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A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to promote their faith or perform ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem, meaning "act of sending" or mittere, meaning "to send". The word was used in light of its biblical usage; in the Latin translation of the Bible, Christ uses the word when sending the disciples to preach the gospel in his name. The term is most commonly used for Christian missions, but can be used for any creed or ideology.
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is a Protestant organization in the People's Republic of China, and one of the largest Protestant bodies in the world. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church.
A Christian mission is an organized effort to spread Christianity to new converts. Missions involve sending individuals and groups, called missionaries, across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as educational or hospital work. Sometimes individuals are sent and are called missionaries. When groups are sent, they are often called mission teams and they do mission trips. There are a few different kinds of mission trips: short-term, long-term, relational and those that simply help people in need. Some people choose to dedicate their whole lives to mission. Missionaries have the authority to preach the Christian faith, and provide humanitarian aid. Christian doctrines permit the provision of aid without requiring religious conversion.
Christianity in China appeared in the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty, but did not take root until it was reintroduced in the 16th century by Jesuit missionaries. Today, it comprises Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals and a small number of Orthodox Christians. Although its history in China is not as ancient as Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism or Confucianism, Christianity, through various ways, has been present in China since at least the 7th century and has gained significant influence during the last 200 years. The number of Chinese Christians has increased significantly since the easing of restrictions on religious activity during economic reforms in the late 1970s; Christians were four million before 1949 . Accurate data on Chinese Christians is hard to access. The government declared in 2018 that there are over 44 million Christians in China. On the other hand, some international Christian organizations estimate there are tens of millions more, who choose not to publicly identify as such, but these estimations are usually controversial and even suspected as deliberate inflation. The practice of religion continues to be tightly controlled by government authorities. Chinese over the age of 18 are permitted to join only officially sanctioned Christian groups registered with the government-approved Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church and China Christian Council and the Protestant Three-Self Church. On the other hand, many Christians practice in informal networks and unregistered congregations, often described as house churches or underground churches, the proliferation of which began in the 1950s when many Chinese Protestants and Catholics began to reject state-controlled structures purported to represent them. Members of such groups are said to represent the "silent majority" of Chinese Christians and represent many diverse theological traditions.
Christianity is India's third-largest religion after Hinduism and Islam, with approximately 31.9 million followers, constituting 2.3 percent of India's population. According to the tradition of Indian Christians, the Christian faith was introduced to India through conversions by Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have reached the Malabar Coast (Kerala) in 52 AD. According to another tradition Bartholomew the Apostle is credited with simultaneously introducing Christianity along the Konkan Coast. There is a general scholarly consensus that Christian communities were firmly established in the Malabar Coast (Kerala) of India by the 6th century AD, which were communities who used Syriac liturgies. Starting from European colonisations from 15th century several Western Christian communities like Latin Rite Catholics and Protestants were created in different parts of the country.
Protestant Christianity entered China in the early 19th century, taking root in a significant way during the Qing dynasty. Some historians consider the Taiping Rebellion to have been influenced by Protestant teachings. Since the mid-20th century, there has been an increase in the number of Christian practitioners in China. According to a survey published in 2010 there are approximately 40 million Protestants in China.
The Society for the Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge Among the Chinese or SDCK was an organization established in Shanghai in the late-19th century to communicate Western concepts of Christianity and science among the Chinese.
In the early 19th century, Western colonial expansion occurred at the same time as an evangelical revival – the Second Great Awakening – throughout the English-speaking world, leading to more overseas missionary activity. The nineteenth century became known as the Great Century of modern religious missions.
Elijah Coleman Bridgman was the first American Protestant Christian missionary appointed to China. He served with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. One of the first few Protestant missionaries to arrive in China prior to the First Opium War, Bridgman was a pioneering scholar and cultural intermediary, and laid the foundations for American sinology. His work shaped the development of early Sino-American relations. He contributed immensely to America's knowledge and understanding of Chinese civilization through his extensive writings on the country's history and culture in publications such as The Chinese Repository — the world's first major journal of sinology, which he began and edited. Bridgman became America's first "China expert." Among his other works was the first Chinese language history of the United States: "Short Account of the United States of America" and "The East-West Monthly Examiner". As a translator he contributed greatly to the formulation of America's first treaty with the Chinese government under the Qing Dynasty.
American Baptist International Ministries is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States.
The Protestant Episcopal Church Mission was a Christian missionary initiative of the Episcopal Church that was involved in sending and providing financial support to lay and ordained mission workers in growing population centers in the west of the United States as well as overseas in China, Liberia and Japan during the second half of the 19th Century.
The Church of England Zenana Missionary Society, also known as the Church of England Zenana Mission, was a British Anglican Christian missionary society established to spread Anglicanism in India. It would later expand its missionary work into Japan and Qing Dynasty China. In 1957 it was absorbed into the Church Missionary Society (CMS).
Canadian Presbyterian Mission was a Presbyterian Church in Canada missionary society that was involved in sending workers to countries such as Trinidad and Tobago during British rule and China during the late Qing Dynasty, the most famous of which were Jonathan Goforth and his wife, Rosalind.
The Irish Presbyterian Mission was an Irish Presbyterian missionary society.
Medical missions in China by Protestant and Catholic physicians and surgeons of the 19th and early 20th centuries laid many foundations for modern medicine in China. Western medical missionaries established the first modern clinics and hospitals, provided the first training for nurses, and opened the first medical schools in China. Work was also done in opposition to the abuse of opium. Medical treatment and care came to many Chinese who were addicted, and eventually public and official opinion was influenced in favor of bringing an end to the destructive trade. By 1901, China was the most popular destination for medical missionaries. The 150 foreign physicians operated 128 hospitals and 245 dispensaries, treating 1.7 million patients. In 1894, male medical missionaries comprised 14 percent of all missionaries; women doctors were four percent. Modern medical education in China started in the early 20th century at hospitals run by international missionaries.
Characteristic of Christianity in the 19th century were Evangelical revivals in some largely Protestant countries and later the effects of modern Biblical scholarship on the churches. Liberal or modernist theology was one consequence of this. In Europe, the Roman Catholic Church strongly opposed liberalism and culture wars launched in Germany, Italy, Belgium and France. It strongly emphasized personal piety. In Europe there was a general move away from religious observance and belief in Christian teachings and a move towards secularism. In Protestantism, pietistic revivals were common.
Religion in Burundi is diverse, with Christianity being the dominant faith. According to a 2008 estimate in CIA Factbook, about 86 percent of the population of Burundi is Christian, 7.9% follow traditional religions, and 2.5 percent is Muslim. In contrast, another estimate by the Encyclopedia of Africa in 2010, states that 67 percent of the Burundi's people are Christians, 23% follow traditional religions, and 10% are Muslims or adherents of other faiths.
The three-self formula or three-self principle is a missiological strategy to establish indigenous churches. Its principles are: self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation. It was first coined in the late-19th century by various missions theorists, and is still used today in certain contexts such as in the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in mainland China.
"Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China", commonly known as "The Christian Manifesto" or "The Three-Self Manifesto", was a political manifesto of Protestants in China whereby they backed the newly founded People's Republic of China (PRC) and the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Published in 1950, the manifesto paved the way for the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) of Protestants. This movement proclaimed the three principles of self-government, self-support, and self-propagation. The drafting and content of the manifesto was, and remains, controversial to this day.
The National Christian Council of China (NCC) was a Protestant organization in China. Its members were both Chinese Protestant churches and foreign missionary societies and its purpose was to promote cooperation among these churches and societies. The NCC was formed in 1922 in the aftermath of the Edinburgh Missionary Conference.
References
- 1 2 Walther Killy (1 January 2005). Schmidt - Theyer. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 419–. ISBN 978-3-11-096629-9.
- ↑ Paul S. Chung (9 March 2012). Reclaiming Mission as Constructive Theology: Missional Church and World Christianity. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 105–. ISBN 978-1-61097-227-7.
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