EMQ articles
Evangelical Missions Quarterly, from 1964 to the current issue. Page 4 of 160 · 3,835 in all.
Evangelism
By Evelyn Hibbert | The gospel is more than words. It encompasses all the riches of Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Too often evangelism has neglected the importance of relationships, context, and Christ’s lordship. Communicating the gospel includes how we live, according to where we live. From a…
Character Theology
By Tom Steffen | Tom Steffen discusses how to shift from traditional systematic theology to a story-based approach. He highlights the importance of biblical characters in teaching theology, emphasizing that characters drive the narrative and help convey theological truths through their experiences. This approach…
Curiosity and Communication
By Stan Nussbaum with Hussan | This article describes a Central Asian house church network‘s approach to evangelism, focusing on creating curiosity through surprising statements about Muslim practices, Christianity, and acts of kindness. This technique leads to friendly, challenging religious discussions, helping…
“Ask of Me”: Ways to Appeal to Felt Needs That Lead to Spiritual Depth
By Sally Folger Dye, T. Wayne Dye, and Edie Bakker | People in every country have many legitimate life concerns. God wants to help with these felt needs. Handled carefully, felt needs can be a door opener, an evangelism tool, and even an ongoing discipleship tool. Prayerfully looking for felt needs is an important…
Modality-Sodality: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Church
By Sara Salloum |In 2009, Ralph Winter introduced the terms modality to describe the local church fellowship and sodality to describe what we now call parachurch ministries. Winter explained why both are valid and necessary but offered no model nor description of how they should work together to fulfill God’s global…
The Cost and Value of Being Present
By Cherry Gunther | It can cost a lot of money to be a missionary or to support missions. Other costs include loss of time with family and the stress of adjusting to unfamiliar places. These are the costs of being present with people so they can meet Jesus. Learning to appreciate Jesus’ presence that others bring to…
Staying Isn’t Always Good and Leaving Isn’t Always Bad
By Sue Eenigenburg | Many who commit to become missionaries imagine permanently settling in another country for many years. However, a characteristic of cross-cultural mission work is its unpredictability. Sometimes, the stresses of missionary life make it hard to stay. Yet, at other times, some stay for the wrong…
Five Practical Ways Churches can Care for Missionaries
By Patrick Hasty | This article provides pastors and missions teams with practical steps to support their missionaries. It outlines five things that churches can do: start the care process early, be proactive in relating to missionaries, allow missionaries to share their burdens, establish care teams, and be ready…
Are Discovery Bible Studies the Best Way to Do Discipleship in Muslim Contexts?
By S.J.Spyker | Many strongly recommend a particular method of inductive Bible study – Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) – for work among Muslims. Based on many years of personal experience and interviews with others working with Muslim women in the Middle East, Spyker queries whether this is the best approach for…
Reflecting on Organizational Change: Frontiers as a Case Study
By Steve and Kitty Holloway | Frontiers started as a new organization focusing on reaching Muslim peoples through team ministry more than 40 years ago. The Holloways outline changes Frontiers has made over the years as they have responded to interpersonal and ministry challenges, and the strain of growing larger as…
The Harvest Problem
By Richard G. Lewis | As the Great Commission requires us to reach all peoples of the earth with the gospel, we need to address intentionally the shortfall of workers focused on the unreached. Richard Lewis provides conceptual tools to help analyze the shortfall. He classifies missionaries, then analyzes their…
Social Action in Muslim Contexts: Why Should We Care?
By Jean-Pierre Maure | Just as Jesus did not separate social action from his ministry, Christians working among Muslims should live out their faith through social action. By addressing specific needs in the local context, Christians’ actions compel Muslims to Christ through the credibility of faith in action. Our…
Moving Beyond “Pray, Give, or Go”
By Steven P. Steinhaus | Even if you cannot go overseas as a traditional missionary, you can still do more than pray and give. Steinhaus outlines four stages of being involved in the Great Commission. These are to (1) be a disciple who makes disciples.
Mobilizing Ordinary Christians to Evangelize Through Online Connections
By Aaron Myers | In this era of missions, we do not have to move house and jobs to connect with people in other countries. Using social media to respond to questions from people overseas provides an opportunity to make friends and share the gospel. Anyone, at any age and from any background can do this.
Developments in Mission Sending from China
By Brent Fulton | Hundreds of Mainland Chinese Christians serve as missionaries around the world and thousands more minister among China’s unreached people groups. Chinese church leaders have a goal of sending out 20,000 cross-cultural workers by 2030. Traditional Western sending structures and methods may not suit…
How Can Western Churches Still Contribute to World Mission?
By Stewart Hunt | Whilst most agree that the future of mission involves global collaboration, the role of the Western church has become unclear. However, the biblical imperative is that all disciples make disciples locally and to the ends of the earth. Mission is a characteristic of a healthy church, wherever that…
The Challenges of Integrating New Mission Sending and Old Mission Organizations
By Maria Lopez | Based on significant personal experience interfacing between traditional international western sending agencies and new sending nations, Maria Lopez outlines the challenges. These include administrative processes, financial disparity, different ways of doing mission, and the ability of older…
New Models of Mission
By Evelyn Hibbert | The growth of the church in the Majority World and its decline in traditional sending countries is causing significant changes in mission. This has created challenges and opportunities.
Reimagining the Arts in Mission
By Heather Pubols | The arts have long been an important part of missions. Yet a historical preference for importing Western art forms into non-Western contexts left Christianity feeling culturally foreign. A shift towards encouraging local arts is inspiring authentic global Christian expressions across cultures and…
Engaging Scientists Through the Visual Arts
By Geinene Carson | When my daughter was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder around a decade ago, my life changed radically. An abrupt introduction to the demanding world of caregiving disrupted art making and ministry as I had previously known it. However, I eventually discovered that this environment I now found…
Hospitality and Cuisine: Creating a Welcoming Space
By Jaewoo Kim | The arts of hospitality and shared meals offer a warm welcome to a global community into the church while sustaining the relationships of those already following Christ. Yet to do this well requires intentionality.
Creating Sacred Songs in Waorani
By Matt Connor and Rachelle Dell | God continues to work in the lives of the Waorani people of Ecuador. Recently, the community participated in a songwriting workshop to create new worship songs. Through translation challenges and cultural discoveries, we learned that authentic worship often means returning to…
Outside a Building: Worshipping in Natural Spaces
By Abel Stewart | Worshiping outdoors offers rich possibilities to deepen faith, care for creation, and transform spaces into sacred places. It has a long history starting in biblical times and continues through modern movements like Forest Church. Intentionally participating in outdoor worship provides a way for any…
A Paradigm for Family Integrated Evangelism in Islamic Cultures
By George Dumitrascu | Over two billion people identify as Muslims worldwide. Due to globalization, they live across the world and are our neighbors and co-workers. This makes it even more important to understand their context. Approaching Muslims with the gospel from an individualist perspective is often…