Ministry to nomads: a comprehensive missiological approach

[摘要] English: Immanuel, our God is with us. Somehow Christianity has struggled with this very basic Christian belief.There has not been a theological struggle. The struggle has been the application among a peopledifferent from those influenced by the Graeco-Roman thinking of the West. In so doing it became easyfor the Western missionary to impose his/her own understanding of God upon others and hence theywere able to impose doctrines that would outline such thinking. This thesis argues that this applicationof Christian teaching did not coincide with the belief that God comes to all humanity. A group that wasisolated by this kind of practice are the nomads of the world. Nomads have not rejected Christianityper se, however, they have questioned the need to change to something they are not in order to beChristian. Thus this thesis proposes that Christians enter a nomadic environment with the goal of allowingGod to be one with nomads by using their communication styles and lifestyle. This requires adeep study of the people before embarking on such a journey. It also requires that the mission practitionerlearn to become a learner and respect the people. In the end the mission practitioner will not dictatewhat and how the new believer ought to understand God.To achieve the stated goal this thesis suggests an incarnational approach that would connect the nomadsto God through a demonstration of God's presence in the life of the missionary. Such an approachwill address the heart issues of the people and demonstrate a coming of God to humanity.

[发布机构] University of the Free State