Chronological Practices and Possibilities in the Urban World

Abstract

This two-part article documents a modern-day missions movement that began in the early 1980s in the Philippines and continues globally to the present. Part 1 lays out the beginning of the movement under the leadership of Trevor McIlwain of New Tribes Mission on the island of Palawan in the Philippines. The Chronological Bible Teaching program, a seven-phase program that moves seamlessly from evangelism to church multiplication, was birthed. Many other agencies soon began to pick up the model.But this Bible story based curricula would not remain solely in the countryside among illiterate and semi-literate tribal peoples for long. Part 2, available on “Missiology on-line,” continues the fast-paced development of the movement. The Southern Baptist’s Foreign Mission Board (presently International Mission Board) soon picked up the curricula for use in tribal and rural areas but eventually found herself facilitating its use among those residing in the city. These two articles document the movement as the chronological communication of the gospel moves from the country to the city.