The Gospel in a Plural World: Interrogating the Relationship between Proclamation and Compassion

A recent conversation about global ministry among the poor provoked me to further thinking about missions and compassion. A certain Western Christian humanitarian missionary in an impoverished Majority World context described herself as called to be the “hands and feet” of Jesus, in extending mercy to the least, the forgotten, and the marginal. To that extent, she is a wonderful model—she extends the compassion of the Good Shepherd by way of (physically) rescuing, housing, feeding, and educating vulnerable children and orphans.