Global Missiology English

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GME — 2026-10-08

Andrew Walls and Conversion

J. Nelson Jennings — 2026-10-05

Andrew Walls was an extraordinary person and historian. The hundreds of scholars Walls mentored have in turn influenced countless others around the world. Walls's insights about "conversion," developed out of his personal cross-cultural experience and acumen as a historian, have been central to the worldwide influence Walls continues to have.

Pagbabalik-Loob Sa Diyos: Reexamining Repentance and Conversion in the Philippine Context

Donna Castillo-Tan — 2026-10-05

This article reexamines Christian repentance and conversion through the Filipino concept of pagbabalik‑loob sa Diyos, arguing that the Western term “conversion,” shaped by colonial and English theological discourse, fails to reflect Filipino biblical and cultural understandings of salvation. Drawing on Scripture, Filipino theology, and anthropology, the study highlights loob as the center of personhood and spirituality. Pagbabalik‑loob sa Diyos is understood not as a change of religious affiliation but as a relational return and reconciliation with God that transforms the inner self. The article proposes pagbabalik-loob sa Diyos as a culturally grounded and pastorally faithful framework for salvation in the Philippine context.

Evangelism in the "Key" of Patronage: Case Studies in Thai Conversion

Chris Flanders — 2026-10-05

Western evangelical models of conversion often assume guilt-awareness as the universal, primary entry point to the gospel. Drawing on 18 interviews with Thai Christians converted from Buddhist backgrounds, this study finds instead that conversion for them was frequently catalyzed by experiences of divine benefaction, answered prayer, care, and belonging. Interpreting these narratives through patronage, honor–shame dynamics, and John Barclay’s theology of grace-gift, the article argues that Thai converts encounter God as a benevolent Patron and conversion as relational realignment. Patronage thus provides a culturally coherent and biblically resonant moral grammar for contextualizing evangelism in Thailand and similar Buddhist contexts.

Turning Toward the Real Kingdom: A Critical Realist Account of “Turning” with Implications for Mission and Discipleship

S. Crawley — 2026-10-05

Andrew Walls suggests that the gospel is fundamentally translatable across cultures. Drawing on historical analysis, he identifies “four convictions and responses” that he asserts are universally present across time and cultures where turning has taken place. This article explores a theological frontier by drawing on Walls, Critical Realism, the biblical narrative, and Lynne Taylor's theory of conversion to propose a universal account of “turning” that is translatable between cultures, suggesting important implications for missiology, cross-cultural engagement, evangelism and discipleship.

The De-Jesus-ing of Mission: Andrew Walls and the Church’s Continuing Conversion

Jose Philip — 2026-10-05

This article argues that the fragmentation of contemporary Christian witness into specialized ministries—apologetics, evangelism, discipleship, and spiritual formation—reflects not merely institutional differentiation but a deeper Christological distortion: the de-Jesus-ing of mission, in which Jesus Christ is gradually displaced from the living subject who acts through the Church’s witness to an object administered within its ministries. Drawing on Andrew Walls’s account of Christian conversion as shub—the turning of what is already present toward Christ—and Peter Berger’s sociology of institutional reproduction, the article traces how operational maps formed through genuine conversion can, once stabilized within plausibility structures, acquire a logic increasingly independent of Christ’s continuing agency. Quebec’s Quiet Revolution serves as a diagnostic anchor rather than an evidential foundation for this argument. Read alongside John Flett’s dogmatic account of mission and Dallas Willard’s epistemology of Christ’s self-authenticating reality, the essay proposes that the Church’s own renewal proceeds not by new structures but by the continual conversion Walls calls “shub”: the Church’s ongoing turning of its inherited institutions toward the living Christ.

Crisis and Conversion: Lessons from Conversion in the Middle East

Alex Peterson — 2026-10-05

This article investigates the dynamics of conversion among Arab Muslims from Islam to Christianity. Utilizing Lewis Rambo's Model of Conversion as the theoretical lens, the study analyzes original qualitative research of conversion narratives. The article discusses: (1) the role of crisis in initiating conversion journeys; (2) the relationship between conversion barriers and crisis; (3) the nature of crisis and its relationship to the converts’ decision to repent and commit to Christ; and (4) a comparison of this conversion trajectory with a stereotypical model. The article concludes with concrete suggestions for evangelistic ministry that can be applied in any context.

Evertt W. Huffard, The Honor of God: More about Character than Reputation or the Radiance of God

Arley Loewen — 2026-10-05

Evertt Huffard’s book, The Honor of God, is about the glory and honor of God. Both English words have in fact become clichés and, as such, have lost much of their meaning and impact. Yet the word “glory” (kabod in Hebrew and doxa in Greek) is much used in Scripture. Both words are almost always translated in English as “glory” and only occasionally as “honor.” The Hebrew meaning of kabod is “weight, to be heavy,” and when the term refers to God it is normally understood to speak of God’s awesome (heavy) and radiant presence. The Septuagint uses the Greek word doxa for this Hebrew word. Huffard argues that both biblical terms, kabod and doxa, speak as much of the intrinsic nature of God, his goodness and his character, as they do of God’s extrinsic, radiant presence, his greatness. Huffard concludes that in many cases these two terms should be translated as the “honor” of God in English. The author briefly describes “honor,” not as receiving praise and esteem, but as the nature or character of a person. And in relation to God, honor means God is true to is own nature and character.

Call for Papers for April 2027 Special Issue: Christian Unity amid Domestic and International Divisions

GME Editorial Team — 2026-10-05

How is Christian unity affected by social, cultural, and political tensions among individual Christians, churches, and mission organizations? How is Christian mission affected? Jesus prayed for his followers that God the Father would keep them one as the Father and the Son are one (John 17), and the historic creeds affirm that the Church is one. The April 2027 issue of Global Missiology will wrestle with these multifaceted dilemmas and questions.

Call for Papers for October 2027 Special Issue: Continent-Focused Missions

GME Editorial Team — 2026-10-05

Throughout the history of Christian missions, geographic territories have often been part of how churches and organizations have focused their ministries. The October 2027 issue of Global Missiology will examine how some mission societies, organizations, and networks have defined their focus with a particular continent in view.