ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Church USA/Mennonite Mission Network) – Standing as a testament to respect and cultural sensitivity, Mission Without Conquest; An Alternative Missionary Practice, by Willis Horst and Ute and Frank Paul, is now available in English as a co-publication of Mennonite Mission Network and Langham Global Library.
First published in Spanish by Ediciones Kairos, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2010, it is a collection of academic as well as professional articles and personal reflections documenting the work of the Mennonite missionary team in northern Argentina.
The chapters tell stories of discernment as Mennonite mission workers strived to walk alongside indigenous brothers and sisters, and to empower them to profess their own, Toba Qom, authentic version of Christianity.
René Padilla, president emeritus of the Kairos Fundation, Argentina, describes Mission Without Conquest as an “excellent illustration” of how to carry out the task of participating in the mission of God in the world. An act, he believes, to which every disciple of Christ is called.
“It demonstrates a different way to do mission,” says James R. Krabill, director for Global Ministries at Mennonite Mission Network. “In many ways, it was advanced for its time, recognizing that God is already at work before you get there.”
This alternative and advanced way simply tries to follow in Jesus’ footsteps insofar as walking with others with integrity and vulnerability instead of assuming any sort of superiority.
Krabill sees potential use as a course book for strategically relating to the growth of the church around the world. “Where, hopefully,” Krabill says, “success of mission is not defined by whether or not it looks like us, but by asking if it is a faithful New Testament faith community in its own context.”
Copies can be purchased on Amazon.
