It was a joy and honor to be invited to be a plenary speaker at the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS). I am so grateful to Dr. Sammy Alfaro, who is the President of SPS for this kind invitation and for his fantastic leadership and hospitality at the conference. I am also thankful to Dr. Adrian Hinkle who is the ED of SPS for her leadership and vision.
While I don't fully agree with the criticism of the use of the word "missionary" (Acts doesn't use word missionary because it was written in Greek. They didn't talk about missionaries because they had apostles, whose primary work was starting churches in other lands with people of different cultures), I agree that people sharing the Gospel with people from different cultures should respect their culure and refuse to try to force our culture on them. My favorite "missionary," Bruce Olsen, took five years to find a way to connect with the culture of Indigenous people living in the jungles of Columbia. He finally made one convert and allowed him to use their way of communication, which was very foreign to Olsen, to share his (the convert's) experience of "walking Jesus' trail." Olsen didn't teach Anerican hymns or try to change their manner of "primitive" clothing. He has been criticized for not teaching Sunday worship ( which is quite foreign to their culture). They have their own rhythms for occasional group worship. The whole local tribal community received the gospel and lives were changed inwardly.
While I don't fully agree with the criticism of the use of the word "missionary" (Acts doesn't use word missionary because it was written in Greek. They didn't talk about missionaries because they had apostles, whose primary work was starting churches in other lands with people of different cultures), I agree that people sharing the Gospel with people from different cultures should respect their culure and refuse to try to force our culture on them. My favorite "missionary," Bruce Olsen, took five years to find a way to connect with the culture of Indigenous people living in the jungles of Columbia. He finally made one convert and allowed him to use their way of communication, which was very foreign to Olsen, to share his (the convert's) experience of "walking Jesus' trail." Olsen didn't teach Anerican hymns or try to change their manner of "primitive" clothing. He has been criticized for not teaching Sunday worship ( which is quite foreign to their culture). They have their own rhythms for occasional group worship. The whole local tribal community received the gospel and lives were changed inwardly.