December 7, 2024

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Book Reviews

Books, Teaming, Book Reviews, Multicultural Teams

Are multicultural teams more innovative?

In theory, a multicultural team should have many more creative ideas than a team made up those of all one culture. But in reality, multicultural teams are often stuck in even deeper ruts of tradition than mono-cultural teams, because so much of their energy is devoted to keeping the peace and learning how to communicate. Rather than coming with a fresh new strategy, the team just continues to do what they have always done because the “way we have always done it” is the least risky and requires the least amount of explanation. In his book, Driven by Difference: How Great Companies Fuel Innovation Through Diversity, David Livermore of the Cultural Intelligence Center helps us understand what team leaders and team members on diverse teams need to do to create a climate and a process for true innovation.  As Livermore says, multicultural teams are not automatically more innovative.    … Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Books, Leadership, Mission Leadership, Book Reviews

Book Review: Women in God’s Mission: Accepting the Invitation to Serve and Lead

Women in God’s Mission: Accepting the Invitation to Serve and Lead by Mary  T. Leiderleitner. Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2018. This book is a summary of Dr. Mary Leiderleitner’s research into how women are serving and leading in God’s mission around the world. Her research was framed by two questions: 1) “What are diverse women experiencing as they lead in God’s mission? and 2) “What do they believe they need in order to do their best work as leaders in God’s mission?”  These questions were answered by 95 women from 28 countries through interviews, written surveys, and focus groups. She includes a lengthy explanation in the appendix of her research methodology.… Read the whole post
Beth Eckstein1 min read
Books, Disciple-making, DMM, Islam, Missionary Roles, Spiritual Formation, Book Reviews, Contextualization, Insider Movements

Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities – a review

In the last number of years, many books have been published about how to engage and do evangelism among Muslim peoples. But few books address the specifics of how to help new believers from Muslim contexts grow in their faith while remaining in their Muslim communities and families. Given that some claim that up to 90% of converts from Muslim backgrounds reconvert back to Islam, discipleship and support of these converts is clearly a critical need in mission work among Muslim peoples. A few months ago, in this blog, I posted a review of Evelyn and Richard Hibberts’ “Walking Together on the Jesus Road: Intercultural Discipling.” Now, I would like to highlight another book in this same vein, speaking even more specifically to the challenges of disciple-making among Muslim peoples – Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities: Scripture, History and Seasoned Practices by Don Little. This book is one of those… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Book Review: Contextualizing the Faith
Book Reviews, Contextualization

Book Review: Contextualizing the Faith

Last month a new book on contextualization was published by Baker Academic. It is by A. Scott Moreau,  and is entitled Contextualizing the Faith: A Holistic Approach. Dr. Moreau is associate academic dean and professor of intercultural studies at Wheaton College Graduate School. He takes a ‘dimensional’ approach to contextualization, “an approach that deals with the whole life of the church and yet organized in a way that it could be taken in smaller chunks” (preface, ix). Moreau develops an approach to contextualization that goes beyond the intellectual or theological level. In chapter 1, he sets the stage by briefly discussing “What is Contextualization?” He does not give a formal definition but the following quote characterizes his understanding:        … Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Book Review: Looming Transitions
Cross-Cultural Living, Book Reviews

Book Review: Looming Transitions

Transitions are common in a missionary’s life. My wife and I have been missionaries for 41 years and are now in the middle of our 9th “Home Service.” Saying that transitions are common does not mean they are not difficult or disruptive. Transitions are never easy but there is light beyond them. Amy Young has written a helpful book, Looming Transitions: Starting and Finishing Well in Cross-Cultural Service, published in 2016. She writes from her own twenty-year experience serving in Asia where she helped “hundreds of people adjust to the field and prepare to leave it” (back cover). She writes in an easy conversational style. The Introduction and first two chapters give a clear and honest picture of what transitions look like. The author points out that the stress of transitions stems from the gap between our expectations and the reality along the way. Transitions affect us socially, physically, and… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
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