Mission History Research Articles

한국선교의 기원과 최초선교사건에 대한 역사적 성찰

This study is about the historical reflection on the origin of Korean mission and the first missionary event. The description of mission history is gradually changing from a Western to a non-Western perspective history. However, the Korean church considers 1884 or 1885 when Allen and Appenzeller came to Korea as the origin of mission. The missionaries who came to Korea brought the gospel book of Luke translated from Japan. Therefore, the Korean church should consider the ‘Historiography,’ which considers both the driving force from the outside and the attraction force from the inside. After that, the history of Korean mission must be re-established from the perspective of God’s mission (missio Dei) that includes the first missionary event that occurred before missionaries came to Korea.

국내 이주민 선교사 제도의 필요성과 가능성

The increase in migrants is a global phenomenon. Korea is no exception. Thus, it is the mission God has given to the Korean church in the 21st century to care for foreign immigrants residing in Korea with the love of Christ and to share the gospel with them and to raise them as God’s missionary people for the world mission. In this paper, the researcher describes the current status of international and domestic foreign migrants, and the mission history of the Korean church for them. Furthermore, he describes the necessity and possibility of the cross-cultural missionary system for foreign immigrants in Korea. Korean church should look at migrants from the perspective of God’s mission (missio Dei). They are not weak migrants, but God’s missionary people who will join God's mission with us in the future.

BAROQUE AROUND THE CLOCK: DANIELLO BARTOLI SJ (1608–1685) AND THE USES OF GLOBAL HISTORY

ABSTRACTRight from its foundation in 1540, the Society of Jesus recognised the value and role of visual description (ekphrasis) in the persuasive rhetoric of Jesuit missionary accounts. Over a century later, when Jesuit missions were to be found on all the inhabited continents of the world then known to Europeans, descriptions of the new-found lands were being read for the entertainment as well as the edification of their Old World audiences. The first official history of the Society's missions in the vernacular, the volumes authored by Daniello Bartoli (1608–1685), played an important role in communicating a sense of the distinctiveness of the order's global mission. Referred to by Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837) as the ‘Dante of baroque prose’, Bartoli developed a particularly variegated and intensely visual idiom to meet the challenge of describing parts of the world which the majority of his readers, including himself, would never visit.

The Italian Military Aviation in Nationalist China: General Roberto Lordi and the Italian Mission in Nanchang (1933–1937)

On 7 September 1933, military officers of the Italian Air Force led by Colonel Roberto Lordi departed from Naples to reach China with the task, agreed upon by Italian fascist and Chinese nationalist governments, of building a factory assembling Italian-made aircrafts and training pilots for the Republic of China. The mission was stationed at Nanchang, in today’s Jiangxi province. The initiative was developed in competition with a similar American mission, which had operated since 1932 in Hankou, in the Hubei province, at the time led by Colonel John H. Jouett. The Italian government won Chiang’s attention with the agreement to use the military airfield and Italian aircrafts against the Communist resistance, which pleased the expectations of the Generalissimo. In April 1934, the headquarters of the Chinese military aviation finally moved to Nanchang. The mission’s commander, Roberto Lordi, was promoted Brigadier General of the Italian Royal Air Force and appointed Chief of Staff of the Chinese Air Force. This article presents, through extensive use of unpublished private and public archive documents, the controversial history of the Italian military mission and unveils the circumstances that changed the fortune of that successful story, as well as the career and personal life of its commander.

Decolonizing Museums, Memorials, and Monuments

Decolonizing Museums, Memorials, and Monuments

FINNISH MISSION HISTORY: A STUDY ON SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACTS MADE BY FINNISH MISSIONARIES IN THE NORTH-EASTERN HIMALAYAS, INDIA

Once Winston Churchill rightly said and I quote: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” History is not just a past to remember but history is an opportunity to explore new things and learn from it. With a great vision and mission-heart, Finnish missionaries came in the Himalayan belt in the early nineteenth century. They had a vision of entering Tibet as soon as they set foot on Indian territory. They stayed and lived difficult lives since India is riven by caste, creed, and regional backwardness, which a few of them (missionaries) correctly termed as "darkness." The Himalayan people are living considerably more comfortable lives after several decades, yet the efforts and services of Finnish missionaries are still mostly unknown among Himalayan natives. Few of numbers of published articles and books are here to describe their major contributions and chronological evidences of Finnish missionaries’ arrival to India. In this article, a thorough analysis of the socio-economic repercussions of Finnish missionaries in the Himalayan belts and Buxaduars regions of Indian states West Bengal and Sikkim was conducted using collected primary and secondary data. Therefore, this article carry out this study by collecting data (qualitative and quantitative) and information from various sources viz. Published and unpublished articles and notes, collection of primary data/information from various sources remained in India and Finland and through analysis of historical documents of Finnish Mission History. KEYWORDS:Finnish missionaries, Himalayas, Socio-economic, mission history, education, community, Scandinavian Alliance Mission, Education, Livelihood, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Buxaduars.

Review: O'Neil Ford on Architecture

Review: <i>O'Neil Ford on Architecture</i>

History of Karras Colony and Nearby Settlements of Europeans in 19th — First Half of 20th Centuries at Present Stage of Study

The issues of the current stage of studying the history of the Karras colony and nearby European settlements in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries are considered. A review and analysis of new sources and historiography from 2000 to 2020 has been carried out. The relevance of the study is due to the poorly studied and fragmentary coverage of the history of European settlements in the central part of the North Caucasus in the 19th — first half of the 20th centuries in Russian historiography. The authors dwell on terminology issues. It is emphasized that the terms-cliches ‘mountaineers’ and ‘Tatars’ are characteristic of the historical literature of the 19th century and are inaccurately used by some authors today. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that in this work the history of the Karras colony and neighboring settlements of Europeans in the 19th — first half of the 20th centuries is considered based on publications of 2000—2020. It is concluded that there is a possibility and a need for an independent review of the history of the Scottish mission, the center of which was originally located in Karras. The authors proceed from the fact that the history of the settlements of the colonists has a broader chronological framework and the main task of the colonists was not always missionary activity.

Polycentric mission leadership: Toward a new theoretical model: OCMS Montagu Barker Lecture Series: “Polycentric Theology, Mission, and Mission Leadership”

As the world faces rapidly increasing cycles of disruption, challenges, and disorder, mission leaders are stretched to adapt, trying to catch up with the pace of change and provide leadership to further the mission God has given his Church. This paper, presented at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies Montagu Barker Lecture Series: “Polycentric Theology, Mission, and Mission Leadership,” focuses on ways leadership is changing, suggesting a new theoretical model for mission leadership. It reviews the idea of polycentrism through mission history, mission and church organizations, movement theory, and governance, identifying themes of an emerging theory of polycentric mission leadership.

Global Protestant Missions: Politics, Reform, and Communication, 1730s-1930s

Global Protestant Missions: Politics, Reform, and Communication, 1730s-1930s

Global Protestant Missions: Politics, Reform, and Communication, 1730s-1930s

Global Protestant Missions: Politics, Reform, and Communication, 1730s-1930s

Doing missions right: Popular development imaginaries and practices among U.S. evangelical Christians

This article explores recent evangelical Christian engagements with issues of poverty and development, focusing on prescriptive accounts about the right and wrong ways to ‘do missions’. Such accounts have proliferated amidst the phenomenal expansion of popular development activities among middle-class, white evangelicals in the U.S. As more and more white Christians purposefully confront and address poverty through short-term missions, evangelical scholars and leaders must theorize the causes poverty and how best to alleviate it. Such theorization can be situated in a long, entangled history of missions and development as fields of practice – a history that has been acknowledged but not fully appreciated. This article examines popular Christian theologies of development, typified by the bestselling title, When Helping Hurts. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research with short- and long-term missionaries, thearticle highlights three key tensions within popular evangelical development theology and practice: First, it absolves the poor of responsibility for their poverty while holding the poor responsible for their own wellbeing; second, it acknowledges poverty as a material problem, yet favors spiritual solutions to material deprivation, and third, it conceives of missions as acts of selflessness and sacrifice, yet instrumentalizes poor communities as sites of spiritual challenge and fulfilment.

Mission, Medicine, and Agency. Power-Structures in Medical Missionary Encounters

In conducting a global microhistory on Soetjipto, a Javanese student in one of the German Bethel Mission’s schools in the Dutch East Indies, this paper analyses the power-relations in missionary encounters. Not only were Javanese intermediaries–nurses, students, and teachers–an integral part of the missionary medical and educational work, the missionaries were outright dependent on their collaboration. For indigenous actors, the missionary project could provide attractive opportunities, such as medical service and Western education. These opportunities, however, had to be negotiated with the indigenous actors’ own social network. In following Soetjpto’s trajectory from student to missionary evangelist, it becomes apparent that some aspects of the missionary project were irreconcilable with local culture. Soetjipto’s decision to convert despite his family’s objection demands for a reappreciation of the most basic aspect of mission history: faith.

Book Review: Fighting for peace in Somalia—A history and analysis of the African Union Mission (AMISOM) 2008–2017

Book Review: Fighting for peace in Somalia—A history and analysis of the African Union Mission (AMISOM) 2008–2017

Turangawaewae as the Means of Moving from Migrant to Mission Worker: Identification Strategies in Embracing the Context and the People

Abstract Moving into cross-cultural and multi-cultural missions are not for the faint-hearted. The history of missions teaches us that many who were called did not survive to see the fruit of their labour. That was in facing physical trials and death. But for too many Post-Christendom missionaries their country of call becomes their emotional graveyard. This happens when they struggle with psychological barriers to entering and even re-entering the foreign country and culture where they serve. The importance of establishing a spiritual bond with the foreign land and the local people cannot be overstated. This brings about a shift in valuing oneself as not merely a temporarily ‘migrant’ worker but a called missionary. What are those factors that can support foreign missionaries in their psychological struggles during their initial phase of adapting to their new environment?

광주광역시 양림동 선교 역사의 지식 시각화 디자인 연구

양림동은 광주의 근대문화를 간직하고 있는 상징적 공간으로, 양림동 근대문화에 대한 고찰을 위해서는 기독교 문화의 관점에서 선교사의 행적과 인식을 재조명할 필요가 있다. 이를 위해 본 연구에서는 지식의 분류 단계(지식노드의 선택과 분류, 정리와 재배치, 라벨링)와 지식체계의 시각화 이론의 관점에서, 혼재되어 있는 양림동 선교 역사에 대한 지식 콘텐츠를 분류 및 조직화하고, 정보 전달의 효율성을 높이기 위한 시각적 맵핑과 디자인을 통해 양림동 선교 역사의 지식 시각화 표현물을 제시하였다. 양림동 선교 역사의 지식 노드는 다섯 가지 주제(양림동, 선교 사업, 근대역사문화건축, 시대적 상황, 기타)로 구분하여 총 8개 내용과 28개 항목으로 선택 및 분류되었다. 지식의 정리는 선교 역사의 3개의 시기 구분을 통해 이루어졌고, 지식의 라벨링은 양림동 3개(지역유래 외), 선교사업 4개(선교사 유입 배경 외), 근대역사문화건축 1개(교회), 시대적 상황 2개(일제강점기 외) 등 총 10개로 명명하였다. 지식 시각화 표현물의 소재는 버드나무 가지와 시대별 컬러, 시대 구분 아이콘과 연도별 타원의 크기, 사진 등을 적용하였다. 이번 연구에서 제시한 지식 시각화 자료가 양림동의 근대문화유산에 대한 체계적인 정립에 도움이 되길 기대한다.

ЗАМОНАВИЙ РОССИЯ ТАРИХШУНОСЛИГИДАБУХОРО АМИРЛИГИ ДИПЛОМАТИК МУНОСАБАТЛАРИНИНГ ЎРГАНИЛИШИ

The article presents the scientific conclusions of modern historiographic research on the history of diplomatic relations of the Bukhara Emirate. The object of the research is the analysis of the history of the activities of Alexander Burns, who carried out a diplomatic mission in Central Asia in the first quarter of the 19th century. The history of the diplomatic missions of the Russian and British empires in relation to the Bukhara Emirate is highlighted. Although most of the research on the history of the Bukhara Emirate has been carried out by historians from Uzbekistan, Russia and Tajikistan, historians from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan can also be found.Index Terms:Bukhara Emirate, embassy, diplomacy, expedition, mission, historiography, research, analysis, conclusion

Space missions for astronomy and astrophysics in Korea: past, present, and future

We review the history of space mission in Korea focusing on the field of astronomy and astrophysics. For each mission, scientific motivation and achievement are reviewed together with some technical details of the program including mission schedule. This review includes the ongoing and currently approved missions as well as some planned ones. Within the admitted limitations of authors' perspectives, some comments on the future direction of space program for astronomy and astrophysics in Korea are made at the end of this review.

In-situ resources for infrastructure construction on Mars: A review

• Possible in-situ resources for infrastructure construction on Mars were proposed. • Feasibility of in-situ energy exploitation and intelligent construction was proposed. • The Martian soil, basalt and Martian concrete are construction materials options. • Construction materials are expected to withstand Martian environment conditions. • Construction needs combination of in-situ energy and intelligent construction technologies. It is widely proposed that Mars will be the next destination for human to expand colonization. However, building up a habitat requires collective work from multiple disciplinaries of which engineering is an indispensable part. Similar to infrastructure construction on the earth, the technical issues of raw material, space construction technologies has to be addressed before human inhabitation. Based on the history of Mars exploration missions and a series of current Mars exploration results, this paper introduces the environment conditions on Mars, reviews the research of the in-situ resources which can be further utilized for infrastructure construction on Mars and proposes feasible infrastructure construction technologies. This paper provides an overview of in-situ construction material resources, possible construction methods and requirements for materials in extreme environment, which can be a valuable reference for future Mars exploration and possible infrastructure construction on the Mars.

Personal Evangelism or Social Reform? The Challenge to Brazilian Presbyterianism in the Nineteenth Century

This article analyses how Presbyterian missionaries and the early pastors in Brazil answered the call to help lead the country to material progress. In terms of organization, it follows the chronological order of a scheme traditional among historians of Presbyterianism in Brazil: beginning, consolidation, and dissent. It begins with the antecedents and mostly the work of the pioneer James Cooley Fletcher. While some leaders wanted to help Brazil develop as a nation, most workers in the early Presbyterian Church had a more conservative approach. They were not necessarily antagonistic to the material progress the gospel could bring but favored personal evangelism as their main goal. Debates on this issue would mark the early denomination, especially in its dissent phase. KEYWORDS: Ashbel Green Simonton, James Cooley Fletcher, Brazilian history, missionary history, missions to Brazil, evangelism, social work