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Theodore Roosevelt's religious convictions were shaped by 19th-century mainline Protestantism with a strong evangelical bent, and he applauded missionary work as a civilizing and stabilizing good. He believed a universal morality governs both the private and public spheres, and that in a democracy private faith should express itself publicly in willingness to work with all principled people who seek the common good. Religious affiliation was a matter of conscience not of politics. True to this vision, Roosevelt supported the work of diverse mission boards, intervened in a missionary hostage crisis, and insisted that a Mormon was eligible for elected office. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

North American theological education institutions are increasingly aware of the challenges and opportunities posed by globalization, and many have welcomed more international students, expanded missiology course offerings, and encouraged cross-cultural encounters. A more intentional relationship between international religious voluntary organizations and theological educational institutions is needed in three areas: mapping Christian traditions of international service, promoting further partnerships, and facilitating assessment. Historically black colleges, universities, and theological seminaries are among the most effective educational institutions perpetuating volunteerism. As students encounter individuals of different race, faith, and socioeconomic status, their theological education should equip them with methodologies that deepen their understanding of cultural diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Three common perspectives regarding the role of religion in humanitarianism have led to the segregation, ignorance, or instrumentalization of religion. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) play a significant role in international development. These organizations' religious identities are not merely labels; international development stakeholders should ask how an organization is religious. This article explores the history of one influential faith-based relief and development agency, World Vision, illustrating how its religious identity is adapted, contested, and asserted through organizational structures and development activities. Rather than simply adjusting its religious identity to fit secular development, World Vision conceives its current development practice as a reflection of its Christian witness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of North American congregations have forged long-term partnerships or “twinning” relationships with companion congregations in the global South. This trend represents a changing paradigm in Christian mission, and it reflects the multi-directional nature of global religious flows and the border-crossing dimension of religious communities. Using collective action frames, partnerships are formed as an expression of solidarity and distinguished from colonial approaches to mission. Participants tend to eschew short-term, cross-border evangelistic crusades in favor of holistic and contextualized Christian witness. However, sister church framers also tap into the wider cultural stock of images and values that inform secular cross-cultural interaction for North Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government agencies, multilateral agencies, and secular NGOs execute initiatives as if economic reform, elections, and administrative training alone could fix developing countries' problems. Building social cohesion, social capital, and the capacity for self-governance should be the starting point for any initiative-and few organizations are better equipped to reverse social atomization and catalyze local capacities for self-governance than faith-based organizations. The importance of these groups is especially palpable in the education and health sectors. A new organization is needed to pool the knowledge, experience, and skills of numerous FBOs from different faiths. This organization could help change how development is perceived and approached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christians seeking a wiser witness, especially in Muslim-majority societies, should have a firm understanding of their own mission tradition, as well as that of Islam. A comparative study of the Qur'an and the Bible not only prompts deeper understanding; it demonstrates a deep respect for the other's traditions and beliefs. Grasping the challenges—and missteps—of mission's history also engenders respect and displays wise humility. In this context, Christians and Muslims should be able to agree onguidelines that reflect the best of both traditions and the desire for peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a variety of factors that affect the persecution of Christians in societies where they are in the minority. Christians should recognize that the methods they use to communicate the gospel can dramatically affect their majority neighbors' response both to the message and the messengers. Witness through counterculture is a popular method, and many souls have come to faith through countercultural ministries. The limited engagement which these Christians have with society at large, however, makes them subject to suspicion and misinterpretation. Alternatively, Christian witness through engagement emphasizes transparency, integrity, patience, sensitivity, relationship, and a Christian concern for the whole person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the Western emphasis on individualism, we can urge missions toward greater cultural sensitivity in non-Western, high-group societies. The models of contextual conversion suggested here have as their goal authentic allegiance to Jesus Christ that transforms but does not up-root the social identity of the convert. One model is the “insider movement” that has begun among many Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists. A second model proposes that people from high group societies will be able to associate with the institutional church. This model requires careful and patient communication of allegiance to Christ while demonstrating an understanding of the convert's obligations to the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christians trying to obey the Great Commission need to consider anew the “3 Ms”—message, motivation, and methodology. Misguided efforts in international proselytism will at best be ineffective and unsustainable, and at worst counterproductive. A Christian message that is not kingdom focused isn't the full Christian message. Our motivation should reflect our faithfulness, our joyful response to our own conversion, and the first rule of any global engagement: do no harm. Finally, there is an urgent need for sophisticated methodologies that ensure the message endures yet minimize unnecessary persecution. God wants us to follow him in his incarnational, holistic ministry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the reality of “globalization” dawned, Christian churches adopted various modes of evangelization: conversion, witness, solidarity, and dialogue. The co-existence of these modes within various denominations and organizations (both Protestant and Catholic) fosters tension and conflict. For the majority of lay American Catholics, their warm reception of Dignitatis Humanae and of the spirit of Vatican II led to a generalized and somewhat uncritical acceptance of religious pluralism—accompanied by a withdrawal from the “hard conversion” model of the pre-conciliar era. In the next phase of the human rights era, religious leaders should identify and enlarge the common ground they share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christianity no longer flows unilaterally, from “Christendom” to “heathendom”; instead, its flows are increasingly complex. Understanding Islam and Christianity in the global context helps us assess the likely effects, whether negative or positive, of the current wave of missionaries from the Global South. In general the rising tide of these missionaries is not a catalyst for global religious conflagration, as some analysts might think. Like the early Christians, Southern missionaries rely essentially on spiritual power instead of material or intellectual superiority. If they can ally this spiritual power with wisdom and humility, then the future of Christian missions will be bright. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most difficult concepts pertaining to religious freedom is proselytism. Because globalization causes more interaction between religious groups, religious beliefs must now compete in the open marketplace of ideas. Increased religious competition often causes resentment and ecumenism gives way to religious balkanization and conflict. The state struggles to balance one community's right to exercise and expand its faith against another's right to be left alone to its own traditions. While inter-religious dialogue is the often-cited remedy, it must be paired with guidelines of prudence and restraint on the part of the proselytizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trends in evangelical culture can be seen through a case study of evangelical laypersons and missionaries from the Pacific Northwest. While the outward dimension of mission work has changed, including more emphasis on cultural assimilation and a liberalizing view of the role of women, the core object of evangelicals' missions—conversion—remains intact. There are four layers of evangelical missionary belief structures: personal relationship with Jesus Christ, personal morality, economic and political positions, and customs and lifestyles. American evangelical missionaries tend tolaunch a strong moral critique of a society, but a more limited socio-political critique, and often conflate religion with nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although missionaries are popularly associated with colonialism and blamed for antagonizing indigenous cultures, religious freedom and missionary activity have historically been synergistic. In addition, the effects of missionaries from the past twocenturies are still measurable in education, lower infant mortality, democracy, abolition of slavery, and social reform. Competition from diverse organizations that sprang up under conditions of religious freedom led to other positive social and legal developments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many Russians agree with Russian nationalist Nikolai Trofimchuk's view that Christianity is just another tool of American colonization. Unfortunately for Christian missionaries, the claim is not completely unfounded. Many American missionaries have been exporting American values to Russia at the expense of biblical truth. They insist on speaking English over Russian and try to import American church and worships models rather than utilize Russian traditions. The Russian government feels threatened by the perceived imposition of Americanism. The result has been a limitation on the freedoms of all Christians in Russia, particularly indigenous Russian Protestants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author traveled to Nigeria as an Operation Crossroads Africa (OCA) volunteer in 1971, and later served as a group leader and OCA's Director of Development. His OCA experiences prompted him toward a lifetime calling of global service centered on the African Diaspora, and he worked with the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church to establish partnerships between Africans and Americans. After graduating from Harvard Business School, he recognized the significant intersections between his love for Africa and the development of his pastoral ministry and accepted a call to preach. His church in Maryland has undertaken numerous mission trips and relief and development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author traveled to the Congo with Operation Crossroads Africa (OCA) at the age of 20. His team's project—the construction of a dispensary—was really a means to an end; the work brought the team members closer to their Congolese counterparts. This bridge-building lesson guided the author throughout his ministry with the Episcopal Church, and he returned many times to Africa in various capacities. Dr. James H. Robinson's example inspired him to build bridges as a missionary in Honduras, as a social worker in New York City, and as a pastor of a diverse congregation in Pittsburgh. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Religious freedom is becoming a universal aspiration, but the concept may mean different things in different countries. Therefore, religious freedom implementation methods and proselytizing methods need to be contextually specific. The principle of individual religious freedom is in tension with the right of indigenous people to protect their culture from external pressure. The U.S. can exhibit emergent global denominationalism-a social system where religious groups respect other faiths while defending and promoting their own truth claims. In the long run, the U.S. may accomplish more through an exemplary society than through religious freedom foreign policy measures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author's father, an African-American, fostered an awareness of Africa in church and in the family's daily life. Early experiences of hospitality toward Liberian and Nigerian friends instilled a sense of Christian mission and a love for Africa. The author traveled to Sudan with Operation Crossroads (OCA) in 1983, after graduating from Yale Divinity School, and she learned valuable lessons about interfaith respect, cross-cultural cooperation, and the importance of those attributes to authentic Christian mission and witness. She served again with OCA twice, in Lesotho. Her OCA experiences gave her a foundational framework for effective community organizing and leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A review of: David A. Livermore, Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-term Missions with Cultural Intelligence (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006). 188 pp. $12.99. Livermore's book seeks to correct the popular idea that missions is not so much a life-long calling but a one-week adventure. Indigenous people are likely to see short-termers with this perception as self-indulgent adventure-seekers who disregard local cultural mores. Livermore writes that Christians who share their faith cross-culturally must have a basic level of cultural intelligence that involves knowledge of social rules, interpretation of behavior, perseverance, and adaptation to the culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persecution of Christians is on the rise globally, even as mission efforts develop complex patterns of sending and receiving, with missionaries going from former colonies to distant continents. The spring 2009 issue of The Review of Faith & International Affairs presents select papers from a co-sponsored conference series on the dynamics of evangelism and religious persecution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inaugural issue of this journal lamented the foreign policy establishment's neglect of religion. Three years on, has anything changed? While a cottage industry of religion-and-world-affairs conferences, publications, hearings, media coverage, and foundation grants is emerging, significant problems and blind spots persist. Amongthese is the tendency to ignore or underestimate the connections (especially the positive ones) between religion and realpolitik. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]