PneumaReview.com: You have been in ministry for many years, please tell our readers a little bit about the different kinds of ministries that you have been involved in.

Dr. Ian R. Hall: For 17 years I was a pastor and evangelist first with the Church of the Nazarene and then with the Elim Pentecostal Church, UK. Also, served as an adjunct faculty member at Elim Bible College, UK. In 1978, together with my wife and son, I emigrated to the USA where I served for 11 years as an Associate Professor at North Central Bible College (NCU), Minneapolis, MN.

Ian and Sheila Hall

In 1988, my wife and I were appointed by Assemblies of God World Missions as Missionary Evangelists to Europe, becoming resident missionaries in Romania. In 1996, I was appointed the first President of Elim Evangelical Theological Seminary, Timisoara, until June 2004 when it was handed over to Romanian leadership. I then served of the faculty of Eastern European Bible College, Oradea, until 2010, when I was transferred to Special Assignment with AGWM, taking us to Africa, India, the Republic of Georgia and back to Europe.

PneumaReview.com: In this interview we would especially like to speak with you about your book Times of Renewal: A History and Theology of Revival and Spiritual Awakenings. When did you become interested in revivals and awakenings?

Ian Hall: When I met Duncan Campbell in Sheffield, UK, in 1959. This gave me a great hunger for revival and to experience it.

PneumaReview.com: The text covers a very long period of human history. About how long did it take you to research and write the book?

Ian Hall: For more than 40 years of research, teaching on revival and experiencing revival.

PneumaReview.com: Times of Renewal is also very global in scope. In addition to the United States, please tell our readers some of the other countries whose revivals you have included in the book?

Ian Hall: Biblical Revivals in the Old Testament affected the whole of the Middle East, subsequent Revivals embraced much of Europe and North Africa, leading to more Evangelical Awakenings that have included the majority of the countries of the world.

PneumaReview.com: In your research what are some of the key things you have found that have occurred before revival or awakening takes place?

Ian Hall: A deep hunger for God, resulting in praying through to God which prompted greater faith in God, obedience to his word and humility and confession before God.

PneumaReview.com: What characteristics do revivals share in common?

Ian Hall: A strong sense of God’s presence and repentance from former disobedience.

PneumaReview.com: What differences might they have?

Ian Hall: Some revivals began with the leadership of the churches and others began with individuals being awakened to their spiritual plight and to God’s presence which often led to intense prayer.

PneumaReview.com: Is there a particular revival that you find to be especially interesting?

Ian Hall: Every revival is fascinating to me. It is my passion, especially having been involved in revivals in England, Germany and Romania.

PneumaReview.com: What would you say to someone who does not see the value of studying past revivals?

Ian Hall: As an avid student of History, I find past revivals inspiring and encouraging for praying through for future revivals. Do it again Lord!

PneumaReview.com: The original English text of your book was published in Romania. Are there plans for the book to be published in the United States in the near future?

Response from G. Paul Hendrickson:

The Second Edition will be published in the U.S. by Encourage Publishing. We don’t have a date for availability yet (and the U.S. publishing / printing world is running slow these days), but all is moving forward toward having the Second Edition available in the next couple months.

Update from Encourage Publishing:

The Second Edition of Times of Renewal: A History and Theology of Revival and Spiritual Awakenings will be available on August 10, 2024.

Pre-order Times of Renewal from these booksellers:

Christianbook: https://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1234738&item_no=166210

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4dohtLt

Are you comfortable or are you ready to give up everything to make Jesus more real to people that desperately need him? Pioneer missionary Griffith John wrote A Voice in the Darkness over 100 years ago, but the challenge he wrote about laying down our lives for the kingdom of God is both timely and powerful.

“He saved others; Himself He cannot save.” Matthew 27:42

What did these men mean to express by this taunt? Did they mean to express a disbelief in the reality of our Lord’s miracles? “He professed to save others; but we have found Him out at last.”

“We know now that it was all sham, all pretension. He cannot save Himself! How could He save others?” Or is there here an admission of the fact that our Lord did save others, and a faint hope expressed that He might come down from the cross and prove Himself to be the very Christ? Did they imagine that, by taunting Him in this way, He might be induced to give this proof of His Messiahship? “He has certainly saved others. Why does He not save Himself? Let Him do so now, and all our doubts will be removed. We will crown Him king, and follow Him wheresoever He may lead.” Whatever their thoughts may have been, we know that our Lord did not gratify their vain curiosity.

In this taunt there is a great truth expressed. It is true that He saved others; it is true also that He could not save Himself. But there is another truth, and this other truth was hidden from their eyes. Why could He not save Himself? The reason was not obvious to them but it is perfectly clear to us. He could not save Himself because He would save others. To deliver others He must surrender Himself; to save others He must sacrifice Himself.

It must be one or the other. He could not do both—save others and save Himself also. And what is true of the Master is true of the disciple. We, the disciples of Jesus Christ, can be saviours to men only in so far as we are willing and ready to sacrifice ourselves on their behalf. Let us then spend a little time in devout meditation on this great truth.

“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” That is God’s voice to us, and it rests with ourselves as to whether we will respond to the Divine voice or not. But the moment we do respond and say, “Here am I, send me,” that very moment our life must become a life of service and self-sacrifice. Let me give you two or three examples as illustrations of this great truth.

There is Moses in the Old Testament. When the time had come to deliver Israel from the bondage of Egypt, God’s voice came to Moses, saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”

It was optional with Moses to go or stay. But the moment he resolved to obey the Divine voice, that very moment his life became a life of service and sacrifice. Having said yes, it was not optional with him as to whether his life should be a life of self-indulgence or self-abnegation. His magnificent position in Egypt had to be renounced; his brilliant prospects of future aggrandisement had to be abandoned; his dire conflict with Pharaoh, and his forty years of suffering with and for his people in that terrible wilderness, followed as a matter of course. He lived for his people, sacrificed everything for his people, and was prepared to die for them at any moment. We know the result. Israel was saved, and God’s purposes were fulfilled. Moses saved others, himself he could not save.

There is Paul in the New Testament. When the time had come to make known to the Gentiles God’s redemptive purposes, a fit agent was needed, and God’s voice came to Paul, saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” It rested with Paul to decide as to whether he would or would not respond to the Divine voice; but having responded, it did not rest with him as to whether his life should or should not be a life of service and sacrifice. The moment he said, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” that moment his life became a life of self-renunciation and suffering. The hunger, the thirst, the fastings, the toil, the stripes, the imprisonments, the anxieties for the churches, and finally his martyrdom followed as a matter of course.

We know the result. The Gospel was preached to the Gentiles, many churches were established in the Roman Empire, and multitudes of men were saved. Paul saved others, himself he could not save.

This excerpt is a chapter from Griffith John, A Voice in the Darkness: Lessons from 60 Years in Ancient China (Underground Publishing, 2023).

David Livingstone saved others; himself he could not save.

And there is Jesus Himself. The time had come for the full manifestation of God’s redemptive purpose. The time had come “to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness.” The voice of God is heard, saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” It rested entirely with the Eternal Son of God as to whether He would respond to that voice. There was no power in the universe to compel Him to leave heaven and come down to this earth to suffer and die. But the moment He did respond, the life of sorrow and suffering, Gethsemane, and the
cross, became inevitable. The life of the world depended upon that great sacrifice. Of Jesus it may be said emphatically, He saved others; Himself He could not save.

Let us now look at this great truth as an all-pervading, all-embracing law.

As a law it pervades the whole of Nature. In Nature, receiving there always means giving here; life there means death here. The animal kingdom lives on the vegetable, and the vegetable lives on the mineral. The mineral must die to itself in order to build up the vegetable, and the vegetable must die to itself in order to build up the animal. The development of vegetable life depends upon the concurrence of certain agents, such as heat, air, moisture, light, and soil. All these must die to themselves if the tree or the plant is to live and grow.

In Nature there must be giving wherever there is receiving; this must be sacrificed if that is to be realised. It is the law of natural instinct. No sooner is the child born than natural instinct steps in, and imposes this law of self-sacrifice on the mother. From this moment, her life becomes a life of holy ministration, wherein, for the sake of the child, she cannot save herself. It is the law of family, social, and political life.

Would you be a father or a son worthy of the name? Would you be a mother or a daughter worthy of the name? Would you be a husband or a wife worthy of the name? Would you be a brother or a sister worthy of the name? Would you be a neighbour worthy of the name? Would you be a statesman worthy of the name? If you would, you must come under this law as the law of your life. It is the law of philanthropy.

A true philanthropist, a lover of mankind, is a man who cannot save himself, because he will save others. Such was Paul, such was Howard, such was Livingstone, and such have been many more whose names I might mention. It is the law of the Divine life.

Let us not fall into the delusion of supposing that, because God is omnipotent, the forth-putting of His power costs Him nothing. This is a very common supposition, but nothing can be more erroneous. Even of God Almighty it is absolutely true that He cannot save Himself. He is ever saving others; Himself He cannot save.

It is the law of the Christian life. Service, rising up to self-sacrifice for the good of men, is the ideal Christian life. Every true Christian is a priest, not merely because he stands before God alone, without the intervention of a human mediator to intercede for him, not merely because he offers to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise in daily adoration, but because his life is a life of priestly ministration for others, and that in sacrifices wherein, for the sake of others, he cannot save himself. He presents himself daily to God, on behalf of humanity, in sacrifices which save men from sin and misery. Such is the priesthood of the New Testament and such is the ideal Christian life.

Can you imagine a higher life than this? Can you imagine anything more God-like? It is the Christ-life. It is the noblest life possible to man.

It is emphatically the missionary’s true life. It was the life of Henry Martyn. “Now,” said Henry Martyn, as he set out for India, “let my life burn out for God.” And it did burn out for God. There you have the true missionary.

It was the life of William Johnson, of West Africa. “Had I ten thousand lives,” said William Johnson, “I would willingly offer them up for the sake of one poor African.” There you have the true missionary.

It was the life of Dober. “I determined,” said Dober, the Moravian, “if only one brother would go with me to the West Indies, I would give myself to be a slave, and would tell the slaves as much of the Saviour as I know myself.” There you have the true missionary.

It was the life of Francis Xavier. “Care not for me,” said Xavier; “think of me as dead to bodily comforts. My food, my rest, and my life are to rescue from the granary of Satan the souls for whom God has sent me hither from the ends of the earth. They will destroy me by poison, you say. It is an honour to which a sinner such as I am may not aspire. But this I dare to say, that whatsoever form of torture or death awaits me, I am ready to suffer it ten thousand times for a single soul.” There you have the true missionary.

This, then, is the missionary’s true life. A self-seeking, self-centred, self-indulgent missionary is a pitiable object to behold. He may call himself a missionary, the directors of his society may put him down as one of their missionaries, and speak of him as our able missionary, our highly valued missionary, our well-known missionary, and so on and so on, but in God’s sight he is a contemptible hireling.

Every missionary ought to be a self-sacrificing man, and every missionary worthy of the name is a self-sacrificing man. Still, the true missionary will not look upon himself as a self-sacrificing man, neither will he speak of his work, and the trials in connection with it, as if he looked upon God as his debtor. His sense of indebtedness to his God and Saviour will make it impossible for him to do that. “Can that be called a sacrifice,” asked Dr. Livingstone, “ which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to God which we can never repay? Say, rather it is a privilege.”

Then the missionary finds that his best work is very poor and imperfect, and that, try as he will, he can never come up to his own ideal. “My doings! my doings!” said John Elliot, the apostle of the Indians, “they have been poor and lean doings. Oh, child of the dust, lie low; it is Christ that hath triumphed.”

Such is the Christian’s true life. Such emphatically is the missionary’s true life. But how far is this life from being fully realised by Christians generally? How far from being fully realised by ministers at home and missionaries abroad? How far from being fully realised by any one of us? Some of us may have lofty ideals as to what we should be in this respect; but is there one among us who has realised his ideal?

Some will sacrifice much in one direction, but not in another. They will sacrifice in the line of their liking. But can that be called a sacrifice which a man does in the line of his liking? Ask them to step out of that line, and you will find that the idea of the Cross has never entered into their conception of the Christian life. For instance, some will talk much and talk eloquently, but are slow to do. They are born preachers, and their Christian life begins and ends in telling others what to do.

We must be prepared to sacrifice in all directions. The element of self-pleasing must be cast out, and the will of God must become to us the one law of our being. What some seek in the Christian life is the salvation of their own souls. This is a worthy aim.

PR

This excerpt is a chapter from Griffith John, A Voice in the Darkness: Lessons from 60 Years in Ancient China (Underground Publishing, 2023). Used with permission.

For more about Underground Publishing, read the PneumaReview.com interview with Bethany Hope about rediscovering the writings of missionaries and Christian pioneers.

Robert Banks’ ministry experience includes being a professor and an author, he has also lectured at seminaries in various Asian countries (biographical information on the back cover). This book is Volume 3 in the APTS Press Occasional Papers Series (page v). The text is an expanded development of the lectures that the author gave when he presented the William Menzies Annual Lectures at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in 2021 (page vii). In writing this current volume Banks drew from some of his earlier writings and research (page vii-viii).

As the title of the book indicates its focus is the apostle Paul, in particular, the versatility of the apostle is noted. After the front matter, which includes the Publisher’s Preface, Acknowledgements, a brief entry titled “Paul’s Versatility” by James Stalker D. D., and an Introduction (“Specialist or Generalist?”), the book is composed of 3 parts and a conclusion. Part 1 (pages 5-37) focuses on Paul as an “Artisan Missioner,” Part 2 (pages 39-72) looks at Paul as a “Community Developer.” Part 3 (pages 73-102) is given to a consideration of Paul as a “Pastoral Educator.” Each of these parts is composed of two chapters, the book closes with the Conclusion (pages 103-108).

Part 1, “Artisan Missioner,” consists of Chapters 1 and 2. In these chapters Banks gives attention to what Paul is perhaps best known for: his missionary activities. In Chapter 1, “Cross-Cultural Innovator,” the author writes about the apostle’s efforts to take the gospel to others, to those who had not previously heard, including the Gentiles (pages 11, 7-9). As he pursued this ministry Paul traveled long distances (pages 8-9). Banks points out that Paul’s life and experiences uniquely qualified him for working with different kinds of people (pages 12-13). While he engaged in his Christian ministry, he was not a full-time missionary in our contemporary understanding of the term (page 10). The apostle was not content to just evangelize, Banks notes that he also labored to establish communities of faith, churches (page 9). He gives some attention to Paul’s evangelistic strategy (pages 15-17). The key text for this is Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (page 15). It is clear from this passage that the apostle could be versatile, or flexible, as he sought to lead people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Chapter 1 also includes brief sections on Paul’s pastoral approach (pages 17-18) and personal practice (pages 18-19).

In Chapter 2, “Flexible Response Planner,” the author gives attention to some of the guidance that the apostle received and how he responded to it. He notes that while the Holy Spirit was involved, some of Paul’s movements seem to have been influenced by circumstances and personal relationships (pages 24-27). In this regard too we see that Paul could be flexible.

Chapter 4, “Distinctive Lifestyle Exemplar,” gives attention to Paul’s dual citizenship, his citizenship on earth and in heaven (pages 55-58). It also takes a look at the apostle’s approach to making decisions about how believers should conduct themselves in this world when confronted with various issues (pages 60-62). Banks, referencing Longenecker, notes that Paul considered some issues “vital” in which case all believers should take one course of action, while others were less critical and offered some measure of freedom so that a believer could take one course of action or another (page 61).

Part 3 looks at Paul as a “Pastoral Educator.” This section is also made up of two chapters, Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 focuses on the apostle as a “Life-Shaped Theologian” (pages 75-89). This chapter basically explores the question of whether theology shapes experience or experience shapes theology (page 75). In the course of the chapter Banks points out that Paul’s experiences had a significant impact on his beliefs.

Chapter 6 gives attention to Paul as a “Learning-Oriented Teacher.” Banks notes that Paul saw a number of different venues as places for teaching and learning, he writes “For Paul, teaching and learning takes place in lecture halls and house churches, in city centers and on road trips, in workplaces and local homes” (page 92). He further notes that this learning can take place in a variety of ways, these include: stories and ideas, conversations and instruction, experience and knowledge, emotions and thoughts, imagination and information, and practice and reflection (pages 92-101).

I think there are two things that are of special note in this book. First, the author’s description of a first-century Christian worship service (page 41). In reading this the contemporary believer can easily see that there is a marked difference between what many of us experience as church today and what the apostolic churches experienced. Second, I found interesting what the author brought out about the complexities of Paul and how he navigated his Christian life and ministry. Paul was both principled and flexible and knew which matters were negotiable and which were not. He was a master at contextualization. The book truly lives up to its title, it is about The Versatility of Paul. I think that serious readers of Scripture will find much to ponder in this volume.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

USA Publisher page: https://wipfandstock.com/9781666773774/versatility-of-paul/

For a sample chapter, go to: https://www.aptspress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Free-Sample-The-Versatality-of-Paul-2.pdf

PneumaReview.com: Underground Publishing House is a new book label, please tell our readers when and where it started.

Bethany Hope: At the end of 2022, we were doing some speaking engagements in the UK with our ministry, Back to Jerusalem—a ministry which works with the underground house church of China to take the Gospel to the nations between China and Jerusalem. The first leg of our tour was in Wales. Standing at the book table, we were approached by someone who asked us if we knew the name Griffith John. Somehow, we did not. We went away and began looking into him, eventually realising he was a key pioneer of protestant missions to China more than 100 years ago.

As we began to read his writings, we were so profoundly moved and inspired that we felt it imperative to share the writings with as many people as possible. Thus, Underground Publishing House was born.

PneumaReview.com: The company website says that it is involved in “Publishing books with a Buried Legacy.” Please tell us a little bit about what that phrase means.

Bethany Hope: There is so much Christian literature published today, perhaps more now than at any other time in history. It is easy to think that we exist independent of church history before us and that all that matters is here and now. The truth is, we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. This is especially true for us with our work in China. The successes we see and experience today are the result of the sacrifices and endurance of the missionaries who went before us and laid the foundations that we today now build on. Unfortunately, so many of these people have been forgotten to history.

There are countless buried legacies lost in the passing of time, and we feel that the Church today would be spiritually richer in every sense if we took heed of the lessons these buried voices have to share.

PneumaReview.com: How, or where, are the buried legacy books that are published discovered?

Bethany Hope: The great benefit we have of taking up this vision to rediscover buried legacy in 2023, is the wealth of information available to us through the internet. The books we are looking for are usually found in faded, skewed scans uploaded online by small libraries. Our small team researches for hours, often hitting dead ends, until suddenly we stumble upon gold. Then we work on transcribing these scans and making any necessary edits to enable to work to be as accessible to a 2023 reader as possible. We also visit archives and libraries around the world, which are often treasure troves for these books.

PneumaReview.com: The first two books that Underground Publishing House released were about missionaries to China. Please tell us briefly about those two books.

Bethany Hope: Our first book was A Voice in the Darkness: Lessons from 60 Years in Ancient China by Griffith John. The book was written in the early 1900’s when China was first opening up to the foreign missionary. The Boxer Rebellion shook the foundation of China just before this book was written and led to the single largest slaughter of missionaries in the history of Christianity.

Against the backdrop of fear and death, Griffith John, the dedicated missionary from Wales, did not flee. Instead he planted his feet in the heart of the enemy’s territory and refused to leave. God flung the doors of China wide open; missionaries came flooding in, Bibles were printed and distributed throughout the nation, the Gospel message was preached, and the Chinese came running to Christ.

Our second release was The Lame Shall Take the Prey: How a One-Legged Missionary Transformed China. George Stott was not the missionary society’s first choice; at nineteen his leg was amputated and he went through life with a wooden leg. In the mid-1800s, traveling through China with only one leg was just shy of impossible. When Hudson Taylor asked Stott why he was going to China, he confidently replied, “I do not see those with two legs going, so I must.”

Rejected, attacked, persecuted, chased, stoned, and at one point even accused of cutting the hearts and liver from small Chinese children to grind up into medicine, George and Grace Stott did not stop preaching the Gospel. George, the one-legged Scotsman, limped from village to village preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. In his own words: “the lame shall take the prey.”

PneumaReview.com: Will all of the books that are published be focused on missionaries to China?

Bethany Hope: Though our first two releases were about missionaries to China, this will not be a pattern followed by all our releases. Our focus is missionaries who went out to the nations between China and Jerusalem—considered to be the most unreached area of the world.

PneumaReview.com: Can you tell us about some of the books that will be forthcoming from Underground Publishing House?

Bethany Hope: We have 2 more exciting releases for the end of 2023. The first called The Terrible Red Dwarf. Tracts looked very different a hundred years ago on the mission field than we might imagine today. It was common for missionaries to write and publish fable-like stories with moral messages embedded that lined up with Christian principles, detailed with amazing illustrations. These were not just written for children, but the general population. The Terrible Red Dwarf is a story which shares the danger of our words and the importance of guarding our tongue. This will be available October 31st.

Image: Robert Morrison by John Richard Wildman. WikiMedia Commons.

The final release of the year is our biggest project yet. Many have never come across the name Robert Morrison, yet if you have any interest in China or missions, he should be a name we all know. Robert Morrison was the first Protestant missionary to China and the first to produce a fully translated Bible in the Chinese language. Amazingly, there is almost nothing written about him! We have written down his story, from the miraculous way the first Chinese Bible translation came to be in the face of immense adversity and the sacrifices it required of Morrison. This book honours a man who gave so much for the Chinese to have access to the Word of God. Bury Me in China will be released November 16th.

PneumaReview.com: Is there a particular audience that you are trying to reach with the books that you publish? What do you hope the books that you release will accomplish?

Bethany Hope: Our aim is that these books end up in the hands of as many people as possible. For those interested in missions, these books have an obvious attraction and will provide much encouragement and inspiration when we see how God has moved through missionaries throughout history. However, these books also provide lessons with much spiritual richness for any believer seeking to strengthen their faith.

PneumaReview.com: Where can people purchase Underground Publishing House books, and where can they learn more about your publishing house?

Bethany Hope: You can visit our website at www.undergroundpublishing.co.uk

If you would rather purchase the hard copy version of the books, you can find all of our releases on Amazon where you can purchase a print version.

PneumaReview.com speaks with Dave Johnson about the publication of his book, Answering God’s Call: Reflections of a Veteran Missionary in Asia.

Pneuma Review: Please tell our readers how you came to understand that the Lord was calling you into missions.

Dave Johnson: I was in the Navy when God called me to the ministry. When I got out of the Navy, I went to Bible College to prepare for that calling, although I did not know at the beginning the kind of ministry to which God was calling me. In my senior year, God spoke to me about becoming a missionary, but he first directed me to further education.

Pneuma Review: What advice would you give to a person who thinks that they may be called to missions?

Dave Johnson, Answering God’s Call: Reflections of a Veteran Missionary in Asia (APTS Press, 2021).

Dave Johnson: They should be sure of their calling, grow in their spiritual disciplines and in their walk with God, gain some ministry experience at home first and then pursue their calling without fear.

Pneuma Review: Once it has been determined that an individual is called what should they do in order to prepare for the field?

Dave Johnson: This depends on the person and the ministry to which they feel called. They should certainly gain some ministry experience here and formal training is usually a good idea. They should also talk with their pastor and contact the leadership of the mission they wish to join to see what their requirements and advice would be.

Pneuma Review: What are some of the challenges that a missionary can expect to encounter on the mission field?

Dave Johnson: Probably the greatest challenge is to die to ourselves. We must die to our desires, our dreams, as well as the prejudices and the narcissism of our age that have so greatly impacted the Church. Missions is not about me or my own fulfillment. It’s about loving God and responding to his dreams for our lives. After 29 years in missions, this remains my greatest challenge.

Pneuma Review: Give us an example of how you dealt with one of these challenges.

Dave Johnson: I’ll tackle language and cultural adjustment here. My approach was to immerse myself in the language and culture from the very beginning. I was single at the time and took the opportunity to live with a Filipino family. They were very Filipino about their approach to life and this presented me with the opportunity to experience life through their eyes from the very beginning. While the adults normally preferred to speak to me in English, much to my dismay, the children were happy to converse in Tagalog. Since my fluency level was much lower than theirs, I had to become like a child again in learning the language and culture. It was a humbling but ultimately a very rewarding experience. On any given day, living in another culture could be very rewarding or very frustrating. It was often both on the same day!

Pneuma Review: Have you ever doubted your missionary call? If you have, how did you get past that doubt?

Dave Johnson: In the years following seminary I followed the Lord’s leading and engaged in evangelistic work, which included short term missionary trips. Since the door to full time missions wasn’t opening as I had hoped, I went through a period of doubt that I called “The valley of the death of the vision.” After a few years, however, the Lord resurrected my vision and sent me forward into missions.

Pneuma Review: How important is self-care for the missionary?

Dave Johnson: It is critical. Missionaries should always take the long view of their missions calling. Leading a balanced life and making time for intimacy with Christ and with time with our spouse and children, as well as time for ourselves, is important to remaining on the field long-term. We need margin in our lives because we are human. God never intended that we work all the time.

Pneuma Review: Missionary work is not “one size fits all.” You have served in a number of different ministries. Please tell our readers about them.

Dave Johnson: I arrived in the Philippines in 1994. After taking a year for language learning and cultural adjustment, I reengaged my calling as an evangelist and began traveling to many parts of the Philippines, along with an assistant, to conduct Good News Rallies for existing churches and new church plants. At first, I based in Manila. After Debbie and I married and she had completed language studies, we ultimately moved to the Legazpi City area, about 350 south of Manila, and continued evangelistic ministry, although we restricted ourselves to southern Luzon and engaged in working in a Bible school to honor Debbie’s calling and gifting in teaching. We remained in the area for 13 years.

In 2012, I was invited to become the managing editor of the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, the official publication of the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (APTS), the Assemblies of God school for higher theological education in the Asia Pacific, which is located in Baguio City, Philippines. At first, these positions were part-time, but in 2013, the Lord lead us to terminate our ministry in Legaspi and move to APTS and become part of the full time faculty.

In addition to all of these roles over the years, I tried to support Debbie in the various roles that she undertook.

Pneuma Review: You are currently involved in publishing with Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press. Tell us a little about the purpose, or focus, of the books that you publish.

Dave Johnson: The purpose of both the Press and the Journal is to deal with theological, missiological and ecclesiastical issues that pastors, theologians and churches deal with in Asia. Due to the different cultures and the strong presence of other global and local religions, the issues faced in Asia are substantially different than those in the West. This means that books and journals from western authors often do not address the real and felt needs of Asians. We seek to fill that lacuna.

Pneuma Review: Where can people purchase your book Answering God’s Call and the books published by Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press?

Dave Johnson: All of our books and Journal editions are available at www.aptspress.org. We also license most of books to Wipf & Stock and can be accessed at www.wipfandstock.org. They can also be read for free at Open Access Digital Theological Library, www.oadtl.org. The books can also be purchased directly through www.amazon.com and www.kobo.com.

PR

Notes

[1] Editor’s note: Led By the Spirit is being published serially in Pneuma Review. Read the first chapter. Read Malcom Brubaker’s review of Led By the Spirit.

Both of the authors of this book are Pentecostals with extensive experience in international ministry. As the subtitle clearly indicates, this is a book about missions. Specifically, it is about “the organizing of a mission agency” (page xv). In view of this some readers might think that this book is for a specialized audience. In one sense they are right; I understand how someone might come to that conclusion. But, in view of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) I think missions ought to be of major interest to all believers. It is true that some individuals will be more involved in the day to day “nuts and bolts” operation of the missions structures of churches and denominations; but all Christians should be missions-minded. One point the authors make in the introduction of the book is that all of the churches that the apostle Paul and his coworkers planted did become missions-minded (page 1). The Great Commission is still not complete. If it is going to be completed shouldn’t every church be like the missions-minded churches that Paul and his companions planted?

The book consists of a few pages of endorsements, a foreword, a preface, an introduction, and eight chapters. In the course of the chapters the authors cover a variety of subjects. The following are some of the chapter titles: What is Needed to Start a Missions Program,” “Missions Structure,” and “Key People on the Normal Missions Team.” The authors also address matters related to decision making and finances. The book also helps address issues related to the roles of the local church, the larger missions organization (if there is one), the missionaries, and the church or missions leaders in the receiving country.

As these four structures are adopted and put in place it will not result in a “one size fits all” program for every organization. The authors point out that different groups use different models. In chapter four they mention three, these are: “The Networking Model,” “The Cooperation Model,” and “The Hierarchical Model” (pages 75-78). As they discuss these models they point out both the strengths and weaknesses of each. For example, one of the strengths of the hierarchical model is that responsibilities and decision-making are clearly understood in the organization, one of its weaknesses is that power can be misused(page 78). The authors also tell the reader which parts of the world tend to use which models. They say “Many Asian, African, and Latin America cultures reflect the hierarchal model” (page 78). I find this interesting because these are the areas of the world that have become “the centre of gravity of Christendom” (page 6). Christianity is experiencing dramatic growth on these continents.

The book also outlines who should be on the missions leadership team and what qualities and experience they should have. The members of the team should include: “The Missions Director,” “Missions Board and Committees,” and the “Director of Missions Training” (pages 81-87). The book also looks at the issue of financing various aspects of the missions task (pages 95-98)

Reviewed by John Lathrop

Publisher’s page: https://wipfandstock.com/9781725269927/to-the-ends-of-the-earth/

Most people associate teaching on the authority of the believer from a charismatic source, usually Kenneth Hagin or Kenneth Copeland. Some evangelicals, such as Hank Hanegraaff and John MacArthur tend to regard exercise of the believer’s authority, especially binding and loosing, as an excessive teaching of the charismatic movement.¹ However, the original source of teaching on this vital doctrine comes not from the charismatic or Pentecostal movements, but from John A. MacMillan, a former Presbyterian layman who became a missionary, writer, editor, and professor, and from and his classic holiness roots in the Higher Life and Keswick movements. My doctoral dissertation presented a case study of the life, ministry, and impact of John MacMillan, particularly as it relates to the authority of the believer and spiritual warfare.² This paper is a distillation of that dissertation.

Introducing John A. MacMillan

John MacMillan (1873-1956) was a Canadian Presbyterian businessman who became actively involved with ministry to Chinese and Jewish people in Toronto.³ At the age of 41 he married Isabel Robson, who had been a missionary to China with China Inland Mission from 1895 to1906 and a personal nurse to J. Hudson Taylor. Ordained in 1923 at the age of 49, MacMillan and his wife went to China as missionaries with The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He then became field director of the floundering C&MA mission work in the Philippines. Following the death of his first wife in 1928, he returned to North America to do pastoral and itinerant ministry. Subsequently, he became Associate Editor of The Alliance Weekly magazine, a member of the Board of Managers of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, and a professor at Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, New York, now known as Nyack College. In 1932 after nine years of many dramatic experiences with spiritual warfare, he wrote a series of articles in The Alliance Weekly, the periodical of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, entitled “The Authority of the Believer.”⁴ Eventually they were published in book form, distributed widely and also republished in other periodicals. MacMillan had a remarkable and extensive ministry in the exercise of the authority of the believer and spiritual warfare spanning more than thirty years.

MacMillan’s Exercise of the Authority of the Believer

John MacMillan’s practice of the authority of the believer began when as a businessman, he was informed that the house next to his house caught on fire. Calmly, “he committed the crisis to God in prayer, claiming divine protection according to Psalm 91:10 that ‘no destruction would befall the house.'” He drove home to find out that the fire had miraculously stopped at a wooden fence that separated the two houses.⁵

MacMillan turned his business over to another man when he left for the mission field, designating a portion of the profits to go to his missionary support, but the man reneged on his contract, failing to forward the funds. Speaking with the believer’s authority, MacMillan prophesied, “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.” Eventually the business went bankrupt. So through MacMillan’s application of the believer’s authority, he was vindicated and the dishonest contract-breakers suffered the judgment of God.⁶

On the mission field in China an Asiatic cholera epidemic threatened the mission. MacMillan again confessed Psalm 91:3, “Surely he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.” He prayed, “May we be enabled to keep the Home ‘in the secret place of the Most High and under the shadow of the Almighty.'” They emerged victorious and received divine protection from the plague. ⁷

MacMillan told of how Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries would claim land from demonic control in China and bind the powers of darkness. On a certain occasion, the missionaries took possession of a piece of land and began moving logs. Evil spirits resisted the takeover by projecting a supernatural voice from a log. The voice in the log threatened, “Don’t you dare move it!” The missionaries were not taken aback, but rebuked the voice. They then removed the log without any further incident and gained the victory over the dark powers.⁸ MacMillan’s most dramatic illustration of exercising the authority of binding and loosing occurred in 1924 when several missionaries were kidnapped. As MacMillan and the remaining missionaries exercised the believer’s authority of binding and loosing, the missionaries were released without harm.⁹

John MacMillan’s exercise of the authority of the believer and engagement with the powers of darkness increased during his ministry in the Philippines. He exercised authority over nature, binding the Enemy as a tree fell toward him and the mission buildings. As a result, the tree fell between the buildings, causing no harm to the buildings or himself. MacMillan perceived in this startling occurrence of divine protection a spiritual message from the Lord, “The way out is blocked—is it not a gracious call to prayer, lest the great adversary block our efforts and shut us up in a small place? We have prayed for the binding of the strongman—we must watch and pray that the strong man does not bind us.”¹⁰ As he took authority over tobacco addictions, many people were set free and in one district in the Philippines, all the believers stopped growing tobacco.¹¹

Another remarkable and dramatic demonstration of MacMillan’s authority as a believer resulted in miraculous healing of his broken leg. Retired pastor Otto Bublat recalls that MacMillan described the incident years later in a class at the Missionary Training Institute: “Once on an emergency mission trip where he was alone on the rainy slippery trail, he slipped and broke his ankle. … His only recourse was the Lord since he was alone and about twenty miles from even a first aid station. In simple faith, he stepped out and began walking those many miles. He got home safely, and shortly thereafter had the ankle X-rayed. There had been a clean break, but it was perfectly healed.”¹²

Dr. Eddie Byun is a man with significant ministry experience. He has served in pastoral ministry in America, Canada, Australia, and South Korea (page 1); he planted churches in two of the countries that I just mentioned. In addition to his pastoral experience, he has taught practical theology at a university. At present, he serves as the missions and teaching pastor of Venture Christian Church in Los Gatos, California.

Many churches and Christian denominations financially support missionaries. This is good and necessary, but missionaries need support in other ways as well. A crucial area in which they need support is prayer. However, in many cases they do not receive proper prayer support. There are a number of possible reasons for this. As the author of this book has pointed out, some people in churches do not know who their missionaries are (page 2). This may be because not enough attention has been focused on the missionaries that the church supports. Or, it may be due to the fact that some church members do not pay attention to the missions material that is available at their church. Another reason why missionaries might not receive proper prayer coverage is that the local church congregation does not see their missionaries on a regular basis, as the author says they are “out of sight, out of mind” (page 2). Still another reason why missionaries may not be adequately prayed for is that people do not know what to pray for them. Praying for Your Missionary supplies a wealth of information about the prayer needs of missionaries. The author has gathered some of this information from his interactions with missionaries (page 4).

The book consists of an introduction, twelve chapters, and an epilogue. At the end of each chapter, there are discussion questions, prayer points, and an action plan, all designed to help the reader interact with the material presented in the chapter. This book can be used for personal study or it could be used for group study. Some of the chapters that are included in the book are: “Pray for More Workers to Finish the Mission,” “Pray for Incarnational Love for the Nations,” Pray for Oneness in the Teams,” and “Pray for Successful Ministry in the Eyes of God.” In the course of these chapters, Byun raises the readers’ awareness of the challenges that missionaries face, things that we might easily overlook. For example, the loneliness that missionaries can experience being in a foreign culture, missing family and friends as well as significant family events, such as birthdays and weddings (page 27). Stress is also a significant challenge for missionaries, many of whom have to deal with safety issues that most of us in the United States do not have to face (pages 26-27). In addition, the author points out that Satan will attack anyone who tries to preach Jesus to people who do not yet know Him (page 47). Missionaries are involved in significant spiritual warfare. As the book points out the challenges and needs of missionaries, prayer points are identified.

In addition to identifying the challenges that missionaries face the book also contains some interesting information about missions. The author, citing a survey done by others, tells us that 47% of missionaries leave the field within their first five years of service (page 29). Byun also informs us that one of the main reasons missionaries leave the field is strained relationships with other members of their team (pages 86, 130). One missionary told the author that he did not realize when he went to the mission field that so many of his relationships would be attacked, but they were, and quite frequently (page 60). I learned about another “window” while reading this book. I had heard of the 10/40 Window, which is the area in which many unreached people groups live. But the author also mentioned the 4/14 Window (pages 13-14). The numbers in this window refer to ages, those between the ages of four years old and fourteen years old (page 14). A study has showed that 85% of adult Christians in the United States came to faith in Jesus between these ages (page 14). Byun feels that it is important to reach people in this age range no matter what country they are in (page 14).

As Western Europeans sailed the seas to trade and settle around the world, how did they carry the mission and message of Jesus with them?

This article is part of The Gospel in History series by Woodrow Walton.
Image: The Books of Kells by way of Wikimedia Commons.

The first long voyages of the Portuguese merchant mariners touched seashores around the world. In their wake came Portuguese Catholic priests to the mission fields of Angola on the western seaboard of Africa, the seashores of Mozambique in southeast Africa, the waters of the Arabian Sea, the southwest coast of India, and on the other side of the world, the Atlantic shoreline of Brazil.

The first long voyages of Spanish galleons left in their wake waters that washed the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean, the western seaboards of Mexico, Central and South America on one side of the world. On the other side, their ships penetrated the Caribbean all the way to the shorelines of eastern Mexico, Texas, and most of northern South America. These became the mission field of Spanish priests when they began arriving. They would soon be matched by French priests debarking from French vessels finding harbor in Mobile Bay and the southeast seaboard of North America.

The Netherlands and the English extended themselves to counter the feats of the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the French. The English had a distinct advantage over the Portuguese and Spanish and to an extent, the Netherlands. This was, in part, because of what happened in the eastern Mediterranean, of all places. In 1517, the Ottoman Turks seized Palestine. The Ottomans allowed other European nations a part of the Palestinian trade. England, under Queen Elizabeth, lobbied for influence at the Ottoman court in Istanbul for the right to bid against Venice and the Venetian merchants. The English were early allies of the Ottoman Turks, as they regarded them as a bulwark against a growing Catholic Hapsburg Empire in Central Europe.

A fluyt.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

Queen Elizabeth had a big part in establishing a joint-stock company. She named it the Levant Company and enabled it to underwrite business in the Ottoman-controlled eastern Mediterranean. The Levant introduced a new, fast-moving cargo ship: the Dutch fluyt. Without going into the details of the exchanges between the English and the eastern Mediterranean merchants, trade included such items as worsted wool and a high-tech fabric called kersey in exchange for raisins, wine, camel hair, and chemicals. What made this side-venture so important that there were among these new fast moving ships, twenty-five which were called The Mayflower. It was one of these Dutch-English cargo ships, docked at Leiden, The Netherlands, probably in transit, which gave shipment and transport to a group of Separatist Christians bound for the shores of North America and which made eventual land-fall at Plymouth. This ship was at the end of its grape-running life, from the shores of what is now Israel. The great European grape rush from the Bethlehem landscape to England and thereabout had a large part in the Christian mission by bringing a unique Christian group of individuals we now called the Pilgrim fathers into the American landscape.

This chapter is an excerpt from David Joannes, The Mind of a Missionary: What Global Kingdom Workers Tell Us About Thriving on Mission Today (Within Reach Global, 2018).
Read the review by John Lathrop

The Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong is one of history’s great anomalies. It was, in fact, a world unto its own.[i] Two governments claimed jurisdiction, but neither actively administered it; anarchy reigned while secret societies presided over the no-man’s land. High-rise apartments situated atop a labyrinth of dark, filthy corridors. A mere six acres sheltered the estimated 33,000 people who resided within the Walled City, swelling the population density to 3.25 million people per square mile.[ii] It was the most densely populated spot in the world. (In contrast, Manhattan has the highest population density of any city in the United States at 27,000 people per square mile.)[iii] Crazy-angled apartment blocks obstructed water pipes; without proper sanitation, excrement had to be emptied into the stinking alleys below. At street level, two toilets served all 33,000 residents. The “toilets” consisted of two overflowing cesspools—one for men and one for women. Damp, narrow alleyways with open drains harbored drug peddlers, addicts, pimps, and prostitutes. Triad gangs operated openly in the favored secret hideout; criminal activity ran rampant. Newcomers were immediately recognized and suspiciously monitored; few outsiders dared venture into the heart of the city of anarchy.

The history of the Walled City traced its roots back to the Song dynasty (960-1279) when the Chinese established an outpost to manage the salt trade. For hundreds of years afterward, little took place at the lonely fort, until 1842, when China ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain by the Treaty of Nanjing. As a result, the Qing Dynasty authorities felt it necessary to bolster the fort, check British influence, and maintain a stronghold opposite the harbor. In 1847, the construction of a formidable defensive wall finalized.

The Qing-era Kowloon Walled City, circa 1868.
Image: Wikimedia Common

The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory of 1898 leased additional portions of Hong Kong (the New Territories) to Britain for ninety-nine years.[iv] The lease excluded the Walled City, which at the time had a population of roughly seven-hundred people. The British government allowed Chinese officials to continue there, given they did not interfere with the defense of British Hong Kong. The Qing dynasty ended its rule in 1912, leaving the Walled City to the British.

In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, refugees fled mainland China, seeking protection in the Chinese territory surrounded by British land. By 1947, two-thousand squatters occupied the Walled City. After a failed attempt to drive them out in 1948, the British adopted a “hands-off” policy in most matters concerning the Walled City. The city was left to its own devices, and to develop, as Governor Sir Alexander Grantham described it, into “a cesspool of iniquity, with heroin divans, brothels, and everything unsavoury.”[v] The Kowloon Walled City began its transformation into the squalid enclave of vice for which it later became notorious.