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AdeKing10-01-004 |
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Kingdom Without
Borders The
Untold Story of Global Christianity Miriam
Adeney InterVarsity
Press, 2009, 294 pp. ISBN 978-0-8308-3849-3 |
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Miriam Adeney is professor of global and urban
ministries at Seattle Pacific University and the author of Daughters of Islam and God’s Foreign Policy. In this book she
describe the growth and practice and struggles of Christianity around the
world by sharing stories and vignettes of the lives of people. Extremely engaging and stimulating. 1. These are My People “Sometimes the gospel saves a whole people from
annihilation.” In Borneo, in the
middle of the nineteenth century the British governor prohibited head-hunting
and improved agricultural methods.
More rice and freedom from fear led to more fermented beverages,
partying and heavy drinking. Alcoholism
became a major scourge, families were broken, and violence erupted
frequently. Then in Australia, several Christians felt called to serve the
Lun Bawang and Kelabit people. When
they arrived, officials tried to discourage them. They said it was not worthwhile because those
people are going to disappear. They will
be gone in a generation. Nevertheless,
the missionaries did go. They shared
God’s good news. The people
responded. Lives changed. They quit drinking. Families healed. They asked the government for schools. Today they are literate, contributing
citizens. Including believers in
nearby tribes, there are 150,000 followers of Jesus, and more than one
thousand churches. They say, “The
gospel saved us, not only as individuals but as a people.” (31)
“The church is on a journey, not in a box. Global flows are taking us in new
directions. … The nations are in our
neighborhoods. Wherever we live, we
hardly can go to the mall without passing people from half a dozen
countries. Reaching across these
cultural boundaries should feel natural.
It always has been our call. … David sang, ‘May all the peoples praise you’ (Ps 67:5)” (33) 2. The Elephant in the Room – Jesus’ People in China In China the Church is now bigger than the
Communist Party. Christianity is the
elephant in the room. When there is an
elephant in the room you move carefully.
“If China is a powerhouse, Jesus’ people are its lights.” (45) “There are no parallels in history to the
Chinese church’s huge growth since 1960.
It is unprecedented.” (48) “Christianity is associated not with
tradition and ritual but with modernity, business and science.” (49) Chinese studying overseas are becoming
Christians by the hundreds. (50) Getting mature pastors in china is a
challenge. The two-year-olds are
teaching the one-year-olds. 3. The Word Ann Judson lived only 37 years, but she made them
count. Among all her other ministries
she translated several books of the Bible into both Burmese and Thai. Bible translation is still a priority
because “in the Scripture we see what God is like, what he has done for us
and what he will do.” (70) “God didn’t
send us a summary or an outline or a how-to book. He gifted us with a complex compilation of
story, doctrine, poetry and prophecy.
It takes a lifetime to absorb. … We mull over it, we inhale it, we
savor it. To really get it, we obey
it.” (71) Throughout the 1990s almost one fifth of
Ethiopia’s university students participated in the student Christian
movement. There were 500 trained Bible
study leaders. (81) 4. Pulsating Passion – Jesus’ People in Latin America Pentecostals thrive and become a major force. “Religion seems to bring order to their
lives at the very time that it allows for ecstatic release—which may, indeed
be the unique genius of Pentecostalism.” (97, quoting Yamamori and
Miller) The Bible becomes their book. They learn to read, learn new social
skills. They participate in daily
meetings and become part of community life.
They walk long distances and build relationships beyond their
communities to share their faith.
However, Christianity can become routine, a public form. Subjectivism, sentimentalism and
emotionalism are dangers. “In the jungles of Brazil, over a thousand
Indians from a dazzling variety of tribes gather annually in conferences to
worship and fellowship. In 2008,
fourteen hundred delegates convened.” (109)
Almost 10,000 Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking missionaries serve
around the globe. (110) Many Latin Americans travel internationally
to work – a million in Spain. This
migration of believes is changing the religious landscape in Europe. 5. Spirit In school Sundar learned that Jesus said he was
‘the way and the truth and the life,’ and that ‘no one comes to the Father
except through me’ (Jn 14:6). This
disturbed him greatly. The Bible
teachings contradicted his family’s religious beliefs. One night Jesus appeared to Sundar. When he announced that he would follow
Jesus, his schoolmates turned on him.
His parents threw him out. At
16 he dressed in the yellow cloth of a wandering truth-seeker and walked and
told stories for the rest of his life.
The life of Sundar Singh had a powerful impact on many in India. “Choose Jesus or choose your family! …
She chose Jesus and never saw her parents again. The pain aches to this day.” Mannu and her
husband moved from India to Nepal, and in the face of a possible 6-year
prison sentence for witnessing, they immediately began a church in their
living room. Today the Patan church
has more than 2000 members. (130) What about cults?
Some so-called churches practice paganism. How do African Christians discern or “test
the spirits?” They ask: How central is
Jesus? the Bible? and baptism and the Lord’s supper? Are heretics disciplined and what direction
is the movement heading? (134) 6. Axis of Hope – Jesus’ People in the Muslim World Adeney focused on the people of Iran as an
example of the Muslim world. Some
estimate as many as 800,000 followers of Jesus inside Iran. But following Jesus in Iran is costly. Some get fired, other imprisoned, even
killed. Muslim regimes do not foster
religious freedom. Conversion out of
Islam is prohibited. Resistance to
conversion is increasing. A new tier of leadership is developing among
Iranian Christians. The old leaders
are likely in prison. Christians are
committed to small fellowships.
Seminaries are not allowed but there are several training programs
outside the country. Iran has been blessed by special revelation:
Daniel, Ether and Nehemiah lived there!
Even before 500 A.D. there was a body of Christian literature in the
Persian language. Catholics arrived in
the 1200s and Protestants in the early 1800s. William Miller went to Iran in 1918 and
traveled by foot, donkey, and cart perhaps 50,000 miles back and forth across
Iran to talk with people about Jesus. Gasem learned about the Bible from the words on
the paper the grocer used to wrap his cheese.
He went to the grocer and bought the whole book from which the cheese
was being wrapped page by page. 7. Catastrophe Bill and Melinda Gates have given away $40
billion to reduce global poverty. How
can we serve the poor and oppressed?
Here are some principles:
“The poor want something better, but it has to
make sense to them.” One must take the
time to listen and understand and adapt to local priorities. (179)
8. Mystic Servants – Jesus’ People in the Hindu World In India there are states where nearly the whole
population is Christian. Yet in other
states conversion is completely banned.
The largest unreached people groups are in India as well as one of the
biggest national mission movements, including more than 200 mission agencies
supporting almost 50,000 missionaries.
Youth dominate the future.
Youth churches are springing up.
There are three significant streams of Indian
Christianity, Dharmic, Dalit and dot-com.
Some Christians cultivate and incorporate the best of Indian dharma
(teaching and customs). There are
wandering holy men. They revere
classic Indian literature and culture.
The Dalits, considered untouchable, make up about 20% of the
population and have the most difficult time.
They exist to be used. India
has more poor and illiterate people than any other nation. 40 million are homeless. 450 million live on less than $1 per
day. Not having their needs met within
Hinduism, huge masses of Dalits are open to religious alternatives. The Dot-coms are the younger middle class,
250 million young professionals who now inhabit their own special world of
money, pleasure, status, dating and promotions. Hindutva, fundamentalist Hinduism, is appealing to many. It exalts the Hindu heritage and denigrates
other faiths, teaching that Hinduism is the only authentic Indian
spirituality. In 1990s it turned
violent. The 30 million Indians abroad
send back $27 billion annually to India, some of which helps fund Hindutva. 9. Song Barnabas was asked to write “teaching songs” for the
crowded refugee camp where there were few Bibles. He studied and wrote and eventually
composed 400 songs based on Scripture, many of which are now in the Khmer
hymnal. Throughout time, most
Christians have received Scripture orally.
And millions of Christians don’t read or don’t read very well or very
much. Story, song, memorization, art,
and action are needed in addition to Internet and print to witness and
disciple. For many peoples “their
memories are their documents.” (212) 10. When You Go Through the Fire – Jesus’ People in Africa Adeney recites personal stories of ethnic
violence in Rwanda, Muslim-Christian violence in Northern Nigeria, the
tragedy of failed states, and mentions the health and wealth gospel. Some Nigerian Muslims long for a society governed
by the law of God. They see secular
law opening the door to all kinds of immorality—pornography, adultery, babies
without fathers, drugs, robbery and murders—in modern urban society. Sharia
provides structure that guides society toward living under God’s rules. (239)
When militant Muslims moved in, violence against Christian churches
followed. And while high-level
agreements are failing, grassroots community-based dialogue holds
promise. “Witness is alive across
Africa. If churches are burned,
leaders emerge from the fire. Five
thousand two hundred Nigerian missionaries serve in fifty-six countries today
under the umbrella association of NEMA, the Nigerian Evangelical Missions
Association. This is a network of more
than one hundred Nigerian denominational and parachurch organizations.”
(241) “So many early Christian thinkers lived in Africa
that we might say Africa shaped European Christian thought.” (245) “…the ‘prosperity gospel’ teachers are partly
right. Christian faith often helps the
family budget. People get drunk
less. Their lives become more
orderly. They become more
accountable. Many churches help people
in dysfunctional situations….
Christian faith encourages and inspires and motivates. Renouncing idols and serving Christ blesses
individuals and can also bless communities and nations.” (249-50) 11. Way of the Cross Persecution and suffering occurs in Afghanistan,
Palestine, Cambodia, Columbia and places in Africa as well as elsewhere. “The gospel is not only good news. It threatens established systems and
powers. Those systems and powers fight
back. … More Christians have been
killed in the twentieth century than in any previous era.” (257) Whole libraries could be filled with
stories of suffering. Some are
delivered but many are not. They
follow the ‘suffering Servant’ ‘who for the joy set before him endured the
cross, scorning its shame’ (Heb 12:20).
(258) 12. Way of Life In this chapter Adeney looks at many unusual ways
the Gospel is flowing around the globe via global networks. Ministry to smuggled Chinese, Mexicans and
others being held in U.S. detention centers is an example. All kinds of people are scattered across
the country including refugees, immigrants, international students, merchant
seamen, migrant workers, and international business people. Even our jails demonstrate global
diversity. Global fellowships thrive when local fellowships thrive and
minister. Although there is great persecution of believers,
Burmese Christians send out missionaries.
“Poverty and politics pose problems for these mission movements. Yet some of their difficulties are
unique. For example, several years ago
the 3/300 Movement trained and commissioned three hundred young Kachin to be
missionaries for three years in Tibet, China, India and unreached peoples in
Burma. The trainers faced an unusual
challenge. Thirty of the missionary volunteers were drug addicts.” Desperate parents had sent their adult
addicted children to a Bible school where they had become believers. The first challenge was to detoxify the
potential missionaries. (278) “Our music and our worship must be multicultural,
not simply because our society is multicultural, but because the future from
which God is calling us is multicultural…. Not just so that those from other
cultures may feel at home among us but also so that we may feel at home in
God’s future.” (281) |
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