Apologetic Mission in Asian Context

The Mission Training School started this Monday, and it is keeping me busy for a while. I am also working on the our library which in my opinion has good books in it courteousy of our Chin Pastor who studied at Myanmar Institute of Christian Theology. I would say his collection maybe small, but there are impressive titles in it. I also added some of the books given to me by a friend who moved out from here 4 years ago mostly books on pastoral care and counseling and very old, may I add.

As I was trying to record the books and catalog them, I noticed the initial issue of journal on missions and evangelism with a title Missio Dei published by Myanmar Institute of Theology. There are lots of good articles on it, and I may post some of it here.

One of the papers is written by Augurlion. He is a lecturer of Church History at Myanmar Institute of Theology. With the coming of many missionary agencies trying to win people to Christianity here in the Mekong Region, and I would say up to this point the missionary movements have not been very successful, his article makes us think to go back to the old method of evangelism and that is what he called Apologetic Mission.

I will post his paper here little by little, because people have a tendency to skip long post. So in the next days, I will be posting from this journal hoping to get some reactions and conversations. Here is the first part:

A number of mission strategies and mission models have developed in the course of Christian history as Christianity encounters the changing contexts of the world. However, no matter whatever strategy is used the objective is to win converts or to Christianize. This objective comes from the understanding that evangelism is to make converts for Christianity. Evangelism or Christianization was successful in the West, especially, before the rise of secularism. However, its success was and is very limited in . Moreover, Christianity has faced with the counter-acts of the non-Christians in . There are theological and moral attacks on Christianity from other religions. Therefore, in such a pluralistic , Christianity should think of its mission in defensive terms rather than aggressive terms.

One of the traditional aspects of Christian mission is "proclamation" or "to make known". In fact, it was an important task of the Church in pre-modern period because in that period the names, "Jesus" and "Christianity," were foreign to many parts of the world. But they are no longer foreign to the world in post­modern period. Also in post-modern , Christianity and Jesus are no longer the new names to be proclaimed. Most Asian people have become familiar with what Christianity is. The problem for Christianity in Asia today is not "it is the unknown," but "it is misconceived or attacked." Therefore, there are more for the Asian churches to defend than to claim or conquer. To response to this challenge Apologetic mission may be a suitable model of the churches in Asia.

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[1] ' The word "Evangelism" is misleading. It was and is often identified as the verbal proclamation of the gospej. But it is also defined as consisting of both preaching and social action. See John R. W. Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World (Illinois, Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1975), 15-28, for the definition of "Evangelism" and its relationship to social action.

Barefoot and homeless

I'm really amazed on how God put people together to work for his kingdom. I was looking at the mixed of people worshiping together in our church this morning and although we have different colors, speak different languages, radically different cultures and some times have different views and interpretation of some particular passages of the Bible we know that we are one in Christ. We believe the same thing about Jesus Christ and that's what is important.

The followers of Christ can have different views and convictions about some of the issues that confront us today, even while they participate together in sincere Bible study and devoted worship. With sincerity and devotion we are called to place our views and convictions under the light of the compassionate God who embraces the world. In theology and in ministry, we must become "barefoot" and "homeless". Kosuke Koyama

Water Buffalo Theology

On my way to the country church, I never fail to see a herd of water buffaloes gazing in the muddy field. This sight is an inspiring moment for me. Why? Because it reminds me that the people to whom I am to bring the gospel of Christ spend most of their time with these water buffaloes in the rice field. The water buffaloes tell me that I must preach to these farmers in the simplest of sentence structure and thought development. They remind me to discard all the abstract ideas and to use exclusively objects that are immediately tangible. "Sticky rice," "banana," "pepper," "dog," "cat," "bicycle," "rainy season," "leaking house," "fishing," "cockfighting," "lottery," "stomach ache,"--these are meaningful words for them. This morning I say to myself, "I will try to bring the gospel of Christ through the medium of cockfighting!"

Kosuke Koyama, Water Buffalo Theology

It was Aung San Suu Kyi' birthday too

My wife found out out that the 19th of June was also the birthday of Aung Suu Kyi and proudly told me that I share my birthday with too many famous and great people. Although I know little about her before, working with people who come from Myanmar afford me to hear stories about her sometime.

Aung Suu Kyi is Burma's nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma), and a noted prisoner of conscience. A Buddhist, Suu Kyi won the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and in 1991 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship.

In 1990, the military junta called a general election, which the National League for Democracy won decisively. Under normal circumstances, she would have assumed the office of Prime Minister. Instead, the results were nullified, and the military refused to hand over power. This resulted in an international outcry and partly led to Aung San Suu Kyi's winning the Sakharov Prize that year and the Nobel Peace Prize the following year in 1991. Her sons Alexander and Kim accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. Aung San Suu Kyi used the Nobel Peace Prize's 1.3 million USD prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people.

Aung San Suu Kyi spent her 62nd birthday under house arrest o­n Tuesday while her supporters marked the event at her National League for Democracy’s headquarters in Rangoon.

According to Myint Thein, a spokesman for NLD, about 100 people—most likely from the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association and the “Swan Arr Shin,” a paramilitary group—were gathered outside NLD’s headquarters when Suu Kyi’s birthday was celebrated.Wikipedia and Irrawaddy News Magazine

Yesterday was my birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. We didn't do something special to celebrate but work. My wife worked at the Day Care Center until late at night and I had to sit with her until the work was over. I had been preparing my lectures for next week class. I think it is a good idea to have some kind of PowerPoint presentation. I will be teaching in English and somebody will interpret for me in Burmese. I don't really like using PowerPoint but there were times that it is extremely helpful. And a lecture that needs to be translated is one of those cases.

Over at Levellers, Michael share some information about two great men who share their birthday with me.

19 June 1623 was the birthday of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the French mathematician, physicist, and Christian philosopher. Pascal was an apologist for Christianity to the skeptical French “philosophes.

19 June 1834 was the birthday of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), the most famous British preacher of the 19th C. and one of the greatest Baptist preachers of all time.

Another great man who share the same birthday was Jose Rizal. He is the national hero of the Philippines and pride of the Malayan race, was born on June 19, 1861, in the town of Calamba, Laguna. He was the seventh child in a family of 11 children (2 boys and 9 girls). Both his parents were educated and belonged to distinguished families. He was a Catholic but many historians believe that he had some kind of conversion experience.

The changed could have been the result of contemporary contact, companionship, observation, research and the possession of an independent spirit.Being a critical observer, a profound thinker and a zealous reformer, Rizal did not agree with the prevailing Christian propagation of the Faith by fire and sword. This is shown in his Annotation of Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.

Rizal did not believe in the Catholic dogma that salvation was only for Catholics and that outside Christianity, salvation was not possible even if Catholics composed only a small minority of the world’s religious groups. Nor did he believe in the Catholic observation of fasting as a sacrifice, nor in the sale of such religious items as the cross, medals, rosaries and the like in order to propagate the Faith and raise church funds. He also lambasted the superstitious beliefs propagated by the priests in the church and in the schools. All of these and a lot more are evidences of Rizal’s religious philosophy. In one of his letters about the church, he said that:

Priests offer themselves as our so-called "spiritual fathers" as if the spirit or soul had any father other than God. You know that the will of God is different from that of the priest; that religiousness does not consist of long periods spent on your knees , nor in endless prayers, big rosaries, and grimy scapulars, but in a spotless conduct, firm intentions and upright judgment.

Saintliness does not consist in abjectness, nor is the successor of Christ to be recognized by the fact that he gives his hand to be kissed. Christ did not give the kiss of peace to the Pharisees and never gave His hand to be kissed. He did not cater to the rich and vain; He did not mention scapulars, nor did he make rosaries, or solicit offerings for the sacrifice of the mass or exact payments for his prayers.

Saint John did not demand a fee on the River Jordan, nor did Christ teached for gain. Why, then, do the priests now refuse to stir a foot unless paid in advance? And, as if they were starving, they sell scapulars, rosaries, belts, and other things which are nothing but schemes for making money and a detriment to the soul; because even if all the rags on earth were converted into scapulars and all the trees in the forest into rosaries, and if the skins of all the beasts were made into belts, and if all the priests of the earth mumbled prayers over all this and sprinkled oceans of holy water over it, this would not purify a rogue or condone sin where there is no repentance.

Ignorance has ever been ignorance, and never prudence and honor. God, the primal source of all wisdom, does not demand that man, created in his image and likeness, allow himself to be deceived and hoodwinked , but wants us to use and let shine the light of reason with which he has so mercifully endowed us. He may be compared to the father who gave each of his sons a torch to light their way in the darkness, bidding them keep its light bright and take care of it, and not put it out and trust to the light of the others, but to help and advice each other to find the right path. They would be madmen were they to follow the light of another, only to come to a fall and the father could scold them severely and say to them : "Did I not give each of you his own torch?"; but he could not answer if the fall were due to the light of the torch of him that fell, as the light might have been dim and the road very bad.

Prudence does not consist in blindly obeying any whim of the little tin god, but in obeying only that which is reasonable and just, because blind obedience is itself the cause and origin of those whims, and those guilty of it are really to be blamed. The priest can no longer assert that they alone are responsible for their unjust orders, because God gave each individual reason and a will of his or her own to distinguish the just from the unjust.

Arminian vs. Calvinist

From ChurchLaughs.Com

Scholar of the Scriptures

"The church seem always to be swinging between extremes: 1) to use the sword and power, or 2) to accommodate the message to culture and deny Christ's divinity. This why theological education is important. We need to be good scholars of scripture and listen to the Holy Spirit interprent scripture through the ages. Whe Jesus sent out his disciples, we are reminded that He breathed on them the Holy Spirit! (John 20:22) Not new methods, but a new indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what is bringnig men and women to Christ worldwide."

Denton Lotz, General Secretary of Baptist World Alliance

Ten Commandments for Dynamic Teaching

I'll be teaching Bible in the next two weeks and I have to admit that this task is hard to do. I'll be teaching church leaders from different tribes and what makes it difficult is the language barrier. Here I want to share with you an interesting article from my sister about teaching. The first 3 relate to the teacher, the next 3 relates to the teaching process and the last 4 focus on the learner’s response.

1. Power of the Spirit—thou shalt depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish spiritual goals (1 Cor. 2:10-15).

The biblical understanding of teaching and learning process, it is the Holy Spirit who teaches, indwells, enlightens, and empowers both the teacher and the student. He is the teacher (Jn. 14:26). He does not only guide the student into all the truth, He is the truth (Jn. 16:13; 14:17). The help of the human instrument and the structure of situations may be designed so that there may be a time to study but the Spirit alone affects the learning. The Spirit helps the learners reassess and change their understandings, attitudes, values, and motives. To appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit, one needs to have (1) a prayerful preparation—for understanding the Bible and for sensitivity to the learner’s needs; (2) prayerful presentation—for effective use of methods; (3) prayerful follow-up—for achieving lasting results in the pupil’s lives.

2. Example of the Teacher—thou shalt be what you expect your pupils to become (1 Tim 4:12)

there are two indispensable things that an effective teacher counts on: (1) the power of the Holy Spirit and (2) the proof of the holy life. The teacher needs to know and embody the truth.Know the truth. Dedicated incompetence is still incompetence. The teacher needs to know the truth in its biblical framework, seeing God as the source of all truth (Co; 2:3).

As a teacher he will have as his goal the experiential knowledge of Christ in whom all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom dwells (Col 2:3), the one in whom all things consists (Col1:17) and the one who is the truth (Jn 14:6). The teacher will further appreciate the limitless scope of the subject matter. He will be inspired by the magnitude of his task—that is the unveiling of the glory of God in every phase of the curriculum.

Embody the truth. The most compelling method is the embodiment of the truth—living a life of Christlikeness. The quality of teaching is not only the impartation of information but the impartation of one’s life as well as what one believes. The ideal teacher is described by Lawrence as whole mind into his preparation, whole soul in his presentation, and whole life into his illustration.

3. Relationship of Love— thou shalt demonstrate Christian love for your pupils (1 John 3:23).

The Spirit is the enabler for the teacher to embody the truth, He is also the one who engenders Christian love (Gal 5:22). Building a loving relationship with the student is time consuming—and sometimes costly. But be reminded that our Master teacher never gave anyone money. He rarely gave them food. He gave them love and service. He gave the greatest gift of all. He gave himself (Jn 4:4). Love brings life to a dead doctrine. By this all men will know that you are my children if you love one another (Jn. 13:35).

4. Methods that Involve—thou shalt select appropriate methods to get the attention and hold interest (Jn 4:7)
It was said that one can know the good teacher from a novice teacher in just two minutes. The new teacher looks at the notes, and the proficient teacher looks at his class. A dynamic introduction gains interest and suggests, “let’s not get bored today!” Methods are employed to catch attention and hold interest. Involvement brings fullest result to any teaching-learning experience. Teachers need to develop the skill of creativity as a teaching tool.

5. Communication with clarity—thou shalt choose words and concepts that are clearly understood (1 Cor 2:4, 14:9)..

Good communication begins in the mind of a teacher. Sort out precise messages and determine how to project such thought into the mindstream of the students. Graendorf summarizes some guidelines to expedite communication: (1) Step down the high voltage of thought so that it can be grasped and appreciated by the students (Jn 6). (2) Avoid technical words if common ones can carry the message. (3) Clarify simple words when there is danger of misunderstanding (Jn 21:15-17). (4) Use multi-sensory approach if it will expedite learning. Use visuals.

6. Pattern of Appreciation—thou shalt move from the known to the unknown by easy, simple, natural steps (Jn 4:7-29; Heb 5:12).

One of J. Herbart’s greatest contributions to education is Apperception. It is the idea of connecting new ideas with the old. John emphasizes the need to adapt teaching to the pupils’ developing maturity (1 John 2:12-14). Paul adapts new truths to former concepts, shown in the way he uses figures of speech and illustrations. Jesus employed the same principles in his parables, illustrations, and visual aids. Teachers are being encouraged to present lessons small enough for students to follow. Do not give too much information too fast.

7. Joy of Discovery—thou shalt stimulate discovery, not mere listening (Ps 34:8).

Gregory once said, “Knowledge cannot be passed on from mind to mind as apples are from one basket to another, but must in every case be recognized and rethought by the receiving mind.” Education is about finding the truth, first by the teacher and then by the student with the guidance of the teacher. It is the teacher who opens the gate for learning and understanding. It is a dynamic situation wherein the teacher may ask a question which lights a fuse.

Discovery learning needs preparation. The teacher needs to: (1) focus on the learner’s need; (2) identify the relation of the study to the felt need; (3) select methods that will involve the students in participation, evaluation and application.

On the other hand, the learner needs to: (1) identify the relation of the study to his need; (2) study the Bible to find solutions, and observe how the Bible appeals to his personal interests, problems, and needs. But the teacher continues to guide. This kind of learning gives the satisfaction describable as “the joy of discovery.”

8. Appeal to the Heart—thou shalt elicit emotional response by the pupil (Rom 10:10).

The teacher needs to be aware that after the students have already recognized and interpreted the truth in their mind, a deeper response must be expected. Depth is experienced in what is called, “belief in the heart” (Rom 10:9; Eph 1:18).

The common mistake a teacher often commits is to believe that the learners know exactly what to do. On the contrary, learners do exactly what they want to do. It is the teacher’s role to make use methods that will appeal to students and make them respond positively to the lesson. The balance approach to touching the mind, the heart, and the will must be taken into consideration.

Many teachers are uncomfortable to bring down the lesson to the heart level of the student. Unknowingly, the heart is usually the driving force for the human will to respond. Jesus as the Master teacher used stories to elicit a response on the emotional level. He used parables to elicit response from the hearers (Matt. 13:34).

9. Response of the Will—thou shalt give sample opportunity for volitional response (Jn 17:17).

Truth when learned properly produces result. Evidently, an effective learning experience touches the mind, the heart, and the will. The student finds a need to act. It is the role of the teacher to provide the suitable stimuli in order to elicit the expected positive response. Ideally, the response may include the learner’s entire personality. It is advisable to provide ample time for the student to respond to an appeal to the heart. Make sure that at the end of each lesson, the teacher has left room for the Holy Spirit to work—and to allow the student to express such change in conviction.

10. Living Demonstrators—thou shalt help the pupil to embody the lesson in everyday living (James 1:22-25).

The teacher in general should be able to let the leather-bound Bible to be transported into shoe leather relating Bible facts to human acts. Impressions need to be consummated into expressions.

Life needs to reflect the truth that has been acquired. Learning is completed as the objective truth becomes the subjective experience of the learner.

The teacher’s skill is not only measure on the facts imparted but more on the character formed in the students. Developing a person is the aim. That development is to desire for each of the learners becomes a true disciple, follower of Christ, acknowledging His lordship, and conforming in his image.

The Bible teacher reaches for such an ambitious goal, however, one needs to acknowledge the facts, that, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5), and just like the claim of Paul, “I can do all things through Him” (Phil 4:13.