Even so, the title of this article still appears presumptuous today to many for various reasons. First, the theological centers of power are largely found in the West, with multitudes of students from the MW still treading there on pilgrimage for their PhDs. Although excellent seminaries are now found in the MW, in terms of faculty, financial and library resources, and drawing power, they are no match for the Western institutions.

In terms of theology, ways of thinking, and doing church and mission, many Majority World churches still adopt Western models and answers uncritically
Moreover, regretfully many churches in the MW still function as appendages and extensions of the churches in the West, consciously or unconsciously. Organizationally and financially, they may be independent. But in terms of theology, ways of thinking, and doing church and mission, they still adopt Western models and answers uncritically. The problem is not only because many churches in the MW have been birthed through Western missions or movements, with many in the leadership trained in Western methodology and theology. It is also because, globally, the political and cultural dominance of the West has been so overwhelming throughout the 20th century. These factors have combined to hold back many Christians in the MW from articulating alternative understandings and narratives of their faith that are firmly rooted in Scriptures on the one hand, and culturally sensitive and contextually relevant on the other.

However, the fact remains that around 1980 the center of gravity of the church had moved out of the West into the MW. With this shift, some of the relative strengths and weaknesses of Western Christianity versus those in the MW have become increasingly clear.

Against this background, I offer this analysis as a fellow pilgrim and learner because Christianity in the MW still faces a multitude of challenges. At the same time, I believe that in at least six areas the Western church can learn something from Christianity in the MW.

1. Recovering the supernatural dimension
In referring to the advance of the gospel in his work, Paul speaks of "what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience--by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God" (Rom 15:18f).

Over the past hundred years or so, the rapid growth of churches in the MW has been driven largely by the same "signs and wonders" that Paul speaks of. These include deliverance from demonic powers and healing, miracles and prophecies, dreams and visions, and the like. It should be emphasized that this is not due to the influence of American Pentecostalism from Azusa Street making inroads into the MW. In many cases, it was simply indigenous believers taking the Bible seriously and acting on its teachings, or the Holy Spirit coming in revival and manifesting His awesome power to the church.
A comprehensive and careful examination of the records will bear this out again and again, as shown by scholars like Philip Jenkins [2]. This is true of the growth of many grassroots churches in the Indian sub-continent, the growth of Christianity in Africa, the breakthroughs among tribal groups all over the MW, the Chinese revival in the last 60 years, the historically unprecedented and ongoing breakthroughs among Muslim peoples all over the Islamic world today, and so forth.

The rapid growth of churches in the Majority World has been driven largely by the same "signs and wonders" that Paul speaks of

A most interesting illustration of this is the powerful healing ministry of the Korean Presbyterian pastor Kim Ik Du (1884-1950) in the 1920s. The official position of the Presbyterian Church then was that "in the present age, the authority to perform miracles is suspended"--a cessationist position presumably taught by American missionaries. But the impact of Kim's healing ministry was such that it brought about a fundamental shift in thinking and recognition within the church that God continues to work miracles in the present age [3].

In direct contrast, one observer of Brazil's emerging churches said, "Most Presbyterians have a God that's so great, so big, that they cannot even talk with him openly, because he is far away. The Pentecostal groups have the kind of God that will solve my problems today and tomorrow" [4].

Under the influence of the Enlightenment, Western Christianity in the modern era has either rejected the supernatural as outdated superstition, as with liberals, or treated the miraculous as something that happened in the past but no longer happens today.

Consequently, much of the Western church has failed to address this whole subject adequately. It has blinded the church to the power of the Holy Spirit and his signs and wonders, as well as to the reality of demonic activity in the world today. The result, as Fuller professor Charles Kraft describes it, is that "Enlightenment Christianity is powerless" [5].

Herein lies a major flaw in Western Christianity--its captivity to an anti-supernaturalistic Enlightenment worldview. Could this blindness to the spiritual realm be one key reason for the decline in Western Christianity, especially at a time when occult practices of all kinds, including Satan worship, are proliferating throughout the West?

2. Managerial missiology versus dependence on the Spirit

The Latin American theologian Samuel Escobar has critiqued a trend within evangelical missiology in the later part of the 20th century, associated especially with the Church Growth School and movements like AD2000 and Beyond. He calls this "managerial missiology" and describes it as "an effort to reduce Christian mission to a manageable enterprise". [6]

To achieve this, reality is simplified into an understandable picture: "Missionary action is thus reduced to a linear task that is unfolded into logical steps to be followed in a process of management by objectives" [7]. Thus, for example, mission goals are quantified by the number of converts won or churches planted, and strategic plans are laid to bring about the desired results. The whole exercise is based on secular strategic planning approaches, built on the scientific method which produced our technological age. Crudely stated, in principle, it is no different from the assembly-line model of modern manufacturing.
I would like to suggest that Escobar's critique of managerial missiology is part of a much wider problem in the modern church. Is it not the case that much of our thinking has succumbed to modernity's scientific-technological approach to doing church and mission?

Can ministry and mission be done primarily by sound management techniques and good strategic planning?

Do not most of us assume that if only there are sufficient resources such as suitably trained personnel, money, proper strategic planning, and sound management, the church will invariably grow and our mission goals will be achievable without fail within our human time frame? In other words, ministry and mission can be done primarily by sound management techniques and good strategic planning, in a manner that is no different from other human enterprises like selling Coca-Cola! Ultimately, there are two major problems with this approach.

The first is that reducing our mission goals primarily to quantitative measures of how many converts are made and churches planted falls far short of Christ's command to "make disciples." As one writer puts it, "When we aim only at what we can measure, we ignore the most important goals of character, discipleship and holiness, which we cannot predict or quantify without falling into legalism ... Lukewarm churches are the results of this assembly line mindset". [8]

The second problem is that both the New Testament and church history have demonstrated again and again that the gospel never advances by mere human effort alone.
Rather, what we find is that revivals and major advances of the church are invariably the result of two powerful intertwining forces at work. On the divine side, we see the initiative and power of the Holy Spirit, and on the human side, we find less tangible factors such as radical holiness, prevailing prayer, obedience, and sacrifice. These, and not human management and strategic planning, are foundational. "The wind blows where it wishes ... So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

In the past hundred years, we see this repeatedly in mission advances in the MW, e.g., the ministries of Africans like Prophet Harris and Simon Kimbangu in the early 20th century and the phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America in recent decades. One of the best illustrations of this in Asia is the ongoing Chinese revival. The most notable Chinese evangelist and revivalist of the first half of the 20th century was John Sung, a brilliant American-trained PhD. On returning to China in 1927, he found that the Protestant churches were only growing slowly despite the great and sacrificial efforts of the missionaries. As he prayed, God revealed to him the heart of the problem. Western missions had brought in thousands of missionaries and plenty of money, and built many of the finest orphanages, hospitals, schools, and universities in China. And both Western and Chinese leaders were depending on these human resources and not the Holy Spirit for growth.

Sometime before his death in 1944, John Sung revealed that God had shown him that a great revival was coming to China. But first, all the missionaries must leave [9]. As he predicted, shortly after his death, every missionary had to leave China with the Communist takeover in 1949. All that the Western missions had brought was confiscated by a hostile government. And then, under intense persecution and left with nothing but God, revival came [10]. As they say, the rest is history [11].

Unfortunately, many in the MW churches have not learnt this vital lesson well. Instead, the tendency for many of us is to draw on Western approaches based on managerial missiological thinking, modelled and taught by our Western teachers, without critically reflecting on them in light of scriptural teaching and the Spirit's leading. For example, just think of the two thousand or so plans drawn up by the AD2000 and Beyond group for the completion of the evangelization of the world by that date! Human resources, good management and strategic planning all have their proper place in the ministry and mission of the church. But for the gospel to advance, ultimately our dependence has to be on God and on Him alone. How can this truth reshape and drive our ministry and mission in the coming years?

3. Confidence in the Gospel of Christ as Good News

Many in the West today consider Christianity outdated, stale, and irrelevant. The Good News has now become Bad News! This has contributed to the decline and loss of vitality in Western Christianity. This loss is also in part due to the inner spiritual and moral weaknesses of the church. Unfortunately, this has been further aggravated by the revelations of widespread sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and similar reports of sexual and financial scandals, and power abuse involving megachurch pastors and TV evangelists.

But the loss of vitality is also the result of the pressures on the churches in the West from an increasingly militant secularism, rooted in modernity and postmodernity. In much of public life in the West, there is a prevailing hostility, both subtle and open, towards any Christian point of view. If, for example, a Christian leader publicly advocates a biblical view against the LGBT+ agenda, it is almost certain that the national media will come down hard on him. In Europe, one of the clearest examples of this public hostility towards Christianity was seen in the debate over the new EU Constitution in 2004. The row was over whether Christianity should be cited as one of the sources of European civilization. Many intellectuals and academics argued against it because they treated Christianity not only as irrelevant to public life, but as an obstacle to the evolution of a secular Europe [12]. Against all historical evidence, militant secularists in a post-Christian Europe seemed bent on denying that Christianity made any significant contribution to the well-being of European society.

All these have contributed to a loss of confidence in the gospel as "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom 1:16) within the Western church. This is most clearly seen in the liberal wing of the church, which has basically abandoned missions on the grounds that it is religious imperialism and destroys the convert's culture. Further, liberal Christianity affirms religious pluralism in contrast to the uniqueness of Christ, and champions the rejection of biblical ethics, especially over abortion, marriage and divorce, and LGBT+ issues.

In Europe, one of the clearest examples of this public hostility towards Christianity was seen in the debate over the new EU Constitution in 2004

But this loss of confidence in the gospel and the Bible's distinctives and final authority is now beginning to be seen even among those who identify themselves as evangelicals. For example, some Western evangelicals are unwilling to take a firm stand on the biblical position on LBGT+ issues. But the problem actually runs deeper. Many Western evangelicals are reluctant to accept the Bible's clear teachings on divorce and remarriage, and yet they want to assert scriptural authority on the same-sex issue. But that is clearly a losing battle. You cannot compromise on one aspect of biblical teaching and draw the line on another.

This loss of confidence in the gospel, however, is not shared by most Christians in the MW. To begin with, in many societies and cultures in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and MENA, the encounter with Christ is recent and the experience of its efficacy and power is fresh and liberating. In Asia itself, think about the tens of millions that have been set free from the age-old fear of and bondage to demonic powers and evil spirits.

Think of the millions of Dalits in India who have been lifted out of cultural and sociopolitical oppression after thousands of years of existence as a subhuman underclass. Or, consider many intellectuals in China, both Christian and non-Christian, who see clear evidence in history that the gospel of Christ offers the only adequate basis for building a new society based on genuine freedom, democracy, justice, and equity [13]. Although this position has been rejected by most secularists, it has nevertheless been argued by many Christian thinkers. Moreover, as one observer notes:
"Many conservative intellectuals today now openly confess that Christianity is essential for the survival of Western civilization, but simply cannot bring themselves to believe that Christianity is true" [14]. A notable example is Tom Holland, a British public intellectual, who has argued in his latest writings that much of what is good and noble in Western culture owes its roots to Christianity. Writing as a lapsed Christian, he concludes a recent article in The New Statesman as follows: "In my morals and ethics, I have learned to accept that I am not Greek or Roman at all, but thoroughly and proudly Christian" [15].

The second point to note is that the beliefs shaped by modernity and postmodernity that underlie militant secularism in the West today are not shared by the cultures and societies [6] in the MW, simply because they are not children of the Enlightenment. Certainly, much of the MW has been hit by the surface impact of secularism through globalization. But few societies in the MW share the modern idea that there is only truth in logic and science, but not in religion and ethics, or the postmodern view that there is no such thing as truth because everything is a matter of perspective. That being the case, modernity and postmodernity must be recognized for what they are, not concepts that are universally true, valid, and applicable everywhere, but narrowly contextual worldviews operative only in the West and in a particular moment in history. Why then should Western Christians be awed and accord them the respect given them by a militant secularism?

Many Christians in the MW are driven by a vision of a new world founded on the gospel of Christ, which holds promise for both now and eternity. With them, there is conviction in and excitement over the saving power of the gospel. They find it rationally coherent and intuitively true and satisfying. And most of all, empirically they have seen its power transforming lives and communities. Or, in the language of Julia Garschagen, Christians in the MW find the gospel "emotionally fulfilling, intellectually inspiring, and morally good and beautiful" [16]. I submit that this sense of freshness and confidence in the gospel should serve as a source of encouragement and empowerment to many Christians in the West who are seriously committed to biblical truth and authority but are battling against a powerful and militant secularism threatening to overwhelm the church there.

Notes
1. The term "Majority World" is preferred to "Global South" simply because much of the non-Western world is not in the south, especially Central and East Asia.
2. Philip Jenkins' most well-known book is probably The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, 3rd ed. (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
3. Jun Kim, A Historical and Theological Investigation of the Healing Movement in Korea: With Special Reference to Ik-du Kim, Seongbong Lee, and Yong-gi Cho (PhD diss., Middlesex University, London, and Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, 2021), 77--78.
4. Cited in Jenkins, The Next Christendom, 98.
5. Charles Kraft, Christianity with Power: Your Worldview and Your Experience of the Supernatural (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Books, 1989), 37-49.
6. Samuel Escobar, "Managerial Missiology," in Dictionary of Mission Theology: Evangelical Foundations, eds., John Corrie, et. al. (Nottingham: Intervarsity Press, 2007), 216-218.
7. Escobar, "Managerial Missiology," 216.
8. Jim Plueddemann, "SIM's Agenda for a Gracious Revolution," International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol 23 (1999), 156-160.
9. William E. Schubert, I Remember John Sung (Singapore: Far Eastern Bible College Press, 1976), 65-6. See also John Sung, The Diary of John Sung--Extracts from His Journals and Notes, compiled by Levi (Singapore: Genesis Books, 2012), 79, 197-8, 210, 231, 369 & 383.
10. It is impossible to say when the revival began. The best that can be said is that it was quietly birthed under persecutions during the 1950s and 60s, and gained momentum and became publicly known in the 1970s.
11. It is pertinent to note that many older mainline churches in South Asia which benefited from the abundant provision of financial and material resources from Western missions in the same period are not known for their growth today. Moreover, these churches are often bogged down by legal disputes over their vast property holdings inherited from the missions.
12. George Weigel, The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics without God (New York: Basic Books, 2005), esp. 54-68.
13. E.g., see Samuel Ling and Stacey Bieler, eds., Chinese Intellectuals and the Gospel (San Gabriel, CA: China Horizon, 1999); David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2003), 5.
14. Jonathan van Maren, "Malcolm Muggeridge, Lifelong Seeker," The European Conservative (Jan 28, 2023).
15. Tom Holland, "Why I was wrong about Christianity," (14 Sep 2016); see also his Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind (New York, NY: Little, Brown & Co, 2019).
16. Julia Garschagen, "How the Good News of Jesus Became Bad News," European Leadership Forum, 20-24 May 2023.

What can Western Christians learn from churches in the rest of the world? (II)

Could it be that we tend to look at persecuted Christians with a mix of concern and pity because mission for the modern church often begins from the centers of power?

4. Mission and the Western guilt complex

The late 1940s to the 1960s were the heyday of the anti-colonial movement. Beginning in the late 1960s the liberal wing of the church began calling for a moratorium on or a withdrawal of missionaries. Western missions were perceived to be a new form of imperialism and thus missionaries were told to "Go home!" so that the churches in the Majority World (MW) can find their own identities.

The whole idea of preaching the gospel and converting others to Christianity was attacked and derogated as religious imperialism. Furthermore, secular anthropologists often accused missionaries of destroying the cultures of indigenous peoples because the process of conversion also took the converts out of their former cultures [17]. All this gave rise to a pervasive "Western guilt complex" [18] about the whole missionary movement, as well as over other matters.

Lamin Sanneh has demonstrated cogently that the accusation of missionaries being culture destroyers does not find support on the ground

Addressing this phenomenon head-on, the late African scholar and Yale professor Lamin Sanneh has demonstrated cogently that the accusation of missionaries being culture destroyers does not find support on the ground. In fact, by translating the Bible into indigenous languages, missionaries actually helped preserve many languages and cultures from extinction. In other words, without denying that mistakes have been made, in many parts of the MW, they were in fact the preservers of cultures, not the destroyers [19].

More recent studies have gone even further to vindicate the whole modern missionary enterprise as a major factor in bringing social and material advancement to many parts of the MW. This has been demonstrated by the social scientist Robert Woodberry in a piece of groundbreaking and prize-winning research published in the prestigious American Political Science Review [20]. He shows that Protestant missionaries in the past hundred and more years made major contributions to socio-political and economic advances wherever they have labored. "Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on the average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernment associations" [21].

In fact, missionaries contributed greatly to the spread of stable democracy around the world. He argues that they "were a crucial catalyst initiating the development and spread of religious liberty, mass education, mass printing, newspapers, voluntary organizations, and colonial reforms, thereby creating the conditions that made stable democracy more likely" [22]. As one of Woodberry's research supervisors said, "you couldn't think of a more unbelievable and offensive story to tell a lot of secular academics" [23].

Thus, contrary to secularists and liberal Christians, the actual facts on the ground in the MW demonstrate that on the whole, despite genuine mistakes made, missions and the gospel contributed greatly to the preservation of indigenous cultures and the advance of human liberties, democracy, educational levels, and other means of social uplift. What then do we make of the Western guilt complex?
We cannot go into a detailed discussion here, but one vital point needs to be made. We have witnessed numerous conquests and imperial expansions throughout world history. Many of these were done in the name of religion. But I am not aware of a society that has self-critically developed a guilt complex as deep and extensive over past mistakes as today's West.
One can easily name various non-Western societies and nations that have practiced territorial expansions and oppressed others in the name of religion or national interests. In which of these do we find serious wrestling with guilt? I am not saying those from other cultural and religious traditions are not able to develop guilt complexes. I am saying that, outside Western culture shaped by Christian history, we do not see evidence of such a complex on a similar scale anywhere.

Outside Western culture shaped by Christian history, we do not see evidence of such a complex on a similar scale anywhere
The point is this: the very fact of Western guilt may be one of the most important evidences for the enduring validity of the gospel in the post-Christian West. For it shows that the gospel has the power to shape the conscience of a culture, even when its propositional claims have been forgotten or largely rejected by that culture. Seemingly, despite being abandoned by many Westerners, the gospel continues to simmer in an unquenchable manner in a society that once acknowledged Christ.

What do we conclude from this? That, yes, Western guilt should lead to repentance for presumptuous, insensitive, ethnocentric, and triumphalist missions. The wrong conclusion, however, is to suggest that we must forgo Western missions because such missions have lost integrity.
The guilt that troubles the Western conscience over past failures points to the moral power and enduring validity of the gospel. Without this burden of guilt, which the Spirit imparts, this world would be far more cruel, heartless, unjust, and oppressive than it is. Only when our hearts and our cultures have responded to the call of Christ and experienced the work of the Spirit can such a conscience develop on the sort of scale that we find in the West.
Thus, the Western guilt complex properly understood is also a profound call to humble confidence and boldness in mission [24].

5. Theological education and ministerial training

When it comes to theological education and the training of men and women for ministry, almost all the churches in the MW have copied the academic model used in the West. But increasingly it has been found wanting [25]. Among the major issues raised are the following:
a. The content of much of the theological education is Western because the textbooks used are largely written in Western contexts, addressing Western questions. Clearly, textbooks written for the MW and addressing their questions and realities are needed. But differences in content cannot be cited as an example of the inadequacies of the Western model simply because of the differences in context. More important are the next three points.
b. Various aspects of the methodology follow a Western academic model. For example, to help the student develop his critical faculties, the average student is introduced to the historical critical study of the Bible. But the problem with this is that many students end up knowing more about the critical theories on the Bible than the Bible itself.
c. Too much is taken for granted concerning the practical side of pastoral ministry. The result is that trainees are often thrown into the deep end after three to four years of seminary studies and struggle in preaching, evangelism, church planting, disciple-making, and the like. Using the training of doctors in their clinical years as a model wherein theory and practice go hand in hand, what is missing in the existing Western model of theological education is a much greater integration between classroom learning and field education.
d. Perhaps, the really crucial question is whether the Western model is centered so much on the training of the mind that character formation and the life of prayer get neglected as a result. It is interesting that Francis Assisi (1181/2-1226), whilst not against learning, is reputed to have given permission for his monks to be taught theology so long as it did not "extinguish the habit of prayer" [26]. How can we put in place a comprehensive and intentional formation process that helps transform trainees into the image of Christ?

The Western model is centered so much on the training of the mind that character formation and the life of prayer get neglected

The above are merely some of the more pertinent questions. Within Asian and other MW theological education circles, these and similar questions have been raised repeatedly.

One attempt to move away from the Western academic model is the increasing use of Theological Education by Extension (TEE), which brings the academic study much closer to the field of practical ministry and mission. Much of what is done under this model is on a part-time basis with participants either in some form of pastoral ministry or under training, or lay leaders who have a full-time or part-time profession but actively serving in the church at the same time [27]. TEE takes many forms. Compared with the traditional residential Western model the advantages are: lower cost, training being brought closer to church and the place of ministry and mission thus allowing for better integration between study and practice, and training being provided for the multiple levels of ministry and leadership needed.

But TEE in whatever form is only part of the answer. The challenge of shaping ministers of the gospel into the likeness of Christ and being devoted to a life of prayer needs much more attention than the traditional model provides. Churches in the MW are still struggling with this issue. But it is not possible to discuss this further here.

6. How do we think of persecution?

From the perspective of the Western church, there are two issues related to religious persecution. First, coming from societies that are relatively free, we tend to look at Christians in persecution contexts with a mix of concern and condescension.

Second, we need to ask whether religious freedom as presently experienced in the West can be taken for granted. The experiences of the Confessing Church in Germany under Hitler and the churches in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union before 1990 are relevant here.

A look at the Acts of the Apostles shows that persecution never stopped the proclamation and advance of the gospel

Writing at the end of the 20th century, John White notes that the freedom experienced in the West then is unparalleled in world history. He goes on to suggest that the West has now gone past the period of greatest freedom. The freedom we have comes from the Reformation's biblical view of humanity. "As the biblical influence wanes, it is likely that freedom will not continue. There are signs that the conditions necessary for tolerance and freedom are already being eroded. Democracy is a fragile flower of late bloom ... likely to be withered by the scorching winds of impatient hate" [28] I believe that there is sufficient evidence just from the media alone to show that White's words need to be taken as a prophetic warning to biblical Christians in the West.

How do we respond? First, persecution for our faith should not take us by surprise because it is written all over in the New Testament and in church history. It is only because most of us have gotten used to a Christianity without the cross that we find any talk of Jesus' call to costly discipleship a problem. Second, a simple look at the Acts of the Apostles shows that persecution never stopped the proclamation and advance of the gospel (4:13-31; 5:17-42).

Indeed, Stephen's martyrdom and subsequent persecutions led to more extensive outreach through the scattering of the primitive church and greater boldness in witness (7:1- 8:40; 9:1 30; 11:19-26; 12:1-18; etc.). Could it be that we tend to look at persecuted Christians with a mix of concern and pity because mission for the modern church often begins from the centers of power? We, therefore, think that those associated with the center should not be persecuted and suffer. But because mission in the New Testament went from the margins to the center, persecution and suffering were simply accepted as an integral aspect of following Jesus. Hence persecution is approached in a very different spirit than that often found in today's church.

The above raises crucial questions for us today. First, should Christians see persecution as setbacks for mission or opportunities for Kingdom advance? Remember that the Chinese church revival in the last few decades came out of state-sponsored persecution, that grassroots churches are growing in places like India and Nepal despite militant Hindu opposition, and that many churches in MENA, such as those in Iran, are growing in the face of open persecution and martyrdom.

Is there a real danger that spiritual disciplines are weakened, persecution is avoided and mission dies?

Second, how do we pray for those under persecution? One Chinese leader, when asked about persecution some years ago replied: "Don't pray that God will remove persecution which actually refines the church. But pray that God will give us stronger backs to bear it!"

Third, in many Western societies wherein religious freedom is taken for granted or where the Christendom paradigm prevails, is there a real danger that the church can easily be lulled into an easy existence through which spiritual disciplines are weakened, persecution is avoided and mission dies? What about your church?
In conclusion, allow me to say that we in the MW have been richly blessed by the gospel that many from the West brought to us, often at great personal cost and sacrifice. My comments above are offered as pointers to what the Western church can learn from the MW churches and be blessed in a small way in return. I trust that through such exchanges the churches in the West and those in the MW can build genuine, strong, and equal partnerships for the continuing advance of the gospel.

Hwa Yung, Bishop Emeritus of the Methodist Church in Malaysia.

This article is based on a presentation given at the European Leadership Forum 2023 in Wisla, Poland. Re-published with permission of the Forum of Christian Leaders (FOCL).

Notes
17. For a neat introduction and response to the accusation that missionaries destroy cultures, see Don Richardson, "Do Missionaries Destroy Cultures?" in Perspectives on the World Christian Movements: A Reader, 4th Ed., eds. Ralph Winter & Steve Hawthorne (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2009), 486-492.
18. For an introduction to the phenomenon of the "Western guilt complex," see Douglas Murray, The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity and Islam (London: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2018), 157-177.
19. Lamin Sanneh, "Christian Missions and the Western Guilt Complex," The Christian Century (April 8, 1987), 331-334, also accessible here. https://www.religion-online.org/article/christian-missions-and-the-Western-guilt-complex/. For a more detailed treatment, see his Translating the Message--The Missionary Impact on Culture (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1989).
20. Robert D. Woodberry, "The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy," American Political Science Review, Vol. 106 (2), (May 2012), 244-274.
21. Andrea Palpant Dilley, "The Surprising Discovery about Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries," Christianity Today (Jan/Feb, 2014), 34-41.
22. Woodberry, "The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy," 244.
23. Christian Smith, quoted in Dilley, "The Surprising Discovery," 37.
24. I have discussed this and related points further in "A Fresh Call for U.S. Missionaries," Christianity Today (Nov 2011), 42-46.
25. As examples, see Manfred W. Kohl & A. N. Lal Senanayake, eds. Educating for Tomorrow: Theological Leadership for the Asian Context (Bangalore: SAIACS, 2002), and Allan Harkness, ed., Tending the Seedbeds: Educational Perspective on Theological Education in Asia (Quezon City: ATA, 2010).
26. Cited in Dennis Stock and Lawrence Cunningham, Saint Francis of Assisi (New York, Harper & Row, 1981), 33.
27. See David Burke, Richard Brown & Qaiser Julius, eds., TEE for the 21st Century: Tools to Equip and Empower God's People for His Mission (Carlyle, Langham: 2021); and Hanna-Ruth van Wingerden, Tim Green & Graham Aylett, eds., TEE in Asia: Empowering Churches, Equipping Disciples (Carlyle, Langham: 2021).
28. John White, Magnificent Obsession: The Joy of Christian Commitment (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1990), 97.

END