Mission Foundations And Other Essays

The first two essays in this book examine the biblical and philosophical basis for mission in the post-modern world, emphasising the experiential quality of mission over against the rational. Subsequent essays discuss various aspects of mission with a focus on the Malawian context. They highlight the impact of missionary work on the formation, shaping and developments of Malawi as a national state. Other essays examine various issues in New Testament scholarship including images of the Historical Jesus and how these relate to wisdom and apocalyptic traditions.

The first four essays in Mission in Malawi reassess the meaning, nature and place of mission in a postmodern world. Subsequent essays examine various issues that missionaries and the Church in Malawi have and continue to struggle with. These range from the problem of administering church discipline, the challenge of Bible translation, the question of how to deal with corruption in the corridors of power to the challenges of dealing with initiation rites, HIV/AIDS, patriarchy, gender inequality, the exercise of the Church's prophetic role, lack of contextualized theology, and the difficult task of creating an inclusive church and society. The last three essays are an attempt to describe a contextual theology appropriate for the African church, construct a theology for Malawi and project a future for mission in Malawi in the context of a changing world. These essays offer a rare window into the life and struggles of the Malawian Church even as it faces the postmodern future. The essays are not only informative but also challenging and thought-provoking. Scholars, students and other readers who share an interest in mission and the life of the Church in Malawi will find this collection of essays indispensable in the many years to come.

The first two essays in this book examine the biblical and philosophical basis for mission in the post-modern world, emphasising the experiential quality of mission over against the rational. Subsequent essays discuss various aspects of mission with a focus on the Malawian context. They highlight the impact of missionary work on the formation, shaping and developments of Malawi as a national state. Other essays examine various issues in New Testament scholarship including images of the Historical Jesus and how these relate to wisdom and apocalyptic traditions.

This volume provides an important resource for those wishing to gain an overview of significant issues in contemporary missiology whilst understanding how they are applied in particular contexts. Contributors from across the globe and from different Christian traditions explore foundations for mission. The chapters examine in what ways experience, the Bible, and theology are foundational for mission and how they together inform the missional thought of different traditions. The book also raises questions about the continued use of foundations as a helpful metaphor mission reflection and impetus. Graduate students and scholars surveying the field will find this a useful and accessible way to understand changing trends within mission studies.

The second annual conference of the Theological Society of Malawi was held at the historic Ekwendeni Campus of the University of Livingstonia from 14 to 16 September 2021. It took up the urgent theme of the decolonization of the theological curriculum. Though Malawi has been an independent country for 58 years, coloniality still stalks the land. This book calls theologians to take a lead in decolonization, while navigating the educational task in an online age. With more than twenty institutions teaching theology at tertiary level in Malawi, and now united in the Theological Society of Malawi, there is huge potential to learn from each other in developing the theological curriculum in the country. While the primary audience is unashamedly a Malawian one, this book might also prove relevant in other contexts where there is a reckoning with past and present experience of colonialism. The book is a call to action and is published in the hope that it will have lasting impact on the teaching and learning of theology in Malawi and beyond.

Gallagher and Hertig have collected a range of seminal articles and papers that offer students insight into thinking by the makers of modern mission and world Christian studies. This is a priceless book for the classroom, bringing between two covers the most important reflections on these issues in our age. This marvelous book answers the prayers of teachers who have struggled for a generation with the problem of providing their students a resource that will offer an entre into the best thinking on the nature of mission and the emergence of world Christianity.

This book is about people with disabilities (PWDs) and the extraordinary talents they have that can contribute towards the world economy generally and that of Southern and Central Africa in particular. The papers selected for this book were presented at an international conference that was held at the University of Botswana from 16th to 19th October 2018. The conference was held in order to address the injustices, discrimination and exclusion that people with disabilities face in their daily life. The papers discuss the need to train families and leaders in disability awareness, for clear national policies, the funding needed to address issues that affect PWDs, inclusive education, and the need to create a conducive environment and the implementation of policies, strategies and programmes. The book also points to the importance of sharing stories and experiences of success as a strategy of empowering PDWs.

This is the first attempt to comprehend the whole of Malawi's church history in a single volume. The focus of this book is about documenting the religious experience which was at the centre of founding the new nation of Malawi as we have come to know it. The book strikes a balance in covering issues pertaining to both mission activities and African agency. In many instances interesting pieces of evidence have been marshalled to corroborate or emphasize some of the conclusions reached.