Searching for the Indigenous Church
Gene Daniels (D Lit et Phil, University of South Africa) has been a missionary and researcher in the Muslim world for over twenty-five years. He and his family started their journey in Central Asia as church planters among unreached Muslim people groups. Daniels has authored several books and dozens of articles. Above all, he longs to someday hear the words, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Like homesick travelers, many missionaries yearn for the trappings of their church culture back home—anything to feel comfortable. In time, this longing becomes so strong that any tradition offering a small taste of home becomes a strong lure. We stop, intending only to spend the night, but for many a weary and lost pilgrim the stay lasts a lifetime. But the purpose of this pilgrimage is too important for us to allow our fellow pilgrims to stop at deceptive destinations. What if we can truly find this thing we are seeking? What if real, indigenous churches can be planted in new places?
In Searching for the Indigenous Church, Gene Daniels communicates his experiences as a church planter. He takes the reader along with him on a journey-a pilgrimage-to Central Asia, vividly describing the challenges and pitfalls encountered by cross-cultural workers en route. We, the readers, take a “virtual” trip to plant an indigenous church in a foreign land with him and learn from his frustrations and difficulties.
If you have dreams of seeing Christ draw His bride from some new people group, tribe, or tongue, then we are on the same pilgrimage. May what follows be of help, from the hand of one pilgrim to another, as we travel along this road together.
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— Dr. Thomas Hale, Co-Founder, Author, On Being a Missionary and A Light Shines in Central AsiaMany books have been written about the problems associated with crossing into another culture. Most of them are helpful, indeed valuable, but they do not quite prepare the reader for his or her actual arrival in a cross-cultural setting. No matter how much we have read about the need to remove our culturally tinted glasses and see things from the perspective of another culture, most of us have difficulty doing so. The main reason for this is that we don't even recognize we are wearing such glasses. Gene Daniels makes us aware of our cultural glasses more effectively than any author I know. For this reason alone I believe his books is a must-read for anyone contemplating missionary service--in Central Asia or elsewhere.
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— John Lee (pseudonym) , A Missionary in Central AsiaThis book bubbles up out of the heart of a man who has been on pilgrimage in Central Asia's heartland. He has walked the dusty caravan trails he writes about in this perceptive and challenging book. I know, because I've walked beside him as together we sought to see Christ plant His church among the unreached Central Asian people group.
Reading this book will stir your heart as you meet several growing indigenous church leaders and hear their stories. Be prepared to be both shocked and challenged by some of the hard lessons they have learned on their journeys of faith. They are not speaking out of the classroom theory, but from the depth of their recent experiences with those whom God used to bring the Good News. In this book, you will be forced to wrestle with uncomfortable questions that reveal blind spots in our "cherished" way of doing things. Gene speaks out of a wealth of "walked-out" experiences, and he will challenge you to radically rethink what we mean in missions when we speak of indigenous churches.
Foreword
Preface
Prologue – A Heart Set on Pilgrimage
Chapter 1- Land of the Steppe
Chapter 2- Point of Entry
Chapter 3- Shrines
Chapter 4- Caravansary
Chapter 5- On Being Lost
Chapter 6- Signs in the Sky
Chapter 7- A Late Night Challenge
Chapter 8- Labin’s Long Shadow
Chapter 9- Funerals
Chapter 10- Hassan’s Advice
Chapter 11- Tea Party Terrorists
Chapter 12- Wind, Sand, and Time
Epilogue – The Treasures in My Bag
Scripture Cited
Author
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Gene Daniels
Gene Daniels
Gene Daniels (D Lit et Phil, University of South Africa) has been a missionary and researcher in the Muslim world for over twenty-five years. He and his family started their journey in Central Asia as church planters among unreached Muslim people groups. Daniels has authored several books and dozens of articles. Above all, he longs to someday hear the words, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
- Pages: 196
- Publisher:
William Carey Publishing
William Carey Publishing
- Binding: Paperback
- Publish Year: 2005
- Vendor: William Carey Library
