Lausanne Global Analysis: January 2014
ISSUE OVERVIEW
David Taylor, Editor,
Lausanne Global Analysis
Welcome to the January issue of Lausanne Global
Analysis.
Whether you are planning to read the full articles or just the
executive summaries, we hope that you find this issue stimulating and useful.
Our aim is to deliver strategic and credible analysis, information, and insight
so that as a leader you will be better equipped for the task of world
evangelization. It’s our desire that the analysis of current and future trends
and developments will help you and your team make better decisions about the
stewardship of all that God has entrusted to your care.
In this issue we address the scourge of human trafficking, a
critical issue of our times, and analyse how the church can play its part in
confronting this form of slavery and helping its victims. We also assess the
importance for Christian ministries in engaging more intentionally with the
media and for leaders in integrating media into their mission strategies.
Finally we tackle the linked themes of ministry to unreached indigenous people
groups and of ‘ethnodoxology’ – a theological and anthropological framework
guiding all cultures to worship God using their unique artistic expressions.
‘Human trafficking is a global crime affecting nearly all countries
in every region of the world’, writes Abey
George. Between 2007 and 2010, victims of 136 different nationalities
were detected in 118 countries. The church is God’s vehicle to usher in shalom
into the brokenness and oppression in the world. The church must therefore be
the prophetic voice of transformation, keep hope alive and get engaged in the
work. ‘The church needs to believe that it can truly be an agent of
transformation in this broken and hurting world. If it does, it will become an
unmistakable part of the process of God birthing his shalom in this world’, he
concludes.
‘Wherever we live in today’s world, information and
communication technologies increasingly influence our human lives, Christian
witness, and Christian ministries’, says Lars Dahle. The missional issues
related to media engagement are therefore of real significance to the global
church. Media is the primary means by which news, ideas, and stories spreads.
Therefore, if we are to ‘bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching in
every nation, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of ideas’ (The Cape
Town Commitment), we cannot neglect the media. Three areas – media awareness,
media presence, and media ministries – constitute a strategic approach for
media engagement, he suggests.
‘Something new is happening in the indigenous church in Brazil’,
writes Ronaldo Lidorio. It is growing fast and in totally new areas and groups.
However, there is a shortage of mature indigenous leaders, and 121 ethnic
groups are still under-evangelized or non-evangelized.
Hundreds of new missionaries will be required to meet the
challenge of sharing the gospel, planting churches, and engaging with their
social needs. ‘It is time to partner with the indigenous church in Brazil,
working together to reach the unreached, translate the Bible into all
languages, and see leaders being trained’, he suggests.
There are also lessons here for the global church and missionary
movement, especially the need for better understanding and unity to meet
today’s challenges, he concludes.
‘Locally grounded artistic communication is powerful for the
expansion of the kingdom of God mainly because it is generally created and
owned locally’, asserts Brian Schrag, as interviewed by Robin Harris. There is
no need to translate foreign materials, and community artists are empowered to
contribute to the expansion.
Ethnodoxology increases the effectiveness of church planting
efforts, developing healthy multicultural gathered worship expressions,
discipleship and spiritual formation, evangelism and short-term mission
outreach, and helping people respond to injustice and trauma.
If we can help our brothers and sisters breathe new, redeemed
life into their artistic traditions, all cultures will eventually use all of
their gifts to worship, obey, and enjoy God with all of their heart, soul,
mind, and strength, he concludes.
Please send any questions and comments about this issue to
analysis@lausanne.org. The next issue of Lausanne Global Analysis will be
released in March.
-------
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND THE RESPONSE
OF THE GLOBAL CHURCH
Abraham (Abey) George
Human trafficking is a global crime affecting nearly
all countries in every region of the world. Between
2007 and 2010, victims of 136 different nationalities
were detected in 118 countries. It can be understood
as a process by which people are recruited in their
community and exploited by traffickers using deception
and/or some form of coercion to lure and control them.
It is the conflict between powers and vulnerabilities of
people – the exploitation of the weak by the strong. As
Christians, this has to be something that registers loudly
on our hearts and minds.
The Scriptures contain many explicit commands to
‘do justice’ (Micah 6:8) and to ‘seek justice, defend the
oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless, [and]
plead the case of the widow’ (Isaiah 1:17). These are
not incidental references, but constitute the central
sweep of the Bible. The kingdom that Jesus spoke of
was not a future state of being or some distant place,
but something that was happening on this earth here
and now.
The church is God’s vehicle to usher in shalom into
the brokenness and oppression in the world. Without
active interaction with the brokenness around us, our
proclamation remains merely a shadow of the glorious
gospel we have been tasked with sharing.
The church must therefore be the prophetic voice of
transformation, keep hope alive, and get engaged in the
work. It has historically been at the forefront on issues
of education, hospitals, orphanages, feeding the hungry,
and the abolition of slavery in some parts of the world.
Unfortunately, it has been conspicuously missing, for the
most part, on human trafficking, which affects almost
every country.
The church can encourage young people toward careers
that will help protect and care for the abused. It can also
lobby local and federal governments and international
and local businesses. Within the church, it can teach the
biblical foundations for justice and God’s view of women
and children.
It can also encourage congregations to
engage with victims as if they were part of their own
family, to offer time, skills, and resources to organizations
like the International Justice Mission, and intercede on
behalf of those being trafficked.
The church needs to believe that it can truly be an agent
of transformation in this broken and hurting world. If it
does, it will become an unmistakable part of the process
of God birthing his shalom in this world.
MEDIA ENGAGEMENT: A GLOBAL
MISSIOLOGICAL TASK
Lars Dahle
Wherever we live in today’s world, information and
communication technologies increasingly influence our
human lives, Christian witness, and Christian ministries.
The varieties of local, global, and glocal media messages
provide complex contexts for the task of making the
case for the truth of Christ in the 21st century. The
missional issues related to media engagement are
therefore of real significance to the global church.
There are five central features of contemporary
media: digitalization, democratization, fragmentation,
globalization, and pluralisation. They illustrate the
urgent need to engage more intentionally with media in
all their diversity. They are the primary means by which
news, ideas, and stories spread. Therefore, if we are to
‘bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching in every
nation, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of
ideas’ (The Cape Town Commitment), we cannot neglect
the media.
The Commitment emphasised three major areas of
concern: media awareness (the need for more faithful
discipleship when encountering media messages),
media presence (the need to enter mainstream media
with professionalism and Christian integrity), and
media ministries (the need to use every kind of media
technology to communicate the gospel in the context of
a holistic biblical worldview).
Theologically, we should view professional media callings
as part of God’s cultural mandate and of his mission
to our world. Missiologically, we should view media
engagement as an essential part of calling the whole
church to take the whole gospel to the whole world.
Apologetically, we should view media engagement as a
dimension of our witness to Jesus Christ.
The three areas of media awareness, media presence,
and media ministries constitute a strategic approach for
media engagement.
Equipping individuals, families, youth ministries, and
churches to engage with media messages is a largely
forgotten dimension of mission. Such equipping includes
research, resources, and practical training in worldview
analysis of media messages, as well as showing the
credibility and relevance of a holistic biblical worldview
over against alternative worldview perspectives.
There is a wide variety of legitimate and strategic
media roles to explore within the general media
world for talented Christians, including journalism and
documentary work, and creative and entertainment
media. Through their presence in mainstream media, the
credibility and plausibility of the gospel and of a holistic
biblical worldview may be commended to sceptics,
seekers, and Christians.
Effective use of every kind of media technology, format,
and genre is important for evangelism, discipleship,
and faith education. Specialist media ministries still
have strategic roles to play, but new media technology
potentially changes every mission organization, youth
ministry, and local church into media outlets. This
creates an increasing need for evangelistic partnerships
in the whole area of media. We also need to explore the
way that social media creates increasing possibilities for
a media ministry for every believer.
There is thus every reason for Christian leaders globally
to integrate media engagement into their strategies for
mission.
MISSION AMONG INDIGENOUS GROUPS
IN BRAZIL: LESSONS, CHALLENGES, AND
OPPORTUNITIES
Ronaldo Lidorio
This article analyses trends and challenges in mission among the
indigenous groups in Brazil. Understanding their reality is crucial for any
reflection or action. There are 228 recognized indigenous groups in Brazil,
although the real total may be nearer to 340. Of the overall indigenous
population, 52% live in traditional villages and 48% in urbanized or urbanizing
areas. There are 181 indigenous languages.
There is a local evangelical church among 150 ethnic groups.
However, 99 of these churches have no indigenous leadership. There is an
evangelical missionary presence in 182 communities representing more than 30
evangelical missionary agencies and nearly 100 different denominations.
Something new is happening in the indigenous church in
Brazil. The Lord is raising up key indigenous leaders to bring
people together with the desire to seek the Lord for renewal. The indigenous
church is growing fast and in totally new areas and groups.
However, there is a limited number of mature indigenous leaders
and only a few initiatives with a focus on leadership training. It is necessary
to invest in their training to strengthen the existing church, reach the
unreached, and avoid future syncretism. There is also a need for better
integration between Bible translation, church planting, and leadership
training.
There are 121
ethnic groups that are still under-evangelized or non-evangelized. Hundreds of
new missionaries will be required to meet the challenge of sharing the gospel,
planting churches, and engaging with their social needs. Many of these may come
from the indigenous church. However, they need to be trained cross-culturally,
as most of them may experience the same barriers as non-Indians to living and
communicating with other groups.
It is time to partner with the indigenous church in Brazil,
working together to reach the unreached, translate the Bible into all
languages, and see leaders being trained. AMTB (Association of Cross Cultural
Missionary Agencies of Brazil) and CONPLEI (National Council of Evangelical
Indigenous Pastors and Leaders) are working hard in this direction. To partner
with those organizations in projects in collaboration with the indigenous
church in Brazil would be a strategic step.
There are lessons here for the global church and missionary
movement, especially the need for better understanding and unity to meet
today’s challenges.
To reach the unreached we need to know more than ‘how many’,
‘who’, and ‘where’. Understanding their identity and sociocultural context and
the indigenous church’s situation is vital. There is also an urgent need to
promote better spiritual and strategic unity among the different players in the
global missionary movement.
Without understanding we will bring solutions that are not
appropriate. Without unity we will not be strong enough to face the challenges.
ETHNODOXOLOGY’S TIME IS HERE: HOW ENGAGING LOCAL ARTISTS CAN
EXPAND GOD’S KINGDOM
Brian Schrag with Robin Harris
Ethnodoxology is a theological and anthropological framework
guiding all cultures to worship God using their unique artistic expressions.
The term derives from two biblical Greek words: ‘ethno’ from ethne (peoples)
and ‘doxology’ from doxos (glory or praise). Locally grounded artistic
communication is powerful for the expansion of the kingdom of God mainly
because it is generally created and owned locally. There is no need to
translate foreign materials, and community artists are empowered to contribute
to the expansion.
The basic process for doing ethnodoxology in a community
involves getting to know a community and its arts, identifying ways particular
artistic genres can meet particular community kingdom goals, sparking
creativity in these genres by local practitioners, encouraging community
members to improve the new creations, and integrating and celebrating the new
works and plan for continuing creativity.
Ethnodoxology increases the effectiveness of church planting
efforts, developing healthy multicultural gathered worship expressions,
discipleship and spiritual formation, evangelism and short-term mission
outreach, and helping people respond to injustice and trauma.
If ethnodoxology becomes the primary approach to growth in
mission and worship, minority artists and their arts will be well-integrated
into their community’s church life, and the church will become an engine for
revitalization of minority arts and their communities, rather than a frequent
contributor to their demise. Furthermore, sharing of artistic resources in the
church will move both from minority to majority cultures and vice versa, and
more artistic forms will be represented around God’s throne (Rev 7, 9-12) and
in his city (Rev 21, 22-27).
There are a growing number of resources to help integrate
ethnodoxology into churches and organizations. These include joining the ICE,
the hub of ethnnodoxology’s growing network of practitioners, drawing from and
contributing to the knowledge it produces, and encouraging potential arts
advocates to become certified by ICE. There are also seminars, courses,
consultations, and books available.
People communicate in almost 7,000 languages around the world,
not just by spoken words, but through artistically rendered song, drama, dance,
and story.
These communities have non-existent or imperfect relationships
with God, and struggle with violence, disease, social upheaval, anger, sexual
promiscuity, anxiety, and fear – as do our own societies.
God gave every culture unique gifts of artistic communication to
tell truth and bring healing, hope, and joy in response to these problems.
However, too many of these gifts lie dormant, misused, or dying. If we can help
our brothers and sisters – and ourselves – breathe new, redeemed life into
these artistic traditions, all cultures will eventually use all of their gifts
to worship, obey, and enjoy God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and
strength. It will not happen completely on this earth, but we can join God in
working toward the next
-------
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND THE RESPONSE OF
THE GLOBAL CHURCH
Abraham (Abey) George
A young girl is trafficked across cities
and even countries, tricked and coerced into servicing a dozen customers a day
in a dingy and dirty brothel in one of the several red light districts in a
bustling metropolitan city in India. If she refuses a customer, she is then
subjected to gang rape and violent physical abuse that leave indelible scars - physical,
psychological, and perhaps spiritual.
She is now in a strange land,
subjected to indescribable abuse by strangers who pay to rape and beat her, and
is eventually resigned to the new reality of her life.
A young man wants to visit his sister
who lives in another city, but does not have the means to make that trip. He
borrows ten dollars from a local moneylender and agrees to work for him to
repay the small loan. He is soon trafficked across states along with his wife
and six children to work 18-hour days baking bricks under the sweltering sun. A
decade and half later he has still not stopped working. The debt, inexplicably,
has not yet been paid.
A global crime
These stories unfortunately are far
too common through out much of the world today. Human trafficking is a global crime
affecting nearly all countries in every region of the world, and the
statistics1 are simply staggering:
• Between 2007 and 2010, victims of
136 different nationalities were detected in 118 countries across the world.
• Trafficking for the purpose of
sexual exploitation accounts for 58% of all cases detected globally, while
trafficking for forced labor accounts for 36% (double the 2008 percentage).
• The International Labor Organization
(ILO) estimates that 20.9 million people are victims of forced labor globally.
• Women account for about 60% of
trafficking victims, and children 27% (two thirds of them girls).
• Removal of organs, begging, forced
marriages, illegal adoptions, participation in armed combat, and the commission
of petty crimes are some of the other reasons for human trafficking.
Abuse of power
Human trafficking can be understood as
a process by which people are recruited in their community and exploited by
traffickers using deception and/or some form of coercion to lure and control
them. It is the conflict between powers and vulnerabilities of people.
Gary Haugen of International Justice
Mission defines this, and injustice in general, as the abuse of power and
exploitation of the weak by the strong.2 As Christians, this has to be
something that registers loudly on our hearts and minds.
What does the Bible say?
The Scriptures contain many explicit
commands to “do justice” (Micah 6:8) and to “seek justice, defend the
oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless, [and] plead the case of the
widow” (Isaiah 1:17). These are not incidental references, but constitute the
central sweep of the Bible. Concern for the oppressed and the abused is a
constant theme. It is deeply embedded in Israel’s history.
Torah: Yahweh delivered them from
oppression in Egypt and now expects them to be liberators as well. The Mosaic
Law is replete with examples. Every three years, for example, the Israelites
are required to bring a tenth of their produce for those that did not have an
inheritance, the foreigners, the fatherless, and the widows (Deuteronomy 14:28,
29).
Prophets: The prophets echo and
reiterate such require ments. Isaiah, for example, condemns those with power who
“plunder the poor” and “grind the faces of the poor” (Isaiah 3:14, 15).
Gospels: The gospels continue the
theme. Jesus did not come to start a religion, but instead to announce a new
“kingdom,” a new way of life. The good news of Jesus was not just to address
the question of sin and the spiritual fall of man, or how to get to heaven and
avoid hell. It was about the coming of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in
heaven.
This kingdom that Jesus spoke of was
not a future state of being, or some distant place, but something that was
happening on this earth here and now. God was not to be understood merely as
the creator and ruler over all creation, but instead his reign was now to be
viewed as exploding into the lives of his people in a way that affected every
aspect of their lives. This was to be a dynamic new reality that had absolute
dominion in the lives and choices of his people.
Admonishing the Pharisees for their
lack of justice and mercy, Jesus says: “You have neglected the more important
matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). Elsewhere
Jesus elaborates on his message when he reads the old prophecy: “The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the
poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who
are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
What is our responsibility?
Obviously, then, if a Christian were
to find himself or herself in a position of power that could influence the
issue of human trafficking, he or she would be responsible for following the
clear commands of Scripture in executing justice. However, much of the church
has little or no direct proximity to the issue. Do they still have a
responsibility?
Perhaps the best answer is found in
the parable of the
Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37):
• Jesus recognizes in the lawyer’s
question the human tendency to attempt to absolve ourselves of responsibility,
claiming certain people are not our responsibility.
• With his final command, “go and do
likewise,” Jesus erases the boundaries the lawyer attempted to draw and drives
home the point that those who truly participate in the Kingdom life fully live
out the Law by “being neighbors” – bringing shalom to bear on all who
experience brokenness around them.
• To do nothing, Jesus seems to imply,
would effectively be collusion with the brokenness of creation by allowing the
man to continue suffering and dying.
The church is God’s vehicle to usher
in shalom into the brokenness and oppression in the world. For the church to
credibly announce that God is God and that his new world has begun, N.T. Wright
reminds us, it has to be “actively involved in seeking justice in the world,
both globally and locally, and cheerfully celebrating God’s good creation and
its rescue from corruption.” 3
Without this active interaction with
the brokenness around us, our proclamation remains merely a shadow of the
glorious gospel we have been tasked with sharing.
So what must the church do?
1. Be the prophetic voice of transformation
The church’s purpose was made clear in
the words of Jesus – to be the prophetic voice of transformation in the world –
and yet it has historically swayed to the prevailing philosophical winds of
time. The church must recognize that it was first and foremost established to
bring the transformative news of God’s rescuing justice to this broken world.
2. Keep hope alive
The scale of human trafficking and the
abuse and oppression that inevitably follows can be intimidating for most
people. When this is coupled with a perceived lack of capacity to make a difference,
it can lead most people into a state of hopelessness.
Yet these very situations of injustice can be the
perfect breeding ground for hope. The church must continue to engage issues
such as human trafficking, in ways both big and small, such that it presents
the body of Christ as the ultimate harbinger of hope – both for the uncorrupted
resurrection reality of the future, and perhaps more importantly, for that
which will come alive in the present in the lives of the millions around the
world who simply do not have it any longer.
3. Get engaged in the work
The church has historically been at
the forefront on issues of education, hospitals, orphanages, feeding the
hungry, and the abolition of slavery in some parts of the world. Unfortunately,
it has been conspicuously missing, for the most part, on human trafficking,
which affects almost every country. There is much the global body of Christ can
do to make a difference:
• Encourage young people toward
careers that will help protect and care for the abused. Careers in law
enforcement and law are obviously a natural fit, but there are numerous other
vocations that can help bring justice. Artists, musicians, writers, producers,
missionaries, relief and development workers, social workers, and counselors
can all use their voice and skills to advocate and care for trafficking
victims.
• Speak up for victims of trafficking
in communities around the world. The global church, as a significant portion of
the world population, has a strong voice that can lobby local and federal
governments for allocation of resources to combat trafficking, raise awareness
and create demands for justice, and lobby international and local businesses to
monitor and clean up their supply chains.
• Within the church, there is a need
to teach the biblical foundations for justice and God’s view of women and
children, discuss pornography and the objectification of women, encourage men’s
groups to talk about exploitation and violence and how it affects women and
children, and encourage them to become protectors of and advocates for
vulnerable women and children.
• Bible colleges and seminaries need
to incorporate a robust analysis of the theology of justice into curricula and
programs of study so that future pastors and leaders of the global church will
have the passion, vision, and capacity to stand up for those that need
protection.
• Congregations need encouragement to
engage with these issues, and not block such crimes and their victims from
sight; to engage with these victims as if they were part of their own family;
to watch for signs of such crimes in their own communities; and to report them
to the authorities.
• Christians can also reach out to
organizations like International Justice Mission, which might have operations
in their area to intervene on behalf of these victims. They can volunteer time,
skills, and resources in shelters and other facilities in their area that care
for rescued victims of such abuse. On behalf of these victims, they need to be
willing to take risks to reputations, bank accounts, and personal safety.
• Above and with all of the above,
Christians globally can intercede unfailingly on behalf of the men, women, and
children that are being trafficked around the world daily for commercial abuse
and oppression.
The church needs to believe that it
can truly be an agent of transformation in this broken and hurting world. If it
does, it will become an unmistakable part of the process of God birthing his
shalom in this world.
The church can indeed rise up against
the scourge of human trafficking and other such evils, as evidenced by a very
recent gathering of Christians in the Philippines called Freedom Forum, jointly
organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the
Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, and the National Council of
Churches in the Philippines. Together they launched the Philippine Inter-faith
Movement Against Human Trafficking that will facilitate a joint push for advocacy,
care for victims, and cooperation with the government to end human trafficking
in the country.
-------
The church is God’s vehicle to usher
in shalom into the brokenness and oppression in the world.
-------
REFERENCES
1. Global Report on Trafficking in
Persons 2012 (New York: United Nations, 2012).
2. Gary A. Haugen, Just Courage. God’s
Great Expedition for the
Restless Christian (Downers Grove, IL:
IVP Books, 2008), 46.
3. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope:
Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (New York:
Harper Collins, 2008), 227.
Abraham (Abey) George serves as the
Director of International Church Mobilization with the International Justice
Mission. Abey received a Master of Divinity from Southern Asia Bible College in
Bangalore, India, and a Master of Theology in Historical Theology from Trinity
Theological College in Singapore. He is an ordained pastor with the Assemblies
of God.
-------
MEDIA ENGAGEMENT
A global missiological task
Lars Dahle
Wherever we live in today’s world,
information and communication technologies increasingly influence and impact
our human lives, our Christian witness, and our Christian ministries. The
varieties of local, global, and glocal media messages provide complex contexts
for the task of making the case for the truth of Christ in the 21st century.
The missional issues related to media engagement are therefore of real
significance to the global church.
Engaging the globalized media
In the midst of changing technologies
and global differ ences, it is possible to discern five central features of
contemporary media:
• Digitalization: The Internet is
gradually becoming the most significant platform for media research,
networking, and publications, resulting both in convergence of old media formats
and genres and creation of new media arenas.
• Democratization: Increasing access
to new digital publication channels and new arenas of social media creates
numerous possibilities for wider participation and networking.
• Fragmentation: The dramatic increase
in media arenas, participants, and voices creates both a fragmented public
discourse and a fragmented private consumption.
• Globalization: Through the global
spread of information technology, new platforms for media distribution are
being established, such as broadband, satellite, and mobile technologies.
• Pluralization: Wherever technology
goes, media goes, and with the media comes a plurality of values, perspectives,
and worldviews.
These key features illustrate the
urgent need to engage more intentionally with media in all its diversity. Media
is the primary means by which news, ideas, and stories spreads. It affects
every part of society in every part of the world. Therefore, if we are to “bear
witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching in every nation, in every sphere
of society, and in the realm of ideas” (The Cape Town Commitment), we cannot
neglect the fascinating and complex world of the media.
Media engagement as a Lausanne theme
It is evident from foundational
documents from global congresses and consultations that media engagement has
been a Lausanne theme from the very beginning.
As a term, media has historically been
used to include electronic and print media (but usually not literature), whereas
the term more recently naturally also includes digital/new media.
The contexts for the explicit
mentioning of media as well as the specific media emphases have varied in the
three foundational congress documents:
• The Lausanne Covenant included “the
mass media” in the paragraph on evangelistic partnership, with an emphasis on
the legitimacy of specialist media ministries.
• The Manila Manifesto mentioned
“media” in the section on the whole world, with an emphasis on the necessity of
a discerning engagement with media as part of modernity.
• The Cape Town Commitment included
“truth and the globalized media” in the section, “Bearing witness to the truth
of Christ in a pluralistic, globalized world”, with an equal emphasis on three
major areas of concern.
These three media foci are media
awareness, media presence, and media ministries.
Media awareness may be seen as the
need for more faithful discipleship (including both personal holiness and
disciple-making) when encountering media messages. This area of concern was
implicit in the early years of Lausanne, but became later increasingly explicit
as cultural and ethical critique. It has recently been given an essential role
as a combination of educational, evangelism, and discipleship concerns.
Media presence may be seen as the need
to enter mainstream media with professionalism and Christian integrity. Such a
focus was implicit in the first phase of Lausanne history, but has later become
increasingly significant. Part of the reason is the growing emphasis on the
workplace as an arena for ministry and witness.
However, it is also due to an
increasing acknowledgment of the influential role of mainstream factual and
fictional media both in expressing and shaping identities and ideas.
Media ministries may be seen as the
need to use every kind of media technology (whether old or new) to communicate
the gospel of Christ in the context of a holistic biblical worldview. This area
of concern has played a central role throughout the Lausanne history, with a
recurring emphasis on specialist ministries, whether in radio, television,
print, Internet, or new (social) media.
-------
Media is the primary means by which
news, ideas, and stories spreads. It affects every part of society in every
part of the world.
-------
Missiological foundations for media
engagement
Theologically, we should view
professional media callings as part of God’s cultural mandate and of his
mission to our world. In the words of The Cape Town Commitment:
“We love God’s world, we love God’s
word, and we love God’s mission”. This opens up space for ministry in a wide
range of media contexts and with an equally wide range of professional media
roles.
Missiologically, we should view media
engagement as an essential part of calling the whole church to take the whole
gospel to the whole world:
• Taking the whole gospel to the media
world includes taking “the story the gospel tells, the assurance the gospel
brings, and the transformation the gospel produces”. This biblical gospel of
Jesus Christ is “good news in a world of bad news”, offering both forgiveness
and hope and a new worldview perspective.
• Involving the whole church in media
engagement includes the recognition both of special gifts and of the ministry
of all believers. This is related to the new arenas and opportunities represented
by the globalization and the democratization of media.
• Reaching out to the whole world
presupposes media engagement, whether this is related to “every nation”, “every
sphere of society”, or “the realm of ideas”. Contemporary media – in all their
variety are arenas and avenues of pluralism, including secular worldview
perspectives.
Apologetically, we should view media
engagement as a dimension of our witness to Jesus Christ as “the truth of the
universe”. This includes bearing witness to the fact that “truth in Christ is (i)
personal as well as propositional; (ii) universal as well as contextual; (iii)
ultimate as well as personal”. Therefore, we need to encourage and equip
Christian media professionals to commend such central truth claims as both
credible and plausible.
-------
Media awareness may be seen as the
need for more faithful discipleship (including both personal holiness and
disciple- making) when encountering media messages.
-------
Three major emphases for media
engagement
As mentioned above, The Cape Town
Commitment identifies three major emphases for our media engagement: media
awareness, media presence, and media ministries. It is now appropriate to
outline how these three concerns constitute a strategic approach for media
engagement.
1. Media awareness: A forgotten
dimension in mission
Those of us who live in
technology-rich places are all media consumers. Those who live in other parts
of the world are being increasingly exposed to media messages.
These factual and fictional messages
are influenced by various secular and religious worldview perspectives, whether
in terms of ethical values, views of humanity and reality, or fundamental
faith-commitments.
Equipping individuals, families, youth
ministries, and churches to engage with media messages at these deeper
worldview levels is largely a forgotten dimension of mission, both in the
global north and the global south.
We need to change that together – and
to do it quickly and appropriately. Such equipping includes research,
resources, and practical training in worldview analysis of media messages, as
well as showing the credibility and relevance of a holistic biblical
worldview over against alternative worldview perspectives.
2. Media presence: A calling to public
witness and integrity
There is a wide variety of legitimate
and strategic media roles to explore within the general media world for
talented Christians. Journalism and documentary work reveals neglected facts,
stories, and angles, which enables a more balanced public and private debate. Creative
and entertainment media can present new and fresh ways of imagining Christian
truths, which may generate genuine interest in significant moral and spiritual
issues.
Through the presence of skilful
Christian commentators and apologists in mainstream media, the credibility and
plausibility of the gospel and of a holistic biblical worldview may be
commended to sceptics, seekers, and to Christians.
3. Media ministries: A ministry for
all believers
Effective use of every kind of media
technology, format, and genre is important for worldwide evangelism, for
discipleship, and for faith education. Specialist media ministries still have
legitimate and strategic roles to play, but new media technology potentially
changes every single mission organization, youth ministry, and local church
into media outlets. This creates an increasing need for evangelistic
partnerships in the whole area of media. At the same time, we need to explore
the way that social media creates increasing possibilities for a media ministry
for every believer.
Media engagement in mission strategies
There is thus every reason to urge
Christian leaders globally to intentionally integrate media engagement in their
strategies for mission in the 21st century.
In light of this, leaders are urged to
reflect on and to collaborate in:
• Media awareness: How can the church
in your country equip and resource Christians to engage critically with, and
respond constructively to, all forms of media?
• Media presence: How can the church
in your country affirm, equip, support, and learn from Christians who work and
participate in the mainstream news and creative media?
• Media ministries: How can the church
in your country equip individuals, churches, Christian organizations, and
institutions to become effective in using media, including social media, for
communicating truth?
Editor’s Note: The Lausanne Global
Consultation on Media and the Gospel met 18-21 November 2013 in Brea,
California, USA, and issued a Call to Action.
Lars Dahle is Vice Rector and Associate
Professor in Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Gimlekollen School of
Journalism and Communication, NLA University College, Norway. He serves as the
Lausanne Senior Associate for Media Engagement.
-------
MISSION AMONG INDIGENOUS GROUPS IN
BRAZIL
Lessons, challenges, and opportunities
Ronaldo Lidorio
This article analyzes trends and
challenges in mission among the indigenous groups in Brazil. Understanding
their reality is crucial for any reflection or action. The picture of an exotic
painted hunter in the Amazon forest – often used as a symbol of their identity
– does not express the web of connections and differentiations of groups,
cultural patterns, languages, and tendencies in their world. There are lessons
here for the global church and missionary movement, especially the need for
better understanding and unity to meet today’s challenges.
Population
There are 228 recognized indigenous
groups in Brazil. However, the picture is quite complex:
• 37 are in danger of extinction.
• 41 are considered ‘emergent’ groups
(those that are reclaiming their previously denied ethnic identification).
• 111 are experiencing different
levels of urbanization.
The growth of the total population has
been significant: from 294,000 in 1990 to almost 900,000 in 2010. The impact of
the so-called emergent groups recently recognized as indigenous is responsible
for more than 70% of the growth.
Of the overall indigenous population, 52% live in
traditional villages and 48% in urbanized or urbanizing areas:
• Nearly 60% live in the general
Amazonian region comprising the states of Amazonas, Acre, Amapá, Pará,
Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, and the western sector of Maranhão.
• Based on demographic trends, it is
estimated that by 2015 the number living in small or large towns will be higher
than those living in traditional villages.
Some 46 of these ethnic groups
comprise only up to 100 people; 97 groups contain from 101 to 500 people; 24
from 501 to 1,000 people; 49 from 1,001 to 5,000 people; 11 from 5,001 to 10,000;
and only 9 groups have populations greater than 10,000 people.
An ethnic survey analysis uses a
variety of filters to paint a more comprehensive picture. One of these filters
is the existence of groups that are still isolated – ethnic groups that live in
remote areas with little or no contact with other indigenous or non -indigenous
people. There are 27 groups listed in this category, but a truer estimate would
be as many as 52.
There are also various ethnic groups
treated as a bloc, which in fact comprise different groups with distinct
sociocultural and linguistic identities:
• The Yanomami people, frequently
listed as a single indigenous group, includes at least 4 groups with different
languages and cultural patterns.
• The same occurs with the so-called
Maku, a pejorative generic term used to refer to at least 5 different ethnic
groups in the Upper Black River.
Finally, there are 41 emergent groups,
which through intermarriage with non-indigenous people (and other factors of
dispersion), had lost their ethnic self- identification for a period of time.
For various reasons these groups have once again claimed recognition as
indigenous communities. These are the most ‘acculturated’ groups.
Adding together known ethnic groups
(228), isolated communities (27), partially isolated groups (10), possibly
extinct groups (9), emergent groups (41), and groups yet to be studied (25),
suggests there may be a total of 340 indigenous groups in Brazil.
-------
Something new is happening in the indigenous
church in Brazil. The Lord is raising up key indigenous leaders to bring people
together with the desire to seek the Lord for renewal.
-------
Some 37 of these ethnic groups are in
danger of extinction due to the size of their population (fewer than 35
people), unfavorable socio-environmental conditions, limited access to health
care, conflicts, and dispersion.
Language
There are 181 indigenous languages in
Brazil. According to Moore (2006):
• 13% of living Brazilian indigenous
languages have been completely described;
• 38% have an advanced description;
• 29% have an incipient description;
• 19% have little or no descriptive
material;
• and the remaining 1% is undefined.
The German researcher Michael Krauss
(1992) estimated that 27% of South American languages are no longer learned by
children – and there is no reason to think this has changed in the last 20
years. It is estimated that, during the period of Portuguese colonization, some
1,273 indigenous languages were spoken in what is now Brazil. That means the
country has lost 85% of its linguistic diversity over the last 500 years.
Today 132 indigenous groups speak
Portuguese; 57 of these groups speak only Portuguese; and 45 are bilingual or
trilingual with Portuguese. The vitality of traditional languages, however, remains
strong among the indigenous groups far from urban contexts.
Missionary work and the indigenous
church
There is a local evangelical church
among 150 ethnic groups, which is a great encouragement for the missionary
movement. However, 99 of these churches have no indigenous leadership.
There is an evangelical missionary
presence in 182 indigenous communities representing more than 30 evangelical
missionary agencies and nearly 100 different denominations.
In 165 ethnic groups there are social
programs and projects coordinated by evangelical missionaries. The total of 257
social programs emphasize various areas of:
• education (linguistic analysis,
literacy, local publications, and translation);
• health care (basic health care,
first aid, and medical clinics);
• subsistence (farming, fair market);
and social inclusion (cultural appreciation, human rights, and citizenship).
Something new is happening in the
indigenous church in Brazil. The Lord is raising up key indigenous leaders to
bring people together with the desire to seek the Lord for renewal. Many
meetings attract 1,000 or more indigenous Christians in a growing movement
throughout Brazil and even some neighboring countries.
The indigenous church in Brazil is
growing fast and in totally new areas and groups. However, there are a limited
number of mature indigenous leaders and only a few initiatives with a focus on
leadership training.
Bible translation
There are currently programs of
linguistic analysis and literacy as a result of evangelical initiatives in 54
different languages, of which 31 also have a Bible translation program. At
present, 58 languages have a complete Bible, New Testament, and/or biblical
portions in their mother tongue, serving a total of 66 ethnic groups.
Ten languages clearly need a Bible
translation, 28 need a special translation project probably based on orality,
while 31 remain undefined – yet to be evaluated. These 31 languages are spoken
by 59 ethnic groups.
The languages requiring translation
projects and those requiring a special project based on orality show very
little potential for understanding of the gospel in any other language, through
any other means of communication or via any neighboring groups.
Challenges
Church planting
There are 121 ethnic groups that are
still under-evangelized or non-evangelized. More than 40% of current missionary
activity urgently demands more personnel to assure its continuation, and 95% of
the 121 unreached groups have no missionary activity:
• As a result it is estimated that at
least 357 new missionary units (singles or couples) are needed to reinforce
existing work and begin new projects.
• When specialized activities, as well
as the administrative, logistic, and pastoral work that precede and follow such
initiatives are taken into account, at least 500 new missionary units will be
required to face the present challenge of sharing the gospel, planting
churches, and engaging with the social needs among the less or non-evangelized
groups.
With an intentional and positive
investment in the existing indigenous church, a good number of these 500
missionaries may come from them. However, they need to be trained
cross-culturally, as most of them may experience the same barriers as
non-Indians to living and communicating with other groups.
-------
There is a local evangelical church
among 150 ethnic groups, which is a great encouragement for the missionary movement.
However, 99 of these churches have no indigenous leadership.
-------
Translation and Scripture use
The challenge in this area comes from
the 10 languages in need of a classic Bible translation, the 28 needing a
special project based on orality and the 54 ongoing translation projects. It is
imperative for the church to support those already in hand and not only invest
in new initiatives.
There is also a challenge to use the
Scripture, as well as to have it:
• There are 17 ethnic groups with
access to portions of the Bible in their mother tongue, but with no believers
among them.
• Another 25 groups have good access
to Scripture and a local church among them, but no indigenous leadership.
There is a need for better integration
between Bible translation, church planting, and leadership training.
Global partnership
It is time to partner with the
indigenous church in Brazil, working together to reach the unreached, translate
the Bible into all languages, and see leaders being trained.
AMTB1 (Association of Cross Cultural
Missionary Agencies of Brazil) and CONPLEI2 (National Council of Evangelical
Indigenous Pastors and Leaders) are working hard in this direction in unity. To
partner with those organizations in projects in collaboration with the indigenous
church in Brazil would be a strategic step.
Conclusion
There are lessons here for the global
church and missionary movement, especially the need for better understanding
and unity to meet today’s challenges.
Understanding
There is an urgent need to continue to
research key regions and movements around the world to produce enough
understanding of today’s reality. To reach the unreached we need to know more
than ‘how many’, ‘who’, and ‘where’. Understanding their identity and sociocultural
context, and the indigenous church’s situation, is vital to guide in a wise way
any missionary initiative.
Unity
There is an urgent need to promote
better spiritual and strategic unity among players in the global missionary movement,
especially between:
• those who research and have specific
data and information, and those in the field developing the projects;
• those involved in Bible translation
and those sharing the gospel, planting churches, and encouraging people to use
Scripture; and
• those mobilizing the church to be
involved in the missionary challenge and leaders of initiatives in the field
who have a more practical understanding of the real needs.
Without understanding we will bring
solutions to problems that are not appropriate. Without unity we will not be
strong enough to face the challenges.
REFERENCES
1. www.amtb.org.br
WORKS CITED
IBGE, 2005. Tendências demográficas:
uma análise dos indígenas
com base nos resultados da amostra dos
censos demográficos
1991 e 2000. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE.
FUNASA, 2009. Sistema de Informação da
Atenção à Saúde
Indígena – Siasi – Demografia dos
Povos Indígenas. Quantitativos
de pessoas. Consulta online:
www.funasa.gov.br.
KRAUSS, M. The world’s languages in
crisis. Language, n. 68, 1992.
LEWIS, Paul, editor. Ethnologue:
Languages of the World. 16th
edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL
International. Online version:
www.ethnologue.com.
LIDORIO, Ronaldo (Org). Indígenas do
Brasil – Relatório AMTB
2010. Consulta online:
www.indigena.org.br.
MOORE, D. Brazil: Language Situation.
In: BROWN, K.
(org. geral). Encyclopedia of language
and linguistics.
Oxford: Elsevier, 2006.
PAGLIARO, Heloísa (org.), Demografia
dos Povos Indígenas no
Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Editora
Fiocruz e Associação Brasileira de Estudos Populacionais, 2005.
RICARDO, C. A. & Ricardo, Fany.
Povos indígenas no Brasil
2000/2006. São Paulo: Instituto
Socioambiental, 2006.
SILVA, Cácio. Tradução da Bíblia para
línguas indígenas do Brasil: Realizações, desafios e possibilidades. Revista
Povos, ano 1, n.2. Rio de Janeiro: Betesda, 2006.
SOUZA, Isaac Costa de & LIDORIO,
Ronaldo (Org). A questão
indígena: Uma luta desigual. Viçosa:
Ultimato, 2008.
-------
Ronaldo Lidorio is a Brazilian
theologian and anthropologist serving as a cross-cultural missionary in the
Amazon, following eight years as a church planter and Bible translator in
Ghana. A Presbyterian pastor as well as author of 14 books, he is Director for Missiology
and Church Planting for WEC International.
-------
ETHNODOXOLOGY’S TIME IS HERE
How engaging local artists can expand
God’s kingdom
Brian Schrag (BES) with Robin Harris
(RPH)
RPH: This term – ethnodoxology – is
new to most people. What does it mean?
BES: Ethnodoxology is a theological
and anthropological framework guiding all cultures to worship God using their
unique artistic expressions. The term derives from two biblical Greek words:
‘ethno’ from ethne (peoples) and ‘doxology’ from doxos (glory or praise).
RPH: How long has it taken for
ethnodoxology to emerge as a strategic missional approach?
BES: In 1993, the term ethnodoxology
had probably never been uttered on this planet. However, by 2003, a network
emerged called the International Council of Ethnodoxologists (ICE). By 2013,
ICE was connecting hundreds of individuals and scores of organizations, had
produced a remarkable two-volume scholarly and practical foundation for the new
discipline, and helped spearhead a reorientation of mission education and
practice.
Ethnodoxology’s power
RPH: So why is locally grounded
artistic communication so powerful for the expansion of the kingdom of God?
BES: Artistic communication
• is embedded in culture and so
touches many important aspects of a society;
• marks messages as important and
separate from everyday activities;
• involves not only cognitive, but
also experiential and emotional ways of knowing;
• aids in remembering messages;
• increases the impact of messages
through multiple media that often involve the whole body;
• concentrates the information
contained in messages;
• instills solidarity in its
performers;
• provides socially acceptable
frameworks for expressing difficult or new ideas; and
• inspires and moves people to action
and can act as a strong sign of identity.
Perhaps most importantly, local
artistic communication is generally created and owned locally. There is no need
to translate foreign materials, and community artists are empowered to
contribute to the expansion of the kingdom of God.
RPH: In what ways has the church
traditionally engaged the arts in cross-cultural ministry, and how does ethnodoxology
connect to those approaches?
BES: At least three broad approaches
in relation to the arts come to mind:
• Some cross-cultural workers approach
the arts in a Bring It – Teach It framework, teaching their own arts to people
in another community. This can lead to unity among diverse Christian
communities, but it excludes local arts and artists.
• In another framework called Build
New Bridges, artists from one community find ways to connect artistically with
members of another community. This approach results in collaborative artistic
efforts, often in response to traumatic events.
• In a third approach, arts advocates
take a Find
It – Encourage It stance, learning to
know local artists and their arts in ways that spur these artists to create in
the forms they know best.
The advocate enters local creative
processes,helping give birth to new creations that flow organically from the
community. This approach usually requires longer-term relationships with people,
and above all, a commitment to learn.
Ethnodoxology flows from Find It –
Encourage It. Though the approach is not new – Patrick and other missionaries to
the Celts engaged with local arts in the 5th century – ethnodoxology has taken
its current form in response to relatively recent academic and missiological
influences.
Ethnodoxology process
RPH: What is the basic process for
doing ethnodoxology
in a community?
BES: This approach typically includes
five steps:
1. Learn to know a community and its
arts.
2. Identify ways particular artistic
genres can meet particular community kingdom goals.
3. Spark creativity in these genres by
local practitioners.
4. Encourage community members to
improve the new creations.
5. Integrate and celebrate the new
works and plan for continuing creativity.
In summary, our job is getting to know
people and encouraging them to create arts in contexts that strengthen and
spread the kingdom in sustainable ways.
RPH: What are the contexts in which an
ethnodoxological approach increases kingdom impact?
BES: We have seen it increase the
effectiveness of church planting efforts, developing healthy multicultural gathered
worship expressions, discipleship and spiritual formation, evangelism and
short-term mission outreach, and helping people respond to injustice and
trauma.
Central Africa case study
RPH: What kind of impact did you see
from this approach where you served in Central Africa?
BES: In the 1940s, a Congolese
evangelist planted the first church among speakers of the Mono language in what
is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He counseled the first Christians to
burn their musical instruments and learn to sing Euro-American hymns translated
into a trade language – Lingala. When my family and I moved to their community
to help translate the Bible into Mono in the early 1990s, we found a church that,
while it was active, worshipped through foreign arts and language and had a
mixed moral reputation.
With the church leaders, I explored
possibilities of integrating older song styles into the lives of Christians, and
they eventually decided to form Chorales Ayo, or Love Choirs. These groups
composed songs based on Scripture, with lyrics in the Mono language, and in a traditional
song style using a local harp. After years of difficulty (including civil war),
these groups have spread and are now thriving in many Mono villages. In 2012, Mono
pastor Gaspard Yalemoto reported this:
In the past, Mono traditional instruments
were only used to worship the gods of our ancestors.
However, in 1992, Brian moved to my
village and started learning to play traditional Mono songs on the kundi – a
local harp. Eventually a small group joined him and began composing Scripture-based
songs. Today, in all of the Mono churches, we see a radical change in how
Christians live, because God’s message communicated through kundi songs
directly touches their hearts. Many declare by their actions that the Spirit
has used this to bring them back to the foot of the cross of JesusChrist.
Implications
RPH: If we, the church, adopt the kind
of approach you used in DRC, what do you think will happen?
BES: If ethnodoxology becomes the
primary approach to growth in mission and worship:
• Minority artists and their arts will
be well integrated into their community’s church life.
• The church will become an engine for
revitalization of minority arts and their communities, rather than a frequent contributor
to their demise.
• Sharing of artistic resources in the
church will move both from minority to majority cultures and vice versa.
• More artistic forms will be
represented around God’s throne (Rev 7:9-12) and in his city (Rev 21:22-27).
RPH: What if we do not integrate this
approach?
BES: If ethnodoxology sputters and
dies:
• Protestant and evangelical worship
will become more and more like pre-Vatican II Catholicism: essentially uniform
expressions of corporate and individual worship. This increases a sense of
unity in the worldwide church while diminishing its reflection of God’s
creativity.
• Most artists in minority and older
traditions will remain outside the church, continuing what seems to be an
inevitable slide to disappearance. This slide is caused by globalization, urbanization,
some misguided missionary activity, and other factors that strengthen majority
arts and smother those from minority communities.
Suggested responses
RPH: That future sounds bleak!
However, there are a growing number of resources to help integrate ethnodoxology
into churches and organizations. How can people best connect to those
resources?
BES: Yes, some great tools have been
developed in the last ten years. For example, you can:
• Join ICE, the hub of
ethnnodoxology’s growing network of practitioners, drawing from and contributing
to the knowledge it produces.
• Encourage or require potential arts
advocates to become certified by ICE. You can trust this well-designed
certification process to guide and motivate people to gain competencies necessary
for arts-in-missions work.
• Attend a one-week Arts for a Better
Future (ABF) seminar to catalyze your strategic plan to integrate an
ethnodoxological approach into your organization’s activities.
• Read Worship and Mission for the
Global Church: An Ethnodoxology Handbook Creating Local Arts Together: A Manual
to Help Communities Reach Their Kingdom Goals (www.ethnodoxologyhandbook.com)
and then integrate the book’s content into your training programs.
Recruit arts specialists for your
organization, sending them for training to the Graduate Institute of Applied
Linguistics (Dallas), Payap University (Thailand), Fuller Seminary, Liberty University,
or other educational institutions.
• Send people to the triennial Global Consultation
on Music and Missions (GCoMM).
RPH: How would you summarize your
evaluation of and vision for the church in relation to the arts?
BES: The reality I see today is that
people communicate in almost 7,000 languages around the world, not just by
spoken words, but through artistically rendered song, drama, dance, and story.
These communities have non-existent or imperfect relationships with God, and struggle
with violence, disease, social upheaval, anger, sexual promiscuity, anxiety,
and fear – as do our own societies.
God gave every culture unique gifts of
artistic communication to tell truth and bring healing, hope, and joy in
response to these problems. However, too many of these gifts lie dormant, misused,
or dying. If we can help our brothers and sisters – and ourselves – breathe new,
redeemed life into these artistic traditions, all cultures will eventually use
all of their gifts to worship, obey, and enjoy God with all of their heart,
soul, mind, and strength. It will not happen completely on this earth, but we
can join God in working toward the next
-------
Brian Schrag is SIL International’s
Ethno-musicology and Arts Coordinator and developed the World Arts program at
the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics in Dallas, Texas. He has served
as a Bible translator and ethnomusicologist in the Democratic Republic of Congo
and Cameroon, and holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology (UCLA).
-------
Robin Harris, PhD, is President of the
International Council of Ethnodoxologists and Coordinator of the MA in World
Arts at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics in Dallas, Texas. She has
served for decades in cross-cultural contexts, including ten years in Russia.
-------
The Lausanne Movement
1-4-10 Taiko, Nakamura-ku
Nagoya, Aichi 470-0801, Japan
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment