W Jay Moon

We live in a multicultural society. But Christians often do not know how to engage those of other faiths. As a result, many Christians hesitate to talk about Christianity with others in any kind of evangelistic way. Jay Moon and Bud Simon unpack the intercultural dynamics that Christians need to understand when encountering people from different communities and cultural backgrounds. Regarding evangelism from the perspective of four major worldviews (guilt/justice, shame/honor, fear/power, and indifference/belonging with purpose), this book demonstrates contextual evangelism approaches that are relevant, biblical, and practical. The authors draw on new research conducted with hundreds of participants that reveal concrete ways to communicate the gospel effectively across cultures. Sharing one's faith does not require attacking other religions; rather, we can engage at the worldview level in order to address people's deepest concerns. Greater understanding provides us with better skills for relational connection, empathy, and effective witness.

Contemporary missions often include evangelistic and socio-economic dimensions. For effective missions, some way of assessing what is being achieved is needed beyond just the common metrics touching on the spiritual and/or economic which neglects social transformation that ideally should also be occurring. This book seeks to identify key factors for holistic evaluation based on salient characteristics that emerged as three Entrepreneurial Church Planting sites were studied in San Francisco (Redeemer Community Church), Selma, Alabama (Blue Jean Church), and Lynch, Kentucky (Meridzo Ministries). What emerges from these case studies is the importance of relationality, general emphasis on growth and development, and a well-established focus on holistic transformation. The mechanisms for the operation of holistic transformation are spelled out to reflect the operation of the three actors of the Trinity in missions. The practical component of the book is the conceptual framework that reveals the operation of holistic transformation and ways to measure the dynamic relationships that occur.

Church planters generally are optimistic and enthusiastic about church planting for this generation. Many are launching or about to experiment with innovative approaches to plant churches that engage the marketplace. They are applying missional perspectives to reach this large mission field. This book documents and explores these innovative approaches to church planting. The various authors describe how entrepreneurs are now finding where people are already gathering (or would gather) in the marketplace such that these businesses create a venue for a church. We are calling this Entrepreneurial Church Planting (ECP). In order to encourage and explore further innovative ECP approaches, this book provides both theoretical foundations and practical applications arranged in three parts. Part I contains an introduction to the volume. Part II provides the biblical foundations to undergird ECP. Part III provides practical applications from both historical and contemporary examples and concludes with suggested starting points for experimentation and implementation. The goal of this volume is to encourage church planters to explore creative church planting approaches by engaging their faith in the marketplace.

I am not like Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone, or William Carey. The stories of these people are inspiring, but they also make me question, "Am I really good enough to be a missionary? Because I don't consider myself super-spiritual like these missionary heroes seem to be." Ordinary Missionary introduces world missions through the story of an ordinary family facing ordinary questions about their own insecurities and inadequacies. Step into the shoes of three authors who combine their thoughts to put a face, a feeling, and a person to contemporary missions. Join Jay, husband and father, as he prepares to minister among the Builsa people in Ghana, West Africa. Observe Pam, wife and mother, as she addresses the personal concerns of the family. Follow Emily, oldest daughter, in the struggles and joys of being a missionary kid. This story is not a triumphant tale of missionary heroes. The real heroes show up in unlikely places when they are least expected. Our steps are ordinary, but the journey is beyond extraordinary. These real stories will inspire you to trust your own life in the hands of our extraordinary God.

I am not like Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone, or William Carey. The stories of these people are inspiring, but they also make me question, ""Am I really good enough to be a missionary? Because I don't consider myself super-spiritual like these missionary heroes seem to be."" Ordinary Missionary introduces world missions through the story of an ordinary family facing ordinary questions about their own insecurities and inadequacies. Step into the shoes of three authors who combine their thoughts to put a face, a feeling, and a person to contemporary missions. Join Jay, husband and father, as he prepares to minister among the Builsa people in Ghana, West Africa. Observe Pam, wife and mother, as she addresses the personal concerns of the family. Follow Emily, oldest daughter, in the struggles and joys of being a missionary kid. This story is not a triumphant tale of missionary heroes. The real heroes show up in unlikely places when they are least expected. Our steps are ordinary, but the journey is beyond extraordinary. These real stories will inspire you to trust your own life in the hands of our extraordinary God.

In many oral cultures local proverbs are highly regarded for their wisdom and prized for their aesthetic expression. In this study Jay Moon provides an in-depth look at the use of local proverbs among the Builsa culture of Ghana, West Africa. In particular, the author's research shows how local proverbs can facilitate contextualized expressions of Christianity that are both biblically authentic and culturally relevant. The process of initiating and sustaining this form of expression is explicated with the help of an engaging narrative, providing valuable insights for those striving for genuine and meaningful expression of Christ in culture. This study will be especially beneficial to the missionary community, particularly for the purposes of appreciating oral literature in primary oral cultures, finding proper roles in the contextualization process, identifying cultural values via the window of local proverbs, training missionaries in cultural understanding, and tailoring discipleship training to incorporate significant aspects of orality ""Drawing on solid theoretical foundations in anthropology, epistemology, and communications, Jay Moon takes us on an exciting journey into the world of African proverbs to demonstrate how to engage Scripture with culture. Written as a riveting story with missiological reflection, this is the practical guide to doing contextualization we've been waiting for. The implications of his application of contextualization go well beyond Africa and so this book is a 'must read' for any serious student of contextualization and missiology."" --Darrell Whiteman Resident Missiologist and Vice President for Mission Personnel and Preparation The Mission Society ""Jay's work with Ghanaian proverbs is one of the deepest, most practical examples of missionary teaching/learning I have ever seen. Getting down to the proverbial level of local language and culture has paid off handsomely in his situation. Now he has done missionaries and local leaders young and old a great favor by sketching why it worked, how it worked, and how it can work for them. What could be more useful for mission today? Read and do "" --Stan Nussbaum Staff Missiologist GMI Research Services W. Jay Moon is Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies and the director of the Wesley House of Studies at Sioux Falls Seminary. He was formerly a missionary with SIM in Ghana from 1992 to 2005.