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

in Rajasthan is on the rise, and so independent Bible study and prayer groups
coexist in tension within the traditional churches. 165
The third ecumenical phase is the network that exists between Pentecostals around
the globe. As mentioned in chapter five, there are a number of experts from
around the world helping Pentecostals in Rajasthan in their missionary training
and leadership programmes as well as in their administration. For example, in
2003 a team from Singapore came to help revamp the administrative system of the
NMM. 166 Many, like the Latin American missiologist Samuel Escobar, emphasise
the need for a global network in mission, not with the intention of encouraging
western imperialism, but rather seeing the western world as an equally potential
mission field. Therefore, missionaries from the Majority World can be involved in
mission work in the West, a ‘mission in reverse.’ 167 The underlying idea here is
mission in global partnership. Escobar further affirms that ‘global partnership of
churches will be indispensable for mission in the twenty-first century.’ 168
One of the most significant strengths of a mission theology is its impulse for
unity. The missionary spirit and enthusiasm carries with it a call for ecumenicity.
This was illustrated at the Edinburgh Conference in 1910. As mentioned earlier,
the main concern of the conference was world evangelization, and it subsequently
strengthened Christian unity. Thangaraj comments that the global invitation to
165
However, this also causes divisions.
166
I was one of the seven members of the NMM team who received such training for
administration.
167
Samuel Escobar, The New Global Mission: The Gospel from Everywhere to Everyone (Illinois:
IVP, 2003), 162.
168
Escobar, New Global Mission, 164.
319