Hope for Creation
Jonathan J. Bonk is research professor of mission at Boston University and founding director emeritus of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (www.dacb.org). He is executive director emeritus of the Overseas Ministries Study Center (www.omsc.org) where he served from 1997 until his retirement in July 2013. He was editor of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research (www.internationalbulletin.org) from July 1997 until June 2013. He has authored five books, has edited nine collaborative volumes, and published more than one hundred scholarly articles and book chapters and numerous reviews and editorials. His best-known book is Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem. He is president of the Korean Global Mission Leadership Forum and has been actively involved with the KGMLF since it began in 2010. He and his wife are active members of the Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was raised in Ethiopia by missionary parents.
Michel G. Distefano is an independent scholar, KGMLF editor, and former instructor of Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern religions at McGill University.
J. Nelson Jennings (PhD, Edinburgh University) is vice president of the Korean Global Mission Leaders Forum. He is editor of Global Missiology—English (globalmissiology.org) and is involved in several other online mission research projects, including the Dictionary of Christian Biography in Asia (dcbasia.org) and the Alliance of Mission Researchers and Institutions (amriconnect.net). He and his family served in Japan for thirteen years (1986-1999), first in church planting, then in teaching at Tokyo Christian University. Jennings taught world mission for twelve years at Covenant Theological Seminary (and again since 2018 in an adjunct capacity), served at the Overseas Ministries Study Center (2011-2015), and was a mission consultant for Onnuri Church (2015-2021). He has published numerous books and articles and has also served as editor of Missiology: An International Review and International Bulletin of Missionary [now Mission] Research. Jennings and his wife, Kathy, are both US-Americans and live in Hamden, Connecticut, USA.
Jae Hoon Lee is Senior Pastor of Onnuri Church and Chair of the Korea Lausanne Committee.
Can the Desert Be Green?
Our world is in peril. Environmental degradation, human suffering, and relentless calamities confront us daily, painting a picture of a planet in distress. Amid this daunting reality, how can God’s people respond effectively? This critical question beckons for a thoughtful and proactive response that intertwines faith and ecology with tangible action in our increasingly fragile world.
Hope for Creation offers a unique blend of theological insight and practical application. It gathers perspectives from theologians and practitioners, each giving a comprehensive understanding of creation care. The contributors not only diagnose environmental and humanitarian issues but also propose actionable solutions rooted in biblical foundations and contemporary experiences.
This book is a call to action for Christians and mission leaders worldwide, urging active participation in restoring and preserving our planet. It equips church leaders, missionaries, and believers with the knowledge and tools to make a meaningful impact. By embracing this mission, readers contribute to a sustainable, hopeful future, joining a transformative journey towards environmental and human healing.
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This latest volume from the Korean Global Mission Leaders Forum (KGMLF) deals with the pressing issues of ecological and human calamity, and in so doing, offers an unusual richness of biblical reflection and practical wisdom. Wide-ranging, diverse, and hopeful, the book is the fruit of the unique space KGMLF creates by bringing together Korean and international scholars in conversation with mission practitioners.
— Paul Bendor-Samuel MRCGP, MBE, Executive Director, Oxford Centre for Mission StudiesDirector, Regnum BooksSundo Kim Research Tutor in Global Mission -
Far too many Christians write off environmental concerns as marginal to the gospel or simply expressions of left-wing ideology. With solid biblical, theological, scientific, and practical grounding, the book in your hands compellingly challenges those assumptions and offers a hopeful and urgently needed corrective: love of God and love of neighbor require care for God’s creation of which humanity is only a part.
— Ruth Padilla DeBorst, PhD, Richard C. Oudersluys Associate Professor of World Christianity, Western Theological SeminaryMember, Asociación Casa Adobe, Costa Rica -
Hope for Creation represents a milestone in mission thinking: churches in the Global South collaborating on a series of international mission discussions and cooperation, and Christian mission now takes creation care as a major agenda. This urgent topic also promises a broader interaction with various institutions and even different faiths for the common future of humanity. This book will serve churches and mission communities as a road map for local reflections and applications.
— Wonsuk Ma, PhD, Executive Director, Center for Spirit-Empowered ResearchDistinguished Professor of Global Christianity, Oral Roberts University
Preface
Section A. Bible and Theology
Chapter 1 God’s Word to a Nation in Denial and Rebellion: Jeremiah 1 by Chris Wright
Chapter 2 God’s Word in a Culture of Delusion and False Security: Jeremiah 7 by Chris Wright
Chapter 3 God’s Word of Global Judgment and Salvation: Isaiah 24–25 by Chris Wright
Chapter 4 Toward a Biblical Theology of Calamity by Michel G. Distefano
Response by Han Young Lee
Chapter 5 Biblical Foundations for Creation Care by Dave Bookless
Response by Regina Ryu
Section B: History and Culture
Chapter 6 Learning from the Past and Finding Hope for the Future by Allison Howell
Response by Jung-Sook Lee
Chapter 7 Indigenous Epistemologies: Connecting with Christ and Creation by Jay Matenga
Response by Seung-hyun (Nathan) Chung
Chapter 8 Creation Care: The Gospel’s Third Dimension by Ed Brown
Response by Youngmi Shin
Chapter 9 Environmental and Human Calamities in Korea and Implications for Mission by Bright Myeong-Seok Lee
Response by Jay Matenga
Section C. Economics, Sufficiency, Justice, Perceptions of Christian Leaders
and Missionaries
Chapter 10 Climate Crisis and Stewardship: A Christian Economist’s Perspective by Jong Ho Hong
Response by Dave Bookless
Chapter 11 A Critical Analysis on the Transformation of Korean Missionaries’ Epistemological Beliefs on Environmental and Human Calamities by Jooyun Eum
Response by J. Nelson Jennings
Chapter 12 Who Will Feed the World in the Twenty-First Century? Lessons and Questions from a Brief Comparison of China’s, India’s, and Africa’s Food Systems and Food Sovereignty- by Zhou Li
Response by Anna Lisa Mudahy
Chapter 13 Gold Mining in the Southwest of Burkina Faso and Christian Mission: The Great Commission and Structural Evil by Ini Dorcas Dah
Response by Jonathan J. Bonk
Section D. Local and Regional Responses to Climate Change and its Effects,
Historical and Current
Chapter 14 Partnership with God in Restoring Creation: A Story of Hope by Tony Rinaudo
Response by Gihong Park
Chapter 15 Onnuri Church’s Environmental Mission and Strategy by Woon-Oh Jung, Regina Ryu, and Woo-Yong Kim
Response by Laura S. Meitzner Yoder
Chapter 16 Economically Viable Green Energy from Waste Plastic: A Fourth River Energy Proposal to Support Missions and Bless the Environment by Ben Torrey and Bong Ju Lee
Response by Jeffrey T. M. Yoder
Chapter 17 Environment, Natural Disasters, and the Experience of the Dandelion Community by Insoo Kim
Response by Douglas Day Kaufman
Chapter 18 Evangelizing All Creatures: Pastoral Ecology as Mission by Douglas Day Kaufman
Response by Hansung Kim
Chapter 19 Can the Desert Be Green? An Environmental Mission to Plant Hope in the Wilderness by Lawrence Ko
Response by Myung-Soo Lee
Section E. Testimonies
Chapter 20 The Founding of Shine Church and Its Environmental Missionary Work by Hyoungmin Kim
Chapter 21 My Journey of Growth and Hope: From God’s Word to Works and Wonders to World Care by Laurence Gatawa
Chapter 22 KGMLF Missional Koinonia by Sun Man Kim
Section F. Summary and Conclusion
Chapter 23 The Gospel of Hope in a Hopeless World by Jonathan J. Bonk
Appendix: Resources for Mission and Congregation
Acknowledgments by Jinbong Kim
Participants
Contributors
Indices – Subjects, Names, Scriptures
Authors
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Jonathan J. Bonk
Jonathan J. Bonk
Jonathan J. Bonk is research professor of mission at Boston University and founding director emeritus of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (www.dacb.org). He is executive director emeritus of the Overseas Ministries Study Center (www.omsc.org) where he served from 1997 until his retirement in July 2013. He was editor of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research (www.internationalbulletin.org) from July 1997 until June 2013. He has authored five books, has edited nine collaborative volumes, and published more than one hundred scholarly articles and book chapters and numerous reviews and editorials. His best-known book is Missions and Money: Affluence as a Western Missionary Problem. He is president of the Korean Global Mission Leadership Forum and has been actively involved with the KGMLF since it began in 2010. He and his wife are active members of the Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was raised in Ethiopia by missionary parents.
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Michel G. Distefano
Michel G. Distefano
Michel G. Distefano is an independent scholar, KGMLF editor, and former instructor of Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern religions at McGill University.
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J. Nelson Jennings
J. Nelson Jennings
J. Nelson Jennings (PhD, Edinburgh University) is vice president of the Korean Global Mission Leaders Forum. He is editor of Global Missiology—English (globalmissiology.org) and is involved in several other online mission research projects, including the Dictionary of Christian Biography in Asia (dcbasia.org) and the Alliance of Mission Researchers and Institutions (amriconnect.net). He and his family served in Japan for thirteen years (1986-1999), first in church planting, then in teaching at Tokyo Christian University. Jennings taught world mission for twelve years at Covenant Theological Seminary (and again since 2018 in an adjunct capacity), served at the Overseas Ministries Study Center (2011-2015), and was a mission consultant for Onnuri Church (2015-2021). He has published numerous books and articles and has also served as editor of Missiology: An International Review and International Bulletin of Missionary [now Mission] Research. Jennings and his wife, Kathy, are both US-Americans and live in Hamden, Connecticut, USA.
- Jinbong Kim
Editor
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Jae Hoon Lee
Jae Hoon Lee
Jae Hoon Lee is Senior Pastor of Onnuri Church and Chair of the Korea Lausanne Committee.
- Pages: 392
- Publisher:
William Carey Publishing
William Carey Publishing
- Binding: Paperback
- Publish Year: 2024
- Vendor: William Carey Publishing
