The work and ministries of the Roman Catholic friars who gave their lives, both as martyrs for the cause of their church and in years of hard and often thankless labor, are the inspiration and basis for Missionary Practices and Spanish Steel, a theological and practical narrative that seeks to remember and understand their accomplishments in Christian mission. Missionary and theologian Andrew L. Toth investigates the roots of Christian mission as it developed into the field of Christian missiology in the chaotic, terrible, and incredibly diverse three-hundred-year Spanish conquest of North America indigenous nations. Through his research Toth shows that, in the great majority of the cases studied, the friars accomplished their goals to transform these native cultures into their own Spanish culture to account them as Roman Catholic Christians. This study us more than just a history of the friars' missionary movement. Toth not only explores how Spanish Catholic missionaries approached their work, but also asks to what extent their approach conformed to a particular theological perspective. Toth rounds out his argument by speculating on what the friars can teach us about the role of missionaries today. Comprehensive and thought-provoking, Missionary Practices and Spanish Steel offers a new perspective on the current missionary movement by looking through the lens of the past.

The work and ministries of the Roman Catholic friars who gave their lives, both as martyrs for the cause of their church and in years of hard and often thankless labor, are the inspiration and basis for Missionary Practices and Spanish Steel, a theological and practical narrative that seeks to remember and understand their accomplishments in Christian mission. Missionary and theologian Andrew L. Toth investigates the roots of Christian mission as it developed into the field of Christian missiology in the chaotic, terrible, and incredibly diverse three-hundred-year Spanish conquest of North America indigenous nations. Through his research Toth shows that, in the great majority of the cases studied, the friars accomplished their goals to transform these native cultures into their own Spanish culture to account them as Roman Catholic Christians. This study us more than just a history of the friars missionary movement. Toth not only explores how Spanish Catholic missionaries approached their work, but also asks to what extent their approach conformed to a particular theological perspective. Toth rounds out his argument by speculating on what the friars can teach us about the role of missionaries today. Comprehensive and thought-provoking, Missionary Practices and Spanish Steel offers a new perspective on the current missionary movement by looking through the lens of the past.

Almost sixty years ago, the Mennonite missionary team working in the Argentine Chaco decided to look for ways to be effective in their ministry while being faithful to Jesus’ lifestyle and teaching. They left behind paternalistic models and “conquering” methods and were liberated from the mindset of forming a denominational church. As a result, they found an alternative missionary style of walking alongside those they worked with, giving priority to the integrity of the local people. “Mission Without Conquest” is a historical narrative of how the Toba Qom people of the Argentine Chaco followed Jesus’ way from the time of their conversion until the formation of an autochthonous church. This book embodies a new way to approach the church’s missionary task – a way that makes the mission of Jesus Christ the paradigm for Christian mission until his return.

Junípero Serra was an influential Franciscan missionary who created missions that stretched from San Francisco to San Diego. His impact on California is still felt-and debated-today. Introduce students to his life with this nonfiction biography that builds students' reading skills and promotes social studies content literacy. The dynamic primary source maps, letters, and images provide authentic nonfiction reading materials and keep students interested in learning. Text features include a glossary, index, captions, sidebars, and table of contents. This book connects to California state studies standards and the NCSS/C3 Framework and features appropriately leveled text to accommodate different reading levels. Additional features include Read and Respond and a culminating activity that prompt students to dive deeper into the text for additional reading and learning.

"While the idea that successful missions needed Indigenous revolts and missionary deaths seems counterintuitive, this book illustrates how it became a central logic of frontier colonization in Spanish North America. Missions Begin with Blood argues that martyrdom acted as a ceremony of possession that helped Jesuits understand violence, disease, and death as ways that God inevitably worked to advance Christendom. Whether petitioning superiors for support, preparing to extirpate Native "idolatries," or protecting their conversions from critics, Jesuits found power in their persecution and victory in their victimization. This book correlates these tales of sacrifice to deep genealogies of redemptive death in Catholic discourse and explains how martyrological idioms worked to rationalize early modern colonialism. Specifically, missionaries invoked an agricultural metaphor that reconfigured suffering into seed that, when watered by sweat and blood, would one day bring a rich harvest of Indigenous Christianity"--Provided by publisher