The cover photos illustrate just how international mission has become. The first photo shows OMF members at the Central Thailand Field Conference in 1958. Contrast this with the second photo taken at a recent OMF Field Conference held in Thailand and it becomes clear how global OMF has become. Five continents and more than seventeen countries were represented. Nations included Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Uruguay, UK, and USA. Also noticeable is an increasing number of ethnic Asians joining from non-Asian countries.
The New Missionary Force: Mission from the Majority World
This issue takes up some papers from OMF’s April 2016 Mission Research Consultation on “The Future of Mission” to examine several aspects of how the Majority World has impacted mission.
In the first article, Eldon Porter highlights some major issues that need to be addressed as mission agencies and churches interact on a global scale. The next two articles zoom in on mission to and from China. Things the Chinese Christians have experienced will benefit the church in other countries as they move out in mission to their own people or cross-culturally. An interview with Patrick Fung records his reflections on some of the ideas on partnership with the global church. The final article steps back in history to introduce the Bethel Bands, one of the significant indigenous evangelistic movements in China in the first half of the twentieth century.
Browse articles in this edition of Mission Round Table
Partnering with the Majority World in the Global Paradigm
This paper discusses the challenges that mission agencies face in the context of changes arising from the paradigm shift away from the old “from the West to the rest” model to the “from anywhere to everywhere” mission movement. It looks at what caused the paradigm shift and discusses four macro issues that either require partnerships [...]
The Challenge and Opportunities of Urban Ministry in China
While this article focuses on the context of China, the discussion of urban ministry is relevant for work in cities elsewhere. Starting from the context of the urban world, this article looks at the challenges and opportunities of doing urban ministry in China amidst the staggering change taking place in church and society in her [...]
Indigenous Mission Movements in China
This paper reviews historical and recent attempts by Chinese Christians to engage in their own mission movements. The first section looks at the origins of Chinese indigenous mission movements in tracing the growth of local churches during the Tang, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties. The second section focuses on Chinese Christians who pioneered and ignited the [...]
Partnership with the Global Church: Implications for the Global East
In this interview, Dr Patrick Fung discusses how key ideas that shape the future of mission impact the church in and from the Global East: signs that the Global East is redefining itself vis-á-vis other parts of the global church, how world-wide networks are being established to connect the global church, importance of inter-church and [...]
With Bethel in Manchuria, 1931
This excerpt from Leslie Lyall’s inspiring account of the Bethel Bands—a significant indigenous evangelistic movement in China in the first half of the twentieth century—recounts the evangelistic work in Manchuria in 1931 by Andrew Gih, John Sung, Frank Ling, Lincoln Nieh and Philip Lee when the political tension was at breaking point. Son of an [...]
Book review – Out on a Limb: A Devotional Guide for Missionaries
Reviewed by Claire McConnell Archivist at OMF International As Christian workers, missionaries encounter many of the same difficulties faced by those who minister in their home countries. However, as cross-cultural workers, they also confront additional stresses which arise from living in an environment that can be hostile to both the gospel message and those who [...]
Book review – Crossing Cultures in Scripture: Biblical Principles for Mission Practice
Reviewed by Walter McConnell Head, OMF Mission Research Since missions is essentially a cross-cultural enterprise, Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations obliges us to acquire a deep understanding of how cultures work and how to communicate the gospel effectively to every culture. Crossing Cultures in Scripture leads missionaries along this path by showing [...]
