Missionary Problems Research Articles

Andrew Murray’s “Missionary Problem”

The article compares two views on the missionary problem: one was expressed in Andrew Murray's book The Key to the Missionary Problem, about 120 years ago. Murray emphasised the low level of the spiritual life of the church as the main missionary problem; the key to solving this problem is the revival of a strong personal spiritual life in all missionaries and in all church members. The second view on the missionary problem has to do with one of the unfinished tasks of the missionary movement that Murray helped to establish. It is tacitly found in the Nova Institute's work over the last 26 years. It is not presented as the key to the missionary problem but as a small effort to contribute to the solving of one of the missionary problems, namely the gap between the spiritual and the everyday lives of church members.

Book Review: Missions and Money: Affluence as a Missionary Problem … Revisited

Book Review: Missions and Money: Affluence as a Missionary Problem … Revisited

Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem … Revisited

Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem … Revisited

The World in My Parish: Rethinking the Standard Missiological Model

Missiologists, borrowing from anthropology as practiced from the 1950s through the 1980s, have trained a generation of missionaries by using the “standard anthropological model.” Culture is portrayed as causative, but has no cause itself. Communication is portrayed as a transmission within a dyad, involving no one else except God. Thus, the missionary problem is the communication of the gospel between two people from two different cultures. In fact, this is not the situation, if it ever was. Regional and global flows of ideas, goods, people, and beliefs have always breached the “boundaries” of seemingly self-contained cultures. People have never been slaves to the past. Instead, they selectively bring certain interpretations of the past to bear on everyday life. There have always been competing narratives about the nature of reality and the necessity of particular beliefs and actions. Contrary to the standard model, culture is contingent, culture is constructed, and culture is contested. The missionary situation is not as simple as it has seemed.

Российские миссионерские журналы о деятельности скандинавских религиозных миссий в конце XIX-начале XX века<br>(Scandinavian missions in the materials of the Russian Orthodox magazines (from the late 19th and early 20th centuries))

The Russian Orthodox magazines - Pravoslavny Blagovestnik, Missio- nerskoe obozrenie, Amerikansky pravoslavny vestnik, and others - are important and interesting sources. These periodicals describe missionary activity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Naturally, these magazines were primarily concerned with the missionary attempts of the "Great Powers". But the work of Scandinavian missions was also covered. The material can be divided into three categories: historical reviews, statistics, and so-called "missionary problems". The reviews deal with the history of all influential Scandinavian missionary organizations - The Norwegian Missionary Society, The Norwegian Covenant Mission, The Danish Missionary Society, The Church of Sweden Mission. The statistical material - the number of missionary organizations and missionaries, native assistants, converts, financial support - offers a chance to compare Scandinavian missionary activity on an international scale. At the turn of the 19th century the problems between missionaries and native inhabitants became very topical. These problems, too, were touched upon in Russian religious magazines. On the whole, the role of Scandinavian missions in the missionary movement was evaluated in an objective manner.

Missions and Money. Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem. By Jonathan J. Bonk. (American Society of Missiology Series, No. 15). Maryknoll/New York, Orbis, 1991. Pp. 170. $16.95.

Missions and Money. Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem. By Jonathan J. Bonk. (American Society of Missiology Series, No. 15). Maryknoll/New York, Orbis, 1991. Pp. 170. $16.95. - Volume 47 Issue 3

Book Review: Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem

Book Review: Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem

Book Review: Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem

Book Review: Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem

Missionary Health: The Great Omission

North American mission boards were surveyed to identify and prioritize missionary medical problems and determine initiatives for improving health. Malaria was the most common nontrivial medical complaint, and viral hepatitis the most serious. Nevertheless, only 72 percent of boards recommend malaria prophylaxis, 57 percent ascribe to regular immune globulin use, and 31 percent advocate hepatitis B immunization. Sub-Saharan Africa was considered the region of the world where missionary health was most in peril. Besides strategies to minimize the risks of malaria and hepatitis, recommendations for improving missionary health include greater use of rabies and typhoid vaccines; increased attention to mental health concerns and accident prevention, particularly seat belt use; increased health education regarding both clinical issues and public health principles; improved scheduling for relaxation and family time; and greater availability of comprehensive health services before departing, while abroad, and upon returning from an overseas assignment.

The Vernon Anderson Papers

The papers in this collection were generated by Rev. Vernon Anderson, a Presbyterian missionary who served in the Belgian Congo. Born in Illinois in 1896, Anderson was raised in Alabama where he attended the Alabama Presbyterian College. After graduation he continued his studies at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, from which he received his B.D. degree in 1920. Anderson joined the American Presbyterian Congo Mission and assumed a post with that mission in the Kasai Province in 1921. The earliest Presbyterian missionaries to work in the Congo had established a station at Luebo in 1891. Their missionary efforts were concentrated among the Bena Lulua of the Lulua river valley. Anderson, however, was sent to the station of Bibanga situated near the Lubilashi river in the area southeast of Luebo. Bibanga lay within the broad area between Lake Tanganyika and the Kasai river in which the Luba live. The Baluba have been separted into two groups--the Baluba-kasai and the Baluba-katanga--by one present-day scholar. The Baluba-lubilashi are a subgroup of the Baluba-kasai.Anderson was one of the first missionaries to work among the Baluba-lubilashi, from 1921 to 1946. In addition to his duties as a missionary he spent a considerable amount of time studying Luba society, in part through the collection of primary data from informants. From this material he wrote a Ph.D. dissertation entitled Witchcraft in Africa: A Missionary Problem and received his degree in 1942 from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Another project to engage his scholarly interest in the Luba was the revision of an early Tshiluba-English dictionary.

Pluriformity in Ethics: A Modern Missionary Problem

Pluriformity in Ethics: A Modern Missionary Problem

Pluriformity in Ethics: A Modern Missionary Problem

Pluriformity in Ethics: A Modern Missionary Problem

The Kenya Maasai and the protest phenomenon, 1900–1960

This article is concerned to show some of the dimensions of political activity amongst the Kenya Maasai in the first half of this century. Primarily, the focus is not on the ‘traditional’ Maasai, but on the small but not insignificant educated group who, despite the restrictions of the Maasai Reserve, participated in the growth of Kenya's modern African politics. Certain crucial events in East Africa—the circumcision crisis, independency in church and school, and the search for higher education—are shown to have important Maasai counterparts. At the same time, some of the stubbornest administrative and missionary problems presented in the development of Maasailand are examined within a historical perspective, and with the aid of Maasai oral materials where possible.

Polygamy as a Missionary Problem: The Anthropological Issues

The following article is reprinted by permission from the Church Growth Bulletin, Vol. V, No. 4 (March, 1969). Other articles in the same issue by Donald A. McGavran, Ralph D. Winter, and Kenneth N. Taylor also deal with polygyny. Copies of the special issue of Church Growth Bulletin may be ordered (50 ¢ per copy, or three for $100) from The Business Manager, Mr. Norman Cummings, 265 Lytton Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301, U.S.A.

The Szechwan Riots of 1895 and American “Missionary Diplomacy”

China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 not only revealed to the world the weakness of the Celestial Empire, but also raised a number of critical problems for the Imperial government, none more complicated than that of protecting foreign missionaries. The missionary problem had already become a diplomatic headache in the latter part of the nineteenth century, after the Treaty Powers had forced the Chinese government to recognize the right of Christian missionaries to establish missions far in the interior of China where they were exposed to attacks by hostile Chinese. As greater numbers of missionaries penetrated the interior, antimissionary outrages occurred with disturbing and increasing frequency, bringing forth bitter complaints from the foreign community in China about the inability of the Powers to force the Imperial government to provide protection. The customary demand of the Powers when outrages occurred had been for protection of their nationals, reparations for lives lost and property destroyed, and punishment of provincial officials who had been unable or unwilling to prevent outrages. Frequently there had been a resort to “gunboat diplomacy,” when the Powers rushed naval vessels to cities where riots threatened or occurred to protect foreigners and overawe local officials.

The Development of African Studies in the United States

The earliest interest in Africa among institutions of higher education in the United States was probably that of denominational colleges which trained missionaries for Africa and other areas. But their motivation was to bring the fruits of Western civilization to non-Western areas, and this had no effect on the college curriculum of the nineteenth century. The missionary interest has continued in at least one major African studies program. The Hartford Seminary Foundation offers courses on missionary problems, African religions, and Christianity in Africa. It also teaches several African languages. Northwestern University has had an interest in African anthropology which dates back to 1927. No available information, however, has revealed whether courses then offered included the study of Africa. During World War II, there was an abortive attempt to organize an International Conference on Africa, and just after the war, an instructor at Colby Junior College included the study of African literature in an English course. The Carnegie Corporation aided the development of African studies by extending their grants for area studies to the African field, giving funds for fellowships and sending small groups of scholars to Africa for “look-see” tours. Superficial as these tours may have been, a number of their participants later became Africanists.

Church, Society, and Labor Resources: An Intra-Denominational Comparison

This paper, a comparative analysis of two Latter-day Saint bodies, deals with the independent role of the external situation on social system structure and functioning. The Mormons and the Reorganites, closely similar in value orientations and beliefs but historically involved in widely different situations, have established contrasting solutions to the strategic missionary manpower problem. Significant intra-church consequences flow from these differences. In the Mormon case the historical situation created the conditions for the full institutionalization of both the mission role and volunteer labor. In the second case situational imperatives required the reorganization to postpone collective goal action and there by decreased the organization's need to channel religious loyalties into labor resources.

Book Review: Facing the Field: The Foreign Missionary and His Problems

Book Review: Facing the Field: The Foreign Missionary and His Problems

Book Review: II. Historical Studies: Facing the Field—the Foreign Missionary and His Problems

Book Review: II. Historical Studies: Facing the Field—the Foreign Missionary and His Problems

SYNCRETISM AS A RELIGIOUS AND A MISSIONARY PROBLEM

International Review of MissionVolume 43, Issue 3 p. 253-273 SYNCRETISM AS A RELIGIOUS AND A MISSIONARY PROBLEM HENDRIK KRAEMER D.Litt., HENDRIK KRAEMER D.Litt.Search for more papers by this author HENDRIK KRAEMER D.Litt., HENDRIK KRAEMER D.Litt.Search for more papers by this author First published: July 1954 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.1954.tb03787.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume43, Issue3July 1954Pages 253-273 RelatedInformation