MODULE 6: AGGRESSIVE EVANGELISM

Contents

Module Introduction Objectives and Pre - Test

Session One Personal and Mass Evangelism
Session Two Evangelism and Missions
Session Three The Missionaries
Session Four Cross Cultural Evangelism
Session Five How Best Should Evangelism be Practiced Cross Culturally?
Conclusion Post Test
Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
Our English word Evangelism derived its root from the Greek Evangelion, meaning the good news. As
a concept, Evangelism denotes the church in publishing / proclaiming the gospel to sinners by the
power of the Holy Spirit. Definitions of evangelism fall into various categories. Archbishop William
Temple defines evangelism as divine presentation – in other words, “to present Jesus Christ in the
power of the Holy Spirit that men come to put their faith in God through Him, to accept Him as their
Saviour and to serve Him as their king in the fellowship of His Church”
A close study of the Apostles reveals that there are two basic types of Evangelism. These are:
Personal Evangelism and Mass Evangelism

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this module the student should be able to:
1. Describe the Biblical Theology of missions.
2. Identify God’s missionary to man.
3. Explain the motivation for missions.
4. Determine cross-cultural evangelism, as well as cross-cultural communication, as they relate
to missions.

SESSION ONE
PERSONAL AND MASS EVANGELISM

PERSONAL EVANGELISM:
Personal Evangelism has been described as the one – one Evangelism. It is the activity of an individual
believer in presenting the gospel to an individual person with the intent of winning the person to
Christ.

MASS EVANGELISM:
Mass Evangelism is the proclamation of the gospel message to a group of people with the intent that
the individuals will come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

SESSION TWO
EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS

Admittedly, I believe, Missions is one of the most important attribute of the Almighty God. Missions
influences on the creator and creatures has been so fundamental and widespread as to warrant the
statement that “our Lord is a missionary God reaching to man by revealing Himself through the living
Word and the written word” Appeal to such obvious example as the Creation, the fall, the Deluge, the
Tower of Babel, Abraham, the Exodus and the Law, the Judges, the Prophets and the Kings to
substantiate this statement is unnecessary. The miracle of conversion and regeneration is evidence
enough. Imagine how chaotic this word would have been without a single believer.

But it is not the importance of mission that motivates this study; Rather it is to determine, if possible,
how and why missions have been described as God’s secret plan for church growth. We know quite
a bit about the secret of a growing church; studies on the theological level have been made and
eminent scholars; notably McGarvan and Wagner, contributed from their own experiences. But these
form only a part of the story. No living church grows in a vacuum; its growth is determined not only
by its theological beliefs and practices, but by its active involvement in World Missions.

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF MISSIONS

In order that the material in this module may not be obscured by technicalities, this treatise on
Biblical Theology of missions presents a brief survey of:
1. The meaning of missions and a glossary on missions.
2. The missionary purpose of trinity in the old and the new testaments.
3. The need for missions.

1. The Meaning of Missions

The word “missionary” has a variety of meanings. A common but mis-constructed opinion sees a
missionary as a person that comes from a rich country, advanced in education and technology, and
because of the advantage of his culture, he comes to help those less fortunate by starting schools,
hospitals, agricultural projects, and also preaching the gospel.

Fuller (1988) argued that the above definition is “not from the Bible but from what people have seen
and heard” (p1). It must be noted that the first group of Christian Missionaries were Jews who came
from an oppressed and poor nation under the Roman Empire. Their goal was to win the Roman
Empire for Christ.

Who Then Is a Missionary?

The English word “missionary” derives its meaning from the Latin word “mitto” meaning “to send”.
The Greek equivalent of “Mitto” is “Apostello”. From this we can define a missionary as someone who
is sent with a commission from a higher authority. The higher authority is god while the lower
authority refers to men and women sent to share the gospel with those who do not have it.

In the New Testament, wealth, race, technology and education are not the basis of a missionary call.
The focus is that those who have the gospel must share it with those who do not whether they are
rich or poor, proud or humble, “advanced” or “primitive” (Fuller, 1988)

Hence Missions is described as the work of people who are sent by God to bring His work and power
of salvation into the world. Missions are the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) it
implies going “go ye”

A Glossary on Missions
It is important to realize that a study on missions exposes one to a number of special, technical and
(sometimes) obsolete words. Since the goal of this study is not to produce armchair missionaries, but
a group of people that will be actively involved in the work of missions, the list will have to be
explained. It includes:

1. Animism – The primitive belief that animals, natural forces (rain, thunder) and inanimate
objects possess personal souls often having supernatural powers.
2. Call – A strong conviction that God wants a person to serve Him in some specific way and/or
place. This does not usually come through some exotic experience but through prayerful
investigation of the possibilities for missions.
3. Church Growth – A movement within modern missions concerned with multiplication of
converts and congregations.
4. Church Planting – the process of beginning local Christian congregations generally in area
where the gospel has not been previously received.
5. Contextualization – Understanding and communicating biblical truths in such a manner that
hearer perceive it to be relevant to their culture.
6. Cross-cultural Communication – The way people of one society convey ideas to those of
another society who differ in such areas as language, values, thoughts, forms and behaviour.
7. Cross-cultural Evangelism – Communicating the good news of Jesus Christ across cultural
barriers. Ralph Winter has coined the term E – 1 Evangelism (evangelism to non-Christians
who have the same culture), E – 2 Evangelism (evangelism that is cross-cultural but able to
build on certain overlapping areas, like Ibo and Yoruba cultures) and E-3 Evangelism
(evangelism from one culture to a totally different one) to further clarify the task of cross
cultural evangelism.
8. Culture – The integrated system of learned patterns behaviour, ideas and products
characteristics of a society.
9. Culture Shock – The experience of a person who is entering a society very different from the
one to which he or she is accustomed. It is sometimes characterized by confusion, physical
illness, insincerity, fear or defensiveness.
10. Deputation – The activity/ministry of missionaries or missionary appointees through which
they establish a relationship with sending churches and individuals for prayer and financial
support.
11. Discipling – building up believers and training them to witness to others.
12. Evangelism – Communicating to others the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
13. Expatriate – A person who lives and works in a country that is not his or her own.
14. Faith Mission – A mission agency which is not related to a denomination, receiving it’s
personal and support from denominational and /or unaffiliated groups.
15. Furlough – A Period during which the missionary return to his sending country to gain new
perceptive, improve skills and renew contact with supporters.
16. Hinduism – A worldwide religion predominant in India which is characterized by belief in
reincarnation and one supreme deity which exists in many forms and natures.
17. Holistic – Emphasizing the need of the whole person (spiritual, physical, intellectual, social
and emotional)
18. House Churches – Small groups of Christians, usually with non-professional leaders, who met
together as congregations in an individual’s house or apartment.
19. Indigenous Church – A church which reflects the culture in which it is located, administering
and supporting its own life and outreach.
20. Islam – The religious faith of Muslims based on the belief that Allah is the sole deity and
Mohammed is his prophet.
21. Liberation Theology – A movement in the modern church which emphasizes the need to free
men from oppressive economic and social structures, often Marxist in orientation.
22. Mission Agency – An organization which further cross cultural evangelism and the
establishing of new churches by planting strategy for evangelizing some parts of the world
and recruiting, training and sending missionaries. A home mission agency focuses on non-
Christians within the country of the agency.
23. Missionary – A supported worker who is involved in the expansion of the church in a culture
other than his or her own. Career missionaries (also called professional missionaries) are
individuals choosing long-term missionary service for two years or less. Summer
missionaries do not join a mission agency but serve as volunteers for three to six months with
the purpose of learning about mission’s first-hand while giving all the assistance they can.
24. Mission – The activities of a sending-church through which it seeks to communicate the
gospel across cultural boundaries with a view to establishing churches that will evangelize.
25. Moratorium on Missions – A proposal debated within the church suggesting that all
missionaries return to their sending countries in order to allow each nation to thoroughly
indigenize its Christian activities. Decisions would be made later by each country about how
many missionaries, if any should return to it.
26. Nationalization- to convert a section of industry, agriculture, commerce or the church from
foreign control and ownership to control and ownership by those in the country itself.
27. Nationals – A more appropriate term than natives for the people of another country. Native
connotes being uncivilized.
 28. Non professional missionaries – (Also called vocational witnesses) Individuals who support
themselves in secular salaries positions abroad with the primary purpose of evangelizing,
discipling and planting churches.
29. Paternalism – Treating people in fatherly or condescending manner; for example, a mission
might continue an authority role which inhibits the maturing of the church it has established.
30. Pioneer Evangelism- Taking the gospel to areas which have never heard the gospel.
31. Saturation Evangelism – A strategy which involves mobilizing the whole church to
concentrate on making Christ known in a given area.
32. Short-termer – Individuals involved in missionary service for two years or less.
33. Syncretism – The attempt to combine differing religious or philosophical beliefs.
34. Theological Education By Extension (TEE) – Individualized training in the Bible and church-
related skills, provided for church leaders where they live and minister.
35. Third World Nations – Especially in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Also called developing
countries.
36. Tribalism – A greater loyalty for one’s own tribe than for one’s own country or religion.
37. Universalism – The belief that all people in the world will eventually be forgiven and be
received by God; sometimes referred as being “implicit” or “anonymous” Christians.
38. Unreached/Unevangelized People – A homogenous group of people among which there is no
indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate number to evangelize thus
people group without outside (cross cultural) assistance.
39. Western Nations (or the West) – Those countries which are largely influenced by European
or American culture.
40. World-Class City – A city of international significance with a population of at least one million
(culled from Urban 94 pp. 11-14)

The Missionary Purpose of God As Revealed in the Old And New Testament

Murray (1900) presented missions as a ministry with missionary passion. “It is a Christ-filled
ministry beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, worshipping him with enthusiasm of
an absolute fearless nature and presenting him as the only Name under heaven whereby men can be
saved.

It is a missionary ministry, full of passion to redeem, clear-eyed to discover the ongoing of Christ’s
work, faithful in its stewardship at home and abroad; apostolic in its assurance that Christ has
ordained it to bear much fruit, apostolic in its eagerness to spread far and wide the gospel of the risen
and ascended Lord, apostolic in its hope that the unseen and crowned Saviour shall surely come
again.

The above statement summarizes the missionary purpose of God as revealed in the Old and New
Testaments.

The Missionary purpose of God as revealed in the Old Testament:

God’s missionary purpose to mankind as revealed in the Old Testament can be traced from the
creation to the ministry of the prophets.
a. God’s missionary purpose at creation is glaring. The work of creation (Gen. 1:1-31) reveals
that God is a god of plan and of purpose. In its epitome and embryo creation implies that man
is responsible for whether he thinks, says or does; man’s life is God’s concern and the only
one qualified to interpret man’s existence and direct his path aright is the Almighty God.
b. After the fall of man in Genesis Chapter Three, when the barriers between God and man was
erected, God’s missionary purpose was the promise of a saviour. The saviour or the seed of
the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15) Since the serpent would bruise
the heel of the seed of the nations through the suffering, death and resurrection of the
promised saviour.
c. The third missionary purpose of God to all nations, as revealed in the Old Testament, can be
seen in His covenant with Noah and his descendants after the deluge or great flood (Gen. 9:1-
7) In the covenant known as Noahic covenant, God promised to maintain the regularity of
considerate deity who has always been the ruler of the whole world.
d. The incident at the Tower of Babel where God scattered mankind contrary to their desire
shows God’s interest in man. It shows that God will always scattered his children who are
reluctant to do His will to take the gospel to all nations.
e. The call of Abraham in Genesis 12 was in furtherance of God’s missionary purpose. It was not
to give special privilege to a special nation; but to provide a means for God to reach nations.
All the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12-19) were not intended just for Abraham’s
physical family. They were to the redeemed to the whole human race; Jews and Gentile
believers from all over the world (Rom. 4:11-12, gal. 3:6-8)
f. Another missionary purpose of God in the Old Testament is the Exodus of the children of
Israel from Egypt. In the Exodus God continued his purpose of preserving the truth. It typified
the translation of Christians from the world to the glorious liberty of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Israel was not chosen because of any merit of her own (since those Israelites
who failed God perished in the wilderness) but to fulfill God’s purpose. The law, given at
Mount Sinai (where God affirmed that the whole earth was His) made provision for converts
to Israel’s faith from other nations (Ex. 19:4-6; 12:48; 22:21; Num. 9:14; 15:14; Deut. 1:16;
10:18; 29:11; 31:12).
g. The period of the Judges, covering when the knowledge of God was known and when there
were no rules among the Jews, showed God as the only righteous Judge.
h. The kingdom Era, as depicted by the writing of David and record in the Kings and Chronicles,
sounded the truth that God is God over all men and nations, not just Israel. The Israelites were
used as a missionary nation to the Gentile nations where they were taken into captivity (no
account of their sins of disobedience). They preserved the seed of the idea of entrenching the
worship of the only living God.
i. The ministry of the prophets revealed another missionary purpose of God in the Old
Testament. The prophets of the old made it clear that God would punish Israel just like the
Gentile/pagan nations for their sins. Certain prophets gave messages and prophecies
concerning the gentile nations and God’s interest in them. The prophet Joel and Amos
predicted that the knowledge of the Lord would become universal (Joel 3:9,12; Amos 5:8-9).
 Isaiah depicted Israel as God’s servant to bear witness to the nations (Isa. 43:10-12; 44:8;
42:21)

A critical analysis of the Old Testament reveals that the knowledge of the true God (who created all,
rules all and judges all) is necessary for all nations. It can also be seen in the Old Testament that
unbelievers were invited to come into the chosen people and join them, even adopting their culture,
to find God. This is described by some scholars as centripetal missions. The people of God in the New
Testament are expected to go out to win the lost where they are within their own cultures. This is
called centrifugal missions.

The Missionary purpose of God as revealed in the New Testament

This will be discussed under the following subheading:
a. Missions, life and teaching of Christ.
b. The Holy Spirit and Missions.
c. The Church as a missionary church

Missions, life and Teaching of Christ

Another issue that relates to the missionary purpose of God in bringing men of the nations to Himself
was to send the greatest missionary, the Lord Jesus Christ His son.

The scriptures make it clear that Jesus was sent to the world by the Father. The son obeyed the Father
and came to the world so that the world might be saved through His death and resurrection. John
3:17; 5:36-38, 6:57; 8:16, 18, 26, 29; John 12:44-45, 49; 17:8; 18; 20:21; Matt10:40; Luke 9:48;
Mk9:37; Gal. 4:4;1 John 4:9,14; Mk 7:31-37; Lk13:29, Matt8:11-12;9:38.

He was sent into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him.
The culmination of His work on the earth was not only the dying for the sins of mankind on the cross,
but by resurrecting from the grave to be the Lord of Lords and the Prince of Peace.

It is interesting to meditate upon Christ’s final utterance on the cross, “it is finished” (John 19:30).
Although it has been argued by some that Jesus was sent only to the Jews, basing their argument on
Matt. 15:24, it may however be implied from Lk. 2:32; Lk 3:6 and John 1:29 that Jesus’ mission was a
universal mission. He ministered to the Woman of Samaria (John 4); He attended to the syro-
phoenician women (Matt. 15:21-28), the Centurion of Capernaum (Matt. 8:5-13), and the Nobleman
(Jn 4:43-54). Further scriptures reveal that Jesus ministered to the Gadarene, a deaf man and others
in Decapolis (Mark5:1-20; 7:31-37). He also drove out those that changed money from the temple so
that it could be called “house of prayer for all nations” (Mark 11:17)

Jesus was not only a missionary per excellence; He was a sender of missionaries. (Matt. 9:36-38;
4:35). He was a man of prayer who went about preaching and healing the sick and the oppressed.
(John 6:26-28; Luke 13:11-16; Mk 5:25-25; 9:17-27). Jesus suffered much to accomplish His
missionary task and delighted in it. His meat (food) was to do perfect will of God. He was willing to
die in order to give life to others.
As a sender of missionaries, Jesus commissioned His disciples to take the gospel to all nations (Matt
28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21-22; and Acts 1:8) He did not only specify the
task to be done, the disciples and apostles were given the ability – power of the Holy Spirit and the
authority and presence of Jesus – to do the work.

They were to make disciples (Lk 14:27); proclaim the good news (Mk. 16:15) witness (Lk24:46-50;
Acts 1:8); teach all nations (Matt. 28:18-20) and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit. In all his teaching Jesus emphasized “Go ye” as the great commissions not “stand
still”

The message was to all people groups since there will be people from every tribe, kindred, nation and
language before the throne of god on the last day (Rev.7:9 Matt 28:18-20). His messaged must be
preached to the whole world, the ends of the earth and to the very end of the aged.

When people obey the great Commission there will be eternal results. First those who receive the
message and repent will be saved from their sins. Second those who repent and remain in obedience
will be saved for eternity.

The Holy Spirit and Missions

The introduction of the missionary purpose of the Trinity in the Old Testament furnished us an
excellent example of what has been termed as the “blessedness in His promise to Abraham and its
fulfillment. Scott (1984) summarized in five lessons which can be learnt from the story.

First, God is the God of history. In this historical process, Jesus Christ as the seed of Abraham is the
key figure.

Second, He is the God of the covenant. All God’s promises came true (Heb. 11:13) but they are
inherited “through faith and patience” (Heb.6:12)

Third, he is the God of blessing. God’s attitude to his people is positive, constructive, enriching.
Judgment is His “strange work” (Is. 28:21). His principal and characteristics work is to bless people
with salvation.

Fourth, He is the God of mercy. (Rev. 7:9)

Fifth, he is the God of missions. The nations are not gathered in automatically. If God has promised to
bless, “all the families of the earth” He has promised to do so “through Abraham’s seed” (Gen. 12:3;
22:18) Now we are Abraham’s seed by faith, and the earth’s families will be blessed only if we go to
them with the gospel. That’s God’s plain purpose.

Having seen God, the Father as a missionary God and God the Son as a missionary we shall now
discuss the Holy Spirit and Missions.
God the Holy Spirit is a missionary spirit. He came in a special way to the world on the day of
Pentecost. His special arrival at the Pentecost could be described as being “sent” though he had been
active in the world in various ways prior to that.

As a missionary spirit, the Holy Spirit ministers to unbelievers by convicting them of sins (John 16:8-
11) and by regenerating them to believers (John 3:8). He ministers to believers by teaching them and
by putting them in remembrance of the living Word of God. He equally encourages believers, exhorts
and comforts them. (John 14:26; 16:13-15)

The Holy Spirit is not just a missionary; He is (in fact) a sender of missionaries and the Director of the
whole missionary enterprise.

As a sender of missionaries, the Holy Spirit energizes believers and gives them power for missions.
(Acts 1:8). He played very significant roles in the missionary outreaches of the New Testament
Church.

First, He inaugurated missions since believers had to wait to be endowed with power from on high
before they could become true witnesses. (Acts 1:4-5; 1:8)

Second, His advent at Pentecost gave birth to missions and the church (Acts 2:6-39)

Third, the Holy Spirit was the one who sent Philip on missionary errands to the Ethiopian Eunuch,
(Acts 8:29) the first African convert.

Fourth, the prophets and Teachers at Antioch were instructed by the Holy Spirit to send out the first
missionary team. The holy spirit equally commissioned Paul and Silas to be missionaries to the
gentiles (Acts 13:2-4; 26:16-18, 23; 22:21; 9:15-16)

Fifth, the report of the Holy Spirit’s work as a sender of missionaries guided the decision of the
Jerusalem council, in Acts 15:7-28

Sixth, the Holy Spirit was the one who directed the missionaries’ movement from Asia to Europe (Acts
16:6-10; 20:22-23; 21:11-14) It is glaring that the Holy Spirit as a sender of missionaries planned the
strategy for missions, called the men, directed their steps, empowered them, guided their decisions
and provided for their needs. He also prepared the field and made the missionaries’ preaching
effective and raised up leaders for the new churches (Acts 20:28) Fuller (1988).

The Need for Missions:

The next step necessary in this treatise on the Biblical Theology of Missions is to examine the need
for missions.
The Universal Need for Missions can be viewed from many perspectives vis-à-vis:
1. The Church and Missions.
2. The world and Missions.
3. The Missionaries.

The Church and Missions

What is that amazing thing called church? Is it a program? Is it a building? Is it an organization or a

system of belief? A serious study of the scriptures on the question of God’s program in the world
reveals that the church is neither a building nor an organization, It is living organism.

Wagner (1976) maintained that the church as a living organism can be seen in the scriptures as the
elect of God (Col 1:15). The people of God (1 Pet. 1:9-10); a royal Priesthood (Heb. 5:1-10); a new
creation (IICor 5:17); the household of God (1 Pet. 4:17) and the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-14).

The church belongs to Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:18) It is founded on the confession or the rock, that Jesus
is the Christ – the Messiah – the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16-18) Jesus Christ is the chief
cornerstone of the church (Eph. 2:20) while the Apostles and Prophets are the foundational and
foundation laying ministers (Eph. 2:20)

The church of Christ is a missionary church. The Holy Spirit’s gifts were given to the whole body of
Christ for the work of the ministry. These results in Missionaries; when put into practice in the
church.

Mac Donald (1981) argued that the church is beginning and end of our world missions. “It was a
congregation which had the sense of the Holy Spirit to send out Saul (later Paul) and Barnabas.
Having heard the call of the Holy Spirit, (Acts 13:13), it recognized the uniqueness of the two men,
sent them off, and later received them back for their report. A study of that congregation will make it
plain that they were a group of believers hungry for teaching (Acts 11:26), compassionate in their
caring for the whole person such an atmosphere that a sense of world mission grows until it can be
contained no longer. A congregation sent out the first missionaries, and it cared for them when they
returned” (Urbena ’84 p 69).

The New Testament Church (in the acts of Apostles) was a missionary movement. Paul in 1 Cor. 4:16
told his disciples to imitate him. Pricilla and Aquila were lay missionaries who started churches as
they moved around (Acts 18:18-19,26). Apollos was a missionary (Acts 18:27-28) missionaries were
sent along with Paul’s team and were supported by the church. Paul was a missionary model. His
missionary activities were supported financially by the Philippians (Phil. 4:14_18), he sought for
prayer support from the Ephesians and was assisted by other churches. Through the missionary
activities of the New Testament Church, churches were planted in the whole of Asia, Rome and in
church History it was extended to Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Britain and North Africa.

The World and Missions.

What are needs in World Missions today?

Winter (1977) identified three major racial and cultural blocs of humanity as representing the need
in the world missions:

The largest racial and cultural bloc of humanity is the Chinese. The second is Hindus while the third
are the Muslims.

Research on missions revealed that great bulk of people on this planet are concentrated in Africa and
Asia, an even greater proportion of Africa and Asia (than the Western World) consists of people who
do not consider themselves Christian communities, if any at all, related to them; in the case of China
and India, only a very small proportion of the non-Christian are within normal evangelistic striking
range of the existing Christians, and despite the small number of Christians from within these large
cultural traditions, their efforts to evangelize are mainly soaked up by the spiritual needs of the
nominal belt that surrounds them.

The table below is a statistical summary of the needs in world missions today as estimated for.

SESSION THREE
THE MISSIONARIES

It is true that every Christian is called to witness for Christ, however not all can become missionaries.
Becoming a missionary involves a definite call, basic requirements and qualification.

Missionary call is just like any other call to Christian service. It is pathetic that many people have
made a shipwreck of their faith because they are not sure of God’s call upon their lives.

God’s call upon an individual’s life does not follow a stereotyped style (for a detail study on discerning
the will of God, the student is referred to SSM 120 (module 2)

1. God’s call to be a missionary may come through a casual remark made by a friend or a
neighbour about the heathens or mission field.
The causal remark results in the person developing an interest in missions. The interest results
in curiosity and the curious person starts studying about missions. His study leads to prayers
which in turns lead to assurance. As he/she acts on the assurance, it matures to conviction.
Action
 Assurance

Praying

Studying

Curiosity
Interest
Remark or
recognition

2. God’s call to be a missionary may come through a letter received from a missionary.
3. God’s call to be a missionary may come through anointed message.
4. God’s call to be a missionary may come through a stanza in a hymn.
5. God’s call to be a missionary may come through counseling from a seasoned, anointed
Christian leader.
6. God’s call to be a missionary may come through extracts from an article, books and
periodicals.
7. God’s call to be a missionary may come through circumstance.
Missionary Qualifications.
1. Physical Qualification: Physical fitness is a very important qualification for missionary work.
A missionary must be physically fit for rugged service. He should be able to sleep on mats,
benches, bare floors and must be able to adapt himself/herself to any adverse situation.
Mission fields are at times very difficult with poor public sanitation and inadequate
medical facilities. A person that is fragile, whose physical make-up is not strong, will
easily wear out and may eventually fall out.

2. Academic Qualification: A missionary should be literate. Professional training is very

useful in missionary work. A missionary should develop an enquiring, creative mind that
is ready to learn new things and think new ideas. The more general education a
missionary has the better provided formal education does not weaken his zeal and love
for missions. A missionary also needs a sound working knowledge of the Bible and
training in the subject of missions.
3. Psychological Qualifications: One of the most important personality traits necessary in
missionary work is a winsome personality. A missionary without a strong personality
may end up leaving the mission field in frustration. There are many things to sadden and
discourage a missionary on the field. These include suspicious attitude of the people the
missionary is trying to reach, unbecoming and rebellious attitude of the nationals, human
sacrifice, inferiority complex, superiority complex etc. A missionary is indeed a person
who has a fixed heart without allowing what others think or say about him/her to break
him/her down.
 Another psychological qualification is the ability to adapt. A missionary who cannot adapt
to the culture of the people he is trying to reach out to will not be accepted by the people
neither will he be able to help the people. A missionary must identify himself with the
people he is trying to help and be flexible as to non-essential things in their culture. These
include adapting to the way the people greet as long as it is not sinful, adapting to eating
rice without soup and so on and so fort

The third psychological qualification is friendliness. A missionary must develop the

ability to make friends easily. He should be able to make friends with his fellow
missionaries, the national ministers, non-Christian nationals, and foreigners. He should
also be friendly with Christians from the same denomination with his as well as from
other denominations.

The fourth psychological qualification is the ability to endure hardship. This includes the
ability to endure problems of lack of food, lack of fund, etc.

Patience and perseverance are the last but not the least psychological qualification
required for a successful missionary work. A successful missionary is one who doesn’t
loose his/her temper easily nor become discouraged.

Versatility: Versatility in missionary’s work refers to the ability of the missionary to do

many things perfectly e.g. preaching, teaching, singing, administrating, counseling,
baptizing, building, conducting literary classes, translating tracts or bibles, keeping
accounts, mixing cements etc.

The Anglican mission advertisement for a missionary include ability to mix with people,
mix concrete, wade through rivers, love ones neighbours, deliver babies, sit cross legged,
conduct meetings, drain swamps, digest questionable fishes, patch human weakness,
suffer as fools gladly and burn the midnight oil.

Persons allergic to ants, babies, beggars, cockroaches, crabs, duplicating machines,

guitars, humidity, indifference, itches, jungles, minority group, mud, poverty, sweat,
unmarried mothers had better think twice before they apply.

4. Spiritual Qualification: Spiritual qualification is the most important aspect of the

qualifications missionary needs.

a. He must have been born again. I John 3:9; Eph. 4:17-32; John 3:9; II Cor. 5:17; Rm 6:1-
15; Matt. 1:20-21.
b. He must have been sanctified. I Thess. 2:10; Eph. 1:4, Phil. 2:12-14, 15; Titus 1:5-6; I
Tim. 5:24-25
c. The missionary must be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:1-5; Acts 16:6-10; I Cor.
2:1-5; II Thess. 1:7-12, II Tim 3:5
Mogalit (1980) identified three qualifications for messengers / missionaries. These are:
1. Zeal for God’s Glory, I Cor. 9:16; Rev. 7:12
2. Love for needy people, James 1:27; 2:14-17
3. Concern for the unity of the body, Eph. 4:3
Pierce Beaves, a well-known Missions historian, was quoted as saying, “More and more I am
convinced that exported divisiveness is the greatest hindrance to the spread of the gospel in the non-
Christian world”.

SESSION FOUR
CROSS – CULTURAL EVANGELISM
Definitions of evangelism fall into various categories. Archbishop William Temple defines evangelism
as divine presentation – in other words, “to present Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit that
men come to put their faith in God through Him, to accept Him as their Saviour and to serve Him as
their king in the fellowship of His Church”. Hollis Green defines evangelism as a “come and go”
concept in which the Christians come to be strengthened by the word of God and Christians
fellowship in order to go out into the world in a strategy of penetrating the world with saving Gospel
of Christ.

The term culture connotes the development of the human powers. Cultural studies as it relates to a
particular society put into consideration the language, customs, beliefs, and history of the society.
Culture in this sense is viewed as a state of intellectual development among a people, e.g. Greek
culture, the culture of oriental people.

In the preceding section we defined cross-cultural evangelism as communicating the good news of
Jesus Christ across cultural barriers.

It would be nice to examine Ralph Winter’s levels of cultural; difference between an Evangelist and
those he seeks to win. He identified four levels vis-à-vis
a. EO Evangelism: That is evangelizing nominal Christians in the same culture as one’s
self.
b. E1 Evangelism: That is evangelizing non-Christians in the same culture as one’s self.
c. E2 Evangelism: That is evangelizing people of a culture similar to your own e.g.
Americans winning Germans or Nigerians winning Senegalese.
d. E3 Evangelism: That is evangelizing people of a culture very different from your own.
E.g. Nigerians winning Germans or Japanese winning Ghanaians.
Cross-cultural Evangelism E2 and E3 are the main focus of missions.
 SESSION FIVE
HOW BEST SHOULD EVANGELISM BE PRACTICED CROSS-CULTURALLY?

Missiologists have identified the following Missions theories and strategies:

1. Contextualization
2. Church Growth Theory.
3. People Group Approach
4. Evangelism in depth.
5. Discipling ministry
6. Theological Education by Extension.
7. Cross-Cultural Communication.

Cross-Cultural Communication refers to the way people of one society convey ideas to those of
another society who differ in such areas as language, values, thought, forms and behaviour. (see
section 1.2(6) )

In every day usage, communication implies the act of sharing things together with mutual
understanding between two or more people. It is an act of exchanging ideas between two or more
individuals. A critical analysis of every communication reveals a common interest, a message, a
mutual understanding and a common language. For example, the biblical record of the Tower of Babel
reveals effective communication – we may say the project continued as long as the people maintained
mutual understanding.

It is interesting to note that when there is communication, there must be a beginning and an end, the
beginning of every communication is the receiver, destination or the audience.

Cross-cultural communication is an exclusive Christian sense is described as cross-cultural Christian

Communication. It is important to explain the meaning of the phrase “Christian Communication “for
this has a variety of uses. To a God speller, Christian Communication can be seen from two broad
perspectives.

First, it can be seen as the art of sharing Biblical messages with an unbeliever with the intent of
bringing him/her to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Second, it is seen as the art sharing vital Christian Experiences such as Holiness, Justification by faith,
Holy Spirit Baptism, etc. with believers for growth and spiritual edification to maturity.

As identified by Falore (1982) the eight major components of Christian Communication are:
Doctrines, Fellowship, Holy communion or the Lord’s Supper, Prayer, Physical togetherness, Sharing
of Properties or Possessions, Common Meals, and Praises.

Scholars have identified models of communication. Two will be listed for our benefit in this study.
1st Model – STMCRD communication model.
1. S – Source: Sender of a message.
2. T – Transmitter: Means of sending the message.
3. M – Message: Series of organized codes, symbols, signs, signals, etc.
4. C – Channel: Carrier of the message.
5. R – Receiver: What/Who receives the message.
6. D – Destiny: The end product of the message.

2nd model – CMMA communication model.

1. C – Communicator.
2. M – Message.
3. M – Media.
4. A – Audience.

Message Channel

Receiver
Transmitter

Destination
Source

Noise

A concept in communication is notice, this refers to anything that diminishes or interferes or prevents
the communication system. It is anything that interrupts the flow of interaction in a communication
system.

Kinds of Noise
The two kinds of noise are external noise and the internal noise. External noise is the noise that comes
from without. These include sound, sight, language or semantic noise bodily positioning and dressing.
Internal noise refers to the noise that comes from within.
Included in this are attitudes or feeling of superiority or inferiority complex, selfishness, insensitivity,
judgmental attitude, fear and unbelief.

In the discussion of cross-cultural evangelism in section 2, six mission theories and strategies -
Contextualization, church growth theory, People group approach, Evangelism in depth, Discipling
ministry and theological education by extension - were identified.

In the present section, these will constitute the main subject of inquiry.
CONTEXTUALIZATION
In this section 1.2.5, we defined Contextualization as understanding and communicating biblical
truth in such a manner that hearers perceive it to be relevant in their culture.

Fuller (1988) argued that each culture has its own way of looking at the world and its own ideas of
reality. It also has its own set of behaviours with their meanings. The same behaviour for example,
may sound illogical and confusing to someone in another culture.

How does a missionary convey his message accurately to the people he wishes to win? In practical
terms, by paying particular attention to the people's cultural differences. Clearly, his message must
be consciously contextualized i.e. made understandable and relevant, in the culture of the receiver.

In the contextualized approach the person receiving the message must understand the words; ideas
and illustrations in the same way the person speaking does. To make this possible, this person the
person speaking must adapt his message to the world view and culture of the receiver. A
contextualized message must be made relevant and convincing to the receivers, and should require
the least possible amount of cultural change.

Contextualization poses a problem when it is pursued to the extreme. If a missionary tries too hard
to conform to the culture of the hearers, there is a danger that the basic gospel message gets
corrupted or changed. The danger is described as the problem of syncretism.

For contextualization to be thorough and effective, a missionary should take time to study and
understand the culture of the people he is trying to reach.

Church Growth Theory

Studies by Donald McGarvran, C Peter Wagner, VergfilGerbs, Win Arn, Ralph Winter, Waldo J
Werning and other Church Growth Leaders on how and why churches can grow and what Leaders
and workers can do to encourage to encourage the process revealed that the gospel spread most
easily along sociological lines of contact, people like to become Christians without crossing cultural
barriers, and, at certain times cultural or social units become ripe for harvest where many or most
units are ready to accept Christ if someone preaches to them. Consequent upon these discoveries, a
missionary should make use of natural lines of influence to help people decide for Christ.

Mc Donald, out of his experience as a missionary to India developed the homogeneous unit principle
in which separate services will be made for various ethnic groups in the same city who will, however,
be encouraged to co-operate and have fellowship together in some denomination. These people must
be properly taught the standard of Christian life.

Hidden Peoples

Ralph Winter in his studies at Fuller School of World Missions identified culture groups or what he
calls "people group" as those that must be reached before the second coming of Christ. It has been
discovered that there are over 16,000 unreached people groups in the world. (Going to the Nations
pp 116). By a 1988 analysis the following unreached peoples can be easily identified.

Muslims: 74 million people in about 4000 people groups.

Hindus: 561 million people in about 3000 people group

Chinese: 418 million people in about 2000 people groups.

Buddhists; 264 million people in about 1000 people groups

Animalist: 135 million people in about 5000 people groups

Others: 404 million people in about 18000 people groups.

Mission strategists, Church planter and Evangelizers have been able to identify the 10/40 window or
"that specific area of the world where the vast majority of the unreached and least evangelized live"

The names of countries included in the 10/40 window as the least evangelized groups are:

1. Algeria 17. Guinea-Bissau 33. Mali 49. Tunisia

2. Azerbaijan 18. Israel 34. Malaysia 50. Turkey
3. Albania 19. Iraq 35. Mauritania 51. Turkmenistan
4. Afghanistan 20. India 36. Nepal 52. Taiwan
5. Benin 21. Iran 37. Niger 53. Tibet
6. Bhutan 22. Indonisia 38. Nigeria 54. Tajikistan
7. Bangladesh 23. Jordan 39. North Korea 55. Thailand
8. Burkina-faso 24. Kuwait 40. Oman 56. United Arab
Emirate
9. Brunei 25. Kyrgyzstan 41. Pakistan 57. Uzbekistan
10. Bahrain 26. Libya 42. Palestine 58. Vietnam
11. Cambodia 27. Laos 43. Qatar 59. Western Sahara
12. China 28. Lebanon 44. Sudan 60. Yemen
13. Djibouti 29. Morocco 45. Senegal
14. Egypt 30. Myanmor 46. Saudi Arabia
15. Ethiopia 31. Mongolia 47. Sri Lanka
16. Guinea 32. Maldives 48. Somalia

SUMMARY

Missions refer to work people who are sent by God to bring His work and power of salvation into the
world. The missionary purpose of God as revealed in the New and Old Testaments and the Universal;
need for missions represent the scope of the Biblical Theology of missions. While cross-cultural
Evangelism can be seen as communicating the good news of Jesus Christ across cultural barriers,
cross cultural communication refers to the people of one society convey ideas to those of another
society who differ in such area such as language, Values, thought forms and behaviours.

POST-TEST

1. Who is a missionary?
2. Give a brief explanation on the missionary purpose of God as revealed in the Old Testament.
3. Give a logical explanation on missions, life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
4. The Holy Spirit is a missionary and sender of missionaries. Discuss.
5. Identify five lessons which can learn from God's promise to Abraham and its Fulfillment.
6. In how many ways can the Universal need for missions be viewed?
7. Describe the relationship between the New Testament Church and missions.
8. What are the qualifications needs for a cross-cultural evangelist?
9. What are the needs in world missions today/
10. Define cross-cultural evangelism and cross-cultural communication. Give a brief explanation on
contextualization and church Growth Theory as they relate to missions.
REFERENCES:

Ezinna, C. O, Christianity in a Changing World, Mabako Printing Press, Ipaja Lagos, Nigeria.

Fuller, L. K. Going To the Nations, An Introduction to Cross-Cultural Missions, Nigeria Evangelical

Missionary Institute (NEMI) Jos, Nigeria

Lynse, Elama, Flame of Revival, Crossway Books, A Division of Good News Publishers, Westchester,
Illinois 60153

Mc Donald, Gordon, That Amazing Thing Called The Church, Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, U. S.,
A

Mogalit, Isabelo, The Messenger's Qualifications, Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, U. S., A

Stott, John R. W. The Living God Is A Missionary God, Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, U. S., A
Winter, Ralph O. The Need in World Missions Today, Evangelical Missions Association.