asian 37 missions advance ISSN 2234-3423 OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE ASIA MISSIONS ASSOCIATION October 2012 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION IN MISSION The present reality is built on the past. Wisdom is a Great Commission. Documentation is important for by-product and sum total of experiences, values and sharing knowledge, pitfalls and dangers, successes and accumulated knowledge acquired through the time. prospects, among others. It also enables the readers to History is the best teacher to an understanding of see the clearer picture of the mission work in a particular our present experiences. Spanish philosopher George setting and serve as a valuable piece in the big mosaic Santayana wrote: “Progress, far from consisting in of global enterprise of God’s salvation. It also enables change, depends on retentiveness. When change is to learn valuable lessons and unlearn the ways and absolute there remains no being to improve and no mission myths that are not supposed to be done in the direction is set for possible improvement: and when first place. As mission is both spiritual and physical, we experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy can read trends, find opportunities and device strategies is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are as faithful records become more and more available. condemned to repeat it.” (Santayana, The Life of Reason, Mission documentation tells us about the works of the 1905) Holy Spirit in the mission field and the world. Thus, it leads us to give greater honor and glory to the Lord of In every sphere of life, historical documentation is the Harvest who has gone ahead of us to prepare the so valuable that we refer to them not only to better field for the abundant harvest. understanding of our present reality but as building blocks to progress and better practices. Those who faithfully recorded the past are to be acknowledged CONTENTS wise and unselfish for they relate to us not only their accomplishments but also their struggles and mistakes which are valuable to the present and future generations. 1 Editorial: Historical Documentation in Mission This is no less true in the Church and her missions. Timothy K. Park The Bible is God’s Word. It does not only convey sets of The Christian World Mission Today teachings but also faithful record of God’s dealing with 3 Peter Beyerhaus human race in the past.Imagine mission enterprise if there was no record of the patriarchs, kings, prophets Issues, Challenges, Trends and Models of apostles and the early believers. What if the apostle 9 African Churches' Participation in Global Mission Paul thought only of his present reality and neglected Reuben Ezemadu sharing his experiences through epistles and personal correspondences? What if he did not tell us about his sojourn in Ephesus and other Asian regions where he 15 The Latin American Missionary Movement encountered opportunities and oppositions? The Book Decio de Carvalho of Acts, for example, is an accurate record of the life Apostolic DNA and and expansion of the Church in the beginning. Our 19 predecessors left lasting impact through their recording Missionary Movement of Early Korean Church system. We all benefit from written records of activities, David J. Cho theology and strategies and hence, we can establish our 25 Can We Speak of the "UGLY" Missionary? missiology based on faithful records of the past and the Dale W. Kietzman correct reading of our existential and faith realities. A Missiology of the Righteous Rich In this issue of Asia Missions Advance, we would 28 like to underscore mission documentation as an Jonathan Bonk immensely necessary tool for the fulfillment of Christ’s We acknowledge the valuable insights of the contributors Being a great leader and doing a great ministry are of this 37th issue of AMA. Dr. Peter Beyerhaus, good, but keeping record and making documentation professor of Missions at Tubingen University, shares what God does in and through us are also important. the current state of the world as challenge to World As Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the life and Mission in his article “The Christian World Missions work of Jesus Christ from different perspectives and Today”. Dr. Reuben Ezemadu, of the Movement for helped us to have a comprehensive understanding of the African Nationals Initiative (MANI) wrote about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we also must make contributions current status of missions in Africa, with some portions to the Church for the better understanding of mission written about missions in Africa in the past. Dr. Decio by recording and making reports what God has done de Carvalho, President of COMIBAM reports on the through us. history of Latin American Mission - how missions came to Latin America and about COMIBAM. Dr. David J. Cho, founder of Asia Missions Association and the founding editor of Asian Missions Advance, wrote about the history of Christianity in Korea - touching on how Christianity, missionaries and the Bible entered the Peninsula. Dr. Dale Kietzman of Latin American Indian Ministries wrote about Latin American missionaries, how they worked, their mistakes and some valuable Timothy K. Park, Ph.D. Editor; strategies in missions. And Dr. Jonathan Bonk, Executive Chairman, Asia Missions Association Director of Overseas Ministries Studies Center dealt with [email protected] the issue of missions and money. The 40th Anniversary of AMA: 1973-2013 & the 11th Triennial Convention Plans are being laid out as the 40th anniversary of AMA and 11th Triennial Convention on October 7-11, 2013. The venue is the campus of State University of New York – Korea in Incheon, Korea. Representatives of national mission associations in Asia, mission leaders and representatives from Western mission, Latin American mission and African mission have been invited. This important event will mark the 40th year of Asia Missions Association. It was in 1973 when Dr. David J. Cho initiated the formation of AMA after the All-Asia Missions Consultation held in Seoul, Korea in 1973 with the participation of Asian Christian leaders. This first non-Western missions body gave birth to the national missions association in several Asian countries. The first convention was held in 1975 in Seoul Korea. Singapore hosted the second convention in 1978. In 1982 the third convention was held in Seoul, Korea. Pasadena, USA was the venue of the fourth convention in 1986. In 1991, Utsunomiya, Japan hosted the fifth convention. And gain, Japan hosted the sixth convention in Kobe. The seventh convention was held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2000. Moscow, Russia was the venue of the eighth convention in 2003. In 2006, the 9th AMA convention was in Ephesus, Turkey. The 10th Triennial convention was in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2010. For registration and details visit our website at http://asiamissions.net and http://ewcenter.org/?page_id=3673#1. The 40th Anniversary of AMA The 11th Triennial Convention seoul Oct. 7~11, 2013AMA 2013 2 ● asian missions advance THE CHRISTIAN WORLD MISSION TODAY The World's Spiritual State as Challenge to Missions Peter Beyerhaus I. THE AD 2000 AND BEYOND MOVEMENT is God's i.e. Missio Dei, not ours, Missio Hominum. There is the great temptation that by replacing the primary When responsible leaders of the international missionary author of mission from the divine to the human subject, movement on all continents began to realize that a all our well intended attempts, eventually may be new i.e. the third millennium after the birth of Jesus frustrated, or - even worse, - that the plan of redemption Christ was approaching, they were inspired to conceive is perverted into a plan of confusion. We should never gigantic plans, through which the Gospel of God's forget that human methodology, technology and redemptive action in Christ should become known to science are but useful tools in the work of the Lord. The all humanity, and our Lord really be worshiped in all power, however, to effect the proper results and the nations as Saviour of the world. It is remarkable how direction where to go must come from God himself. This church and para-church agencies of various confessional means, that we are constantly dependent on the ever backgrounds became involved in these schemes - fresh anointment of His Holy Spirit - whom we cannot ranging from Pentecostalism up to Roman Catholicism. command! - and that we are to study conscientiously Although most of these plans had been conceived what God Himself wants to say to us through His Holy independently from each other, during the last decade Word, the Bible. of the 20th Century had developed a growing mutual consultation and cross fertilization that allowed us to speak collectively about the "AD 2000 Movement". II. THE UNCHANGING TASK The ideas and designs were presented in a number of congresses, one of them held in Seoul in October 1996. When we speak about the Church’s missionary task in Meanwhile the third millennium has been on its go the world, it is important to distinguish between “world for more than a decade, but none of these schemes has evangelization” and “world Christianization”. been fulfilled completely, but missions were still eager The writers of the two Testaments tell us that the total to cling to this vision, which they now extended by the discipling of the Gentile world will take place only when clause "and beyond”. Seen in a flexible attitude, the Jesus Christ returns to set up his Reign of peace and program still appears not completely unrealistic if we justice visibly from Mt. Zion. It is the task of the people consider that our evangelical movement commands of of God to prepare for this event by first bringing the powerful broadcasting companies. The biggest of them good news of salvation to all nations on earth.