Book Review: "Revolution in World Missions" by KP Yohannan

KP Yohannan was born in India and fell in love with Jesus at a young age and had a desire to serve the Lord as a missionary.  After spending many years on the field working in North India, he came to the US to study at seminary.  During his time in this country he founded Gospel for Asia, an organization that is committed to supporting native missionaries.

The crux of the book is that native missionaries are the most effective when it comes to evangelizing other nations.  Yohannan presents a solid argument including the fact that native missionaries are already familiar with the culture and understand how the gospel can be presented in culturally sensitive ways.  They do not require language training and are already accepted by their peers in their own country.  Western missionaries often face greater challenges because of the necessary training, language acquisition, and facing racial or ethnic barriers.

Yohannan writes about the new chapter in missions history and how there is truly a revolution happening as more and more native missionaries take up the call of Christ.  He encourages westerners to support missions overseas through prayer and financial giving.

While I absolutely agree with what Yohannan says in his book, there were many things that made me cringe.  He basically says that western missionaries are completely ineffective in foreign mission fields.  Supposedly he has seen many missionaries from America or Europe who live in mansions with servants, fancy cars, and imported foods.  He tells stories of these types of missionaries who have been serving in foreign fields for years on end and have made no converts to christianity.  This is a completely unbalanced view.  I know many missionaries in foreign areas who are making vast inroads with the gospel message and are seeing many lives transformed as people accept the salvation of Christ.  These missionaries aren't living in walled mansions but live lifestyles similar to that of the people whom they serve.

There is still a need for western missionaries overseas, and I'm thankful that so many Americans are answering God's call to take the message of the gospel to the farthest corners of the earth.  That being said, I do think that native missionaries have many advantages over westerners.  Our goal in missions isn't to import an American brand of christianity and expect foreign nationals to adopt it without question.  Our goal should be to bring the gospel to unreached areas, making disciples who will then continue on the work.

Even though in his book Yohannan said a few things that rubbed me the wrong way, overall I think his message is one that the American church needs to hear.  We need to focus fewer resources on building expensive church buildings and creating frivolous programs, and concentrate more funds toward missions.  Too small a percentage of church budgets are going toward the sharing of the gospel in unreached areas.  We are called to be good stewards of the resources God has given us, and I think we will all be held accountable to God for how we used what he has blessed us with.

For more information on Gospel for Asia check out their website here.