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Front cover (above):

The Nestorian Monument in China and a rubbing of its top that shows the cross rising out of the lotus flower. Shown is frequent IBMR contributor Dr. Jean-Paul Wiest, director of the Jesuit Beijing Center, Beijing, China, who provided both photographs.

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International Bulletin of
Missionary Research

APRIL 2008 [32:2]

Asian Light, Asian Fruit

On Page 57 / Jonathan J. Bonk

The Nestorian Monument, featured below with frequent contributor Jean-Paul Wiest standing in the foreground to provide some sense of the replica’s scale, is one of the most recognizable symbols of early Christian missionary efforts in Asia. . . . The inscription reads, “Memorial to the Entrance into China of the Religion of the Light from Persia.” According to the epigraph on the tablet below the cross, this monument was erected in 781 during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Most of the articles in this issue explore aspects of Christianity’s long, if sometimes tenuous, link to Asia. The articles show that, although for several centuries Christian missions were sometimes deeply compromised advocates, or at least beneficiaries, of Western military and economic intrusion in that part of the world—which left behind a legacy that will take many more generations to purge—nevertheless the church in Asia not only survived but thrives.
READ THE EDITORIAL

The Protestant Missionary Movement in Korea: Current Growth and Development

59 / Steve Sang-Cheol Moon

The Protestant missionary movement in Korea has recently gone through a period of growing pains and now stands at a crossroad. Careful analysis is needed to determine the direction it should now take. This report is based on the most recent survey, conducted by the Korea Research Institute for Missions (KRIM) between January and August 2007. The survey notes both the increasing elements of globalization of the Korean missionary movement and the developmental issues that must be addressed for qualitative growth.

At the Turn of the Century: A Study of the China Centenary Missionary Conference of 1907

65 / Kevin Xiyi Yao

The year 2007 marked the two-hundredth anniversary of Robert Morrison’s arrival in China. A number of events were held in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan to commemorate this historic event. It is worth noting that one hundred years ago Western missionaries in China also marked the day by holding a centenary missionary conference to celebrate the first century of Protestant missionary presence and labor in that ancient land. In the tradition of the great missionary conferences of 1877 and 1890, the China Centenary Missionary Conference (hereafter Centenary Conference) convened in Shanghai from April 25 to May 8, 1907, and was attended by 1,170 missionary delegates, representatives of home boards, and visitors. Among all the attendees, fewer than ten Chinese can be identified.

Christian Literature in Nineteenth-Century China Missions—a Priority? or an Optional Extra?

71 / John Tsz-pang Lai

Following the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Conference, an international committee was appointed to investigate the issue of Christian literature in the missionary enterprise. As a general principle, the printed page was not intended as a substitute for the living voice of missionaries, but Christian literature admittedly possessed some merits that missionaries did not have. According to John H. Ritson, “It can be read and re-read and pondered over; it can reach a vastly greater congregation than is to be found within the walls of the sanctuary; it can accompany the hospital patient to his home, and penetrate the most secluded harem and zenana; it can travel forth as the pioneer where the climate is deadly, and the population is sparse and conditions are unfriendly and hostile. The printed page alone is the ubiquitous missionary.”

Guidelines for Doing Theologies in Asia Association for Theological Education in South East Asia

77 Association for Theological Education in South East Asia

In 1972 the Association for Theological Education in South East Asia and the South East Asia Graduate School of Theology adopted the Critical Asian Principle (CAP) as a framework for theological construction and education in the region. While recognizing the significant contribution of CAP over the last thirty-five years toward enhancing the construction of Asian contextual theologies and theological education, the occasion of the [Golden Jubilee in November 2007 at Trinity Theological College in Singapore] was an opportunity to develop new guidelines for a new era. After wide-ranging consultation and feedback from member schools, the new guidelines were approved by the executive committee of ATESEA and adopted by the SEAGST senate.

The Gift of Being Number Two: A “Buzz Aldrin” Perspective on Pioneer Missions

81 / Notto R. Thelle

The history of Christian missions is usually told from the perspective of the pioneers, the daring explorers, the “number ones.” These were the eloquent preachers and evangelists, doctors and social workers, powerful organizers and leaders, and scholars who pioneered the study of foreign cultures and languages. Most of them were intelligent, dedicated men who sacrificed their lives for what they believed was a direct call from God. They were featured in reports and were writers themselves, fascinating people at home with their accounts and appeals. They were both celebrated and respected. My intention here is not to diminish the role of the number ones—in most cases their fame is deserved. But I do want to call attention to the number twos and threes, those who walked in the footsteps of the pioneers, carrying their burdens, taking care of the daily duties, yet allowing others to be the protagonists; they themselves worked in the wings or were just walk-ons in the shadows. What about the Buzz Aldrins of Christian missions?

What I Have Learned About Missions from Writing The British Missionary Enterprise Since 1700

86 / Jeffrey Cox

Writing a broad survey is daunting. One must transgress both geographic and chronological boundaries and enter fields where others know much more. My past publications were based on extensive archival research about particular places. When I was writing The British Missionary Enterprise Since 1700, there was no time to linger on a careful archival reconstruction in order to provide the reader with a sense of place. Arriving at conclusions on areas beyond one’s field of expertise comes with the territory, though, and I learned a great deal. With due deference to those who know more, I found myself surprised by some of the received wisdom about missionaries in various fields of scholarship and differing, at least in matters of emphasis, with some widely read missiologists and historians. What follows is a simplified list of some of those conclusions.

My Pilgrimage in Mission

88 / James M. Phillips

To describe my pilgrimage in mission, I wish to avoid a strictly chronological discussion, thinking instead of a house with four rooms. Let me move from one room to another and make adjustments in the time flow as we proceed. . . . My lifetime began with the Great Depression, which brought to an end U.S. dreams of inevitable progress. My mission journey has taken many twists and turns since then, but the drama is not over yet. May God give us the courage and the vision to see it through in our time!

The Legacy of Elizabeth Russell

93 / Karen K. Seat

Elizabeth Russell, missionary to Japan from 1879 to 1919, lived a long and complex life that in microcosm reflected social and political transformations in both the United States and Japan, particularly as these transformations affected ideologies and practices concerning women’s roles in society. Russell’s life was shaped by important nineteenth-century women’s movements, including the development of women’s higher education and the women’s foreign mission movement. Throughout her long life, Russell inhabited a range of identities available to women of her generation. . . . Her most important and enduring work as a missionary was the establishment of Kwassui Gakuin in Nagasaki, an educational institution for girls and women that flourishes to this day.