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Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > Christian mission & evangelism
For most people, their 60s is a time to slow down and smell the roses. Not for Alvin and Jean Witten, however. Instead, they went to Mozambique to search for churches.
In relentless heat, by car and by motorbike, on foot, and bicycle, they delved into every corner of this vast country, negotiating swollen rivers and broken bridges, roads that could hardly be called roads, hair-raising overnight accommodations, meals that were hard to stomach, bureaucracy, corruption and incompetence, in order to hunt down and officially count the 1 300+ congregations known to exist there.
For five years they gave up their closeness to family, friends and creature comforts in pursuit of this mission, experiencing joy and pain, learning things about themselves along the way, and forging lifelong bonds.
Robert Frykenberg's insightful study explores and enhances
historical understandings of Christian communities, cultures, and
institutions within the Indian world from their beginnings down to
the present. As one out of several manifestations of a newly
emerging World Christianity, in which Christians of a
Post-Christian West are a minority, it has focused upon those
trans-cultural interactions within Hindu and Muslim environments
which have made Christians in this part of the world distinctive.
It seeks to uncover various complexities in the proliferation of
Christianity in its many forms and to examine processes by which
Christian elements intermingled with indigenous cultures and which
resulted in multiple identities, and also left imprints upon
various cultures of India.
Thomas Christians believe that the Apostle Thomas came to India in
52 A.D./C.E., and that he left seven congregations to carry on the
Mission of bringing the Gospel to India. In our day the impulse of
this Mission is more alive than ever. Catholics, in three
hierarchies, have become most numerous; and various
Evangelicals/Protestant communities constitute the third great
tradition. With the rise of Pentecostalism, a fourth great wave of
Christian expansion in India has occurred. Starting with movements
that began a century ago, there are now ten to fifteen times more
missionaries than ever before, virtually all of them Indian.
Needless to say, Christianity in India is profoundly Indian and
Frykenberg provides a fascinating guide to its unique history and
culture.
In recent years the term "religious pluralism" has come to be used
not only in a descriptive sociological sense but also as
theologically prescriptive. Within this new paradigm traditional
Christian understandings of Christ, conversion, evangelism, and
mission have been radically reinterpreted. The Recovery of Mission
explores the pluralist paradigm through the work of three of its
most influential Asian exponents - Stanley Samartha Aloysius
Pieris, and Raimundo Panikkar - subjecting each to a theological
and philosophical critique. On the basis of biblical, patristic,
and contemporary theological writings Vinoth Ramachandra argues for
the uniqueness and decisiveness of what God has done for us in
Jesus Christ. Ramachandra seeks to show that many of the valid
concerns of pluralist theologians can best be met by
reappropriating the missionary thrust at the heart of the gospel.
The book ends with suggestions, challenging to pluralists and
conservatives alike, as to how the gospel needs to be communicated
in a multi-faith world.
In the 1970s Hennie Keyter was an angry young man, fresh out of military service for the apartheid government of South Africa, unsure of his path in life and deeply uneasy about his faith. When God revealed to him that He had a purpose for him and a calling on his life, at first Hennie was not ready to hear it. When he finally accepted and understood his mission, a flame was lit in his heart that nothing could have extinguished.
But nothing could have prepared him either for the extraordinary spiritual journey he was about to embark on which would take him wherever God wanted him to go: from Malawi, "the warm heart of Africa", to Mozambique at the height of its civil war, where he was sentenced to death and faced a firing squad, from a less than welcoming beginning in Zanzibar, to the United Nations base at Lokichokio on the border between
Kenya and Sudan (where on one trip he discovered that he had a price of US 10 000 on his head). Desiring only to do the will of God and to spread the Gospel, Hennie took up the challenge of taking the Gospel to many of the countries on the African continent and in the Middle East, building up leaders and planting churches in poverty stricken areas, lands devastated by years of conflict and deprivation, and war zones where soldiers seemed to have lost everything, even hope.
Through the bushfire of mass evangelism and his dedicated teams of volunteers, supported by the love and faith of his wife Rita and his children Anton and Mari, in His Call, My All: An African Drumbea, A Missionary's Heartbeat Hennie Keyter looks back at his life in the service of the Lord and forward to continuing His work for as long as God requires it of him.
The Method Has Changed, the Message Has Not. After twelve years of
ministering to students on public campuses, Brian Barcelona's world
turned upside down when public schools shut down in March 2020. He
wondered if his ministry was over until two teenagers challenged
him to minister using his smartphone and digital platforms--methods
he had no idea how to use effectively. With passion and humility,
Brian shares the incredible story of how God helped him go from
reaching thousands of students locally to preaching to over five
million globally each month. He gives practical tips and best
practices from his and others' experiences on how you, too, can
instantly reach more people than you ever thought possible, leading
others in salvation, healing, deliverance and even baptisms
digitally! Don't Scroll is the inspiring how-to manual for
powerfully sharing the Gospel using the digital tools already in
your hands, as well as the heart and language for what Jesus is
doing in this generation. "I have seen firsthand the fruit of what
this ministry does. I recommend anyone to read and live out what
this book entails."--NICK VUJICIC, New York Times bestselling
author "May this book open our eyes and break our hearts afresh for
Generation Z and give us bold faith to believe for the Gospel to
save millions."--BRIAN "HEAD" WELCH, New York Times bestselling
author
Today we are facing a global crisis when it comes to families. There is
an urgent need
to invest in marriage and family life, for strong societies are built
on strong families,
and strong families are built on strong marriages. Marriages today are
under more
pressure than ever, and with the amount of marital breakdown we are
experiencing,
more people are seeing the need of the need to prepare. The choice to
marry-no
longer an assumption in our society-presents a key moment for learning.
The Pre-Marriage Course, developed by Nicky and Sila Lee of Alpha, has
been revised
and updated to provide practical tools to help engaged couples build a
strong
foundation for a lasting marriage. This update includes talks from
experts including
Dr. Gray Chapman, Dr. Henry Cloud, and Dr. Sue Johnson on topics such
as money,
sex, love languages, healthy boundaries, and building connections. The
course will
- also cover how engaged couples can:
- Express their feelings and learn to listen
- Recognize the importance of commitment
- Resolve conflicts with one another
- Keep love alive and develop a fulfilling sexual relationship
- Talk about goals and values as a couple
The Pre-Marriage Course is based on a Christian understanding of love
and serves to
strengthen marriages within the church while being accessible for all
couples from any
cultural background, with or without a background in the Christian
faith.
The Alpha Guide is a companion to either the Alpha Film Series or
Alpha with Nicky Gumbel. This guide is divided up by session with
an easy-to-read outline so that guests can follow along during each
talk. With simple bullet-point organization and plenty of room for
notes, the guide functions as an invaluable resource to the guest
during Alpha, and as a reference tool for individual reflection
long after Alpha. It is considered an essential resource for Alpha
guests as well as the host and helpers on Alpha. Alpha creates an
environment of hospitality where people can bring their friends,
family, and work colleagues to explore the Christian faith, ask
questions, and share their point of view. Alpha makes it easy to
invite friends to have spiritual conversations which explore life's
biggest questions in a safe and respectful way. Alpha's approach to
hospitality, faith, and discussion is designed to welcome everyone,
especially those who might not describe themselves as Christians or
church-goers. Each session includes time for a large group meal,
short teaching, and small group discussion.
In a post-9/11 world, Christian. Muslim. Friend. lays out a path
toward authentic friendship between Christians and Muslims. Most
similar books either teach Christians to evangelize Muslims or else
downplay their Christian commitments. The author, who has lived and
worked among and befriended Muslims for more than fifty years,
offers readers a third way: holding onto the Christ-centered
commitments of their faith while cultivating peaceful friendship
with Muslims.
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