EMQ Volume 62 Issue 4

By Evelyn Hibbert | Although cross-cultural missions has many challenges, we are not alone. Its source and power is God. He is the one who is calling the nations to him. Walking in step with God should open a well of joy that carries us day by day. Drawing on that well uncovers our vulnerability. Then, we free God’s power to work in and through us.

By Kirk J. Franklin | Relentless activity can lead mission leaders to equate achievement with faithfulness. Historical influences such as the Protestant work ethic and the missionary industrial complex have helped create this tendency.

By Jackson Strider | What is pragmatism? And how does it detract from our spirituality? The author of this article shares some of his own journey with the delicate balance of putting God’s power first in missions, and advice for how to grow into that yourself.

By Joseph W. Handley, Jr. and Janelle Stoops | Mission flourishes not through greater activity but through deeper communion with Christ. Drawing on biblical foundations, cross-cultural experience, and case studies from A3’s leadership development work, this article argues that spiritual practices such as abiding, sabbath, contemplation, lament, and discernment are essential for sustaining missionaries and developing healthy leaders.

By Yong Choi | Western missionaries facing social, political, bodily, and spiritual “de-centering” should not deny or overanalyze their loss but meet God in weakness. Yong Choi calls for honest reflection, naming grief, and humbly moving forward. In this way mission advances through vulnerability rather than power.

By Premasis Satman | An associate pastor in Hyderabad tells the story of his own COVID-19 lockdown: sealed in his apartment, sick, cut off from his small children, and sinking into fear.

By J Wu | Drawing on biblical theology, missiological reflection, and field experience, this article explores the suffering and persecution involved in making disciples among Muslims. Building on the concept of kinsman redeemer theology developed by other scholars

By Greg W. Burch | Stressful and traumatic encounters in mission, humanitarian and justice contexts are on the rise. Pilgrimages provide opportunities to take a break from normal routines and roles. They allow time for extended periods of reflection and vulnerability, individually and in community with others.

By Russell Matthews | Most of us enter ministry expecting an adventure. And it is an adventure—just not always the one we imagined. Drawing on Ephesians 2:10, Russell Matthews explores how God often works through the ordinary and unseen moments

By Gene Daniels |This article examines how a particular category of highly successful missionaries have reframed a secular concept—personal agency—to be a part of their Christian worldview. Drawing on a set of 50 interviews with global church planting leaders, the findings reveal that “redeemed personal agency” integrates human responsibility with dependence on God, emphasizing listening to God.

By Tom Gerick | Partnerships in cross-cultural missions are becoming the norm. Yet, they remain challenging. Interviews with national leaders, Christians, and experienced missionaries, confirm the importance of building strong relationships for effective partnerships.

By Katherine Choi-Lee | In recent years, church revitalization among Protestant churches in Europe has become an important focus for mission work. Given the post-Christian, secular contexts among some of the most atheist countries in the world, church revitalization in Europe is hard work.

By Jim Harries | Missionaries often mediate between donors and recipients who have little shared understanding of each other’s contexts. Donor expectations can sometimes pressure missionaries to act in ways that are culturally inappropriate or ineffective.