Outreach 2021 Resource of the Year (Theology and Biblical Studies) Many sincere Christians dismiss evangelism due to enduring evangelistic caricatures. This book helps readers move beyond those caricatures to consider thoughtfully and practically how they can engage in evangelism, whether it's through one-on-one conversations, social media, social justice, or the liturgy of worship services. At once biblical, theological, historical, and practical, this book by a seasoned scholar offers an engaging, well-researched, and well-organized presentation and analysis of eight models of evangelism. Covering a breadth of approaches--from personal evangelism to media evangelism and everything in between--Priscilla Pope-Levison encourages readers to take a deeper look at evangelism and discover a model that captures their attention. Each chapter introduces and assesses a model biblically, theologically, historically, and practically, allowing for easy comparison across the board. The book also includes end-of-chapter study questions to further help readers interact with each model.

Missionary Families Find a Sense of Place and Identity is a community history of members of nineteen Lutheran missionary families who served in Tanzania. Based on over ninety interviews and John Benson's extensive knowledge of cultural geography, he compares the lives of the missionary generation who grew up in the United States and went to Tanzania as missionaries to those of their children who grew up in Africa but settled in the United States as adults. Benson blends his personal experiences as a child of missionaries in Tanzania to tell the story of both generations. Missionary Families is centered on the themes of connection to place and religious development and will appeal to scholars of geography, cultural studies and religion.

This book explores some of the challenges presented to church and mission from the contemporary culture of globalization and how this affects Christian spirituality in various ways. The attention is primarily focused on contemporary East Asian urban life, but from the assumption that this may not be all that different from what is experienced in urban contexts in other parts of the world. The authors all share an affiliation with institutions related to the Norwegian Mission Society and its work in East Asia.

At the end of your life, will you be able to say you squeezed out all the gusto and good you were created for?

Deep inside all of us is the relentless knowledge that we were created for greatness, yet years can pass, and all our efforts don't add up to what we envisioned life would bring.

Author, pastor, and evangelist Craig Walker challenges you to forget the mediocre and dream again. It's time to answer the high calling within you! It's time to unlock your potential as never before!

Craig witnessed nearly 800,000 decisions for Christ in 22 months by utilizing today's internet technology. Now he has set out to inspire you to discover and leave the huge footprint you were destined to place on planet Earth. Born in this generation by God's design, your destiny is tied to the technological context of your world. This is THE greatest time ever to be alive. You have more opportunities to change your world than any preceding generation.

In Born for the Extraordinary, Craig shares...

• How to tap into the greatness God placed within you
• How just one God-inspired idea can evolve into a plan that reaches the world
• Jaw-dropping, firsthand testimonies of miracles, healings, and even witchdoctor deliverances
• How to recognize God's voice, follow His instructions, and dream beyond your ability

Prosperity Gospel, a controversial strand in global Christianity, relates material wealth to divine blessing. Originating in American Pentecostal milieus, it is most successful in Africa. Authors from four continents present interdisciplinary, multi-sited and comparative analyses of Prosperity Gospel in Africa and beyond. Prosperity theologies adapt to varied political contexts and travel outside Pentecostalism into the wider religious arena. Its components trigger discourses within ecumenical Christianity and are transformed in transnational Christian networks of migrants; they turn up in African shrine religion and African Islam. Pastures of Plenty maps the evolving religio-scapes of Prosperity Gospel.

Stepping Up to the Cold War Challenge: The Norwegian-American Lutheran Experience in 1950s Japan describes the events that led to the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC), an American Christian denomination, to respond to General MacArthur's call for missionaries. This Church did not initially respond, but did so in 1949 only after their missionaries had been expelled from China due to the victory of communist forces on the mainland. Because they feared Japan would also succumb to communism in less than ten years, the missionaries evaded ecumenical cooperation and social welfare projects to focus on evangelism and establishing congregations. Many of the ELC missionaries were children and grandchildren of Norwegian immigrants who had settled as farmers on the North American Great Plains. Based on interview transcripts and other primary sources, this book intimately describes the personal struggles of individuals responding to the call to be a missionary, adjusting to life in Japan, learning Japanese, raising a family, and engaging in mission work. As the Cold War threat diminished and independence movements elsewhere were ending colonialism, missionaries were compelled to change methods and attitudes. The 1950s was a time when missionaries went out much in the same manner that they did in the nineteenth century. Through the voices of the missionaries and their Japanese coworkers, the book documents how many of the traditional missionary assumptions begin to be questioned.

In the late nineteenth century, a small community of Native Hawaiian Mormons established a settlement in heart of The Great Basin, in Utah. The community was named Iosepa, after the prophet and sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph F. Smith. The inhabitants of Iosepa struggled against racism, the ravages of leprosy, and economic depression, by the early years of the twentieth century emerging as a modern, model community based on ranching, farming, and an unwavering commitment to religious ideals. Yet barely thirty years after its founding the town was abandoned, nearly all of its inhabitants returning to Hawaii. Years later, Native Hawaiian students at nearby Brigham Young University, descendants of the original settlers, worked to clean the graves of Iosepa and erect a monument to memorialize the settlers. Remembering Iosepa connects the story of this unique community with the earliest Native Hawaiian migrants to western North America and the vibrant and growing community of Pacific Islanders in the Great Basin today. It traces the origins and growth of the community in the tumultuous years of colonial expansion into the Hawaiian islands, as well as its relationship to white Mormons, the church leadership, and the Hawaiian government. In the broadest sense, Mathew Kester seeks to explain the meeting of Mormons and Hawaiians in the American West and to examine the creative adaptations and misunderstandings that grew out of that encounter.

This book is an important contribution for all United Methodists concerned that their denomination is approaching irrelevance. Within its pages Dr. Lavender offers a Biblical, Wesleyan and means-tested approach that both saves the lives of millions of orphans and vulnerable children and inspires evangelical hope for the church.

Focusing on the interaction between teachers and scholars, this book provides an intimate account of "ragged schools" that challenges existing scholarship on evangelical child-saving movements and Victorian philanthropy. With Lord Shaftesbury as their figurehead, these institutions provided a free education to impoverished children. The primary purpose of the schools, however, was the salvation of children's souls. Using promotional literature and local school documents, this book contrasts the public portrayal of children and teachers with that found in practice. It draws upon evidence from schools in Scotland and England, giving insight into the achievements and challenges of individual institutions. An intimate account is constructed using the journals maintained by Martin Ware, the superintendent of a North London school, alongside a cache of letters that children sent him. This combination of personal and national perspectives adds nuance to the narratives often imposed upon historic philanthropic movements. Investigating how children responded to the evangelistic messages and educational opportunities ragged schools offered, this book will be of keen interest to historians of education, emigration, religion, as well as of the nineteenth century more broadly.

This book uses considerable primary material to examine movements of spirituality found within evangelical Protestantism between the First and Second World Wars. It analyses the way in which different patterns of devotion led to tensions and divisions between those holding a common commitment to the Bible, the cross of Christ, conversion and active Christian service. The chapters provide contrast between conservative views of spiritual experience, orientated to the past, and progressive forces, which were forward looking. It looks at evangelical Anglicanism, Wesleyan holiness streams of spirituality, those looking principally to the Reformed tradition, and Pentecostal-charismatic types of spirituality. Bifurcation bred evangelical weakness at a time when Anglo-Catholicism was growing strongly in its influence on English Christianity. This book seeks to illuminate this process and to provide a fresh interpretation of the period. It offers new insights, not only into a time of evangelical divergence, but also into the later twentieth-century story of the resurgence of evangelicalism .

On a sweltering June morning in 1933 a fifteen-year-old Muslim orphan girl refused to rise in a show of respect for her elders at her Christian missionary school in Port Said. Her intransigence led to a beating--and to the end of most foreign missions in Egypt--and contributed to the rise of Islamist organizations.
Turkiyya Hasan left the Swedish Salaam Mission with scratches on her legs and a suitcase of evidence of missionary misdeeds. Her story hit a nerve among Egyptians, and news of the beating quickly spread through the country. Suspicion of missionary schools, hospitals, and homes increased, and a vehement anti-missionary movement swept the country. That missionaries had won few converts was immaterial to Egyptian observers: stories such as Turkiyya's showed that the threat to Muslims and Islam was real. This is a great story of unintended consequences: Christian missionaries came to Egypt to convert and provide social services for children. Their actions ultimately inspired the development of the Muslim Brotherhood and similar Islamist groups.
In "The Orphan Scandal," Beth Baron provides a new lens through which to view the rise of Islamic groups in Egypt. This fresh perspective offers a starting point to uncover hidden links between Islamic activists and a broad cadre of Protestant evangelicals. Exploring the historical aims of the Christian missions and the early efforts of the Muslim Brotherhood, Baron shows how the Muslim Brotherhood and like-minded Islamist associations developed alongside and in reaction to the influx of missionaries. Patterning their organization and social welfare projects on the early success of the Christian missions, the Brotherhood launched their own efforts to "save" children and provide for the orphaned, abandoned, and poor. In battling for Egypt's children, Islamic activists created a network of social welfare institutions and a template for social action across the country--the effects of which, we now know, would only gain power and influence across the country in the decades to come.

Marriage Course, developed by Nicky and Sila Lee, is a seven-session study designed to help couples obtain the tools to build a strong and healthy relationship that lasts a lifetime. This Leader's Guide offers a concise yet thorough overview of Marriage Course. It includes timetables for each evening, suggested reading, details on how to set up and run the course, and practical tips for making your Marriage Course successful. This leader's guide is included with The Alpha Pre-Marriage Course and is also sold separately. The course covers: An Introduction to Marriage Course Building Strong Foundations The Art of Communication Resolving Conflict Forgiveness The Impact of Family - past and present Good Sex Love in Action Marriage Course Party Coping with Times of Separation (optional session) Marriage Course serves as a bridge between the church and local community by recognizing the need to go beyond the social, as well as physical, walls of the church to help couples with their relationships. The courses are easy to run, and the talks are also available on DVD (sold separately). If you enjoy hosting people and have a passion for strengthening family life, you could run a course!

Research is directed by normative standards which need to be transparent in order to secure the quality of the scholarly discussion. The aim of this book is to contribute to such transparency in relation to research on religion and theology representing a combination of empirical and normative claims themselves. What does this combination of empirical and normative claims imply for the normative standards of research? The contributions in this volume discuss different normative dimensions in contemporary research on religion and theology. Presenting articles from systematic theology, practical theology, sociology of religion, ethics, religious studies and missiology it covers a wide range of issues that are relevant for PhD students of theology and religious studies as well as for others who are involved in research on these topics.

What if you could find a way to share your faith in Jesus that feels natural, fits your personality, and ignites a fire in others? In this video-based evangelism training course (video streaming code included), author of Becoming a Contagious Christian Mark Mittelberg introduces five approaches to evangelism to help you determine which of them fit best with your unique gifts and personality: Friendship-Building Selfless-Serving Story-Sharing Reason-Giving Truth-Telling As disciples of Christ, we are called to share the gospel, but few of us are naturally comfortable with evangelism. We wrestle with a sense of insecurity, a lack of preparation, and the sense that reaching out to others might force us to act like someone we're not. And many of us feel guilty when we fail to use an opportunity to talk about our faith, lowering our confidence even further. Building upon popular personality-type methods, the Contagious Faith assessment will help you identify your primary style, along with any secondary styles you discover. You'll learn next steps for developing and deploying your natural approach to evangelism and work through interactive prompts to practice the methods Mark unpacks in the videos. The Contagious Faith Study Guide can be used in small groups, classes, student ministries, and church-wide campaigns and has everything you need to participate, including: The guide itself-with discussion and personal reflection questions, prompts, video notes, and a leader's guide. An individual access code to stream all six video sessions online (you don't need to buy a DVD!). An assessment quiz to help you determine your Contagious Faith style. The training videos also include short interviews with Mark and five individuals who speak and use each of the 5 faith-sharing styles so that you can see them in action. Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2027. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

"Babel is everywhere! Migrant readings from Africa, Europe and Asia" sets out to explore the intersection between religion, identity and migration. It does so by telling entangled histories between diaspora/s and homeland and by analysing biblical in-roads to issues and challenges of migration. It also explores hyphenated identities and takes a close look at the role of migrant religion specifically regarding issues of mission, of identity formation and of ecclesial and societal formation. This book challenges static notions of diaspora, stable identities and Western-centred notions of Christianity and offers kaleidoscopic insights from Pentecostal, migrant and intercultural perspectives.

Every year, an estimated 1.6 million Americans participate in short-term mission trips, spending over one billion dollars figures that have increased exponentially in the last two decades. About one third of U.S. congregations sponsor such trips each year. While they are referred to as mission trips, many trips focus not on conversion or evangelism, but on service projects building a playground, providing medical care, or serving free meals to the poor. Short-term mission participants have a genuine desire to transform conditions of poverty, yet they don't always know how to go about it; many people involved in short-term mission work virtually reinvent the wheel when they design and plan their service projects. Here is a guide for leaders of such trips presenting clear insight and research from anthropologists and development professionals that will help them have a greater impact on the communities they are serving. The framework for planning short-term mission trips outlined here provides a firm foundation for maximizing their effectiveness. Laurie A. Occhipinti draws in her reader with personal anecdotes, using case studies to illustrate her points, and engages them with thoughtful analysis of the work that is done during short-term missions. Filled with practical suggestions for creating effective volunteer opportunities, this handbook is a vital resource for any potential mission volunteer."

Mission, Communion and Relationship addresses the urgent need for the churches in Africa to positively respond to the crisis confronting the continent's young men. It calls for the church to commit itself to providing alternatives to the various crises confronting male youths in Africa (dislocation, illiteracy, streetism, unemployment, emigration, crime, imitation of foreign cultures, consumerism, drug abuse, promiscuity and HIV/AIDS). Mission, Communion and Relationship argues that communion and solidarity with male youths is a missiological imperative of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa, which must work in concert with other Christian denominations, as well as Muslim and African Traditional Religion leaders. This interdisciplinary book brings together insights from ecclesiology, church history, theological anthropology and the social sciences as well as African and Western philosophy with concrete ecclesial and human experiences. Mission, Communion and Relationship sets forth a framework for dealing with the cultural formation and religious development of male youths in ways that are authentically African and Christian, socially oriented and pastorally engaged.

Contemporary theologies of mission rely on the central concept of the missio Dei, which states that mission properly belongs to the triune God over the church. However, present accounts fail to establish any corresponding link between God's trinitarian economy and ontology. In other words, the problem of the missio Dei is the problem of the break between the act and being of God. Benjamin H. Kim argues that a repair is needed for missio Dei theology, and this repair is found in reexamining Barth's doctrine of revelation. In doing so, the locus of mission moves from God's trinitarian sending to his trinitarian revealing. The repair is further advanced by Dietrich Bonhoeffer through his concept of person, which functions as the unity of act and being. This account returns mission to its original definition, which was intended to describe the inner-trinitarian being of God in relation to humanity. The concept of person recovers this meaning of mission by locating it first in the person of Christ and second, in the collective person of the church existing as the Christ community. Thus, Bonhoeffer's description of revelation in terms of personhood provides and account that is more faithful to the missio Dei's core insights.

2015 Smith/Wynkoop Book Award presented by the Wesleyan Theological Society 2014 Choice Outstanding Academic Title During the Progessive Era, a period of unprecedented ingenuity, women evangelists built the old time religion with brick and mortar, uniforms and automobiles, fresh converts and devoted proteges. Across America, entrepreneurial women founded churches, denominations, religious training schools, rescue homes, rescue missions, and evangelistic organizations. Until now, these intrepid women have gone largely unnoticed, though their collective yet unchoreographed decision to build institutions in the service of evangelism marked a seismic shift in American Christianity. In this ground-breaking study, Priscilla Pope-Levison dusts off the unpublished letters, diaries, sermons, and yearbooks of these pioneers to share their personal tribulations and public achievements. The effect is staggering. With an uncanny eye for essential details and a knack for historical nuance, Pope-Levison breathes life into not just one or two of these women-but two dozen.

This book is the first account of British Protestant conversion initiatives directed towards continental Europe between 1600 and 1900. Continental Europe was considered a missionary land-another periphery of the world, whose centre was imperial Britain. British missions to Europe were informed by religious experiments in America, Africa, and Asia, rendering these offensives against Europe a true form of "imaginary colonialism". British Protestant missionaries often understood themselves to be at the forefront of a civilising project directed at Catholics (and sometimes even at other Protestants). Their mission was further reinforced by Britain becoming a land of compassionate refuge for European dissenters and exiles. This book engages with the myth of International Protestantism, questioning its early origins and its narrative of transnational belonging, while also interrogating Britain as an imagined Protestant land of hope and glory. In the history of western Christianities, "converting Europe" had a role that has not been adequately investigated. This is the story of the attempted, and ultimately failed, effort to convert a continent.