Abstract:
Complex questions have arisen about how Christian mission agencies function within a
globalised context. The changing context has impacted on how the missio Dei has been worked
out within these agencies and this has had implications of a theological and missiological
nature in particular as to how the agencies have interacted with the church worldwide. This has
lead to new paradigms of how mission is conceptualised. The growth of the church worldwide
in newer soil has forced mission agencies such as the Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA) to reevaluate
their place in the world. It has been assumed that as resources have decreased from
parts of the world where the WGA has had its traditional roots, there are missiological factors
in determining how this impacts on the WGA. There are many missiological implications for
the WGA that come from influences in church history on the importance of the translatability
of the gospel especially in the context of Bible translation. These have impacted the WGA’s
understanding of itself and in particular of how it has interpreted and reinterpreted its Vision
2025. When the missio Dei converges with outcomes of globalisation there are numerous
implications for an agency such as the WGA. Consequently, the article concludes that none of
these matters can be ignored. Instead they must be explored and lessons learnt from them that
can be passed along to others in similar situations.
Description:
Submitted and accepted as
part of the requirements for
the MA (Theology) degree
in September 2012, the
Department of Science of
Religion and Missiology,
Faculty of Theology,
University of Pretoria, under
the guidance of Prof C.J.P.
(Nelus) Niemandt.
