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September 20, 2001
Campinas
Feet-on-the-Ground Missiology
Dear Partners in God’s Mission
Last June at the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) I was commissioned as a mission co-worker. I’ll
be "theological education consultant" for South America.
There was a sense of deja vu as I recalled my first commissioning
service as a Presbyterian missionary in Montreat, North Carolina,
in 1972. My 23 years of mission service (1972 to 1995) flooded
my memory with joy. At the same time, I felt the pain of leaving
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where I have been teaching
mission and evangelism for the past five years.
My work here will be to visit seminaries and networks throughout
South America and to participate in their reflections on theology
and mission. I’ll also gather information about their assets,
programs, and unique contributions, and sometimes I’ll teach
missiology, too. In general, I’ll help the South America
area office and the Office of Global Education discern how our
church can best partner in theological education and reflection
in the South.
What’s "missiology?"
In the words of South African David Bosch, the greatest missiologist
of the 20th century, missiology is biblical-theological reflection
on the "mission enterprise" which scrutinizes "its
foundations, its aims, attitude, message, and methods" and
also interacts with missionary work so that "missiologist,
missionaries, and the people among whom they labor are all partners."
Furthermore, "missiology acts as a gadfly in the house of
theology" and in the church, challenging us to understand
that God is a Missionary God, the Bible is a Missionary document,
and the Church exists to be sent into the world as an agent of
God’s mission" (see Transforming Mission, Orbis:1991,
pp. 496-7).
Ten professors of mission at PC(USA) seminaries wrote a book
recently on our experiences as missionaries and missiologists.
In my essay, I write about what I learned in Brazil about mutuality,
solidarity, and marginality and my call to teach them at Austin
Seminary. (The book is called Teaching Mission in a Global Context
and it’s published by Geneva Press.)
In June I addressed the American Society of Missiology on "The
Quest for Images of Missionaries in a ‘Post-missionary’
Era." I explored the biblical images of missionary as penitent
sinner, beggar, friend, neighbor, follower, disciple, participant-observer,
listener, and learner. Near the end of my lecture I shared that
my new challenge is to embody, to practice, to live into the new
images of the missionary in the "post-missionary" era.
(My talk will be published in the January 2002 issue of Missiology.)
Why "Feet-on-the-Ground"?
The phrase comes from Clodovis Boff’s Feet-on-the-Ground
Theology: A Brazilian Journey (Maryknoll: Orbis Books 1987). His
practice was to teach theology in a Catholic University one semester
and do pastoral work in Amazon region the other semester. I will
do my missiological thinking out of the particular social location
of Brazil and South America and will spend two months every year
in Louisville as a missiological consultant for WMD. I reside
in Campinas, Brazil, with my Brazilian co-worker, Dirce Naves,
who helps me with feet-on-the-ground integration, comprehension,
and critical reflection on Latin American culture and church.
I am re-learning Brazil and re-immersing myself in Brazilian
culture. With feet on the ground, we are walking through this
city of one million people, grocery shopping, eating ice cream
cones, attending church, visiting friends, and going to hear the
symphony orchestra. With eyes and ears open, we engage in conversations
on the street corner and in the market. We watch the nightly world
news and Brazilian "novelas" which interpret the social,
economic, political situation. The next step is to observe new
developments in Catholicism, Reformed Protestantism, and Pentecostalism.
Presently, I am working on a study guide on "Presbyterians
Do Mission in Partnership" to help congregations understand
the implications of the Partnership Policy Statement adopted by
the 212th General Assembly.
For those of you who were my former supporting churches and others
who would like to engage in God’s mission through my support,
it’s possible to do this through the Directed Mission Support
process. My "DMS number" is #504854. If you’re
interested, call the Mission Funding and Development Office at
(888) 728-7228 ext 5659 and ask for instructions.
For any who feel God beckoning them to contribute to a special
"over and above" giving account that will help pay for
my travel and logistical expenses, you can send checks to: Central
Receiving Service, Section 300, Louisville, KY 40289. Write the
ECO number and title on the subject line (ECO #051807: Consultant
for Latin American Seminaries) of the check and put them on your
cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter to the Office
of Global Education and International Leadership Development at
100 Witherspoon St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396.
Brazilians have expressed much solidarity over the terrorist
attacks the U.S. has suffered. Pray for us, as we join you in
praying for healing, justice, and peace in our troubled world.
Sherron George
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