Western Christians in Global Mission

Christianity Today Book Award of Merit Winner

Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year

The world has changed.

A century ago, Christianity was still primarily centered in North America and Europe. By the dawn of the twenty-first century, Christianity had become a truly global faith, with Christians in Asia, Africa and Latin America outpacing those in the rest of the world. There are now more Christians in China than in all of Europe, more Pentecostals in Brazil than in the United States, and more Anglicans in Kenya than in Great Britain, Canada and the United States combined. Countries that were once destinations for western missionaries are now sending their own missionaries to North America.

Given these changes, some think the day of the Western missionary is over. Some are wary that American mission efforts may perpetuate an imperialistic colonialism. Some say that global outreach is best left to indigenous leaders. Others simply feel that resources should be focused on the home front. Is there an ongoing role for the North American church in global mission?

Missions specialist Paul Borthwick brings an urgent report on how the Western church can best continue in global mission. He provides a current analysis of the state of the world and how Majority World leaders perceive North American Christians' place. Borthwick offers concrete advice for how Western Christians can be involved without being paternalistic or creating dependency. Using their human and material resources with wise and strategic stewardship, North Americans can join forces with the Majority World in new, interdependent ways to answer God?s call to global involvement.

In this critical age, the global body of Christ needs one another more than ever. Discover how the Western church can contribute to a new era of mission marked by mutuality, reciprocity and humility.



Femi B. Adeleye (M.Th., University of Edinburgh) is a Christian minister and ordained priest in the Anglican communion. He is associate general secretary for partnership and collaboration for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). He previously served as regional secretary for the IFES movement in English-speaking Africa. Adeleye has also been a featured speaker at the Urbana Student Missions Conference and spoke at the Cape Town 2010 Lausanne Congress. He is the author of Preachers of a Different Gospel (Zondervan, 2011). He is currently pursuing a doctorate in African Christian history from the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology in Ghana.



Paul Borthwick (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is senior consultant for Development Associates International and teaches global Christianity at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. Through his speaking, writing and resource ministry, Borthwick works to mobilize others to participate in world missions. Borthwick is an active speaker and teacher, having taught courses at Gordon College, Africa International University (Nairobi), Alliance Theological Seminary (Manila) and Lanka Bible College (Sri Lanka), plus a guest faculty position at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Previously he served for more than twenty years on the staff of Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts, first as youth pastor and then as minister of missions. Borthwick is the author of Western Christians in Global Missions, How to Be a World-Class Christian, Six Dangerous Questions to Transform Your View of the World, A Mind for Missions, and other books and Bible studies. He and his wife Christie have been married since 1979 and they live in Lexington, Massachusetts, when not traveling internationally.

Preface: An Invitation to a Journey


Introduction: Questions for the Journey
Part 1: Where Are We Now?


1. The State of the World


2. An Appraisal of the North American Church


3. An Appraisal of the Majority World Church
Part 2: Moving Forward


4. Biblical Continuity


5. Posture of Humility


6. Purposeful Reciprocity


7. Sacrifice--Not Just Generosity


8. Partnership Equality


9. Listening to Our Non-Western Brothers and Sisters


10. United Together--So That the World Might Know


Conclusion: Responding to the Invitation


Bibliography


Appendix: Letters to the North American Church

"Written in popular style, this book deserves a wide reading in the North American context. Majority World readers should also find it instructive. Relevant roles still remain for North Americans, but new attitudes and strategies will be required. Western Christians in Global Mission offers intentional strategies to the humble so that a new era of missions can be discovered and learned together with genuine partners from the Majority World."



"Borthwick's insights and recommendations, the product of decades of extensive world travel, research, teaching and strong relationships with leaders in the Global Church, make this book a valuable resource for anyone involved in long or short term cross-cultural missions, and for those who are calling them out and preparing them to go."



"This book provides practical ideas on how the Western church can best continue in global mission—without being paternalistic or creating dependency—by using its human and material resources with strategic wisdom marked by a posture of humility, purposeful reciprocity and partnership equality."



"Borthwick introduces Western readers (especially Americans!) to what they need to know to engage the diversity of global Christian faith. Offering both critique and encouragement, he reminds us of how Americans perceive themselves and how they are perceived by sisters and brothers around the world. It's a solid dose of humility to offset our pride at being so-called world leaders."



"Professors and students of missions will find this a supportive companion to other readings. He remains frank, yet humble, and positive from start to finish. The wider this book circulates in schools, churches and mission agencies, the better for the advancement of the good news in this country."



"Paul Borthwick has done it again! The prolific writer, motivator, educator and mentor this time acts as a well-informed, reliable and creative global missions tour guide. He takes us on a journey which compels us to rethinking as well as reengagement. I am glad that after a global missionary pilgrimage he takes us back to his home base, for I have a deep conviction that the U.S. is still God's most forward nation. Borthwick's biblical passion, personal touch and global experience make him a competent interpreter and builder of bridges between what God is doing in America and the rest of the world. Read, reorient and act!"



"Today's huge changes in the world and the church are bewildering to navigate. How can we be part of what God has called all believers to be and do--his witnesses in a hurting and needy world? Paul Borthwick's analysis of the global church comes from his friendships with many in the Majority World. Writing as a reflective practitioner, Paul helps Western Christians face critical issues of attitude, heart and strategy with grace, courage, crosscultural sensitivity and a learner's heart. This book presents a strong, clear invitation to missional living. It will help you align yourself and your church with what God is doing in his world today."



"For decades Paul Borthwick has persevered in his call to travel the world and teach the way the best teaching is done: to small groups of leaders who have become his friends. This has given him an excellent opportunity to sense the pulse of the life of Christians in the Majority World. Now he has used this knowledge, and augmented it with wide reading, to address his own people in what may be the most important book he has written."



"Why do I think this is one of the best and most helpful books on the global realities of world mission that I have read? It can't be only because so many of the people from all over the world whom Paul Borthwick quotes or tells stories about are known to me--though they are, and they are wise and trusted sources. It can't be only because the book embodies a comprehensive, biblical and integrated understanding of what mission includes (the chapter on the 'Nine Greats' is worth the price of the book). It won my applause because it has such a pleasing balance of, on the one hand, rich, up-to-date, well-documented and user-friendly information, and on the other hand perceptive honesty and realism about the strengths and the failings of the churches in North America and in the Majority World. The author also models in his personal journey the humility and servanthood that he urges on all of us. And finally, it is a book that is not merely inspirational, but constantly practical and brimming with ideas and responses that should stimulate churches, agencies and individuals."



"Western Christians in Global Mission combines up-to-date analysis of what God is doing worldwide with passionate commitment to obeying and fulfilling the Great Commission. Here is a textbook for students, a guidebook for missions leaders, a study book for small groups and a challenge book for every Christian." weniger anzeigen expand_less