Mission and the Cultural Other is a decolonial critique of a too often failed missionary enterprise. Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, a former missionary and missiologist, writes both as an insider and an outsider. As an Indigenous person, a missionary among Native Americans, and a decolonial theologian with over thirty years of experience in various missionary movements, he has seen the best and worst that American mission has to offer. Before change can be made in a guarded system such as Christian mission, the critique must be pervasive and cut to the core of the problem. To truly understand the weakness of modern mission, we need to hear from those who have been its casualties.
With careful biblical exposition and keen cross-cultural awareness, Duane Elmer offers principles and guidance for avoiding misunderstandings and building relationships in ways that honor people in other cultures.
Read the Cultural Other contains studies on non-Western discourse. It has two principal aims. Firstly, it argues that the study of non-Western, non-White, and Third-World discourses should become a legitimate, necessary, and routine part of international discourse scholarship. Hitherto, non-Western, non-White, and Third-Word discourses have been relegated and marginalized to a 'local', 'particular', or 'other' place in (or, one might argue, outside) the mainstream. To reclaim their place, the book deconstructs the rhetoric of universalism and the continued preoccupation with Western discourse in the profession, and stresses the cultural nature of discourse, both ordinary and disciplinary, as it outlines a culturally pluralist vision. Secondly, in order to take the multicultural view seriously, it explores the complexity, diversity, and forms of otherness of non-Western discourse by examining the case of China and Hong Kong's discourses of the decolonization of the latter. Far too often, non-Western discourse has been stereotyped as externally discrete, internally homogeneous, and formally containable within a 'universal', 'general', or 'integrated' model. The present work focuses on China and Hong Kong's discourses, which have been marginalized by their Western counterparts. Through culturally eclectic linguistic analysis and local cultural analysis, it identifies and highlights the specific ways of speaking of China and Hong Kong - their concepts, concerns, aspirations, resistance, verbal strategies, etc. - with respect to similar or different issues. The culturally pluralist view and analytical practice proffered here call for a radical cultural change in international scholarship on language, communication, and discourse.
Cross-cultural specialist Mary Lederleitner brings missiological and financial expertise to explain how global mission efforts can be funded with integrity, mutuality and transparency. Bringing together social science research, biblical principles and on-the-ground examples, she presents best practices for handling funding and finance.
What happens when a nineteen-year-old boy leaves home and heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South American Indians? For Bruce Olson, it meant capture, disease, terror, loneliness, and torture. But what he discovered by trial and error has revolutionized then world of missions.
The United States is currently undergoing the most rapid demographic shift in its history. By 2050, white Americans will no longer comprise a majority of the population. Instead, they'll be the largest minority group in a country made up entirely of minorities, followed by Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans. Past shifts in America's demographics always reshaped the county's religious landscape. This shift will be no different. Soong-Chan Rah's book is intended to equip evangelicals for ministry and outreach in our changing nation. Borrowing from the business concept of "cultural intelligence," he explores how God's people can become more multiculturally adept. From discussions about cultural and racial histories, to reviews of case-study churches and Christian groups that are succeeding in bridging ethnic divides, Rah provides a practical and hopeful guidebook for Christians wanting to minister more effectively in diverse settings. Without guilt trips or browbeating, the book will spur individuals, churches, and parachurch ministries toward more effectively bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News for people of every racial and cultural background. Its message is positive; its potential impact, transformative.
Duane Elmer offers the tools needed to reduce apprehension, communicate effectively and establish genuine trust and acceptance between cultures while demonstrating how we can avoid being cultural imperialists and instead become authentic ambassadors for Christ.
Old Wing Mission is a historical treasure of rare documents giving the account of Reverend George N. and Arvilla Smith in their work and social interactions with Native Americans at a Christian mission colony. / "On the American frontier natives and newcomers met in many places, but nowhere was the encounter more profound than at the Christian mission. Here missionaries sought not only to save Indian souls but to Americanize them. . . . As told through a remarkable set of original sources, the story of the Old Wing Mission reveals all the tensions and complexities when one culture seeks to change another. Old Wing Mission offers readers an opportunity to hear voices on both sides of the cultural divide. . . . Deserves a wide and appreciative audience." James P. Ronda, University of Tulsa / "Meticulous. . . . The Smith diaries recount the trials of frontier missionaries. . . . Academicians, Christian scholars, and readers who love history will all benefit from this high-quality work." James M. McClurken, Michigan State University
