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

join in the task of world evangelization was a plea for unity and it ‘strengthened
the ecumenical movement and ultimately led to the formation of the World
Council of Churches’ (WCC) in 1948. According to him, this call for unity is ‘the
most significant legacy of Edinburgh 1910.’ 169 Despite the subsequent sectarian
separation of Pentecostals, the contribution of early Pentecostalism towards the
ecumenicity of Christianity cannot be ignored. Common Spirit experiences united
people from various denominations to stand for the common task of missionary
enterprise. This was true in the early period of Pentecostalism in India also. As
discussed earlier, people from various revival centres went to several parts of the
nation with the vision of proclaiming the Christian message to all. The same was
true in the history of Pentecostalism in Rajasthan when Pentecostal missionaries
from other states came with a mission to reach the unreached.
At the same time, it is observed that in most Christian movements internal crises
have been the greatest hindrances, and this is true of Pentecostalism in Rajasthan
as seen in chapter five. In his survey of the Christian movement in Asia, Sam
Moffet found that the greatest obstacles to mission were not from outside the
church, but from within. Therefore, he asserts that ‘in Asia, as everywhere,
Christians have always been their own worst enemies.’ 170 Sri Lankan theologian,
Vinoth Ramachandra, argues that ‘authentic witness can only be ecumenical
witness.’ According to him, the growing unity of people from all backgrounds
169 Thangaraj, Common Task, 11.
170 Samuel Hugh Moffett, A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500, vol.1, rev. ed.
(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998), 506.
320