Based on the findings of 22 in-depth interviews, Colin Godwin describes the missiological conceptions of church planters working in francophone Belgium. The interviewees, pioneers of church planting in francophone Belgium, have worked with a variety of Protestant and Evangelical groups. In this article, Godwin paints a portrait of such indigenous church planters who succeed in planting churches in a context of slow growth, few resources, limited strategic planning, and general religious decline. The main challenges of their ministries are described. Godwin criticizes aspects of Anglo-Saxon church planting methodology as applied to the Belgian context and proposes three communities of support, which can both increase the perseverance of pioneer church planters and aid the contextualization of the Christian message in the new churches these pioneers have begun.
Like many parts of Africa, South Sudan has experienced ethnic animosities which have led to violent clashes, destruction of property, and loss of life. Many of these conflicts are over land and resources and are rooted in a spiritual attachment to traditional tribal lands which are seen as gifts of God to both steward and protect. In dialogue with an African theology of place, this paper seeks to propose biblical foundations for ethnic coexistence, as seen in Acts 17:22-31, and to examine how Paul's Athenian sermon balances the ethnic particularities of land and tribe with the universal call to Christian salvation. Drawing on twenty interviews with South Sudanese nationals, this paper uses an integrated research method, accessing theological, biblical, and sociological perspectives to ask whether Acts 17 might suggest an approach to issues of land and tribalism in South Sudan.
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