PENTECOSTAL MISSIONS: PAST 100 YEARS AND BEYOND

Pneuma, 1994

Pentecostal scholarship during the past decade has focused on a variety of themes in an effort to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the origins and identity of the twentieth-century Pentecostal movement. One of the themes that has emerged from this reflection is that the Pentecostal movement is inherently a missions movement. Exploration of this missions movement theme has been spearheaded by an emerging group of field-experienced and missiologically-trained Pentecostals who are taking their place as the spokespersons in conceptualizing the presuppositions, purposes and procedures that represent valid missiological self-understanding. The Focus section of this issue of PNEUMA provides a forum for missiological reflection from representatives of this growing group of Pentecostal missiologists. With the exception of Dr. Edward Pousson, the contributors represent North American mission sending agencies that are associated with classical Pentecostal denominations. This self-imposed delimitation allows for North American missiologists to reflect on nearly a century of Pentecostal missions activity, to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these efforts and to identify the changing mission paradigms happening globally. Such reflection also provides younger churches in non-western nations with information and tools appropriate to the important challenge facing non-western Pentecostal/Charismatic churches which are now taking the reigns of leadership in the task of the church's global mission. In the January 1994 issue of International Bulletin of Missionary Research (IBMR), veteran English missionary H. Dan Beeby reflects over his 50 years of missionary service. He suggests that his "missionary burden" in 1994 is neither grounded in nineteenth-century paternalism associated with the infamous "white man's burden" nor is it rooted in twentieth-century political correctness. In fact, he posits that

A collection of studies on Pentecostal mission as part of the Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series

The purpose of this MTS Thesis is to assist the efforts of North American Pentecostalism by uncovering a theological paradigm of mission that is at once theologically authentic to historic Pentecostalism, as well as missionally effective in engaging a Postmodern culture. To aid with this endeavour certain voices within the Missional movement will be considered to assist in constructing a theological paradigm of mission from which Pentecostalism can engage Western culture. This paradigm will explore the role of three key areas needed to establish an effective missiology: eschatology, epistemology, and community. It will become apparent that the role of eschatology will play a significant role in producing a missionally effective epistemological and communal approach. Chapter three will explore whether Pentecostalism’s current eschatological state is compatible with the eschatological perspective embedded in the theological paradigm of mission espoused in chapter two, while chapter four will move to establish Pentecostalism as appropriately suited eschatologically, epistemologically, and communally for that paradigm. This work will first argue that early Pentecostal eschatology was focused on the Kingdom of God as presently available to believers through the pneumatological inauguration of Pentecost. Second, it will be argued that this produced within Pentecostalism an experiential epistemology driven by narrative and is, therefore, missionally compatible with Postmodern culture. Last, this work will argue that the Pentecostal experience of the Kingdom of God led to a community that embraced the ideals of the Kingdom, thus producing koinonia fellowship. Chapter five will make a concluding case for Pentecostalism to adopt the theological paradigm of mission outlined in chapter two, followed by a praxiological approach that will produce an effective Pentecostal ecclesiology that can missionally engage a Western Postmodern context.

Pentecostals have been doing missions in Southeast Asia for around 100 years. In some places such as some sectors of Malaysia and, more recently, places like Cambodia, East Timor, some parts of Indonesia, the minority groups in Myanmar and possibly Vietnam, they have enjoyed some success. In places like the Philippines and Singapore, the growth has been spectacular. However, among groups dominated by Islam and Buddhism, they have not always done as well, although there are some encouraging trends. In this edition, we will reflect on the work that God is doing in three of these countries, the Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia. However, the application of these articles could be broadly applied in other Majority World contexts. Pentecostal missions in Southeast Asia h

2009

and foremost; I therefore wish to acknowledge them for this initiative and support; without which this work could not have taken off. My thanks goes to all those who participated in this research directly or indirectly, particularly the church leaders, TTC students, Pastors, Reverends, Bishops and some PAOG (Z) churches in the selected provinces of Zambia. My thanks to Prof. JNJ Kritzinger; my supervisor for his guidance, advice and insight throughout this "marathon." Various people have participated and helped me in this endeavour. I would like to thank Mrs. and Mr. Oliver Phiri of South Africa for their role they played in this research. I would like to appreciate them for allowing me to stay in their house in South Africa for over one year, where I wrote the first three chapters. Thanks to them for the computer, printer, paper and all the resources that they availed to me during that time. Without their support, this work would have suffered a lot of setbacks. I would like to thank the administrations of Trans-Africa Theological College (TTC) of Kitwe, and Missions and Exposure Training (MET) Pretoria, for allowing me to be accommodated at their institutions where I wrote my final draft. I needed such environments for me to successfully complete this ambitious project. Lastly, thank you to my wife, Pricilla, and the family who have endured quietly and sometimes "loudly" during my absence when I left them to go to South Africa, and during the evenings of solitude in the study. I want to particularly thank my wife for her encouragement and support for without her role in this research, this work was going to be very difficult. Thanks to my mother-in-law as well who offered to take care of my kids during my absence. Without this gesture, this work could have proved to be tricky to finish because I considered it necessary to go to South Africa and my kids needed to be in good hands, considering the fact that my wife was also at the college. May the LORD richly bless you all. iv The subject of "unreached people" is still debated in Christian circles. Given the vast resources of the Church, it is difficult to understand that there are still people unreached by the gospel. This study views that part of the reason for this is that there is an unequal distribution of Christian mission resources. It thus critically examines the reasons that have been advanced to explain this unequal distribution. Next, it makes an in-depth study of one particular church in Zambia, namely the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (Zambia), which has more than 1400 congregations across the country, by looking at the initiatives it has taken towards reaching the unreached. Chapter 5 reveals that the lack of a clear mission policy and the autonomy of congregations contribute to an unequal distribution of mission resources in the PAOG (Z). The dissertation uses the "praxis cycle" to structure its theoretical framework and research methodology.

Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 2010

This article addresses three historical components of Pentecostal theology that influenced Pentecostal missionary women by examining missions in the first generation after the Pentecostal revival of the early twentieth century. This article presents four case studies of such Pentecostals and their responses to Pentecostal experiences and missionary careers for consideration about what it meant to "Go into all the world" as an early Pentecostal.

Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies and APTS Press, 2000

Pentecostal mission has been successful, extremely successful when we look at the numbers. Whatever reservations one might have with regard to the calculations of D. Barrett2 and of others,3 there is no denying the fact that the advance of Pentecostal/Charismatic mission work has been astonishing. “A growth of from zero to 400 mission in ninety years is unprecedented in the whole of church history.”4

2009

A review article of David Bundy’s published dissertation on Scandinavian Pentecostal mission

2014

Edinburgh, was a suggestive moment for many people seeking direction for Christian mission in the twenty-first century. Several different constituencies within world Christianity held significant events around 2010. From 2005, an international group worked collaboratively to develop an intercontinental and multidenominational project, known as Edinburgh 2010, and based at New College, University of Edinburgh. This initiative brought together representatives of twenty different global Christian bodies, representing all major Christian denominations and confessions, and many different strands of mission and church life, to mark the Centenary. Essential to the work of the Edinburgh 1910 Conference, and of abiding value, were the findings of the eight think-tanks or 'commissions'. These inspired the idea of a new round of collaborative reflection on Christian mission-but now focused on nine themes identified as being key to mission in the twenty-first century. The study process was polycentric, open-ended, and as inclusive as possible of the different genders, regions of the world, and theological and confessional perspectives in today's church. It was overseen by the Study