Glossary

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Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A glossary is a quick summary of semi-technical terms that are used throughout this Encyclopedia (for example, Christian or adherent or baptized church member). The Dictionary, by contrast, will give more space and definition to specific concepts that are important to Christian missions.

10/40 window. The 10/40 Window (see definition) was popularized by the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement. A geographic region extending from the 10th to 40th parallel that encompasses most of North Africa, parts of the Middle East, Korea and Japan. This window represents the largest unreached part of the world.

[edit] A

acculturation. The process by which adults acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and behaviors that enable them to become functioning participants of a new host culture" (adapted from Grunlan and Mayers 1979, 85). Acculturation is for adults what enculturation is for children. [1]

adherent. Someone who believes and helps to spread a doctrine or religious belief.

adult. All people that are 15 years of age and older.

affiliated Christians. Baptized members of a congregation, along with their children.

affiliated. Someone who is a formal member of a religion by meeting its membership requirements.

affinity bloc. Families of peoples related in aspects such as religion, culture, history, politics, and geography. In nearly every bloc there are widely dissimilar and unrelated linguistic minorities, but often there is one particular culture that is dominant.

animism. The belief that personal spiritual beings and impersonal spiritual forces have power over human affairs and, consequently, that human beings must discover what beings and forces are influencing them in order to determine future action and, frequently, to manipulate their power. [2]

appropriate technology. Introduction of technology from one culture to another which has been adapted to suit the economic and production needs of the people and is capable of being maintained without ongoing outside assistance and economically and environmentally sustainable. Examples: A hand irrigation pump in rural Java is more appropriate than an electric because electricty is unavaliable, or unreliable, expensive and requires specialised skills to maintain the supply. Use of methane gas from poultry manure is more aproparite fuel for cooking in rural Java than wood which is a scarce commodity, and kerosene which is expensive for subistence farmers.

atheists. One who believes there is no deity.

authoritarianism. An illegitimate system of rule by fear and arbitrary violence, usually in the hands of one spectacular leader - often a power-hungry individual like Uganda's Idi Amin, often a visionary who uses violence to attain his ends - like Napoleon or Castro.

[edit] B

baptized believer.

Bible.

billion. 1,000 million (following American usage; unlike British, French and German which refers to a million million).

bishop.

bridging growth.

[edit] C

call. An urging from God that shouldn't be transferred, put on hold or disconnected.

candidate. Someone who has applied to a mission agency. The candidate secretary is the one who corresponds with people who apply to a mission. Some agencies gather candidates interested in career service at a week or two of candidate school to orient them to the agency and to evaluate each candidate for acceptance. Once accepted by the mission board the candidate is called an appointee.

cell churches. Small church bodies of believers, generally 10-30 per unit, meeting in homes or storefronts, fulfilling the five purposes of a church and linked to one another in some type of structured network. Often this network is part of a larger, single church identity.

charismatic.

children. All persons younger than 15 years of age.

Christendom. Christendom: "the system of church-state partnership and cultural hegemony in which the Christian religion was the protected and privileged religion of society and the church its legally established institutional form" (Guder 1998, 6). [3]

Christian. Anyone who professes to be a Christian, either on a church membership roll or on a public opinion poll or government census. This term embraces all traditions and confessions and is not used in this Missiopedia as an indicator of the degree of commitment or theological orthodoxy.

Christopagan.A more specific type of syncretism, and amalgum or combination of Christian and pagan beliefs and associated practices that is a corruption of Christian truth.

chronological Bible storying. a non-literary method of communicating the gospel to a people by relating to them, in a culturally suitable manner, the great stories of the Bible from creation to redemption to the return of Christ. The story does not illustrate the message; the story is the message.

Church. When used with a capital C, refers to specific denominations and/or the worldwide body of Christ, as opposed to an individual local congregation or group of believers.

church. A group of believers, of any size, committed to each other, to the Lord Jesus Christ and committed to God's mission to the world through Christ and in the power of the Spirit.

church planting. Starting new churches.

church planting movement. A rapid and multiplicative increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment.

closed country. A country whose government or regime has closed it to some major overt form or forms of Christian ministry from outside, usually resident foreign missionaries, visiting evangelists, or freely distributed scriptures, Christian literature, tapes or videos or films, or other Christian influences from outside.

closure.

communion.

congregation. a group that possesses a special name and recognized members who assemble regularly to celebrate a more universally practiced worship but who communicate with each other sufficiently to develop intrinsic patterns of conduct, outlook, and story" (Hopewell 1987, 12-13); "the persistent and immediate form by which the church is manifested in almost every community" (Hopewell 1987, 14). [4]

contextualization. Contextualization: (1) "the efforts of formulating, presenting and practicing the Christian faith in such a way that is relevant to the cultural context of the target group in terms of conceptualization, expression and application; yet maintaining theological coherence, biblical integrity and theoretical consistency" (Wan 1999, 13); (2) "the attempt to communicate the message of the person, works, Word, and will of God in a way that is faithful to God's revelation, especially as put forth in the teaching of Holy Scripture, and that is meaningful to respondents in their respective cultural and existential contexts" (Hesselgrave and Rommen 2000, 200); (3) "a process in which God is recognized as THE Contextualizer--who wants to be understood, and who reveals his purposes through both people and events. This process reaches its ultimate expression in Jesus Christ who uniquely communicates the Father's character and purpose--so that the Incarnation because the defining expression of al effective communication" (adapted from Kraft in The Word Among Us, Chapter 6; cf. Taylor 2004). [5]

continent.

conversion. (1) "turning from self which is in rebellion against God, turning to God through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, and coming into union with him through the saving blood of Jesus Christ" (Van Rheenen 2001). (2) "the change of one's social identity, the acquisition of a new conceptual language, and the shifting of one's paradigm" (Kallenberg 2002, 32). [6]

convert.

cosmology. Another world for worldview. It describes how people look at and seek to interpret the world around them.

country.

cross-culturalism. The learned skill of relating to people of other cultures within the contexts of their cultures (Van Rheenen 1996b, 105). [7]

culture. "the integrated system of learned patterns of ideas, values, behavior, products, and institutions characteristic of a society" (Van Rheenen 1996b, 81); "the sum total of ways of living built up by a human community and transmitted from one generation to another" (Newbigin 1984, 5); "the more or less integrated systems of learned ideas, feelings, and values encoded in patterns of behavior, signs and products created and shared by a community of people (Hiebert and Cox 2004). [8]

[edit] D

deputation. Commonly refers to the prayer and financial support rallying that career and short-term missionaries do before leaving for the field and during furloughs.

development. A process enabling a community to provide for its own needs, beyond former levels, with dignity and justice. This word has been abused in the context of colonialism, and many people think of development as: "We'll give you this money, if you throw away your ancient culture and become Westerners."

dependency. Most often used to describe those in society who are unable to care for themselves. That includes small children, handicapped people (both mentally and physically), the elderly, etc. As used in these lessons, however, it refers to those who allow someone else to carry them along financially and, sometimes, administratively.

discipleship Teaching believers to follow and obey Christ, and to teach others to do the same, and holding them accountable to do so.

[edit] E

ethnicity. The characteristics of a given ethnic or people group.

ethnocentrism. Seeing the world through the lenses of your own people or culture such that your culture always looks best and becomes the pattern everyone else should fit into. Sometimes what we think of as the Gospel truth is merely the Gospel contextualized into our culture. By no means is ethnocentrism restricted to the majority culture in a country, but it is a nearly universal tendency among humans.

evangelization.

expansion growth.

expatriate. Someone who has left his or her home country to live and work in another country. When we visit another country, we call ourselves expatriates or expats for short.

extension growth.

[edit] F

frontier. Pertaining to unreached areas or peoples.

[edit] G

great commission. Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus' final instructions to his followers to go everywhere to make disciples among every people.

[edit] H

house churches. small bodies of approximately 10-30 believers meeting in homes or storefronts, which (unlike cell groups) are generally not organized under a single authority or hierarchy of authorities.

[edit] I

incarnational ministry. The Gospel embodied in real people, not just theory. God became human; He did not drop a message from the sky. In the same way, we identify with the people of a given culture, modelling the incarnation of Jesus - humility, learner attitude, acceptance, compassion, sevanthood, sacrifice and suffering - in order to understand, appreciate and communicate.

indigenous organization. (Characterized by self-leadership, self-funding and self-propagation and self-theologizing.) An organization is indigenous when positive elements of its culture are used to determine its nature.

international. What we call a national when he or she comes to our country.

[edit] M

MAWL. Model, Assist, Watch and Leave. The rhythm of implementing church planting that contributes to a Church Planting Movement as a missionary models a CPM, assists the new believers in planting CPM-oriented churches, watches to see that they and the churches are reproducing and then leaves in order to begin a new MAWL cycle.

missiology. The area of practical theology which investigates the mandate, message and work of the Christian missionary.

mission agency. A Christian organization helping to further God's work in the world. "Mission board" and "sending agency" are virtually the same thing.

mission.

missionary method. Analysis of and identification with the host culture (including language acquisition) plus communication of the Gospel, in a way that challenges individuals to commitment.

missionary. One who is sent with a message. The Christian missionary is one commissioned by a local church to evangelize, plant churches and disciple people away from his home area, often among people of a different race, culture or language.

MK. Missionary Kid, a child of missionary parents. MKs often face their own issues both on the field and upon re-entry into their home culture.

mobilization. Activities that increase the church's awareness of missions in general.

modality. An individual organization which has an additional commitment requirement (e.g. a mission agency).

multiplicative growth. extraordinary growth characterized by each part multiplying itself. Thus two may become four, and four may become eight to 10, etc., in multiplicative growth. This contrasts with incremental growth.

[edit] N

nation. A Nation is a distinct group of people, usually demarcated by a common language, religion or culture.

national. Any person who is from the country to which you are going. The nationals on your short-term mission trip are those who call the country you visit their home. The national leaders are local people who are leading the church or mission. A national church is one that is led by national leaders.

nationalism. Nationalism is 1.the belief in the extension of the boundaries of the nation from soft lines (cultural) to physical lines (geographical). Example: In the United States, the push to designate English as the official language across the entire physical territory of the State. 2.The process of imagining a nation into existence. Example: In Indonesia, hundreds of distinct ethnic groups view themselves as Indonesians, a relatively new entity.

NGO. Non-governmental organization, typically a charitable organization. This is the general worldwide secular term for groups like World Vision.

Non-residential missionary. Is a missionary who is a full member of a field of service, but lives for varions reasons in another country. See also NRM.

NRM. Non-residential missionary, or a missionary who for various reasons does not live among his or her focus people.

[edit] P

para-church. Refers to a Christian organization independent of any church denominational structures, assuming that the denominational strcuture is normative.

people group. A significantly large sociological grouping of individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity with one another. From the viewpoint of evangelization, this is the largest possible group within which the gospel can be spread without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.

population. Population is the total number of people of a region, country, city, province, etc.

POUCH churches. a method of church planting describing churches that are characterized by the following: participative Bible study and worship groups, obedience to God’s word, development of unpaid and multiple lay or bivocational church leaders and meeting in cell or house churches.

praying through the window. Prayer initiatives developed for the purpose of worldwide focused prayer for the countries and peoples in the 10/40 Window (see below).

pre-evangelism. Creating a general awareness of Christ, Christianity and the Gospel.

[edit] R

re-entry. A process of cultural re-adjustment for missionaries returning to their home countries, often characterized by a catatonic state induced by large grocery stores and shopping malls.

reached people. Individuals who have had an adequate opportunity to hear the gospel and to respond to it (whether or not they have), and also to contact a church of their own culture and to meet and join in fellowship with other believers.

recruitment. Persuading believers to bcome directly active in the work of mission, most especially on the field.

relief. The urgent provision of resources to reduce suffering resulting from a natural or man-made disaster.

religion. an explanation of existence based on supernatural assumptions and including statements about the nature of the supernatural and about ultimate meaning.

[edit] S

sodality.

strategy coordinator. a missionary who takes responsibility for developing a comprehensive plan aimed at initiating and nurturing a Church Planting Movement among an unreached people group or population segment. Grew out of the concept of a Non-Residential Missionary or NRM.

support. The finances and prayer you will need to ask others to give for your mission trip. A supporter is one who gives and prays. A support team is the group of people who supports you. They may or may not know each other.

syncretism. Fusion of differing systems of belief, such as mixing Christianity with heresy (e.g., Aaron and the Israelites worshipping the golden calf).

[edit] T

tentmaker. A cross-cultural witness who works at a paying, usually secular, job overseas. Often they are able to gain entry into "closed" countries which restrict traditional mission efforts.

term. Can refer to the length of a missionary's time commitment to a mission organization. Many career missionaries serve successive terms of two to five years. Often they spend a period of months in their home countries between terms, usually called a furlough. A short-term can be as short as two weeks or as long as three years.

TESL (or sometimes TESOL). Teaching English as a Second Language.

the field. Short for the mission field. A field is anywhere that missionaries do their work. Regrettably, field sounds like it's out in the country or on a farm. Most mission situations are not farms, and are usually urbanized to some extent. A field director is one who oversees those who are working together in a particular country, people group, or location.

third world. Developing nations not politically aligned with either the Western (Capitalist) world (the First World) or the Communist/Marxist-related world (the Second World). The term is purely chronological (like "third child") and has never carried connotations of inferiority (as "third-rate" does). It is the standard term to use for the nonaligned world and should be used instead of popularized alternatives like "Two-Thirds World", a non-comparative term based only on population size.

totalitarianism. A special version of authoritarian control - political or cultural - that invades the individual's private sphere in all aspects of life, and operates by the willing participation of the people in their own oppression. Totalitarianism is often confused with regular tyranny, and shouldn't be: totalitarianism is far more rational, systematic, and invisible than little-fish dictators. Along these lines, totalitarianism could only emerge in the twentieth century, thanks to information technology. There were three in the past hundred years: Stalin's Soviet Union, Hitler's Third Reich, and Mao's People's Republic. Many thinkers see today's global economy and entertainment-based soothing of outrage as the foundations of the next totalitarian system, McWorld.

[edit] U

unfinished task. The remaining task of evangelization, as the task of the Christian church on Earth, viewed as the church's responsibility within God's plan for the world; usually viewed as completing the fulfillment of Christ's Great Commission.

unimax people. The maximum size of people group in which the gospel can spread before encountering barriers.

unreached people. Individuals who have, or have had, no adequate opportunity to hear the gospel, or to respond to it, or to meet and have fellowship with other believers.

[edit] V

visa. A document that gives you written permission to travel in someone else's country. Not the same as a passport.

[edit] W

world religion. One of the four (4) largest universal religions each with over 300 million followers (5% of world population): Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism.

[edit] X

xenophobia. Fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.