This book is a short introduction to one of the most remarkable transformations in the modern world that many people still do not know about. In 1900 more than 80 percent of the world’s Christians lived in Europe and North America and nearly all of the world’s missionaries were sent out “from the West to the rest.” In a dramatic turn of events Christianity experienced a decidedly “Southern shift” during the twentieth century. Today nearly 70 percent of the world’s 2.5 billion Christians live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, while nearly half of all missionaries are being sent out into all the world from places like Brazil, Ethiopia, and South Korea. This book is intended to change the way readers think about the church and challenge the way Western Christians engage in contemporary missions.

This book is a short introduction to one of the most remarkable transformations in the modern world that many people still do not know about. In 1900 more than 80 percent of the world's Christians lived in Europe and North America and nearly all of the world's missionaries were sent out "from the West to the rest." In a dramatic turn of events Christianity experienced a decidedly "Southern shift" during the twentieth century. Today nearly 70 percent of the world's 2.5 billion Christians live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, while nearly half of all missionaries are being sent out into all the world from places like Brazil, Ethiopia, and South Korea. This book is intended to change the way readers think about the church and challenge the way the Western Christians engage in contemporary missions.

Predominantly Catholic for centuries, Latin America is still largely Catholic today, but the religious continuity in the region masks great changes that have taken place in the past five decades. In fact, it would be fair to say that Latin American Christianity has been transformed definitively in the years since the Second Vatican Council. Religious change has not been obvious because its transformation has not been the sudden and massive growth of a new religion, as in Africa and Asia. It has been rather a simultaneous revitalization and fragmentation that threatened, awakened, and ultimately brought to a greater maturity a dormant and parochial Christianity. New challenges from modernity, especially in the form of Protestantism and Marxism, ultimately brought forth new life. In The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity, Todd Hartch examines the changes that have swept across Latin America in the last fifty years, and situates them in the context of the growth of Christianity in the global South.

John Piper's bestselling book on missions draws on key biblical texts to demonstrate that worship is the ultimate goal of the church and that proper worship fuels missionary outreach. Piper offers a biblical defense of God's supremacy in all things, providing readers with a sound theological foundation for missions. This 30th anniversary edition of a contemporary classic, now in paperback, incorporates insights from the author's refined thinking over the past 10 years. Used extensively as a textbook for missions courses and a resource for ministries, Let the Nations Be Glad! provides a passionate plea for God-centeredness in the whole enterprise of world evangelization and explores the role of prayer and spiritual warfare. The book is essential reading for those involved in or preparing for missions work. It also offers enlightenment for students, pastors, youth workers, campus ministers, and all who want to connect their labors to God's global purposes.

Holistic mission, or integral mission, implies God is concerned with the whole person, the whole community: body, mind and spirit. Many Christians concentrate only on one aspect. This book reaffirms that to be true to the Bible, to follow the example of Jesus, the church must address the whole person in all their needs. It considers the meaning of the holistic gospel, how it has developed, and implications for the individual Christian, for the local church, for denominations and church groups, for missionary societies, for Christian NGOs, and for theological training institutions. It takes a global, eclectic approach, with 19 writers, church leaders, academics and practitioners, all of whom have much experience in, and commitment to, holistic mission. It addresses critically and honestly one of the most exciting, challenging, and important issues facing the church today. To be part of God's plan for God's people, the church must take holistic mission to the world.

A primary resource introducing missions for the passionate follower of Christ