for justice; be committed to the arts; and cooperate with other denominations and faith, he said.

“Look at the cities of this world. Look at the masses of these cities, God says. Why aren’t you moved by them? Why aren’t you going there?” Keller asked. “So let’s go.”

The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, also known as Cape Town 2010, has drawn more than 4,000 Christian leaders representing over 190 nations to Cape Town, South Africa. The conference was founded by American evangelist Billy Graham in 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland, to bring together the global body of Christ for world evangelization.

This Congress is unique in the diversity of its attendees and for discussing a wide range of global problems faced by today’s church, including secularization, Islam, HIV/AIDS, prosperity gospel, nuclear weapons, and environmental concerns. The conference program will conclude on Sunday.

Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter

God still calls men and women to be His ambassadors today!

SOURCE: OUR DAILY BREAD
June 29, 2009
Macauley


I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” —Isaiah 6:8


Macauley Rivera, one of my dearest friends in Bible college, had a passion for the Savior. His heart’s desire was to graduate, marry his fiancée Sharon, return to the inner city of Washington, DC, and plant a church to reach his friends and family for Christ.

That dream ended, however, when Mac and Sharon were tragically killed in an accident, leaving the student body stunned at the loss. At Mac’s memorial service, the challenge was issued: “Mac is gone. Who will serve in his place?” As evidence of the impact of Mac’s example, more than 200 students stood to take up the mantle of Christ’s fallen servant.

The response of those students echoes the commitment of Isaiah. In a time of fear and insecurity, the prophet was summoned into the throne room of God, where he heard Him say, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Isaiah responded, “Here am I! Send me” (Isa. 6:8).

God still calls men and women to be His ambassadors today. He challenges us to serve Him — sometimes close to home, sometimes in distant lands. The question for us is, How will we respond to His call? May God give us the courage to say, “Here am I! Send me.” — Bill Crowder

Take the task He gives you gladly;
Let His work your pleasure be;
Answer quickly when He calleth,
“Here am I, send me, send me.” —March

Whom God calls, He qualifies; whom He qualifies, He sends.

The opium harvest is the world's largest with production of $35 billion p.a.

Praying for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan


GEOGRAPHY

Area 652,225 sq.km. Dry and mountainous, but with fertile valleys. This strategic land has been fought over by rival foreign empires for nearly three thousand years.

Population Ann.Gr. Density
2000 22,720,000 +2.93% 35 per sq. km.
2010 32,902,000 +2.58% 50 per sq. km.
2025 44,934,000 +1.95% 69 per sq. km.

No census or careful ethnic survey has ever been made. Figures are all estimates. Afghan refugees in 2000 numbered 1.4 million in Iran, 2.2 to 3m in Pakistan and smaller numbers across the world after peaking in the 1990s at 6.5m.
Capital Kabul 2,700,000. The civil war extensively damaged the capital. Other cities: Kandahar 420,000; Mazar-e-Sharif 270,000. Urbanites 22%.

PEOPLES

70 peoples.

Indo-Iranian 86.8%. Largest: Pashtun (Pathan) 9.7mill.; Tajik 4m; Hazara/Aimaq (of Turkic origin) 1.8m; Other Persian-speaking 770,000; Baluch 260,000; Nuristani peoples(11) 250,000.

Turkic-speaking 10.7%. 10 peoples. Uzbek 1.8m; Turkmen 520,000.
Other 2.5%. Brahui 240,000; Pashai 160,000.

Literacy 10-31% (much lower for women). Official languages Pashto (used by 50% of population), Dari (Afghan Persian, 35%). All languages 50. Languages with Scriptures 2NT 3por.

ECONOMY

Shattered by 22 years of war. The countryside was bombed and mined; half the housing, most of the complex irrigation systems and a high proportion of the livestock were destroyed. The most lucrative agricultural crop is now opium (Afghanistan is the world's largest producer) which has paid for weapons for the warring factions. Recovery has been slowed by the radical extremes of the Taliban government and widespread environmental and structural damage inflicted on this tragic land. HDI n.a. Public debt 95% of GNP. Income/person $250 (0.8% of USA).

POLITICS

The monarchy was overthrown in 1973. Republican government ended in a Marxist coup in 1978. Then followed an invasion by the USSR. Ten years of war ensued culminating in the humiliating withdrawal of the Soviet forces in 1988-89. Civil war between ethnic and religious factions has continued ever since with enormous damage and casualties. The extreme Islamist (mainly) Pashtun Taliban gained control of over 90% of the country by 2001. UN sanctions in 2001 further isolated the country.

RELIGION

The Taliban take-over of the country has imposed the strictest interpretation of Islam in the world today. The results have been devastating for the economy and for the lot of women in society. All Afghans must comply with the strict codes imposed on dress, beards, education and observance of shari'a law. What little religious freedom existed has been terminated.

Religions Population % Adherents Ann.Gr.
Muslim 97.89 22,241,015 +2.9
Parsee 1.50 340,806 +2.9
Hindu 0.35 79,521 +0.2
Traditional ethnic 0.10 22,720 +2.9
Baha'i 0.10 22,720 n.a.
Christian 0.02 3,000 n.a.
Sikh 0.02 4,544 +2.9
non-Religious 0.01 2,272 +2.9

Non-Muslim figures may be now much lower than these stated. No Christian churches are permitted. The number of Afghan Christians is estimated to be 1,000 to 3,000. Some Christian expatriate workers have been permitted to serve in relief and social uplift programmes.

Challenges for Prayer

1 The largely Pashtun Taliban swept to power with Pakistani military support, U.S. arms and Saudi money. Traditional and rural in outlook and using Islam to legitimate their authority, they have imposed a measure of stability after 22 years of war. A narrow interpretation of shari'a law has outlawed playing games, use of cassette tapes, videos and TV (and much more) and has tyrannized the Shi'a Muslims, women and anyone deviating from the Taliban's interpretation of the law. In 2001 the death penalty was imposed for anyone converting from Islam or attempting to convert anyone from Islam. Pray that the unprecedented openness to the gospel created by these sufferings may ultimately lead to a great harvest.

2 Two decades of unremitting war have brought most of the population to ruin and destitution. An estimated 1 million lost their lives, 2 million were maimed and 4 million children orphaned. The result is ecological disaster, a shattered infrastructure, over 12 million uncleared anti-personnel mines and the capital in ruins. Pray for peace, reconstruction, an awakening to moderation and tolerance and a realization that Marxism and Islam cannot provide the solutions to heal their land.

3 Afghanistan has become an open, festering wound that is poisoning the world. Though most Taliban are nationalists, violent pan-Islamists have also joined the movement with the aim of exporting Islamist revolution to surrounding lands. The opium harvest is now the world's largest with production the equivalent of $35 billion a year. Pray for a just, fair and honourable government to be raised up for this tragic land.

4 Afghanistan is one of the least reached countries in the world. There are 48,000 mosques but not a single church building. Pray for the 70 unreached peoples of this land, especially:

a) Pashtun. Approximately half the Afghan population, and politically dominant, the Pashtuns on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border comprise what has been called the largest Muslim tribal society in the world — approximately 27 million people in over 30 major sub-tribes. There are few Christians among them, though urban, educated Pashtuns in exile have shown responsiveness. Pray that multitudes might be released from the strongholds of Islam, fear, prejudice and pride in pashtunwali (their tribal code of honour).

b) Uzbek and Turkmen of the north have shown some responsiveness as refugees in other lands. Their whole way of life is under threat from the Taliban regime.

c) Tajik in the north-east. They are among the last people to resist the Taliban. Pray for their spiritual freedom.

d) The Hazara, Shi'a Muslims of Mongol descent, have been severely persecuted and even massacred by the Sunni Taliban. More responsive to the gospel in recent years.

e) The Kuchi nomads in central and western regions who numbered 2.5m before the war destroyed their lifestyle. Most are Pashto- or Persian-speaking. Many fled to Pakistan.

f) The Aimaq of the west and the Baluch and Brahui of the south.

g) The Nuristani tribes in the mountains north and east of Kabul. They speak a number of mutually unintelligible languages. The major peoples are the Waigeli 40,000; Kati 100,000; Ashkun 10,000. They were forcibly converted to Islam a century ago. Some parts of Nuristan were much influenced in the 1990s by Wahhabism, a strict Islamic sect, very hostile to anything Christian.

h) The Sikh, Hindu and Parsee minorities who are mainly traders.

5 Though there is no visible church in Afghanistan, the number of Afghan believers is increasing in urban and some remote rural areas. Because of fear and suspicion, many believers find it difficult to meet in groups. Some find help and encouragement through Christian radio programmes in the main languages of Afghanistan. The Taliban religious police are active in seeking out 'converts' who are considered apostates. Pray for their protection, consistency of faith and clarity of witness whenever opportunity arises. Pray also that the small fellowships (many are family groups) of Afghan Christians that have come into being in South Asia, Europe and North America may become bold witnesses for Christ.

6 Women in the cities have been severely repressed by the Taliban regime. They have been banished from public life, forbidden employment, restricted to the home, denied education (girls) and health services and suffer at the hands of men, with no recourse to any justice. One in four women are widows, and many are destitute. Depression and suicide are commonplace. Pray for basic human rights to be restored to women.

7 Christian aid ministries. Since 1966 a number of Christian relief and development agencies have ministered to the blind, maimed, sick, deprived, illiterate and needy in the name and Spirit of the Lord Jesus. Pray for courage in the face of severe restrictions or constant harassment and that their lives might commend the gospel. Pray that professionals may respond to the many needs of these Christian NGOs.

8 The need for the Scriptures. The whole Bible is available in Iranian Persian, but differences between this and Afghan Persian makes it difficult for many to read. A translation of the Bible was made in the 19th century but this is unavailable and its language archaic. The NT in Dari (Afghan Persian) and in a Pakistani dialect of Pashto have been well received. Translations into major dialects of Afghan Pashto are still needed. The OT is slowly progressing in Dari and Pashto; pray for their speedy completion. Translations do not exist in any indigenous minority language. Pray that these might come to fruition. Pray also for the entry and distribution of God's word in this closed land, which the Taliban is seeking to prevent.

9 The Media. Pray that all appropriate methods of witness may be used effectively.

a) GRN(LRI) has made audio recordings in 38 languages and dialects but means for effective distribution and use are, humanly-speaking, virtually non-existent in Afghanistan.

b) Christian radio. This is the most strategic way to proclaim the good news at the present time and there has been a significant response. FEBA, with IBRA as partners, broadcast in Persian (4.5 hrs/wk), Dari (5), Pashto (3.25), Uzbek (1.75) and also Baluch and Turkmen. Pray for the provision of and support for more Dari- and Pashto-speaking Christians to prepare programmes and answer mail. Pray also for programming to commence in other Afghan languages.

c) The JESUS film is available in Brahui, Dari, Pashto, Tajik, Turkmen and Uzbek, but its use inside Afghanistan is difficult at the present time.

d) Literature. Discipleship and other training materials are being developed in the major languages of Afghanistan, in addition to many other types of evangelistic materials. Though forbidden for distribution or possession inside Afghanistan, this has been very effective in reaching Afghans in exile. Pray for those involved in producing, distributing and studying these materials.

195 official independent countries of the world & their capital cities

Source: Number of countries

Apparently United Nations only recognize 192 countries.
But the US Department recognizes 194 independent territories.
And Taiwan is not recognized because of China. Yet is quite independent in her political administration.


It is my desire to pray through this list of countries and independent territories.

Source: 195 countries & capitals

Afghanistan - Kabul
Albania - Tirane
Algeria - Algiers
Andorra - Andorra la Vella
Angola - Luanda
Antigua and Barbuda - Saint John's
Argentina - Buenos Aires
Armenia - Yerevan
Australia - Canberra
Austria - Vienna
Azerbaijan - Baku
The Bahamas - Nassau
Bahrain - Manama
Bangladesh - Dhaka
Barbados - Bridgetown
Belarus - Minsk
Belgium - Brussels
Belize - Belmopan
Benin - Porto-Novo
Bhutan - Thimphu
Bolivia - La Paz (administrative); Sucre (judicial)
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sarajevo
Botswana - Gaborone
Brazil - Brasilia
Brunei - Bandar Seri Begawan
Bulgaria - Sofia
Burkina Faso - Ouagadougou
Burundi - Bujumbura
Cambodia - Phnom Penh
Cameroon - Yaounde
Canada - Ottawa
Cape Verde - Praia
Central African Republic - Bangui
Chad - N'Djamena
Chile - Santiago
China - Beijing
Colombia - Bogota
Comoros - Moroni
Congo, Republic of the - Brazzaville
Congo, Democratic Republic of the - Kinshasa
Costa Rica - San Jose
Cote d'Ivoire - Yamoussoukro (official); Abidjan (de facto)
Croatia - Zagreb
Cuba - Havana
Cyprus - Nicosia
Czech Republic - Prague
Denmark - Copenhagen
Djibouti - Djibouti
Dominica - Roseau
Dominican Republic - Santo Domingo
East Timor (Timor-Leste) - Dili
Ecuador - Quito
Egypt - Cairo
El Salvador - San Salvador
Equatorial Guinea - Malabo
Eritrea - Asmara
Estonia - Tallinn
Ethiopia - Addis Ababa
Fiji - Suva
Finland - Helsinki
France - Paris
Gabon - Libreville
The Gambia - Banjul
Georgia - Tbilisi
Germany - Berlin
Ghana - Accra
Greece - Athens
Grenada - Saint George's
Guatemala - Guatemala City
Guinea - Conakry
Guinea-Bissau - Bissau
Guyana - Georgetown
Haiti - Port-au-Prince
Honduras - Tegucigalpa
Hungary - Budapest
Iceland - Reykjavik
India - New Delhi
Indonesia - Jakarta
Iran - Tehran
Iraq - Baghdad
Ireland - Dublin
Israel - Jerusalem*
Italy - Rome
Jamaica - Kingston
Japan - Tokyo
Jordan - Amman
Kazakhstan - Astana
Kenya - Nairobi
Kiribati - Tarawa Atoll
Korea, North - Pyongyang
Korea, South - Seoul
Kosovo - Pristina
Kuwait - Kuwait City
Kyrgyzstan - Bishkek
Laos - Vientiane
Latvia - Riga
Lebanon - Beirut
Lesotho - Maseru
Liberia - Monrovia
Libya - Tripoli
Liechtenstein - Vaduz
Lithuania - Vilnius
Luxembourg - Luxembourg
Macedonia - Skopje
Madagascar - Antananarivo
Malawi - Lilongwe
Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur
Maldives - Male
Mali - Bamako
Malta - Valletta
Marshall Islands - Majuro
Mauritania - Nouakchott
Mauritius - Port Louis
Mexico - Mexico City
Micronesia, Federated States of - Palikir
Moldova - Chisinau
Monaco - Monaco
Mongolia - Ulaanbaatar
Montenegro - Podgorica
Morocco - Rabat
Mozambique - Maputo
Myanmar (Burma) - Rangoon (Yangon); Naypyidaw or Nay Pyi Taw (administrative)
Namibia - Windhoek
Nauru - no official capital; government offices in Yaren District
Nepal - Kathmandu
Netherlands - Amsterdam; The Hague (seat of government)
New Zealand - Wellington
Nicaragua - Managua
Niger - Niamey
Nigeria - Abuja
Norway - Oslo
Oman - Muscat
Pakistan - Islamabad
Palau - Melekeok
Panama - Panama City
Papua New Guinea - Port Moresby
Paraguay - Asuncion
Peru - Lima
Philippines - Manila
Poland - Warsaw
Portugal - Lisbon
Qatar - Doha
Romania - Bucharest
Russia - Moscow
Rwanda - Kigali
Saint Kitts and Nevis - Basseterre
Saint Lucia - Castries
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Kingstown
Samoa - Apia
San Marino - San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe - Sao Tome
Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
Senegal - Dakar
Serbia - Belgrade
Seychelles - Victoria
Sierra Leone - Freetown
Singapore - Singapore
Slovakia - Bratislava
Slovenia - Ljubljana
Solomon Islands - Honiara
Somalia - Mogadishu
South Africa - Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judiciary)
Spain - Madrid
Sri Lanka - Colombo; Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative)
Sudan - Khartoum
Suriname - Paramaribo
Swaziland - Mbabane
Sweden - Stockholm
Switzerland - Bern
Syria - Damascus
Taiwan - Taipei
Tajikistan - Dushanbe
Tanzania - Dar es Salaam; Dodoma (legislative)
Thailand - Bangkok
Togo - Lome
Tonga - Nuku'alofa
Trinidad and Tobago - Port-of-Spain
Tunisia - Tunis
Turkey - Ankara
Turkmenistan - Ashgabat
Tuvalu - Vaiaku village, Funafuti province
Uganda - Kampala
Ukraine - Kyiv
United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi
United Kingdom - London
United States of America - Washington D.C.
Uruguay - Montevideo
Uzbekistan - Tashkent
Vanuatu - Port-Vila
Vatican City (Holy See) - Vatican City
Venezuela - Caracas
Vietnam - Hanoi
Yemen - Sanaa
Zambia - Lusaka
Zimbabwe - Harare

We have to be loving, tolerant and accepting of people who are very different from us.

Kong Hee on Church Growth
Tuesday, Sep. 8, 2009 Posted: 1:54:46AM HKT

Source: Click here


In the comparatively short span of two decades, City Harvest Church has become the largest congregation in Singapore.

And yet, for many pastors and believers, the phenomenal growth of the church is at best a mystery or a feat of which only a few are capable.

At worst, it is a tell-tale ‘sign’ of the shallowness of faith and lack of discipleship of the members.

For The Rev Dr Kong Hee, who founded CHC, the growth was unexpected.

Two themes emerged in the course of the email interview he graciously accepted from The Christian Post.

It was primarily the clear vision of God’s passion and calling to the believers and the relentless obedience of the small group of individuals that pioneered the church that enabled CHC to succeed in its outreach.

In the following full transcript, the CHC founder explains how the church has come so far and where it is headed, and then some.

The Christian Post: Your anniversary theme is City Harvest Church Celebrates 20 Years of Growth. How did CHC grow over the past two decades?

The Rev Dr Kong Hee: When I look back at all our achievements, I must honestly say that it is all God. As we continually yield ourselves to Him, truly He has taken us from glory to glory. It has indeed been an exhilarating ride with the Holy Spirit.

CHC is built on 3 core pillars. The first is the Great Commandment: loving God wholeheartedly and loving people fervently. Our love for God must translate into loving our neighbours. So we want to find a hurt and heal it, find a need and meet it. We want take the anointing of God outside of our physical confines into a broken-down world, to build a “Church Without Walls.” To do that, we have to be loving, tolerant and accepting of people who are very different from us. We love them unconditionally and help them become happy, productive people. With this mindset, we have grown the church to the size it is today.

The second pillar is the Great Commission: preaching the gospel of the kingdom in all the nations. Jesus didn’t just die for our own countrymen, He laid down His life for the whole world. From the urban cities to the rural villages, every person should have the chance to know Jesus and hear of what He has done for him or her. The secret to successful missions is still church-planting. Our strategy in missions is to disciple locals to build relevant, contemporary, Spirit-filled churches. Today, we have 45 affiliate churches and 10 Bible schools in the region. We are growing at the rate of one church every 2-3 months.

The third pillar is the Cultural Mandate of bringing Christ into our contemporary culture. We don’t believe in isolating and sanitizing our members from the world. On the contrary, we inspire them to engage society as salt and light, to be useful citizens---to have a “holy worldliness.” We are to be the representative of Christ in the marketplace of business, education, civil service, arts and entertainment, and the mass media. We must listen to the “messages” that is coming out of popular culture and understand the needs of our generation. Only then can we effectively meet those needs in a way and language the people of the 21st century could understand.
CP: What was CHC like at the very beginning and in its early years?

Kong: Twenty years ago, when CHC first started with a group of 20 young people, we lacked both the experience and resources in starting a church. However, even though our pockets were empty, our hearts were full of passion toward God and a great desire to serve His purpose in our generation. Other churches in Singapore were skeptical of the sustainability of this church of youths, and viewed it with no small measure of suspicion. It was totally unheard of that a church could be independently started by young people, and many in the public were wondering if we were even a proper church.

At that time, CHC did not have its own physical building as well and we had to meet from place to place such as the Katong Park Hotel (Duke Hotel), NTUC Auditorium, Ministry Of Environment Building, National Productivity Board Auditorium, World Trade Centre (now HarbourFront) and Westin Stamford Hotel (now The Fairmount), just to name a few. There were even times when the members did not know where the next service was going to be held! But despite the uncertainty and resistance, we chose to obey the call of God and live a life of spiritual commitment and discipline. I continued preaching messages like faith, prayer and fasting, giving, discipleship, ministry and evangelism, and these values have become the core beliefs and foundation of our church today. By the grace of God, our perseverance paid off and we have grown to what we are today. We have never looked back since.

CP: What is your personal testimony like? How did you come to know Christ and desire to serve Him? And what inspired you to start CHC?

Kong: I received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord in 1975. After my conversion, I attended a small neighborhood Anglican church for the next 13 years. In 1989, I felt the call of God to enter into full-time Christian service. By then, I had graduated with a degree in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore and was working for a publishing house. Having held several small, but successful, evangelistic campaigns in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, my original intention was to become a missionary in Southeast Asia. In April that year, I left the Anglican church that I had been attending since a child and set out to become a staff evangelist with “Christ for Asia,” a Singapore-based missions organization.

During one of my trips to the Philippines, the Holy Spirit spoke into my heart, “Kong, return to Singapore and raise up a new generation of believers that would take Asia by storm.” Truly, God’s ways are higher than our ways. At that same time, a group of young people that I had previously ministered to approached me and wanted me to be their shepherd, to pastor and lead them. With the support and encouragement of numerous senior pastors in the city, I decided to pioneer a new work, and hence, put aside my desire of becoming a church-planter in the mission fields.

CP: We know that it is God who grows the Church, but how did CHC allow Him to do that exactly? Do you have any encouragement for churches that have hit the growth ‘plateau’?

Kong: When the Lord first spoke to me about pastoring a church, I had no idea how this vision will come to pass at that time or how the church is going to be like. Since our inception, our modus operandi for winning the lost has been through the Caring System and Friendship Evangelism, where we build meaningful friendships with them and meet their needs with the love of God. At the same time, I was actively discipling the young people in the basics of Christianity: the Word of God, prayer, life in the Holy Spirit, soul-winning, church life, etc. And step by step, God brought us from a humble beginning of 20 people to what we are today, a church of 27,086 weekly attendees.

Coupled with a constant vision and love for the lost, I believe these are the factors that have propelled our church forward. Our leadership and members are always mindful that God’s desire is that everyone should be reached with the Gospel. We have a saying in CHC that “as long as there is one unsaved person out there, the church is not big enough.” We refuse to allow our present size to make us complacent and stop reaching out to the lost.

Inevitably, all churches will go through challenging times or hit a “plateau” in their growth cycle. The important thing to do apart from praying and believing is to persist and keep on keeping on. When we are determined to live out the will of God and fulfil His call upon our lives against all odds, our breakthroughs will come.

CP: With over 27,000 members, what are the main challenges of discipleship? How does CHC overcome that?

Kong: One of the things we have guarded closely over the years is the values or “DNA” of City Harvest Church which can be summed up as the church’s spirit of excellence and uncompromising attitude toward the things of God. In spite of our size, we try our best to ensure it is passed down, year after year, to the rank and file. This would not have been possible without an effective cell group system. In our church, over 1,000 cell group and ministry leaders each lead one or two cell groups, each averaging 15 people. Cell group meetings are held once a week — and in between, conduct fellowship, counseling, Bible studies, and many other activities.

As our church grows larger in numbers, "cell groups provide the optimum context for effective discipleship,” where members can still forge close relationships with fellow Christians in a much smaller setting. Smaller cell groups help foster strong bonds of friendship among church members, and particularly among the young, the positive peer pressure helps to keep values intact. Thankfully, CHC members are still very committed to prayer and fasting. Overnight prayer meetings are regular occurrences, and this year the church has embarked on “Prayer365” which ensures that at on any given day throughout the year, there are City Harvest cell groups interceding for the vision of the church and the needs of the members.

CP: What would you say is the biggest crisis in Christianity today?

Kong: One of the foremost challenges facing Christianity today is for the need for the church to stay relevant in order to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving society. For those who have been brought up in traditional, conservative, legalistic Christianity, there is always a discomfort in relating or engaging human society or its popular culture. Somehow, we have been taught that culture is worldly, carnal and demonic. But culture is simply a reflection of what people value and enjoy in life. In fact, culture is not a “secular” concept; it has its beginning in the Scripture.

In Genesis 2:15, when God told Adam to take care of the Garden of Eden, the word He used was cultura or “culture.” In its simplest sense, “culture” means taking the raw materials or resources that God has given to man and creatively nurturing them to their fullest potential. These resources may come in the form of talents, gifts and abilities. And even if they are outside the scope of direct church work, we should seek to develop them fully for the glory of God, with the confidence that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

God is the Creator and creativity is in His nature. On the other hand, Satan is never creative. Sin has no originality. The devil is not the giver of visions and dreams; the Holy Spirit is. Whenever we see something beautiful in the realm of music, art, science, or even human sexuality, it should be natural for us to show an appreciation for it, because it reflects the beauty that originates from God. Conversely, when we see something being distorted or perverted, we mustn’t condemn or curse it; instead, we should seek to redeem it back to God’s original purpose for it.

As Christians of the 21st century, we can’t withdraw into our little shell of religious correctness. More than ever before, we need to engage culture and provide the answer the world is desperately seeking for. The Bible says, “We are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor. 5:20). A good ambassador must understand the habits, thinking, values and language of the people he (or she) is sent to. He may not readily accept any portion of the culture of the host country, but nonetheless must be diplomatic enough to represent his president well. Similarly, we are sent as the representatives of the King of kings and Lord of lords to a broken-down world. The Bible encourages believers to engage culture in positive ways and have the ability to “diplomatically” know what portion of culture to accept or to reject. Being a kind, polite, non-condemning and non-judgmental Christian is consistent with having the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

Let us be relevant to the real world. “Relevance” means that we should work toward excellence, realism, and fully covering the entire scope of the human experience. Let us become relatable to a real world with real problems. Only in that process can we introduce a lost generation to a real God with real life-changing solutions.

CP: Can you name some of the ‘frontiers’ that CHC is and will be moving into in the near and distant future?

Kong: Spiritually, we want to grow CHC and raise up more disciples locally and overseas. For that, our aim is to plant more churches and start more Bible schools in the major cities in Asia. In terms of our community services, we would like to start more schools, medical centres, orphanages and rehabilitation centres in the poorer regions of Asia. We presently have about 30 such centres and would like to take it to 100 if the Lord permits. Locally in Singapore, if possible, we would love to work with the authorities to build old folks homes, elderly care centers, and maybe even a hospital someday.

In the next 20 years, it is my prayer that our members will really build happy, healthy marriages and families. They will live useful and productive lives in the marketplace of the world. The City Harvest DNA is one of love, acceptance, colour, creativity and progressiveness. We hope to positively bring these values into the societies that we are working in, and re-present a Christ who is loving, accepting, colourful, creative and progressive.

CP: As a Pentecostal raised in a mainline denomination, what would you say are the reasons for divisions between the newer, independent churches and older mainline denominations? What are some practical steps both sides could take to minimise this conflict?

Kong: In the last decade or so, the Singapore church scene has seen an increase in inter-denominational cooperation such as the LoveSingapore movement, Festival of Praise and the Global Day of Prayer event organized by the Evangelical Fellowship of Singapore, just to name a few. These have done a lot of good in uniting and creating meaningful working relationships among the different churches. A better understanding and appreciation of the different ministries carried out by the respective churches has also been fostered.

As a church, we do not see any major “divisions” or differences between the newer independent churches and the mainline traditional denominations as the basis of our faith originates from the same Source, which is the Bible. There may be some differences in our approach, methods and style of worship, but our essential beliefs and fundamental doctrines remain the same for all churches.

CP: Do you have any other comments?

Kong: I believe the finest days for the Church are ahead of us. There is no limit to what God can do through a person or a church who lives by the Word, partners with the Holy Spirit and walks in total obedience to God!

I just want to get them out there

Midsize Mission Renews Europe's Declining Churches

Source: Click here


Churches across Europe are reporting that setting up midsize missional groups alongside their worship services is proving to be an effective strategy to not only revitalize struggling congregations, but also to help attract new people in a post-Christian society.

Tue, Jul. 22, 2008 Posted: 11:37 AM EDT

Churches across Europe are reporting that setting up midsize missional groups alongside their worship services is proving to be an effective strategy to not only revitalize struggling congregations, but also to help attract new people in a post-Christian society.

Midsize groups range in number from 15 to 70 members and do anything from handing out flowers to women on Mother’s Day, meeting in cafes with non-Christians to explore the practices of the faith, to serving in a discipleship program.

The majority of Mid Size Communities (MSCs) include worship, fellowship and mission, but the primary purpose can differ from being a church’s main vehicle for mission, a combination of pastoral and missional, or serving as the basic unit of the church.

In the paper “Mid Sized Mission – The Use of Mid Sized Groups as a Vital Strategic Component of Church,” Joanne Appleton describes MSCs as having the potential to be “building blocks to a city-wide church planting movements as a networked expression of church.”

Missional MSCs, which works with mainly non-believers, want to grow, Appleton explains. But by their very definition they are midsize, so as they get bigger they have to reproduce other midsize groups thus sparking a church planting movement within the existing church structure.

St. Andrew’s church in Chorleywood, United Kingdom, for instance, increased its actively participating members from around 400 to 1,500 in less than five years since planting MSCs alongside its services and small groups.

Five years ago, the church was confronting declining attendance and less than 12 percent of the congregation was in small groups, recalls Andrew Williams, associate vicar at St. Andrews.

Now, 72 percent of the church members belong to one of 32 midsize missional communities serving their neighborhood by working with the deaf, elderly and homeless.

Williams believes MSCs “release the potential of ordinary believers to get involved in the outward dimension of church life,” according to Appleton.

A key principle to MSCs is they are run by people and not a pastor. In some models, several midsize groups meet together to form a cluster that worship together on some Sundays each month. These clusters rotate with each other in attending central services. In some church models a cluster only attends the main church service once a month and gathers together for missional activities during the other weeks.

“For my part the cluster is the church,” said Pastor Trond Loberg, of Normisjon Storsalen Church in Oslo, Norway. “The mission field is so big. We haven’t reached it in the traditional way; we need new ways. Some of the clusters will be released from our church – if they are only 10 people they are still a church and some of them will grow up to be a celebration and a church in their own right. I don’t want to focus on how they will grow. I just want to get them out there.”

MSCs meet in homes, restaurants, cafes, pubs, shopping malls, mountains, and even in garages. Each MSC has a specific target, for instance, to share the Gospel in the break-dance community or to reach out to business people at work.

Jennifer Riley
Christian Post Reporter

Church will make it a priority to train, equip and mentor its members in mission!

What is an Intentionally Missional Church?


Source: click here


Bryan Knell, Church Relations Director for the Global Connections network, reflects on what we understand by 'intentionally missional church'

Most evangelical churches in the UK do mission. They believe that doing mission is part of their evangelical responsibility as gospel people. They send money for mission, mission personnel are mentioned in their prayers and they sometimes arrange an event to hear about what is happening in another part of the UK or the wider world.

But doing mission is not the same as being missional. Churches that do mission may well make a significant contribution to building the Kingdom of God, but the underlying ethos of most well established UK churches is not missional and certainly not intentionally missional.

There are certainly spiritual and discipleship issues that are behind this problem. If Christian individuals and churches were to grasp and live out the mission of God as it is proclaimed through the whole of the biblical record, we would have no problem. But there are at least two historical and structural issues that result in churches doing mission rather than being missional. Firstly, the Church lost its missional way and secondly, the UK church, more recently, has not been allowed to be missional.

The Church lost its way missionally

From the beginning of Christendom, services have been the primary evidence and event of the church. We have buildings for services (many of our church buildings are suitable for services and nothing else), furniture for services, officiators for services, clothes for services, music for services, utensils for services, special words (liturgies) for services, biddings and benedictions for services.

In most UK churches today, the majority of effort, practice, rehearsal and leader's time goes into preparing the Sunday morning 'service'. And that 'service' is primarily for those that belong. We are making the 'in crowd' feel important, comfortable and accepted. Our experience each week shows us that the church is about the bums of the faithful on seats!

It is a pastoral model of church. A church leader's key task should be 'to prepare God's people for works of service' (Eph 4:12) but we call many of them 'pastors' and that indicates the way we think about church. Pastoral care is important, but it should be a management role in the church. Leadership should be missional.

The Church is not being allowed to be missional

For the last hundred years the UK church has not being encouraged to be missional because other organisations have been set up with the express purpose of doing mission. Mission agencies, evangelistic organisations, mission halls and various outreach groups have been focused on preaching the gospel and sharing the good news in a great variety of creative ways. Some have specialised in a particular approach and become experts in their ministry. Many have been very effective and many Christians look back to a 'para-church' group and are thankful for all they learnt through its ministry.

But simply because they have existed, the church has continued to be sidelined in its missional role. How does a church now begin to get involved in a particular ministry when an organisation has many years experience and is well known for expertise?

For most of the last 200 years, churches have been expected to 'do mission' through the 'pay and pray' approach. Organisations have done mission on behalf of and in the name of the church, with the church's financial and prayerful support. It will take time and a lot of persuasion to change the perception.

Mission the 'organising function' of churches

As Mike Frost explained so clearly during his visit to the UK in 2008, worship has been the 'organising function' of churches under Christendom. An intentionally missional church will have mission as the 'organising function'.

Many new and young churches are establishing themselves with mission as their organising function, but there are two major problems we still face.

Firstly, changing the culture of a church from being pastorally centred to being missionally centred is almost impossible. Very few established churches have managed to make the change.

Secondly, churches that have been recently founded as missional churches have very often rejected the valuable experience that para-church groups can offer. They often assume that if they have any contact with an organisation, it will take over and dominate them. There will always be an important and valuable role for specialist agencies in supporting, advising and serving the churches in mission.

The characteristics of an intentionally missional church

1. Vision – the dominant and priority vision of a missional church is to see the Kingdom of God expanded by gospel proclamation and social action. Mission is not limited by geography or method. How healthy a church is, how much it has achieved in the past year, its aim for the coming year and its 5/10 year goal will all be determined by mission.

2. Decisions – all decisions at every level will be made of the basis of mission opportunities and prospects. "If it does not involve mission, we will not do it."

3. Equipping/Empowering – the church will make it a priority to train, equip and mentor its members in mission. This will involve helping Christians identify where they can naturally do mission and giving them confidence to make the most of these opportunities. Secondly, it will also involve identifying new circumstances where they can be involved in mission together and thirdly, decide which mission projects will be supported by the church.

4. Preaching/Teaching/Learning – the Bible will be taught through a mission hermeneutic. This means that it will be assumed that mission is the over-riding message, focus, fabric and structure of the whole Bible – Genesis to Revelation; that all the issues that the Bible covers have to be understood in terms of their affect on and contribution to mission. The Bible will be taught not just as valuable spiritual wisdom but to equip Christians to respond to the questions and issues that they face as they do mission.

5. Worship – worship will be inspired by missional concepts.

a) Firstly, the glory of God which is enhanced when people come to acknowledge him as Lord through mission.

b) Secondly, the prospect of worship in heaven when people from every tribe, language, people and nation will gather round the throne. (Rev 7)

c) Thirdly, worship will be enhanced and invigorated by the testimony of those come to faith and being blessed by God through mission as it is in heaven. (Luke 15:7)

6. Community – Fellowship will be vital because of the challenges, pressures and attacks that Christians are facing as they reach out in mission. People are drawn together when they unitedly attempt a task or face a challenge.

Global Connections became established as the Evangelical Missionary Alliance at a time when mission was done for the churches by specialist 'missionary' societies. Today, Global Connections operates with the strapline, 'mission at the heart of the church, the church at the heart of mission' and seeks to help churches to be missional and to encourage mission agencies to allow them to be!

We confess with shame that we have often denied our calling and failed in our mission

I will be teaching on Contextualization in August 2009.
This is a good covenant to remind us of our responsibilities.
Written in 1974! that is 35 years ago!
I am revising the Indonesian version as i think it requires some improvement.


The Lausanne Covenant


INTRODUCTION

We, members of the Church of Jesus Christ, from more than 150 nations, participants in the International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, praise God for his great salvation and rejoice in the fellowship he has given us with himself and with each other. We are deeply stirred by what God is doing in our day, moved to penitence by our failures and challenged by the unfinished task of evangelization. We believe the Gospel is God's good news for the whole world, and we are determined by his grace to obey Christ's commission to proclaim it to all mankind and to make disciples of every nation. We desire, therefore, to affirm our faith and our resolve, and to make public our covenant.

1. THE PURPOSE OF GOD

We affirm our belief in the one-eternal God, Creator and Lord of the world, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who governs all things according to the purpose of his will. He has been calling out from the world a people for himself, and sending his people back into the world to be his servants and his witnesses, for the extension of his kingdom, the building up of Christ's body, and the glory of his name. We confess with shame that we have often denied our calling and failed in our mission, by becoming conformed to the world or by withdrawing from it. Yet we rejoice that even when borne by earthen vessels the gospel is still a precious treasure. To the task of making that treasure known in the power of the Holy Spirit we desire to dedicate ourselves anew.

(Isa. 40:28; Matt. 28:19; Eph. 1:11; Acts 15:14; John 17:6, 18; Eph 4:12; 1 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 12:2; II Cor. 4:7)

2. THE AUTHORITY AND POWER OF THE BIBLE

We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We also affirm the power of God's word to accomplish his purpose of salvation. The message of the Bible is addressed to all men and women. For God's revelation in Christ and in Scripture is unchangeable. Through it the Holy Spirit still speaks today. He illumines the minds of God's people in every culture to perceive its truth freshly through their own eyes and thus discloses to the whole Church ever more of the many-colored wisdom of God.

(II Tim. 3:16; II Pet. 1:21; John 10:35; Isa. 55:11; 1 Cor. 1:21; Rom. 1:16, Matt. 5:17,18; Jude 3; Eph. 1:17,18; 3:10,18)

3. THE UNIQUENESS AND UNIVERSALITY OF CHRIST
We affirm that there is only one Saviour and only one gospel, although there is a wide diversity of evangelistic approaches. We recognise that everyone has some knowledge of God through his general revelation in nature. But we deny that this can save, for people suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. We also reject as derogatory to Christ and the gospel every kind of syncretism and dialogue which implies that Christ speaks equally through all religions and ideologies. Jesus Christ, being himself the only God-man, who gave himself as the only ransom for sinners, is the only mediator between God and people. There is no other name by which we must be saved. All men and women are perishing because of sin, but God loves everyone, not wishing that any should perish but that all should repent. Yet those who reject Christ repudiate the joy of salvation and condemn themselves to eternal separation from God. To proclaim Jesus as "the Saviour of the world" is not to affirm that all people are either automatically or ultimately saved, still less to affirm that all religions offer salvation in Christ. Rather it is to proclaim God's love for a world of sinners and to invite everyone to respond to him as Saviour and Lord in the wholehearted personal commitment of repentance and faith. Jesus Christ has been exalted above every other name; we long for the day when every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confess him Lord.

(Gal. 1:6-9;Rom. 1:18-32; I Tim. 2:5,6; Acts 4:12; John 3:16-19; II Pet. 3:9; II Thess. 1:7-9;John 4:42; Matt. 11:28; Eph. 1:20,21; Phil. 2:9-11)

4. THE NATURE OF EVANGELISM
To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and believe. Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to evangelism, and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Saviour and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God. In issuing the gospel invitation we have no liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship. Jesus still calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community. The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his Church and responsible service in the world.

(I Cor. 15:3,4; Acts 2: 32-39; John 20:21; I Cor. 1:23; II Cor. 4:5; 5:11,20; Luke 14:25-33; Mark 8:34; Acts 2:40,47; Mark 10:43-45)

5. CHRISTIAN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
We affirm that God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression. Because men and women are made in the image of God, every person, regardless of race, religion, colour, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic dignity because of which he or she should be respected and served, not exploited. Here too we express penitence both for our neglect and for having sometimes regarded evangelism and social concern as mutually exclusive. Although reconciliation with other people is not reconciliation with God, nor is social action evangelism, nor is political liberation salvation, nevertheless we affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty. For both are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and man, our love for our neighbour and our obedience to Jesus Christ. The message of salvation implies also a message of judgment upon every form of alienation, oppression and discrimination, and we should not be afraid to denounce evil and injustice wherever they exist. When people receive Christ they are born again into his kingdom and must seek not only to exhibit but also to spread its righteousness in the midst of an unrighteous world. The salvation we claim should be transforming us in the totality of our personal and social responsibilities. Faith without works is dead.

(Acts 17:26,31; Gen. 18:25; Isa. 1:17; Psa. 45:7; Gen. 1:26,27; Jas. 3:9; Lev. 19:18; Luke 6:27,35; Jas. 2:14-26; Joh. 3:3,5; Matt. 5:20; 6:33; II Cor. 3:18; Jas. 2:20)

6. THE CHURCH AND EVANGELISM
We affirm that Christ sends his redeemed people into the world as the Father sent him, and that this calls for a similar deep and costly penetration of the world. We need to break out of our ecclesiastical ghettos and permeate non-Christian society. In the Church's mission of sacrificial service evangelism is primary. World evangelization requires the whole Church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. The Church is at the very centre of God's cosmic purpose and is his appointed means of spreading the gospel. But a church which preaches the cross must itself be marked by the cross. It becomes a stumbling block to evangelism when it betrays the gospel or lacks a living faith in God, a genuine love for people, or scrupulous honesty in all things including promotion and finance. The church is the community of God's people rather than an institution, and must not be identified with any particular culture, social or political system, or human ideology.

(John 17:18; 20:21; Matt. 28:19,20; Acts 1:8; 20:27; Eph. 1:9,10; 3:9-11; Gal. 6:14,17; II Cor. 6:3,4; II Tim. 2:19-21; Phil. 1:27)

7. COOPERATION IN EVANGELISM
We affirm that the Church's visible unity in truth is God's purpose. Evangelism also summons us to unity, because our oneness strengthens our witness, just as our disunity undermines our gospel of reconciliation. We recognize, however, that organisational unity may take many forms and does not necessarily forward evangelism. Yet we who share the same biblical faith should be closely united in fellowship, work and witness. We confess that our testimony has sometimes been marred by a sinful individualism and needless duplication. We pledge ourselves to seek a deeper unity in truth, worship, holiness and mission. We urge the development of regional and functional cooperation for the furtherance of the Church's mission, for strategic planning, for mutual encouragement, and for the sharing of resources and experience.

(John 17:21,23; Eph. 4:3,4; John 13:35; Phil. 1:27; John 17:11-23)

8. CHURCHES IN EVANGELISTIC PARTNERSHIP
We rejoice that a new missionary era has dawned. The dominant role of western missions is fast disappearing. God is raising up from the younger churches a great new resource for world evangelization, and is thus demonstrating that the responsibility to evangelise belongs to the whole body of Christ. All churches should therefore be asking God and themselves what they should be doing both to reach their own area and to send missionaries to other parts of the world. A reevaluation of our missionary responsibility and role should be continuous. Thus a growing partnership of churches will develop and the universal character of Christ's Church will be more clearly exhibited. We also thank God for agencies which labor in Bible translation, theological education, the mass media, Christian literature, evangelism, missions, church renewal and other specialist fields. They too should engage in constant self-examination to evaluate their effectiveness as part of the Church's mission.

(Rom. 1:8; Phil. 1:5; 4:15; Acts 13:1-3, I Thess. 1:6-8)

9. THE URGENCY OF THE EVANGELISTIC TASK
More than 2,700 million people, which is more than two-thirds of all humanity, have yet to be evangelised. We are ashamed that so many have been neglected; it is a standing rebuke to us and to the whole Church. There is now, however, in many parts of the world an unprecedented receptivity to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are convinced that this is the time for churches and para-church agencies to pray earnestly for the salvation of the unreached and to launch new efforts to achieve world evangelization. A reduction of foreign missionaries and money in an evangelised country may sometimes be necessary to facilitate the national church's growth in self-reliance and to release resources for unevangelised areas. Missionaries should flow ever more freely from and to all six continents in a spirit of humble service. The goal should be, by all available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person will have the opportunity to hear, understand, and to receive the good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice. All of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which cause it. Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism.

(John 9:4; Matt. 9:35-38; Rom. 9:1-3; I Cor. 9:19-23; Mark 16:15; Isa. 58:6,7; Jas. 1:27; 2:1-9; Matt. 25:31-46; Acts 2:44,45; 4:34,35)

10. EVANGELISM AND CULTURE
The development of strategies for world evangelization calls for imaginative pioneering methods. Under God, the result will be the rise of churches deeply rooted in Christ and closely related to their culture. Culture must always be tested and judged by Scripture. Because men and women are God's creatures, some of their culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because they are fallen, all of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic. The gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any culture to another, but evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and righteousness, and insists on moral absolutes in every culture. Missions have all too frequently exported with the gospel an alien culture and churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture rather than to Scripture. Christ's evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God.

(Mark 7:8,9,13; Gen. 4:21,22; I Cor. 9:19-23; Phil. 2:5-7; II Cor. 4:5)

11. EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP
We confess that we have sometimes pursued church growth at the expense of church depth, and divorced evangelism from Christian nurture. We also acknowledge that some of our missions have been too slow to equip and encourage national leaders to assume their rightful responsibilities. Yet we are committed to indigenous principles, and long that every church will have national leaders who manifest a Christian style of leadership in terms not of domination but of service. We recognise that there is a great need to improve theological education, especially for church leaders. In every nation and culture there should be an effective training programme for pastors and laity in doctrine, discipleship, evangelism, nurture and service. Such training programmes should not rely on any stereotyped methodology but should be developed by creative local initiatives according to biblical standards.

(Col. I:27,28; Acts 14:23; Tit. 1:5,9; Mark 10:42-45; Eph. 4:11,12)

12. SPIRITUAL CONFLICT
We believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with the principalities and powers of evil, who are seeking to overthrow the Church and frustrate its task of world evangelization. We know our need to equip ourselves with God's armour and to fight this battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer. For we detect the activity of our enemy, not only in false ideologies outside the Church, but also inside it in false gospels which twist Scripture and put people in the place of God. We need both watchfulness and discernment to safeguard the biblical gospel. We acknowledge that we ourselves are not immune to worldliness of thoughts and action, that is, to a surrender to secularism. For example, although careful studies of church growth, both numerical and spiritual, are right and valuable, we have sometimes neglected them. At other times, desirous to ensure a response to the gospel, we have compromised our message, manipulated our hearers through pressure techniques, and become unduly preoccupied with statistics or even dishonest in our use of them. All this is worldly. The Church must be in the world; the world must not be in the Church.

(Eph. 6:12; II Cor. 4:3,4; Eph. 6:11,13-18; II Cor. 10:3-5; I John 2:18-26; 4:1-3; Gal. 1:6-9; II Cor. 2:17; 4:2; John 17:15)

13. FREEDOM AND PERSECUTION
It is the God-appointed duty of every government to secure conditions of peace, justice and liberty in which the Church may obey God, serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and preach the gospel without interference. We therefore pray for the leaders of nations and call upon them to guarantee freedom of thought and conscience, and freedom to practise and propagate religion in accordance with the will of God and as set forth in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We also express our deep concern for all who have been unjustly imprisoned, and especially for those who are suffering for their testimony to the Lord Jesus. We promise to pray and work for their freedom. At the same time we refuse to be intimidated by their fate. God helping us, we too will seek to stand against injustice and to remain faithful to the gospel, whatever the cost. We do not forget the warnings of Jesus that persecution is inevitable.

(I Tim. 1:1-4, Acts 4:19; 5:29; Col. 3:24; Heb. 13:1-3; Luke 4:18; Gal. 5:11; 6:12; Matt. 5:10-12; John 15:18-21)

14. THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent his Spirit to bear witness to his Son; without his witness ours is futile. Conviction of sin, faith in Christ, new birth and Christian growth are all his work. Further, the Holy Spirit is a missionary spirit; thus evangelism should arise spontaneously from a Spirit-filled church. A church that is not a missionary church is contradicting itself and quenching the Spirit. Worldwide evangelization will become a realistic possibility only when the Spirit renews the Church in truth and wisdom, faith, holiness, love and power. We therefore call upon all Christians to pray for such a visitation of the sovereign Spirit of God that all his fruit may appear in all his people and that all his gifts may enrich the body of Christ. Only then will the whole church become a fit instrument in his hands, that the whole earth may hear his voice.

(I Cor. 2:4; John 15:26;27; 16:8-11; I Cor. 12:3; John 3:6-8; II Cor. 3:18; John 7:37-39; I Thess. 5:19; Acts 1:8; Psa. 85:4-7; 67:1-3; Gal. 5:22,23; I Cor. 12:4-31; Rom. 12:3-8)

15. THE RETURN OF CHRIST
We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, in power and glory, to consummate his salvation and his judgment. This promise of his coming is a further spur to our evangelism, for we remember his words that the gospel must first be preached to all nations. We believe that the interim period between Christ's ascension and return is to be filled with the mission of the people of God, who have no liberty to stop before the end. We also remember his warning that false Christs and false prophets will arise as precursors of the final Antichrist. We therefore reject as a proud, self-confident dream the notion that people can ever build a utopia on earth. Our Christian confidence is that God will perfect his kingdom, and we look forward with eager anticipation to that day, and to the new heaven and earth in which righteousness will dwell and God will reign forever. Meanwhile, we rededicate ourselves to the service of Christ and of people in joyful submission to his authority over the whole of our lives.

(Mark 14:62; Heb. 9:28; Mark 13:10; Acts 1:8-11; Matt. 28:20; Mark 13:21-23; John 2:18; 4:1-3; Luke 12:32; Rev. 21:1-5; II Pet. 3:13; Matt. 28:18)

CONCLUSION
Therefore, in the light of this our faith and our resolve, we enter into a solemn covenant with God and with each other, to pray, to plan and to work together for the evangelization of the whole world. We call upon others to join us. May God help us by his grace and for his glory to be faithful to this our covenant! Amen, Alleluia!

Guilty of distributing seditious or objectionable material ?

Singapore evangelists found guilty in first sedition trial
by Nathanael Ng, Christian Post
Posted: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 8:14 (BST)

A Christian couple has been found guilty of distributing seditious or objectionable material to three Muslims and being in possession of seditious publications.

The case of Ong Kian Cheong, a SingTel technical officer, and Dorothy Chan Hien Leng, a UBS associate director, marks the first time in the republic that a full trial under the Sedition Act has been heard.

In 2005, a man was jailed for a month for posting inflammatory and vicious remarks about Muslims and Malays on the internet. The following year, an accounts assistant received a stern warning for posting an offensive cartoon of Jesus Christ on his blog.

For many years, Ong and Chan had been involved in mass-mailing evangelistic tracts to members of the public. Three recipients of some of the booklets found them seditious or objectionable and lodged complaints.

They received the two evangelistic tracts titled The Little Bride or Who Is Allah? in December last year and told the court they felt angry, insulted and offended and believed a Christian group had sent them.

Ong and Chan were arrested on January 30 last year. The couple was also found to be in possession of 439 copies of 11 publications deemed sedicious at their Maplewoods Condominium.

The trial revolved around whether the couple knew or had reason to believe the publications they mailed to the three plaintiffs were seditious.

The prosecution had alleged that they were fully aware of the offensive nature of the contents and distributed those offensive publications to members of different faiths in Singapore with no regard for their feelings or sensitivities, according to the Straits Times.

Ong and Chan, however, claimed they had not read nor know what the tracts in question contained. Moreover, they added, they did not have reason to believe that the 11 tracts were seditious since they were openly sold at the Tecman bookstore in Bras Basah Complex.

District judge Roy Neighbour rejected their defence on the grounds that the two tracts received by the three plaintiffs had been “ordered regularly and in bulk for over two decades” since 1987. Underscoring that they are educated and intelligent people, the judge said they “would have known” that the publications “had a serious seditious tendency because the tracts are not only highly critical but denigrate Islam, the Roman Catholic Church and other religions”, reported Today.

He also disbelieved Chan’s claim that she had “randomly” sent them out, saying that “in a multi-racial society like Singapore, a name can reveal a person’s race and possibly religion”.

“It is plain (they) were watering down their roles in the commission of the offences,” said the judge.

The case was adjourned until Thursday for mitigation and possible sentencing.

Under the Sedition Act, anything that has a tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore is considered seditious.

For distributing a seditious publication, the couple faces a fine of up to $5,000 and jail for up to three years on each of two charges.

The spiritually sensitive are going to experience revelation knowledge of those who are dying of spiritual malnutrition and disease.

Get Ready to Serve
by Steve Hill

Something powerful is on the horizon. The Lhttp://global-south.blogspot.com/ord is equipping His church for the greatest outpouring the world has ever seen. We must do everything possible to prepare our hearts and to train others for this soul-saving revival. We also must be willing to be used by the Lord in new, unfamiliar ways.

A fresh evangelistic anointing is about to rest upon true believers. Fear will give way to Holy Ghost-boldness as the Spirit of God directs His people into uncharted spiritual territory. The thirsty masses are about to be handed an unsolicited cup of cool water that will change them for eternity.

In a recent interview with a major news organization I was asked if the evangelical church should be responsible for solving the world's starvation and disease epidemic. Though I don't believe the answer lies solely with the church (it's a little more complex than that), I do believe that we are mandated to feed, clothe and help the poor. If we don't, then according to the Word of God, our religion is lifeless.

However, we can't ignore those who are starving for fresh bread and fresh water from heaven. Their deep hunger pains can only be satisfied as we offer more of God's presence, power and prophetic insight.

We can do this by allowing the Lord to show up in our church services and home groups without restraint and by showing the hungry and thirsty multitudes that God wants to meet their needs. He can save, He can heal, He can deliver—and we can prove it.

The world is craving a touch from the Creator. We must provide the atmosphere and the opportunity for miracles to take place.

I believe God is going to empower us by sending a new wave of revelation as a foundation for operating in the prophetic. The Lord is going to take the anointing we enjoy inside the sanctuary to those who need it most—outside in the marketplace! Our cup is running over and we're about to offer it to strangers.

In the months and years ahead God's people are going to become acutely aware of the spiritually malnourished around them. He will reveal to us the depth of their cravings as if we were watching a documentary on starvation.

The spiritually sensitive are going to experience revelation knowledge of those who are dying of spiritual malnutrition and disease. Vivid images of their desperate plight will be dropped into our spirits. This will take place in schools, shopping malls, the local grocery store—anywhere we find the spiritually destitute.

Without warning, the Lord will use His obedient followers to delve into the very core of the lives of strangers. Hidden secrets will be revealed to the believer, and out of a heart of compassion, he or she will share them with the lost to prove that Jesus Christ is alive. These words will be so direct and precise that conversions will take place.

My favorite prophetic words have always been those that are given outside the church walls. These are the divine appointments that reach into the lives of people who often know nothing of biblical principles and doctrine. All they know is that some brave heart just read their mail.

Such precious, God-ordained meetings will become more commonplace in the days to come. God wants our words, anointed of the Holy Ghost, to penetrate their darkness of doubt and fear. These words, fitly spoken, will literally shock the unbeliever into reality.

Ask God, this year, to give you words in season for the unconverted. That cup of cold water and taste of fresh bread could be the beginning of the end of spiritual world hunger.

The genius of the Christian movement through history is its acceptance of cultural and linguistic diversity

Missions and the Translatable Gospel

by John B. Carman

John B. Carman is Parkman professor of divinity and professor of comparative religion at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 30-September 6, 1989, p. 786. Copyright by the Christian Century Foundation and used by permission. Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted & Winnie Brock.

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Book Review:
Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture, by Lamin Sanneh. Orbis, 310 pp., $17.95 paperback.

Whether they approve or disapprove, both Christian theologians and secular historians tend to understand missions as the exporting of Western Christianity to the Third World. Lamin Sanneh, professor of missions and world Christianity at Yale Divinity School, challenges that interpretation with an exciting new story of Christian mission and a provocative analysis of the role of translation in that mission. The central historical focus of Translating the Message is Christianity’s rapid spread in Africa during the past century and a half, but its distinctive interpretation has implications for all Christian mission and for a general Christian theology of culture. Moreover, this book makes a promising beginning in the comparative study of mission in Christianity and Islam.

Sanneh maintains that when first-century Christians translated their sacred texts into Greek they began a process by which the Christian message was repeatedly restated in new linguistic and cultural forms. This process both recognized the worth of each language employed and limited or relativized the significance of each cultural medium. Although particular denominations have resisted any further translation out of what for them was and is the sacred language (particularly in the case of the Bible and the central liturgy) , the impulse to translate has always reasserted itself. No matter how culturally parochial or politically imperialistic the missionary agents of the gospel have been, to the extent they have recognized and utilized the built-in Christian strategy of translation they have stood in the margins of the process and elevated the status of the culture into whose language the translation has been made.

Sanneh argues against the theory that "mission was the surrogate of Western colonialism and that . . . together these two movements combined to destroy indigenous cultures." African Christians, reading the Bible and reflecting on its message in their own languages, have tended "to question, and sometimes to renounce, the Western presuppositions of the church." Moreover, the languages and cultures into which the Christian message has been translated have been invigorated, not destroyed. The genius of the Christian movement through history is its acceptance of cultural and linguistic diversity. This process has great risks, for the diversity has repeatedly threatened the unity of the worldwide Christian community, and translation has "made Christianity vulnerable to secular influences and to the threat of polytheism."

Islam faces the opposite problem. It has succeeded in large-scale missionary expansion without sanctioning the translation out of Arabic of its Scripture or its communal prayers -- a bond of unity and a source of great strength for Islam. Forbidding the Qur’an’s translation does, however, deny sacred significance to other languages, many of which have not flourished when Islam has been dominant in a culture. Aspects of popular Islam that are expressed in the vernacular are repeatedly criticized by reform movements, which are unable on Islamic principles to appreciate vernacular expressions of Muslim piety.

Sanneh believes that both Christian and Muslim mission have a concept of sacred language, but that these concepts are diametrically opposed. Muslims consider Arabic

a revealed language . . . the medium in
which the Qur’an . . . was revealed.
. . . The author of the Qur’an who is God,
thus came to be associated with its speech,
so that the very sounds of the language are
believed to originate in heaven. . . . Consequently,
Muslims have instituted the sacred Arabic
for the canonical devotions . . . [bringing] the sacred
Arabic to the level of the ordinary believer.

In contrast, "translatability became the characteristic mode of Christian expansion through history. Christianity has no single revealed language, and historical experience traces this fact to the Pentecost event when the believers testified of God in their native tongues." But after translation into Greek, Sanneh argues, second- and third-century Christians so identified with the norms of Hellenistic culture that they turned their backs on the principle that justified "the Gentile breakthrough": "The timeless logos of the Greeks was substituted for the historical Jesus."

When missionaries among the Slavs and Germans tried to use languages other than Latin, they were opposed by who claimed "that the liturgy could be performed only in the three ancient languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, on the grounds that Pilate had used these to compose the inscription placed on the cross of Christ." In the end a compromise was reached: the Bible and the mass could be read (recited) only in Latin, but preaching and teaching was done in the vernacular.

Even this compromise was sometimes challenged (in Moravia and in England) and later the issue of vernacular translation contributed to the Reformation. In post-Reformation Roman Catholic missions, the compromise was continued (with respect to the mass it did so right up to the Second Vatican Council). In the 16th-century Spanish colonies in Latin America and the Philippines, Catholic missionaries defied the Spanish government’s order to give all religious instruction in Castilian, insisting on using the local languages. Sanneh notes other instances in which Roman Catholic missions, while retaining Latin as the language of Scripture and liturgy, have utilized local languages, cultures and artistic symbols.

Sanneh presents two alternative mission strategies: One is "mission by diffusion," making "the missionary culture the inseparable carrier of the message. . . . Religion expands from its initial cultural base and is implanted in other societies primarily as a matter of cultural identity. Islam . . . exemplifies this mode of mission." The other is "mission by translation," making "the recipient culture the true and final locus of the proclamation, so that the religion arrives without the presumption of cultural rejection. . . Conversion that takes place in mission as translation rests on the conviction that might be produced in people after conscious critical reflection." Sanneh admits that these alternative paths are not always separate or easy to untangle. "In the Jerusalem church it is obvious that most of the disciples thought at first primarily in terms of cultural diffusion."

Sanneh concedes that from the beginning, Christian history has included both mission by translation and mission by diffusion. Yet he is sure that translation is "the vintage mark of Christianity." Sanneh needs to separate this theological conclusion from the amply documented historical judgment that translation is one important medium and translatability one important principle in Christian mission. This historical judgment is crucial for Sanneh’s argument with secular historians. While "at its most self-conscious stage, mission coincided with Western colonialism," history reveals that Christianity was more than an expression of Western colonial power. Early on, Christianity in Africa began to diverge from interests of European colonial administrators. The Protestant emphasis on the primacy of the Bible, a Bible translated into the language of its local hearers and readers, took away primary authority from the missionary and gave it to an indigenous church that could be proud of its own language and culture. This is the logic of translatability, which worked against the quite conscious efforts of Western missionaries to assert their theological or moral authority or their often less conscious and more ambivalent relations to Western rulers and businesses.

The pioneer missionaries and Bible translators not only found names they considered appropriate equivalents for ho theos in the New Testament, but simultaneously concluded that "Africans had heard of God, described God most eloquently, and maintained towards God proper attitudes of reverence, Worship, and sacrifice." Moreover, many Africans concluded from "the missionary adoption of vernacular categories for the Scriptures" that the God of the ancestors could be assimilated into the God of the Bible. The jealous "God" of missionary preaching had to be spoken of with names for "God" in Africa, where "God was a hospitable deity who was approached through the mediation of lesser deities."

There is a striking irony in the situation of those missionaries who arrived quite sure that Africans had not yet heard of God. In order to translate the Scriptures or to preach a sermon they had to ask people the name for God in their language. Sanneh recounts anecdotes showing that the humor in that situation was not lost on the prospective converts. This missionary attitude, however, also elicits one of his sharpest criticisms.

Missionaries should have been pleased when they came upon evidence that God had preceded them, and that Africans possessed profound faith in the divine providence. . Instead, the missionaries appear to have been surprised, even antagonized, by examples of faithfulness, hospitality, and forgiveness. . . Faced with this bewildering situation, Africans began earnestly to inquire into the Christian Scripture, which missionaries had placed in their hands, to see where they had misunderstood the gospel. What they learned convinced them that mission as European cultural hegemony was a catastrophic departure from the Bible. . . They went on to claim the gospel, as the missionaries wished them to, but in turn insisted that missionary attitudes should continue to be scrutinized in its revealing light.

For Sanneh, translation both assumes and confirms divine preparation preceding the missionary. "Nowhere else were missionaries more anticipated than in the field of scriptural translation . . [where] we find evidence of deep and long preparation, in the tools of language as in the habits of worship and conduct, and in the venerable customs of the forebears." The truth that God is the ground of existence is one "whose sparks are entrusted to all living cultures and which the light of the gospel will rekindle into a living flame." This divine preparation for the gospel in all cultures is one theological sanction for translating the gospel into all languages. Another is confidence that the Holy Spirit will work through the translation, repeating the miracle of Pentecost, enabling all peoples to understand God’s message in their own languages.

These theological positions belong on one side of what Sanneh regards as his combination of "the theological and the historical methods to describe translatability as a religious theme." On the historical side, he devotes his final chapter to comparing Christian and Islamic mission "not primarily to judge but to elucidate their distinctive attitudes to translatability."

Sanneh’s comparison is an important step for comparative missiology, a comparison of missionary efforts in world religions, including their attitudes toward translation. Translation study is also a significant development for comparative religion, because it studies how religious communities are related in actual encounter. Third, it provides a background for Christians who are sometimes asked to give up the missionary dimension of their faith when entering into interreligious dialogue. (Even if we were willing to do so, we have no reason to assume that either Muslim or Buddhist would follow suit.)

Precisely because this comparative missiology would not make one’s "own evaluative judgments the standard of comparison," it is necessary to include in any comparison similarity as well as contrast. For Sanneh no doubt this is self-evident. His own personal journey from Islam to Christianity has not turned him against his Islamic heritage. Rather, his study of Islam after becoming a Christian includes a doctoral dissertation on the distinctive West African Islamic tradition in which he was raised, and his own statement about the "monotheist core of the gospel" that Christianity owed to its Judaic heritage has not only a rather Islamic ring, but also the explicit recognition that "both religions share this heritage with Islam."

Sanneh sometimes gives the impression, however, not only that translatability is the valid principle of Christian mission, but that cultural absolutism or cultural diffusion is both sub-Christian and inimical to cultural development. While this is a possible theological assessment, a historical comparison of Christianity and Islam needs to include the Christian instances of cultural diffusion. As Sanneh himself notes, there have been many refusals to translate in the history of Christian mission.

In a theological assessment of Christian missionary strategies, moreover, I question whether cultural diffusion and ‘translation need be antithetical. The notion of an untranslatable Scripture is connected with a conviction of divine revelation in particular persons, events and institutions. While the original language of the Scripture, of the temple cult and of much scholarly debate was Hebrew, the language of the marketplace was Aramaic. Outside Palestine many Jews used Greek in their homes and recited the Greek translation of the Hebrew sacred writings. What in modern terms would be called Jewish culture was believed to be the same, whether the Scripture was read in Hebrew or in Greek. The first gentile Christians inherited this culture of religious beliefs and practices, and it made concrete their claim to be part of God’s chosen people.

Subsequently, many Christian communities have also claimed to be God’s chosen people. Many such communities have insisted that foreigners who hear the gospel from them should accept their particular cultural version of the gospel as the embodiment of the authentic Christian tradition. is such a claim justified? At the very least, surely, the principle of translatability should serve as a powerful deterrent to the tendency of any national church to absolutize its form of Christian faith.

We can admit, however, that what each "Christian culture" tries to embody is the total inheritance of Christian tradition, and it is this tradition that its missionary representatives have sought to pass on. It is certainly true that church history often appears to be more a record of Christian unfaithfulness than a deposit of faith. But even a record of mistakes can be a salutary lesson for a new Christian community; and there also in that history a record of courageous attempts to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit.

Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians and Muslims should explore together their understandings of God’s mission to the world in a comparative inquiry that is dialogical as well as historical. Cultural diffusion is understood from inside as honoring a sacred language and customs chosen to convey God’s word and upholding a body of custom developed in obedience to the specifics of God’s word. Both approaches to mission assume that religion is expressed through culture but also transcends and transforms culture, and both approaches must wrestle with the particularity and universality of God’s saving Word.

Modern Protestant mission has, in fact, emphasized both translation and the forming of converts in a Christian culture brought in from outside, a culture stamped with a particular Western culture and often, in "higher" education, communicated through a particular Western language. A familiar controversy in 19th-century Protestant mission policy in India illustrates this fact. A generation after William Carey and the other Serampore missionaries enlisted the assistance of many Hindu scholars in translating the Bible into the major Indian languages, Alexander Duff proposed a different approach to evangelism: education in English. Not only would the Christian values embodied in English literature attract high-caste Hindus to Christ, it was claimed, but the teaching of modern science would undermine Hindus’ faith in their own religion.

As it turned out, both Carey’s approach and Duff’s "cultural diffusion" approach have had great consequences in India’s history, though neither succeeded in the common aim of "winning India to Christ." The translators helped to stimulate many Indian languages, in some cases initiating prose literature and laying the groundwork for a renaissance of regional cultures. English education became modern Indians’ distinctive mark, giving them an exceptional opening into Western culture. In most Christian missions, primary education was done in Indian languages and more advanced education in English. For many Indians, a bifurcation of culture took place, one that is quite apparent among educated Indian Christians. If British missionary societies had made the opposite decision, opting for Carey’s approach over Duff’s, Indian Christian theology might be very different from what it is today, possibly much more separated from the modern West and much closer to the idiom of regional Indian cultures.

Sanneh is one of a small number of scholars who are historians of religion and theologians at the same time. His work offers us a more accurate historical picture of Christian translation, and his theological interpretation can make Christian mission both more faithful to the truth and more respectful of other cultures.