Asian Missions Advance, 87

Asian Missions Advance Newsletter

Spring 2025 / 87th

1. Story, Song, Concept: Mission and the Three Dimensions of Culture

Three missionaries worked together as a team in a remote country where there had been little Gospel witness. One missionary mainly told stories about Jesus and the Good News of God’s reign. One wrote and sang songs that communicated well in the host culture. The third missionary worked hard to understand the indigenous worldview and its worldstory. He became skillful in articulating Christian theology in categories that reached deeply into the philosophical underpinnings of the people he was working with…

2. Reimagining Contextualization

[Edward Kim]

As living in the first quarter of the 21st century, our world has been drastically transformed by technology and globalization. In the field of the global Christian mission, Contextualization in missiology, which refers to adapting the Christian message to different cultural contexts while maintaining its core truths, became particularly prominent in the latter half of the 20th century…

3. Sex Trafficking and Slavery in the Christian Church

[James D. Langteau, Timothy D. Dunham, and Kenneth D. Gossett]

The purpose of this qualitative case study article is not to condemn but to exhort Christians, churches, denominations, and Bible colleges – all of which are called by God in Scripture to equip other Christians as Disciples in spiritual growth. Many professing Christians, however, are living lives of contradiction and silent enslavement. Cognitive dissonance is rampant, with many claiming to be delivered and empowered by the Lord yet living dysfunctional lives of habitual bondage. Instead of embodying dynamic new life, they remain carnal and powerless…

4. Is the Local Church “Really Nice but Totally Unnecessary”?

[John Edmiston]

This article starts out with a hypothetical dialogue between Pastor Joe Smith and his former congregants Sam and Samantha Brown of Corner Community Church of Somewhereville, USA. The dialogue rotates around the relevance of the local church, issues of biblical and ecclesial authority, and the nature of authentic Christian spirituality in the 21st century…

5. BOOK REVIEW: Following Christ and Confucius: Wang Mingdao and Chinese Christianity

[Stephen Panda Bamboo]

Payk Christopher explores the impact of Wang Mingdao’s life and work in the social context of 20th century China. He elaborates Wang’s Confucian Christian thoughts that were deeply influenced by “the Chinese classics, sages, and histories” (Chapter 7, p. 151)…