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a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

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are a global community, because she frequently sees visitors in <strong>the</strong> church from<br />

o<strong>the</strong>r parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world.<br />

5.6. Conclusion<br />

The above discussion reveals that Pentecostals in Rajasthan are equally concerned<br />

about issues within <strong>the</strong> community. The contemporary socio-economic status <strong>of</strong><br />

Pentecostalism as well as <strong>the</strong> denominational issues affects <strong>the</strong> image <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

movement and causes problems within and without <strong>the</strong> community. As we have<br />

seen, cultural dynamics have a vital influence on <strong>the</strong> internal strength <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

movement. The globalization <strong>of</strong> Pentecostalism has had an impact on local<br />

Pentecostalism. The global-local tension seems to be increasing as <strong>the</strong> movement<br />

grows. These internal issues, along with <strong>the</strong> external problems, as discussed in<br />

chapter four, have put Pentecostals in a ‘missio-ethical dilemma.’ On <strong>the</strong> one<br />

hand, Pentecostals struggle to maintain <strong>the</strong>ir indigenous identity by becoming<br />

culturally sensitive and on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>y have a tendency to be globally dynamic<br />

by having identified with <strong>the</strong> growing global Pentecostalism. This chapter also<br />

suggests that whe<strong>the</strong>r consciously or not, what Pentecostals in Rajasthan are<br />

deploying to overcome such a dilemma can be an effective tool to deal with fresh<br />

challenges caused by changing situations. Their mission <strong>the</strong>ory and practice seem<br />

to be progressive and flexible and moving under <strong>the</strong> direction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Spirit in order<br />

to deal with challenging situations. This should be seen as <strong>the</strong> strength <strong>of</strong><br />

Pentecostal <strong>the</strong>ology to move in line with <strong>the</strong> Spirit and be adaptive to changing<br />

contexts. It seems that a dynamic <strong>contextual</strong> Pentecostal <strong>missiology</strong> is emerging<br />

from <strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong> Rajasthan, which will be discussed in <strong>the</strong> next chapter.<br />

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