Implications of identity in global mission

Abstract

The question explored is what it means to be an insider in a global mission structure and how this affects decision-making power for all participants, especially ones from the majority world. This study discovers how one organization, Wycliffe International, navigated through this issue in its relationship with what were called National Bible Translation Organizations. In doing so it had to challenge the status quo of how international mission structures operated. The newer movements faced the issue of agency and identity in the wider mission landscape. Much of this was set upon the backdrop of a 1970s moratorium debate when Kenyan church leader John Gatũ called for changes to how Western missions were operating in Africa. The outcomes of this study are instructional for leaders and organizations developing ministry relationships in global mission today.