Missionary Organizations Research Articles

Colonial Kenya: socio-political forces and lines of contradiction

The presented article is devoted to the study of the structure of society and the relationship of various ethnic and social groups in Kenya during the era of colonialism. There are four main centers of power - European colonists, missionaries, immigrants from South Asia and the local African population. The main lines of contradictions between them are traced, common interests and conflict zones are outlined in the conditions of the dominant importance of the metropolis, which plays the role of an arbitrator. Particular attention is paid to the channels of arrival in Kenya, the dynamics of growth in the number and socio-political weight of Europeans and Indians, their main claims against each other, resources of influence, methods of achieving goals and defending their positions are analyzed. With the unconditional political domination of immigrants from Europe, the British authorities were forced to recognize the huge contribution of Indian capital to the development of the local economy, to attract Africans to serve in law enforcement and the armed forces, and rely on local resources to cover the needs of the colony during the years of economic crises and World War II. The rise of Indian nationalism contributed to the strengthening of anti-colonial sentiments in Kenya and the consolidation of part of the African and South Asian elite in the simpler struggle for independence. Missionary organizations made a significant contribution to the spread of education and medicine among the indigenous people, gave impetus to the development of their own Christian churches in the region, but undermined the confidence of Africans in themselves, taking an irreconcilable position in relation to some local customs and traditions. Colonial Kenyan society was highly segregated, although the apartheid regime did not officially exist there. In the early years of Kenya's independence, the frictions and contradictions that had been smoothed out earlier by London made themselves felt with renewed vigor, which provoked the emigration of people of Indian and European descent from the country.

Foreign Missionary Activity Prior to and During the Armenian Genocide

This article discusses how pre-Genocide foreign missionary activity prepared the way for relief and existential support during and after the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1921. Examples are drawn from American, British, and German Protestant missionary organisations, especially the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the Turkish Missions Aid Society or Bible Lands Missions Aid Society, and the Christlicher Hilfsbund im Orient. These agencies developed missionary and relief methods and transnational networks which were utilised by the Action Chrétienne en Orient (ACO) and other twentieth-century mission agencies in their work among Armenian communities.

Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Colonial Quadrillage: The Action Chrétienne en Orient in Mandatory Syria (1922–1946)

Despite growing internationalization, national ties have remained a structural aspect of missionary and humanitarian work. This was especially true of the Interwar period in the Middle East, where colonial powers, independent states and political ideologies competed. The beginnings of the Action Chrétienne en Orient (ACO) bear witness to this: the ACO, specialized in assistance to Christian Anatolian refugees and missionary work towards Muslims, made strategic use of its national connections. It retained German and Protestant connections, while serving as a formally French broker between refugees or Protestant missionary organizations and the French colonial authority. Yet as looming independence seemed to threaten the position of Christian refugees, the ACO gradually entered the ‘colonial quadrillage’ through which France exerted guidance over voluntary organizations.

Whistleblowing at Social Mission Organizations: The Impact of Value Congruence on the Likelihood of Employees to Report Fraud

Whistleblowing at Social Mission Organizations: The Impact of Value Congruence on the Likelihood of Employees to Report Fraud

The effect of social capital on organizational repertoires of American Protestant missions

A religious organization’s choice of activities is shaped not only by theological goals but also the capital available to it. Prior research has shown how economic and religious capital influence Protestant missionary organizations’ repertoires of activism but has largely ignored the role of social capital. Using the most recent data on transnational American Protestant mission agencies, this study aims to fill this gap. Using a Bourdieuian field approach and multiple correspondence analysis, the study finds that linking and bonding social capital both shape whether an agency generalizes rather than specializes in specific ministry activities. Both bonding and bridging social capital, in turn, prompt a more other-worldly than this-worldly ministry orientation, but this is a pattern most characteristic of Evangelical agencies, suggesting an intersection between religious identity and organizational network size. The study concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for interorganizational collaboration and resource use.

예수회 콜레주, 근대유럽 중등교육의 전형

The Society of Jesuit, which first began as a missionary organization, after establishing the first college open to common students at Messina in 1548, spread its own colleges throughout Europe and around the world. The educational method or curriculum of the Jesuit college cannot be said to be original in itself. The Jesuit adopted a Paris-style educational method that began by the Brotherhood of the common life and transformed from the University of Paris. Students were divided into classes, learned systematically defined subjects from independent professors, and were promoted to higher classes through examinations. The curriculum also focused on learning Latin and Greek grammar, according to the knowledge system of the time that embraced humanism, and then leading to humanities and rhetoric, followed by philosophy and theology courses. This educational method and curriculum were also accepted at the same time in colleges run by other congregations, and it was natural that there was no significant difference between the Protestant and Catholic regions. Rather, the originality of the Jesuit college is that they tried to provide an overall system and secure unity as much as possible by completing the Ratio Studiorum through long experience. Unlike the schools of Brotherhood of the common life, which had disappeared, and unlike the colleges run by Protestants and secular professors in individual ways, the stable system in Jesuit colleges spread throughout Europe for over 150 years. Although the philosophy and theology courses were modified, the humanities-centered secondary education system was also accepted by other educational congregations or universityaffiliated colleges, becoming a model for secondary education in modern Europe. The Jesuit was dissolved in the mid-18th century, but classical humanities education remained at the core of the European liberal arts class. The elites owning this high culture distinguished themselves from the lower classes until the end of the 19th century, and the legacy of this tradition continues today as well. (Chonnam National University / kim03ji@hotmail.com)

MODERN METHODS OF MISSIONARY AND MEANS OF ITS IMPLEMENTATION

The is known that the religious factor plays an essential role in modern political, social, and even economic processes. The positive use of this factor leads to the spiritual development of society. But the use of this factor in a negative or biased sense leads to its decline. It should be noted that over time, missionary methods and tools have improved. Today, along with classical methods, new, modern methods, and tools, including television, audio, video, radio, and computer technologies, are widely used. This article discusses and analyzes the methods and tools used by missionary organizations to increase their followers.

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.

Mission impossible: the Christian mission and the State of Israel, 1948–65

ABSTRACT Using primary archival and other contemporary sources, this article explores the relationship between the Christian mission and Israel as a modern Jewish nation-state from its establishment in 1948 until 1965, when section 13a of the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law, 5722–1962, was enacted in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). Since the rebirth of the State of Israel, a number of Christian Protestant Churches and missionary organisations have worked to convert Jews to Christianity. The State of Israel opposed such proselytising yet wished to maintain its commitment to freedom of religion as stated in its Declaration of Independence. Furthermore, it did not wish to damage foreign relations with the Christian world.

The Effectiveness of Dakwah and Educational Activities in Science Tahfiz Schools

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of dakwah (missionary) and educational activities carried out in science tahfiz schools. This research was based on a qualitative approach carried out at the Science Tahfiz School, Tanah Merah, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia. The study sample consisted of 100 tahfiz students from year one to year five, whose ages ranged from 13 to 17 years. This sample was based on the random selection of 20 students from each of the five existing classes. The research instrument was based on a survey questionnaire consisting of 10 items to elicit information regarding respondents’ perceptions of the effectiveness of activities carried out in the program. Respondents’ responses to each item of the questionnaire were rated along a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from ‘1’ (highly ineffective) to ‘5’ (highly effective). The researchers used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPPS, Version 2.3) software to analyze the survey data. Overall, the research findings showed the dakwah (missionary) program was effective in improving tahfiz students’ understanding and knowledge of Islamic obligations as a pendakwah (a missionary). The students highly rated all the activities of the program based on high mean scores of the questionnaire items, especially those relating to Koranic recitation, prayers, and zikir (supplication). These findings underscore the importance of dakwah programs in helping to prepare tahfiz students as future leaders of Islamic missionary organizations. Hence, dakwah programs must be carried out in tahfiz schools to train the future generation of Islamic missionaries, who will continue the tradition of calling humans to become good practicing Muslims who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. For this to materialize, such programs have to be well-planned, systematically organized, and coordinated with all relevant Islamic agencies or bodies.

Unity and Diversity: Frames of Catholicity among Catholic Campus Ministers

Scholars have explained many of the differences within the American Catholic population in terms of political division or polarization. Although Catholics are becoming increasingly politically bifurcated, to focus only on the political misses the specifically religious differences that also distinguish Catholics from one another. There have been substantial changes in the staffing of Catholic campus ministry in the last 20 years. To better understand these shifts and their implications for ministry, the Catholic bishops commissioned a survey of Catholic campus ministers in the United States. The survey answered some questions but raised others. A qualitative study that more deeply explored these questions was recommended. Using three “windows”—vocation, prayer and spirituality, and mission—this article explores the overlap and differences in frames of Catholicity among two types of Catholic campus ministers. Forty-five campus ministers from three geographic regions of the country were interviewed. Ten of these forty-five interviewees are “missionaries,” meaning they are recent college graduates who have obtained a several-week training from their missionary organization and are contracted to serve as a campus missionary for two years. Thirty-one of these are “professional ministers,” meaning they have a graduate degree in ministry and intend to have a long-term career in this field. Missionaries’ understandings of vocation, prayer and spirituality, and mission reveal that missionary-formed campus ministers operate out of a frame that emphasizes an individualist Catholicism. The professional ministers employ a frame that amplifies the communal aspects of Catholicism. These findings contribute theoretically to ideas in the framing literature, specifically in the fields of politics, emotions and identity. The way these frames might have an impact on ministry offerings and student formation are also discussed.

Mission of Foreign Protestants in Russia on the Eve and during the Great Russian Revolution and the Civil War

Based on the study of a wide range of sources (published and unpublished), the article explores the activities of foreign Protestant missions in Russia on the eve and during the years of the revolution, the Civil War and foreign intervention (1917—1922). The intensification of the bilateral process of interaction between Russian and foreign Protestantism during the years of the revolution, the Civil War and the intervention in Russia under the conditions of the proclaimed freedom of conscience and the absence of legislative restrictions on missionary activity, was associated, both with the global missionary designs of foreign, primarily American missionary and Christian humanitarian organizations, and with the internal trends in the development of the domestic Evangelical-Baptist community, which has set as its goal the large-scale evangelization of Russia. Using the example of the largest denominations — Evangelical Christianity and Baptism, the impact of foreign missionaries and missionary organizations on domestic Protestantism is studied, the main countries-“importers” of the mission, its goals, methods and forms of missionary work, the main directions of interaction with Russian believers are identified.

Land use and interethnic relationships between the !Xun and the Ovawambo in post-independence north-central Namibia

The San consist of various groups distinguished by language, locale and cultural practices. Focusing on the !Xun San living in Ekoka, a village originally established by a missionary organisation in the heartland of the Ovawambo agro-pastoral people, this paper aims to clarify how the !Xun, the extreme minority in the region, have been reorganising their relationships with various actors including the Ovawambo after Namibia gained independence. The results show that the Ovawambo play an important role in providing the !Xun with opportunities to engage in wage labour, which is the main source of their income, and various food materials. In addition, the land shortage problem that the Ovawambo experience has become increasingly serious after independence. Against the backdrop of these circumstances, the Ovawambo have overused the cooperative farm which was initially created for the San, and thus damages to the San’s crops have frequently occurred, largely caused by the Oshiwanbo livestock. Nonetheless, the !Xun have not shown consistent opposition to the Ovawambo’s use of their land. Ironically, the cooperative farm, which was established and run by the missionary organisations about half a century ago for the purpose of promoting food self-sufficiency among the San, is facilitating the !Xun’s engagement in labour for the Ovawambo. While advocating poverty reduction for the San and their integration into the nation-state, the government is actually strengthening the policy of assimilating the San into the Ovawambo. In such a situation, the !Xun seek a better lifestyle by reorganising the reciprocal relationship with the Ovawambo through using the cooperative farm and food materials provided by the Namibian government. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

Mission organizations in the upper house of Parliament: history and modernity

Mission organizations in the upper house of Parliament: history and modernity

РЕЛИГИОЗНОЕ ВЛИЯНИЕ ТУРЦИИ И ПАКИСТАНА В КЫРГЫЗИИ

The article discusses the activities of Muslim religious organizations of Turkey and Pakistan on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Some aspects of the work of the main missionary organizations, their goals and key characteristics are emphasized.

Non-Christian Religions in the work of Uchimura Kanzō

Non-Christian Religions in the work of Uchimura Kanzō James Harry Morris (bio) Keywords Uchimura Kanzō, Non-Church Movement, Interreligious Dialogue, Interfaith Dialogue, Interreligious Relations, Christian-Buddhist Relations, Christian-Muslim Relations The first Protestant missionaries came to Japan in 1859 following the ratification of the five Ansei Treaties negotiated between Japan and several western powers (the United States, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands) the previous year.1 The missionaries initially focused on language acquisition, translation and teaching, gaining only a handful of converts until the government began to adopt a more liberal stance toward Christianity in 1873.2 By 1891, there were approximately 30,000 Japanese converts to Protestantism and by 1930 there were over 190,000.3 Nevertheless, Christianity has, historically and contemporarily, failed to take seed amongst the Japanese people, with Mark Mullins noting, for instance, that "annual statistics have indicated for decades that no more than one percent of the Japanese are church members."4 Indeed, since Christianity "cuts across vital social aspects of belonging, [it] tends to be rather antithetical to Japanese feelings of identity."5 In addition to this, foreign Protestant missionaries have tended to import Christianity as part of a colonial and neo-colonial western package that provides little to no room for dialogue between Christianity and Japanese modes of thought, being, and practice, whether religious or secular. Historically missionaries "tended to emphasize a total discontinuity between the Christian faith and Japanese religious traditions and practices. Indigenous traditions needed to be 'displaced' or removed to make room for the Gospel and authentic Christian faith. The missionaries had the 'truth of the Gospel,' and the Japanese were totally lost in sin."6 [End Page 196] Simultaneously, during the second half of the nineteenth century many Japanese viewed Christianity as incompatible with Japanese values.7 As a result of these factors, some Japanese theologians have attempted to theologize from Japanese contexts in an ecclesial environment independent from western missionary organizations. Uchimura Kanzō's (1861–1930) founding of the Mukyōkai (Non-Church Movement) in 1901 marked the first—and one of the most famous—attempts to develop an indigenous Christian movement along these lines. Uchimura's attempts to find points of commonality between Christianity and the Japanese context led him to begin to grapple theologically with themes pertinent to interfaith dialogue.8 In this paper, I will explore some of these themes in Uchimura's work and seek to situate his theology within its wider historical context. I will argue that Uchimura uses references to non-Christian religions as literary devices and as examples for the betterment of Christianity, while also postulating that God was active in the religious histories of non-Christian peoples. a man of two worlds From his youth, Uchimura lived abridge two worlds: Asian and western, Japanese and North American, non-Christian and Christian. Scholars have been divided in their assessments as to whether it was Japanese or western contexts and their influences that played the most important role in Uchimura's life and work. Mullins, however, provides a suitable middle ground, illustrating that Uchimura was simultaneously indebted to western thought and convinced, in contradistinction to the missionaries, that "native traditions provided a positive foundation for Christianity in Japan."9 A brief overview of Uchimura's life may help to elucidate some of the multiple factors that shaped his thought. Uchimura's educational background was predominantly western. Born into a samurai family, he attended Takasakihan Eigakkō (Takasaki Domain English School) until 1873, Arima Shigakkō (Arima Private School), where he had his first interactions with Christianity, until 1874, and Tōkyō Gaikokugo Gakkō (Tokyo School of Foreign Language),10 before enrolling in Sapporo Nōgakkō (Sapporo Agricultural College) in 1877.11 It was here that Uchimura converted to Christianity, receiving a Methodist baptism from American missionary Merriam Colbert Harris (1846–1921) in 1878.12 Following several years of work after his graduation in 1881, Uchimura emigrated to the United States, where he matriculated at Amherst College in 1885 and completed his second bachelor's [End Page 197] degree in 1887.13 Following his graduation from Amherst, he initially enrolled in Hartford Theological Seminary, but returned to Japan in 1888 to...

Возрождение и развитие протестантизма и католицизма на Дальнем Востоке России в 1990-е годы

Несмотря на проявление определенного интереса к религии в перестроечные годы российский Дальний Восток к началу 1990-х годов продолжал оставаться самым секулярным регионом страны, значительная часть его населения не имела опыта «жизни в Боге». Принятие ФЗ «О свободе вероисповеданий» (1990) и подписание Президентом РСФСР Б.Н. Ельциным 20 сентября 1991 Указа № 123 «Об открытии г. Владивостока для посещения иностранными гражданами» привели к тому, что российский Дальний Восток в 1990-е годы становится одним из излюбленных мест работы иностранных миссионеров, прибывающих в регион из США, Республики Корея, Японии, Австралии, Новой Зеландии, Канады, КНР и других стран. Значительная часть миссионеров, работающих на Дальнем Востоке России, были представителями протестантских и католических религиозных организаций. Материальная и моральная помощь иностранных миссионеров и миссионерских организаций местным протестантским общинам (баптистов, евангельских христиан, христиан веры евангельской (пятидесятников) и адвентистов седьмого дня) способствовала тому, что дальневосточные протестанты смогли в 1990-е годы не только начать массовую евангелизацию населения Дальнего Востока, но и добиться в этом значительных успехов, обогнав по количеству религиозных общин Русскую православную церковь. Миссионерское служение на территории российского Дальнего Востока представителей различных христианских конфессий из сопредельных стран способствовало, с одной стороны, росту протестантских и католических общин и групп, помогало дальневосточным верующим в организации благотворительной и милосердной деятельности; с другой – иногда приводило к конфликтным ситуациям. Позиции баптизма, евангельского христианства, пятидесятничества и адвентизма на Дальнем Востоке России были прочны и в советское время, в постсоветской России они должны восприниматься как традиционные религии, в дополнение к более традиционным, исторически признанным.

Muhammadiyah Da’wah Communication on Instagram in Preventing the Spread of COVID-19

Da'wah is closely related to communication science because it plays a role in conveying messages to the public. Muhammadiyah as an amar makruf nahi mungkar missionary organization has an important role in educating and carrying out da’wah communication to break the chain of covid-19. The purpose of this research is to explain Muhammadiyah da'wah communication, Muhammadiyah visual communication and netizen responses. To describe and analyze the phenomenon, the researchers use theory of da'wah and visual communication. The descriptive qualitative method is also used in this research to explain the phenomenon of Muhammadiyah da’wah communication. The main source of this research is visual da’wah on Instagram accounts of Muhammadiyah @persyarikatan.muhammadiyah and @tvmuhammadiyah, due to the impossibility to conduct direct interviews during the Covid-19 pandemic. Da'wah communication carried out by Muhammadiyah told the community to conduct obligatory prayers at home. On top of that, the Friday prayer is replaced by the Zuhr prayer at home with their family members. There are diverse responses from the communities, and some of them still support the performing of Friday prayer and obligatory prayers in congregation at the mosque. Therefore, Muhammadiyah needs to continuously increase the revitalization of visual da'wah to convey the message of persuasion to the public

Integrating Ministerial Visions: Lessons from Campus Ministry

In recent years, colleges and universities have seen an increase in a relatively new model of Catholic campus ministry: missionary organizations. As these missionaries grow in number, there is also an increase in the number of campuses that simultaneously use missionaries and long-term, professional ministers with graduate degrees. Drawing upon two national studies of Catholic campus ministers and the work of a national task force, this article will illuminate the obstacles these blended teams face in crafting a more holistic engagement with the Catholic tradition. It will also outline the steps to promote a more integrated ministerial vision and to become more pastorally effective. Implications for ministry more broadly are discussed.

Obituary for Professor Chengetai Zvobgo

Professor Chengetai Zvobgo will be remembered as a conscientious and hardworking scholar of history, who devoted himself to scrupulous research in archives to understand the social development of Africans in Zimbabwe in response to the western impact. He used the Christianmissionary penetration of Zimbabwe at the beginning of the 20th Century, starting with the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, under the tutelage of the redoubtable Professor George Shepperson of Edinburgh University, as the launch pad of his lifetime intellectual pursuit. That journeysoon broadened to cover all the missionary organisations that laboured in Zimbabwe and also embraced all their three ministries of teaching,healing as well as evangelisation.