I submitted my first book review in our course Missional Strategies last 10 September. Two weeks later, Dr. Andrew Kim, our professor, reminded me in his last email to submit my second book review. It took me more than a month to complete it. It's very difficult for me to focus on writing such a review for every time I enter the Business Office, my mind starts to wander and be distracted. It is not easy to take a Ph. D. program while doing your task as business manager of the school.

The Book

Winter, Ralph D., and Stephen C. Hawthorne, editors. 1981. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader Part IV—The Strategic Perspective. Pasadena, California: William Carey Library.

Summary

Part IV, The Strategic Perspective, in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, edited by Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, focuses on strategies for effectively advancing global missions by addressing cultural, social, and structural barriers to the gospel. This section emphasizes strategies for world evangelization, church planting, developmental approaches, the importance of cooperation, and discipleship in diverse environments. Contributors explore the cross-cultural approach that respects indigenous cultures. Contextualization remains an important theme. Through case studies, theological reflections, and practical insights, the section provides a framework for missionaries to evaluate and improve their methods of bringing the gospel to unreached people groups.

Analysis and Evaluation

Part IV has five sections covering the strategies mentioned above, such as world evangelization, church planting, development, teamwork among Christian agencies, and discipleship.

There are seven contributors discussing world evangelization. The central theme in McGavran’s article is about the need to discern receptive areas where missionaries’ primary task is to multiply churches. Such a task should not be made secondary despite the challenges coming from both internal and external tasks of mission agencies. J. Herbert Kane believes that despite the controversies surrounding the concept of conversion to Christianity, this remains the immediate goal of evangelism. He mentioned three forms of evangelism: presence, proclamation, and persuasion. In Dayton and Fraser’s second article, they identify four types of strategies. C. Peter Wagner offers a perspective to see plurality in mission strategies. The key word is "right,” attached to goals, place and time, methods, and people. Bradley A. Gill proposes the theme “a church for every people” as the “watchword” for mission mobilization.

The strategies for church planting have ten articles. The last one contains 12 case studies. In The Spontaneous Multiplication of Churches, George Patterson identifies four principles based on New Testament passages. By looking at the fields, there is a need to define one’s area of ministry, the kind of church that must be planted, and find the shortest way possible to reach such a goal. The work of edification is done best by building both personal and inter-church loving relationships. In defining both evangelism and theological education, Patterson suggests using obedience as the criterion. He concludes his article by mentioning the obstacles to avoid to achieve spontaneous church multiplication.

The section on strategies for development has four articles where contributors discussed missions such as development, world relief, and community development.

In section four about the need for cooperation, Keyes identifies the emergence of indigenous missionary movements in developing countries. Moreover, this part of the book shares insights about the secular options for missionaries and the need for tentmakers due to the rising cost of mission work.

In the last section on discipleship, contributors emphasize the importance of missionaries’ lifestyle, the adoption of a “wartime” mentality, the role of prayer, and that mission is the task of every individual Christian.

Overall, the book is rich when it comes to ideas and strategies to effectively advance global missions by addressing cultural, social, and structural barriers to the gospel. However, there are articles that appear to me as very pragmatic in approach. Hence, though it seems that contributors don’t agree with each other, the reader can choose the strategies that will be most relevant to their own context and unique situation of ministry.

Personal Insights

As for personal insights, I would like to return to Edward Dayton and David Fraser’s first article, where they discussed the essence of Missio Dei. They describe the role of the church in God’s mission as “participation and cooperation with what God is graciously doing redemptively here on the earth” (p. 556). Every missionary has his idea of that specific act of God. Is this gracious and redemptive act of God diverse and simultaneous? Or is there an activity that deserves priority attention? The debate between social action and evangelism is a classic example of this. How about the evolution in the mission paradigm from humanization to development, to liberation, and now to integral liberation?

The shared article by Robert C. Pickett and Steven C. Hawthorne about community development caught my attention. They enumerated four strategies that are considered components of the developmental approach in mission: economic growth, political liberation, relief, and community development. Among these four, they argue that community development is the most promising. Explaining economic growth from the perspective of community development, they mentioned the role of “micro-economic” factors as part of concern in developing countries.

Though financial technology is a recent development, I think this field can offer assistance to achieve the above goal in at least two areas: the role of the community and the importance of microfinance. In financial technology, peer-to-peer lending platforms, cooperative savings organizations, and digital lending circles are examples of community-centered fintech solutions that give access to small loans and financial services that might not otherwise be possible through conventional financial institutions. The unbanked can utilize mobile payment systems and decentralized finance (DeFi), reducing transaction costs and even transferring money to rural locations. In fintech, local organizations can pool resources and obtain microloans. Moreover, digital literacy and financial education programs supported by the community assist people in making wise financial decisions, promoting genuine inclusiveness and empowerment.

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