Asian Missions Advance, #66

EDITORIAL: MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

Timothy K. Park, Editor

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:18-19)
People try to avenge the sins of others against themselves, but the Lord tells us to love our neighbors, even our enemies (James 2: 8; Matthew 5:44). Our mission does not end simply by loving our neighbors. We are commissioned to participate in the ministry of reconciliation. Kingdom workers are peacemakers. I prefer to call Kingdom workers “peace-makers” rather than calling them “missionaries.” Because God has given us the ministry of reconciliation…[read more]



AN OVERVIEW OF REFUGEES, MIGRATION, MINORITIES AND MISSIONS IN HONG KONG, PLUS OUR PRAYER NEEDS

K.Y Cheung Teng

Although it is becoming increasingly common to see the terms ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ used interchangeably in media and public discussions, there is a crucial legal difference between the two. Confusing them can lead to problems for refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as misunderstandings in discussions of asylum and migration…[read more]



RITUAL AS WORSHIP: TOWARDS AUTHENTIC MISSIONARY CAREER TRANSITION

Nam Jun Cha

Today, Missionary Career Transition is an urgent task that needs to be addressed not only by individual missionaries, but also by the Korean Church as a whole. Recently, we have witnessed an increased number of missionaries who have been expelled from their mission fields. Not only that, uncontrollable circumstances such as family death and sickness, natural disasters, civil war, terrorism, and more, have forced missionaries to suddenly withdraw from their mission field. For these missionaries who have to leave their mission field regardless of their intention or desires, finding a new ministry is not an easy matter…[read more]


MIGRATION AND MISSION: The Asia Missions Association’s 13th Triennial Convention

Asia Missions Association

In 2013 it was in Incheon, S. Korea. In 2016, it was in Manila, Philippines and this year 2019, it happened in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The 13th Triennial Convention of the Asia Missions Association was held in Thailand last November 11-15, 2019 with the theme MIGRATION AND MISSION taken from Acts 8:4.
Chiang Mai City, a Buddhist city with a population of 1 million hosted the AMA Convention for this year under the First District of the Church of Christ in Thailand…[read more]


THE BRIDGES OF GOD: Exploring the Strategic Significance of Near-Cultural Mission

David Bogosian

In 1974, Ralph Winter introduced the paradigm of his now famous e-scale. The idea behind the scale is that there are degrees of cultural distance which separate reached peoples from unreached peoples. The most extreme distances are categorized as E3, which would be like a Norwegian taking the gospel to the pygmies in the Congo. As you go down the scale you get to what we will be examining in this paper, the subject of near-cultural missions…[read more]


WHY RECONCILIATION IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE FOR THE KOREAN CHURCH TODAY

Steve Chang

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:18-20)..[read more]


PATRON-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP (GAP & EUL) AND EFFECTS OF CHURCH GROWTH MOVEMENT IN CAMBODIA

Robert Oh

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:18-20)..[read more]