Mission from the Margins Mission from the Margins Selected writings from the life and ministry of David A. Shank James R. Krabill, editor Published by Institute of Mennonite Studies Copublished with Herald Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shank, David A. Mission from the margins : selected writings from the life and ministry of David A. Shank / James R. Krabill, editor. p. cm. “Bibliography of the writings of David A. Shank”: P. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-936273-44-0 (alk. paper) 1. Missions—Theory. 2. Mennonites—Missions. 3. Christianity and culture—Af- rica, Sub-Saharan. 4. Mennonites—Missions—Africa, Sub-Saharan. I. Krabill, James R. II. Title. BV2063.S485 2010 266’.97—dc22 2010037821 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture readings are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. Mission from the Margins: Selected Writings from the Life and Ministry of David A. Shank Copyright © 2010 by Institute of Mennonite Studies, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN 46517. All rights reserved Copublished with Herald Press, Scottdale, PA 15683 and Waterloo, ON N2L 6H7 Published in collaboration with Mennonite Mission Network Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2010037821 International Standard Book Number: 978-0-936273-44-0 Printed by Evangel Press, Nappanee, IN Book design by Mary E. Klassen 15 14 13 12 11 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To order or request information, please call 1-800-245-7894, or visit www.heraldpress.com. Contents Acknowledgments vii I. Reflecting on David Shank’s contribution 1. On reading David Shank Wilbert R. Shenk 3 2. A view from the dining room table the children of David and Wilma Shank 9 3. Apprenticeship in Blokosso James R. Krabill 19 II. Personal pilgrimage 4. On the margins: My pilgrimage in mission David A. Shank 29 III. Selected essays A. Theology of mission 5. Jesus the Messiah: Messianic foundation of mission 89 6. Consummation of Messiah’s mission 135 7. The shape of mission strategy 159 B. Mission in the European context 8. A missionary approach to a dechristianized society 171 9. Discovering the strategy of the Spirit 191 C. Mission in the African context 10. The legacy of William Wadé Harris 201 11. What Western Christians can learn from African- initiated churches 219 v vi | Contents D. Conversion 12. Toward an understanding of Christian conversion 233 13. A religious itinerary from African traditional religion to New Testament faith 249 E. Anabaptism and mission 14. Anabaptists and mission 269 15. Reflections on relating long term to messianic communities 295 16. John Howard Yoder, strategist for mission with African-initiated churches 311 17. Qualities that enable Mennonites to relate to African- initiated churches 337 IV. Bibliography of the writings of David A. Shank Crissie Judith Buckwalter, compiler 341 Ackowledgments Primary acknowledgements for the content of this volume go to Da- vid A. Shank, who for more than half a century has worked diligently and creatively to share the good news of Jesus, the Messiah, in the vari- ous contexts where God has placed him. Other Shank family members have also contributed time to making this collection of writings a reality through photo selection, editorial suggestions, sharing family memories, and general support and coun- sel throughout the process. These include Wilma Shank (David’s wife and ministry companion of many years) and the four Shank children: Michael H. Shank, Stephen Shank, Crissie Judith Buckwalter, and Ra- chel A. Shenk. Several of David and Wilma’s grandchildren have also provided suggestions or assistance along the way. Special gratitude also goes to Wilbert R. Shenk for his insightful introductory chapter on David’s contribution to missiological think- ing; to Karen Hallis Ritchie, for many hours of copyediting; to Hatoko Inoue, for scanning the original publications of the articles appearing here; to Marcella Hershberger, who obtained permissions for previ- ously published pieces; and to Mary Klassen of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, for book design. Gratitude is also owed to Herald Press and to Institute of Menno- nite Studies at AMBS for their support for this project. Thanks especial- ly to tireless IMS volunteer James Nelson Gingerich, for devoting many hours to formatting the text and attending to many details, and to IMS managing editor Barbara Nelson Gingerich for overseeing the project. J. R. K. vii Section I Reflecting on David Shank’s contribution David and Wilma Shank at Home of Hope in Ohain, Belgium (1953) 1 On reading David Shank Wilbert R. Shenk Rereading his writings spanning more than fifty years confirms what I have come to expect from David Shank: thoughtful engagement with context through identifying and probing the pressing issues that de- fine the present situation, in the light of history, philosophy, biblical faith, and missiological purpose. There is no better place to begin than with his programmatic essay, “A Missionary Approach to a Dechristian- ized Society.”1 Commissioned by Mennonite Board of Missions for missionary ser- vice in Europe, the Shank family arrived in Belgium in 1950. During the 1952 post-Easter season, a group of young American Mennonites work- ing and studying in Europe met in Amsterdam as the Concern Group. A second meeting took place a year later in Zurich. In the face of the disil- lusionment that pervaded European culture following two world wars, these young Mennonites were burdened by the “deep inadequacies in the spiritual resources within our brotherhood.” They discerned that the world was in the grip of a spiritual crisis and that the stakes were high. American Mennonites had suddenly been thrust onto this stage but were unable “to define or communicate the message that seemed implicit in our professed position.”2 While the “decline of the West” was writ large, the “partial sterility of our efforts at home and abroad” was not reassuring. Studies of the sixteenth-century Anabaptists con- firmed that renewal of the church would take the form of covenanted Wilbert R. Shenk directed overseas ministries of Mennonite Board of Missions (1965–90) and then taught at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (1990–95) and Fuller Theological Seminary (1995–2005). He has written and edited many articles and books on mission history, missiology, and church renewal. 1 David A. Shank, “A Missionary Approach to a Dechristianized Society,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 28, no. 1 (January 1954): 39–55. Reprinted as chapter 8 in the present volume. 2 Both quotations are from the introduction to Concern No. 1 (June 1954), 3. 3 4 | RefleCting on DaviD shank’s ContRibution local congregations. But observed trends in the church in North Amer- ica suggested that Mennonites were uncritically hurrying to join the cultural mainstream, hardly a positive prospect. David began the piece with an ironic observation: a North Ameri- can Mennonite church—a small rural group descended from the left wing of the Reformation—has sent him as a missionary motivated by “a compulsion to be an agent of [Jesus Christ’s] reconciliation” to Europe to work out an effective expression of this compelling motivation. At the time of writing, David had been in Belgium eighteen months. He was dividing his time between “religious and social work with all levels of European society,” language study, and preparation for ministry. He observes that during this time he had “met dechristianization at its grass roots.” In order to introduce contemporary Europeans to Jesus Christ, it was essential to understand what a dechristianized society was and why it had evolved in that direction. Materials for studying the European situation in 1950 were abun- dant, and David immersed himself in study and reflection. For a gener- ation, philosophers, historians, sociologists, and novelists had attempt- ed to interpret the new Europe—now largely cut off from its Christian roots. Philosophers Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre advocated atheistic existentialism, while novelist Albert Camus promoted a pa- gan and “pre-Christian” vision.3 Still other Europeans wanted to re- claim their Christian heritage. The French writer François Mauriac ar- gued that “there must be a politically neutral, yet spiritually dynamic, and life-giving message in the midst of this dechristianized society.”4 Thoughtful people recognized that this reclaiming would not be easy. Reflecting on David’s 1952 article assessing the European scene, Har- old S. Bender noted that “in his search for the right answer, Shank reaches out into difficult areas of criticism of Western Christianity, with a sharp alertness to the present challenge from the Communist side.” He added perceptively, “The overtones of this critical analysis carry implications far beyond the local situation in Western Europe.”5 What then constitutes a viable missionary approach to this unprec- edented kind of mission field—a culture long regarded as Christian that 3 Twenty years later, W. A. Visser ’t Hooft called for the evangelization of “neo-pagan Europe.” See “Evangelism in the Neo-Pagan Situation,” International Review of Mission 63 (1974): 81–86; and “Evangelism among Europe’s Neo-Pagans,” International Review of Mission 66 (1977): 349–60. 4 Quoted in Shank, “A Missionary Approach to a Dechristianized Society,” 48. 5 Editorial, Mennonite Quarterly Review 28, no. 1 (January 1954): 2. On reading David Shank | 5 is now patently dechristianized, even anti-Christian? David proposed a message that moves between two poles: conservative and creative. The gospel is a conservative force inasmuch as it does not change over time. What God has done in Jesus Christ remains the point of our encounter with God’s self-revelation. But the gospel is also a creative power. God’s redemptive love engages us wherever we are, bringing about a funda- mental reorientation, that is, reconciliation of the self to God.