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The Practice of Bi-Vocational Ministry Among Missionaries In ABSTRACT MORE THAN A MEANS TO AN END: THE PRACTICE OF BI-VOCATIONAL MINISTRY AMONG MISSIONARIES IN NORTHERN NIGERIA by Oludamilohun Adeliyi Calvary Ministries (CAPRO) is Nigeria and Africa’s first indigenous cross- cultural, non-denominational faith mission agency, with over 700 missionaries involved in various cross-cultural mission ministries in 35 countries of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, America and Europe (“Our History”). In this research, I show that scripture and Christian mission history has always favored bi-vocational ministry practice over the “faith ministry” paradigm that has been effective for CAPRO in her ministry engagement and expansion over the past four decades. Furthermore, I discuss the likelihood that CAPRO’s mission effectiveness might improve with the use of other modes of ministry engagements like tentmaking and Business as Mission (BAM) over the current “faith mission” paradigm. This study employed a telephone interview, an online questionnaire, a focus group interview, and an online survey to find out the obstacles towards the practice of bi- vocational ministry, as well as the characteristics and practices of bi-vocational missionaries in CAPRO. The findings suggest that there are certain inherent institutional obstacles to the practice of bi-vocational ministry in CAPRO. It also shows that bi- vocational missionaries in CAPRO exhibit certain common characteristics and similar practices that have proved successful in their mission work. MORE THAN A MEANS TO AN END: THE PRACTICE OF BI-VOCATIONAL MINISTRY AMONG MISSIONARIES IN NORTHERN NIGERIA A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry by Oludamilohun Adeliyi May 2020 © 2020 Oludamilohun Adeliyi ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1 NATURE OF THE PROJECT .....................................................................1 Overview of the Chapter ........................................................................................ 1 Personal Introduction ..............................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................5 Purpose of the Project……………………………………………………………. 7 Research Questions ..................................................................................................7 Research Question #1 ..................................................................................7 Research Question #2 ..................................................................................7 Research Question #3 ..................................................................................7 Rationale for the Project ..........................................................................................7 Definition of Key Terms .......................................................................................12 Delimitations .........................................................................................................14 Review of Relevant Literature ...............................................................................15 Research Methodology .........................................................................................18 Type of Research ......................................................................................18 Participants ................................................................................................19 Instrumentation .........................................................................................19 Data Collection .........................................................................................20 Data Analysis ............................................................................................20 iii Generalizability .........................................................................................21 Project Overview ..................................................................................................22 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW FOR THE PROJECT .........................................23 Overview of the Chapter ........................................................................................23 Biblical Foundations ..............................................................................................23 Bi-Vocational Ministry in the Old Testament ...........................................24 Bi-Vocational Ministry in the New Testament ..........................................26 Theological Foundations ........................................................................................34 What is Vocation?........................................................................................35 Different Views on Vocation……………….…………………………….37 Bi-Vocational Ministry: History ……………………………………………...…44 The Moravians…………………………………………………..…..……46 Modern Movement towards Bi-Vocational Ministry…………………..…47 Different Facets of Bi-vocational Ministry ............................................................48 Unreached Peoples’ Group…………………………………………..……51 Tentmaking…………………………………………………………..……51 Who is a Tentmaker?...................................................................................51 An Encompassing Definition………………………………...………..…..52 Taxonomy for Tentmaking……………………………………………..…54 Business as Mission (BAM)……………………………...………………55 Characteristics of Bi-vocational Missionaries………………..………………….59 Appropriate Entrepreneurial Traits……………………………….……. 59 Paul the Tentmaker’s Personality……………………………………….62 iv Fruitful Practices of Bi-vocational Missionaries. ..................................................68 Research on Best Practices of Bi-vocational Missionaries…….………70 Paul’s Practices as a Tentmaker…………………………….………….71 Research Design Literature ...................................................................................77 Summary of Literature ..........................................................................................80 Bi-vocational Ministry is Scriptural…………………..………………..80 There is a Strong Historical Basis for Bi-Vocational Ministry………....81 Now is the Time for Bi-vocational Ministry………………………...….81 Best Practices and Characteristics of Bi-vocational Missionaries…...…82 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR THE PROJECT Overview of the Chapter………………………………………………………... 83 Nature and Purpose of the Project .........................................................................83 Research Questions ................................................................................................84 Research Question #1 ................................................................................84 Research Question #2 ................................................................................85 Research Question #3 ................................................................................85 Ministry Contexts...................................................................................................86 Participants ............................................................................................................89 Criteria for Selection .................................................................................89 Description of Participants ........................................................................89 Ethical Considerations ..............................................................................90 Instrumentation ......................................................................................................91 Expert Review ............................................................................................92 v Reliability & Validity of Project Design ..................................................93 Data Collection ......................................................................................................96 Data Analysis .........................................................................................................97 CHAPTER 4 EVIDENCE FOR THE PROJECT ..............................................................99 Overview of the Chapter .......................................................................................99 Participants ............................................................................................................99 Research Question #1: Description of Evidence ................................................100 Research Question #2: Description of Evidence ................................................110 Research Question #3: Description of Evidence ................................................120 Summary of Major Findings ................................................................................130 CHAPTER 5 LEARNING REPORT FOR THE PROJECT ...........................................131 Overview of the Chapter .....................................................................................131 Major Findings .....................................................................................................131 Ministry Implications
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