Showing papers on "Culture change published in 1982"

Missionary Women as Models in the Cross-Cultural Context:

Abstract: Long neglected in missionary histories, women missionaries are the unsung heroes of the past century, and well may be the source of much of this century’s missionary success stories, says Fran Hiebert in this provocative article. Instead of claiming to be the champions of women, Western mission agencies may need to repent and look for some ashcloth if they are not going to lose their credibility vis-his the church in the Two-Thirds World. THE MISSIONARY WOMAN is not often considered to be a model. Her clothes are generally not the latest fashion and her makeup is either missing or rather amateurishly applied. Yet, in another sense, some of the most significant modeling in the cross-cultural context has been done by missionary women. This modeling, defined in terms of leadership and example on which others pattern their lives, has had great power in effecting cultural change in the process of evangelism. Missionaries have always been change agents. In colonial times, they regretably attempted to change too much about the culture to which they had come. Still the gospel must ever remain a challenge to all cultures, including our own, because of the presence of sin in the world, so we must not make the mistake of over-correcting. As Stephen Fuchs has written: Missionaries are professional agents of culture change, for there is no other way of establishing, consolidating and perpetuating the church in a society than through a change in its culture. A fundamental disturbance of the indigenous culture by the Christian message is unavoidable (1979).