Foreign Missions Research Articles

African American missionaries serving overseas: A surprising numerical and demographic analysis of US-born Blacks in missions

A census of African American cross-cultural overseas missionaries was completed between 2020 and mid-2021, encompassing data gathered since 1998. Over 600 mission agencies listed in the North American Mission Handbook were canvassed for US-born Black missionaries, and comparisons made between data from the 21st and 22nd editions. A slight majority of the 179 African American foreign missionaries located were single, and 57% of marrieds were in inter-ethnic marriages. Almost half of these cross-cultural workers served in Africa. Not more than 10% were found in any one mission agency, and 21% of missionaries were salaried.

Busting the Silos of “Global” Scholarship

Busting the Silos of “Global” Scholarship

Translations and Publications of Russian Sources on the History of Sino-Russian Relations during the Qing Dynasty in China

At the beginning, the Qing Dynasty maintained a certain level of contacts with countries around the world. Later, China was closed for a while, but soon found itself forcibly opened. During this period, foreign missionaries, diplomats, merchants, military men, researchers and others began to flock to China. They were extremely surprised by life in Qing China, and therefore recorded everything they saw and heard. The number of their works, which are stored in libraries, archives, museums or private collections in various countries of the world, is incredibly large, and they are valuable materials for understanding the history of the Qing Dynasty and China’s foreign relations for almost three centuries. Russian sinology originated at the beginning of the 18th century, when the Russian Orthodox Mission was founded in Beijing. The ROM operated in China from 1715 to 1956, while it should be noted that almost two hundred years of its existence occurred during the Qing Dynasty. In the early period (1715–1861), it acted as the diplomatic representation of Russia in China, so among the members of the ROM there were many sinologists who studied the history of the Qing, especially the history of Sino-Russian relations during the Qing dynasty. The high level of research and the special view contained in the works is of great importance to us. In this regard, since the 1980s, Chinese scientific institutions and individual scientists have consistently translated important works of Russian sinologists into Chinese.

«Другие» протестанты — смена религиозной идентичности

In this article, the author attempts to reveal some aspects related to the transformation of the confessional identity of members of Protestant religious organizations operating in the Southern, Middle and Polar Urals and identifying themselves as representatives of “other” ethnic groups that are not widespread in Russia. The article presents data on the confessional identity of the respondents and on the factors that contributed to their adoption of Protestant Christianity. The research materials allow us to conclude that the religious identity (or lack of it) of the respondents before coming to Protestantism is close to that of the respondents from the general sample in the Urals; most of all among the “other” Protestants were atheists or non-denominational theists who “simply” believed in God. Most of all, both among “other” Protestants and among believers from the general sample of those who came to Protestantism with the assistance of close people who enjoy the greatest trust: friends, parents, relatives and spouses. Domestic and foreign missionaries, as well as members of religious communities personally unknown to the respondent, played an insignificant role in the religious choice of the respondents from both samples. The data presented in the article demonstrate that the confessional affiliation (or lack of it) of the respondents before they adopted Protestantism, as well as the factors contributing to the acquisition of their religious identity by Protestants, do not depend on ethnic identity.

Doprinos srpskog saniteta medicini sveta 1914/15. godine

Serbia was unprepared for a new war, which came on suddenly, but which Serbia was forced to launch in 1914. The Government had been plagued by corruption scandals. When it comes to spotted typhus, what the Serbian Military Medical Service had at its disposal in 1914 was the practice of "separating the healthy from the sick". In addition, "total war" postponed the rational spending of money for the army's medical needs. All this caused, as is well known, poor accommodation of the wounded and the sick, lack of medication, hygienic products etc. The lack of accommodation was handled by transporting wounded soldiers to the country's interior. Lice were considered pests, so in the midst of the war tribulations they were "bearable problems" as there were far worse hardships to endure. Numerous factors led to the spread of the outbreak, among which the leading factor was that, unbeknownst to medical science, lice were of epidemiological importance for the spread of spotted typhus and relapsing fever. The failures of palliative measures increased the number of the sick and forced the government to seek medical assistance from the Allies. Once the teachings of C. Nicolle were accepted, that focused the efforts of the medical teams on delousing, not only in the affected patients prior to their hospitalization as the medical practice of the time demanded as a routine matter of hygienic pest control. The uncertainty of the arrival of foreign medical missions and the inability to put the newly recognized epidemiological significance of lice infestation to proper use by delousing in factory-made autoclaves launched a wave of engineering ingenuity in Serbia. A coordination body of the Parliament and Government was formed on 13 February 1915 named the National Disease Containment Board, to manage the outbreaks. In those days, once foreign missions had been invited, in only two weeks the Serbian Military Medical Service made a scientific contribution worthy of global medical attention. The emergency caused by the growing epidemic led the doctors to improvise. Already in early March, the "central disinfection station" was commissioned, repurposed from an old brick factory and furbished with an oven with dry hot air, to which a bathroom had been added. It had a daily capacity of 1200 users, whose clothes were deloused in the chamber while they were bathing, so that they could put them back on again. Without the use of the bathroom, it could process 4-5000 items of clothing and bedding. It was the most valuable method world-wide to contain and prevent the spotted typhus in the upcoming 28 years, until the emergence of DDT.

Style and Rebus in an Emergent Script from Bolivia: The Koati Variant of Andean Pictographic Writing

Abstract Andean pictographic writing, once considered the creation of foreign missionaries, is now recognized as a series of locally developed scripts that emerged after contact with alphabetic writing. However, the role of stylistic variation within the Andean pictographic scripts is little understood, nor has the rebus-based glottography of the system’s phonetic signs been fully studied. This article examines the Koati variant of Andean pictographic script from Bolivia’s Island of the Moon, based in part on a newly found pictographic manuscript preserved on animal hides in Harvard University’s Peabody Museum. It analyzes how script styles in the Titicaca area correspond to regional groups and explores the nature of rebus signs in the Koati variant, identifying the principles underlying successful homonymic equivalences. Many of the characters in Andean pictographic writing appear to draw from a repository of Indigenous visual signs that predate the Spanish invasion; research into the emergent pictorial scripts of Peru and Bolivia may provide insights into the meaning of visual signs in other forms of Andean inscription, such as ceramics and khipus.

Györgyey László tevékenysége az Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia diplomáciai testületében

László Györgyey (originally called Táfler) was born in 1864 in Pest, a member of the fourth generation of a Jewish merchant family of Moravian descent, who settled in Hungary and found his vocation in the diplomatic service of the foreign missions of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. After serving as consul in several countries on behalf of the Common Foreign Office, he was taken over by Hungary after the dissolution of the Monarchy, where he worked for several years as ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. In recognition of his diplomatic activities, which were always of a high standard and carried out with a refined diplomatic flair, he received numerous state honours from the leaders of the countries where he served and from the monarch of the Monarchy. In 1922, he was forced to retire under rather undignified circumstances, citing redundancies, after which he tried to find useful employment in Hungarian political life. He was a member of the István Tisza Society until the end of his life and was a regular visitor to legitimist events. He died unmarried in 1944, with no descendants by blood. He had only one daughter, whom he adopted as an adult.

Little-known Facts about the Activities of Consul A. T. Belchenko in Yingkou

The article is devoted to the activities of the Russian Imperial Consulate in Yingkou (Niuzhuang) in the period from 1899 to 1909. Promoting Russian interests in South Manchuria, Russia paid great attention to the acquisition of real estate in this open Chinese port on the banks of the Liaohe River. At the initial stage, one of the main issues of the foreign mission was to assist in the acquisition of land for the construction of the Russian concession, as well as in the construction of the Yingkou station of the Yingkou — Dashiqiao branch of the CER. During the period of the Provisional Russian Administration, the building of the Russian Imperial Consulate, a doctor’s house and a bacteriological station were built here, the construction of the Mayor’s House began, and at the same time land plots were acquired for various household needs. The successful expansion of Russia in this region was disrupted by the Russian-Japanese War (1904–1905) and its results. Starting from the end of July 1904 to the end of November 1905, only one Russian citizen lived in Yingkou. The Russian Imperial Consulate which was reopened in December 1905 actively dealt with the issues of returning consular real estates and private property of its citizens. The Japanese military authorities, who were in charge of Yingkou until November 23, 1906, interfered in every possible way with this process. After the return of the city to the Chinese authorities, the Russian buildings were occupied by Chinese officials. However, thanks to the professional and well-coordinated actions of Russian diplomats in China and Japan, in particular the employees of the consulate in Yingkou A. T. Belchenko, V. K. Nikitin, Ambassador to Japan Y. (G.) P. Bakhmetev, delegate to China D. D. Pokotilov, the Russian consular property in Yingkou was returned to its rightful owners. Of course, the main role in this complex matter was played by Consul A. T. Belchenko, who, after solving the tasks assigned to him in Yingkou, was transferred to the consulate in Fuzhou. The choice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was determined by the high assessment of his diplomatic service.

Antebellum White American ‘Mission Wives’ in the <em>Orient</em>: A Tale of Flawed Mimicry

The American foreign missions of the early to the mid-nineteenth century epitomize a project that allowed white American women to share a Kiplingesque “white woman’s burden” with British “sisters,” to civilize the heathen world which gave the former a chance to share in an Anglo-American white identity.1 This imperial endeavor required of them to represent/re-present supposedly the most fitting incarnation of the idealized female of the antebellum or the “American true woman,” the “American mission wife,” a subjectivity that was reflective of the presumed superiority of white civilization, offering a model for the heathen women to emulate. Hence, this paper concerns itself with the manner in which a particular antebellum white women’s genre—the mission memoir—represents/re-presents American mission wives in the Orient (in the then Burma and Ceylon). Reversing the typical Saidian narrative of the West’s production of the Oriental subaltern/other, I show here how the white American mimic woman in the Orient disrupts her identity, thereby rendering herself ambivalent and interstitial.

DIRECTIONS IN RELATION TO IMPROVEMENT OF SYSTEM OF LOGISTIC PROVIDING OF SOLDIERY PARTS (SUBDIVISIONS) AT PLACING IN THE FIELD TERMS IN THE MODERN ARMED CONFLICTS

Ensuring the security and reliable defense of a military camp is necessary for any locality. However, due to the specificity and limitations of each region, they lead to the usage of appropriate measures that are adapted to the existing reality. Other issues related to the organization and maintenance of the field camp are determined primarily by security considerations. Therefore, the camp operates as a fully integrated system of deployed armed forces infrastructure which is designed to initially provide basic services and facilities for the location with the ability to improve over time by adapting to needs. The functional structure allows you to predict the spatial distribution of objects and improve the organization of the entire field camp. There are two main types of infrastructure within the camp: service and logistics (rear). In the conditions of operations as part of foreign missions, armed contingents of the NATO member states armies equip field camps of various types. According to the duration of usage, field camps are divided into: mobile (short term of placement), typical (up to a year) and foreign garrisons – large points of long-term placement of a military contingent (term of more than a year). The key task regarding the deployment of field camps is the placement of combat units (units) with all equipment, weapons, military and special equipment and other means in the deployment areas without long-term preparation of the infrastructure and material and technical base. The article presents the analysis, principles and approaches to the construction of the necessary infrastructure for the field deployment of armed contingents of the NATO armies member states when performing missions. The structure of a modern universal mobile complex of logistics support is determined and it consists of mobile modules (platforms) corresponding to their specific purpose. The ways of new global developments in the system of locating and ensuring the vital activity of personnel during the execution of combat tasks are presented. Views were considered ,recommendations were made and directions for improving the system of logistical support of military units (units) when deployed in the field in modern armed conflicts were discussed, as well as the expediency of equipping field camps according to the block-module system.

Le temps d’une chanson : abord médiatisé de la blessure de guerre en thérapie de groupe

Post-traumatic stress disorders are a major concern for the armed forces. Certain pathognomonic symptoms of psychological trauma are expressed by isolation and avoidance behavior that are antithetical to the principle of group unity and cohesion that is so fundamental in the military. The Robert Picqué military hospital is located in the heart of a region where many operational regiments are stationed. For the past 20 years, the French army has been deployed in different countries at war, on foreign missions or OPEX (Afghanistan, Lybia, Mali) and interior operations or OPINT. The Robert Picqué psychiatric department has adapted its clinical activity to admit and treat the many soldiers who have been injured and has developed a multidisciplinary and integrative approach, which includes group therapy, to treat PTSD. In this context, the combination of two health professionals, one an occupational therapist and the other a psychomotor therapist, has resulted in the creation of an original therapeutic approach using musical and creative mediation in group activities. The benefits of therapeutic synergy help to build a framework for free expression and includes the use of songs and personal creative exercises using a variety of media. From the patients’ artistic creations, their drawings and writing, we can see how this double mediation favors social bonding and makes it possible to understand the personal, family, and professional repercussions of PTSD. Thus, the time of a song provides the patients with a space of relief, of security and the development of a collective elaboration of their suffering.

Mission, or no mission: factors behind knowledge of military language among Czech soldiers

The goal of the study is to analyse the outcomes of a questionnaire survey which concerns understandability of military language used on former Afghanistan missions. Two groups of respondents took part in the survey – 50 soldiers with experience from a foreign mission, 50 soldiers without such experience. The data have indicated that when it comes to decoding randomly generated expressions, an important role is mainly played by the soldiers' other foreign missions, professional specialisations, length of service, and close contact with the participants of the Afghan missions.

Pengaruh Sejarah Gereja Dalam Perjalanan Sejarah Keuskupan Agung Pontianak Dan Perkembangannya Dewasa Ini

The focus of this research is to recognize and understand the history of the Pontianak Archdiocese Church in the course of Church history. Many people do not know the history of the Pontianak Archdiocese. However, the splendor of the Pontianak Archdiocese Church is well known, even abroad, especially in the Vatican Rome. In this study, the researcher used a qualitative methodology with a literature study approach regarding the Influence of Church History in the History of the Pontianak Archdiocese and current developments. Researchers used book sources, journal sources, and internet sources. History is an event and events that really happened in the past. The church is an association of people who follow Jesus Christ. Church history is a journey of the past of the Church that has occurred after the coming of Jesus Christ. Church history does not just appear but is a legacy of Church Fathers who were willing to be martyred in order to fight for and at the same time defend the truth of the faith. The church's mission is to bring people to God's salvation. The Pontifical Archdiocese Church has a long history, and has faced challenges and obstacles, both internally and externally. What started as the Apostolic Vicariate of Dutch Borneo, changed to the Archdiocese of Pontianak. Studying the history of the Pontianak Archdiocese Church is something that must be continued because that is where researchers get a very meaningful understanding. So this article aims to understand how the history of the Church and the history of the Pontifical Archdiocese has grown and developed today. The results of this study indicate that the Historical Journey of the Pontianak Archdiocese follows the journey of early Church history that was championed by the Church Fathers. Thus it can be concluded that the emergence of the history of the Archdiocese of Pontianak came from foreign missionaries.

EPIDEMICS ON THE MACEDONIAN FRONT (1916-1918)

World War I, like the previous two Balkan wars, took place on two fronts on a larger or smaller scale.One fought fighting on the warfare sides, and the other front was fought with outbreaks of infectious diseases. TheBalkans, especially Macedonia, were also the hotspot of several epidemic waves during these years of war. Startingwith cholera in 1913. military forces and the local population, in the following years of war, almost simultaneouslyhit the epidemic of stomach typhoid, feedback fever, damn typhoid, and dysentery. In the wake of the militaryactions of the Macedonian Front, malaria was the most dangerous infectious disease in the ranks of all armies, adisease that was expressed in less or greater intensity in all years of war. Reports of the warred sides' sanitationreported a large percentage of the sick, but also a high percentage of measles. The victims of the end of the war in1918. will increase with the appearance of a flu epidemic known as Spanish fever (Spanish flu) that will take apandemic scale. A pandemic that will take about 50 million people worldwide between 1918 and 1919, significantlymore than the total number of victims in World War I. The role of the sanitation of the Balkan countries is great, butalso of the large number of foreign missions that dealt with this situation by assisting the military and localpopulations.

Ukrainian Diplomatic Archive as a Source of Research on the Activities of the Japanese Consulate in Odessa in the Interwar Period

The purpose of the study is to clarify the source potential of the Ukrainian Diplomatic Archive for studying the specifics of the activities of the Japanese Consulate in Odesa in the interwar period. The research methodology is based on the principles of scientificity, historicism, systematicity and general scientific and special scientific methods, in particular archival heuristics and source criticism. The scientific novelty of the research results lies in the reconstruction of the Ukrainian component of the source base of the activity of the Japanese consulate in Odesa in the interwar period. Conclusions: The main array of documents related to the activities of the Japanese consular institution in Odesa in the interwar period was not preserved in Ukrainian archives. At that time, Ukraine was part of the USSR, was deprived of the right to engage in foreign policy activities and interacted with foreign missions within the framework of all-Union instructions. Soviet special services also supervised foreign missions. The Branch State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine holds a relevant documentary complex, which includes three thematic groups: reports on the results of supervising the heads of the Consulate of Japan in Odesa; reports on the results of supervising consulate staff; copies of intercepted consul reports on the economic and social policy of the USSR, the state of industry and agriculture. The source base for the study of the activities of the Japanese Consulate in Odesa is wider than the documents of the special services and is part of the Ukrainian Diplomatic Archive in the segment of Ukrainian-Japanese relations. Despite the fact that the activity of the consulate can be considered only as a diplomatic presence of Japan on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, documentary information indicates direct contacts of Japanese diplomats with Ukrainian state bodies, plans to start trade relations with the Ukrainian SSR, etc. Documents on this topic are also in the Central State Archive of Supreme Authorities of Ukraine, state archives of Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. The creation of the Diplomatic e-archive will help expand access to documents about the activities of foreign missions in Ukraine and Ukrainian-Japanese relations

Making the South Seas a “Chinese” Mission Field: Chinese Evangelical Missionaries to Southeast Asia, 1920s to 1950s

Abstract The emergence of Chinese evangelicals as missionaries in the first half of the twentieth century is an understudied topic. This paper thus seeks to foreground their voices by focusing on their Southeast Asian evangelistic work. By drawing on publications related to the Chinese Foreign Missionary Union and Alliance Bible Seminary, it is clear these missionaries were able to show their competency as transnational, inter-cultural workers that could undertake effective missionary work. This is shown in three ways. First, I argue that these evangelicals sought to carve out the South Seas (Nanyang) as a “Chinese” mission field by constructing narratives that emphasized a Chinese-Christian obligation to evangelize the region. Second, these evangelicals added a racial dimension to these narratives by claiming that they were more suited to evangelize the Nanyang peoples. Thirdly, I suggest that they eschewed “top-down” missionary methods and employed a grassroots approach in their engagement with different communities.

Remaking the Church Catholic in Post-Maoist China

Abstract After the political reforms that followed the death of Mao Zedong, Chinese Catholics were gradually allowed to reestablish their churches and resume public gatherings. Yet this opened serious challenges. After decades of persecution and isolation, which reshaped the ways Chinese Catholics worshipped and perceived themselves, they needed to redefine Chinese Catholicism. Is performing specific rituals in both Latin and a local dialect, at home and in secret, enough to be Catholic? Who holds the religious authority to effectively administer the sacraments? To what extent is a formal relationship with the Pope necessary to remain Catholic? This article explores how Chinese Catholics have searched for support from outside their family circles and the People’s Republic of China to answer their questions. This paper argues that in a rapidly changing politico-economic context marked by strict administrative control, Chinese Catholics have reestablished contacts with Global Catholicism through networking with missionary societies. More specifically, I look at collaborations which Chinese Catholics have established with the Paris Foreign Missions (MEP) to reassess the missiology of Chinese Catholicism. Discussing the evolving nature of these relationships after 1978, I show that the reconstruction of Catholicism in China has been a multilateral enterprise in which local Catholics have had to navigate political adversity, socio-cultural changes, and the Post-Vatican II reformation of worldwide Catholicism. In so doing, Chinese Catholics gradually moved outside of the intimacy of kinship groups and pre-defined rituals to engage actively with modernizing Chinese society and transforming world Catholicism.

The remains of Shamshara Hill and the ancient city of Shusharra (in the light of archaeological evidence and cuneiform sources)

Abstract: Tell Shemshara is located on the right bank of the Little Zab River, 8 km east of the town of Rania. It is consider one of the most important archaeological hills, dating back to the Neolithic period. Large parts of the hill were flooded during the completion of a water project in the Dukan Dam, and because of the importance of the site, local excavation teams and foreign missions excavated in it, in which rare archaeological materials were founded, including many clay tablets, which were the last, these are letters sent to (Kuwari), the ruler of Shushara. Excavations in it have revealed 16 archaeological layers of different archaeological periods, the oldest of which are layers 14-15-16, which date back to the time of the village of Charmo (7000 B.C.) It contains mud houses, while layers 9-13 have revealed houses, seals, adornment tools such as jewelry and bracelets, bones, tombs, domesticated animals and colored and ornate pottery, dating back to the era of Tel Hassuna (5000 B.C). The Shemshara archive dating back to the rule of the Assyrian King Šamši-Adad I was also founded. Shemshara has strategic location in the northeastern corner of the Rania plain in the Zagros Mountains gave Shemshara control of travel routes in all directions, and it made it an important area in which all the elements of civilization are available, and where the Hurrian civilization flourished. The aim of the study is to refer to the history of Shemshara- Šušarra and to analyze the archaeological finds discovered and Šušarra in the light of cuneiform texts. Keywords: Tell Shemshara, Dukan dam, discovered tablets, Šušarra City, Kwari.

Blast and explosion traumas-effects on the middle and inner ear based on the example of Bundeswehr foreign missions

Despite all protective measures, blast and explosion traumas are afrequent pattern of injury in Bundeswehr missions abroad. Due to body protection measures, head injuries, particularly of the ears, are higher in number compared to injuries in other regions of the body. Perforations of the tympanic membrane are the most frequent lesions of the middle ear, acute sensorineural hearing loss is the most frequent lesion of the inner ear, often accompanied by tinnitus and dizziness. With ahigh spontaneous recovery rate, prompt specialist care for these injuries is provided according to medical standards comparable to those in the home country.

Istoki muzykal'nogo prosveshcheniya v Kolledzhe Tenchzhou

Through inquiring and collating the historical data of schools and related music courses which were opened by foreign missionaries in China in the 1930s and 1940s, the author believes that under the influence of the skill imparting and advanced educational concepts of western musicians, the music course, music theory course, instrumental performance and singing course opened by western missionaries, especially the music textbook “Music Theory Enlightenment” compiled by Tengchow College, and ten classic songs of “Excerpt of Songs of Tengchow College” have played a very important role in promoting the enlightenment and development of modern higher musical education in China.