None of these groups was better known than the CHINA INLAND MISSION (CIM). Established by the Englishman JAMES HUDSON TAYLOR in 1865, the CIM had no established support structure. Taylor expected his recruits to “live by faith” and pray for answers to their needs. This approach necessitated a network of supporters—often at home, but sometimes elsewhere—who would faithfully remember the needs of their ambassadors abroad. The CIM was an early example of a growing cluster of “faith missions” that veered sharply from the customary practices of the more familiar denominational, or “board,” missions. At the turn of the twentieth century, large numbers of conservative evangelicals found faith missions like the CIM or the Africa Inland Mission (founded in 1895 by Scotsman Peter Cameron Scott) satisfactory alternatives to traditional evangelistic organizations that were mired in disputes about the goals of missionary task and the implications of new THEOLOGY for world evangelization. Faith missions required little startup capital and promoted a direct sense of teamwork and cooperation in accomplishing evangelism. More flexible than denominational board missions, they appealed to people who hoped to get a job done quickly.
In the twentieth century, evangelistic associations of all kinds proliferated. New missions agencies represented both new approaches and new technology, and some older agencies adapted or merged to keep up with the times. With the closing of mainland China to Western missionaries, for example, the CIM regrouped and became the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. As missionaries pressed into ever more remote regions, the Missionary Aviation Fellowship arose to provide transportation, and the Moody Bible Institute developed a highly regarded pilot training program. Evangelicals have historically exploited opportunities and been responsive to change, and evangelistic associations that seize particular opportunities offer rapid adaptation to changing times. Evangelistic associations that enlist retirees, sports teams, students, bluecollar workers, health professionals, and other professionals for short-term missionary involvement have become more numerous.
Evangelistic associations promote undercover work in closed countries; socalled “tentmakers” (a reference to St. Paul, who supported himself by tentmaking while sharing the gospel) teach English in China, distribute humanitarian aid in the Middle East, or coach basketball in Indonesia, quietly building relationships that they hope will blossom in conversions.
In the twentieth century, the professionalization and coming of age of revivalism combined with advances in technology to facilitate the formation of yet another cluster of evangelistic associations, these dedicated to fulfilling the goals of individuals or ministry teams. Since the 1950s, the best-known of these has been the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). With roots in another evangelistic association, YOUTH FOR CHRIST, the BGEA incorporated early in the 1950s. Based for many years in Minneapolis, Minnesota (now in Charlotte, North Carolina as well), the BGEA has offices in cities around the world—Sydney, Buenos Aires, Winnipeg, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Mexico City—and firm ties to native Christian leaders. Although the BGEA engages in evangelism through multiple media—World Wide Pictures, Decision magazine (in six languages and Braille), radio broadcasts, and books—the heart of its work is the traditional evangelistic crusades conducted by BILLY GRAHAM and his coworkers. Satellite television has multiplied the visibility of Billy Graham and a host of lesser-known evangelists. Graham’s access to the leadership of nations around the world is unprecedented. The international scope of his influence has not been fully assessed. His son, Franklin Graham, has assumed the leadership of the organization.
Thousands of evangelistic associations like Graham’s rely on gifts from supporters to enable outreaches around the world. Many originate in the West, but increasing numbers mobilize people in other parts of the world. The Luis Palau Evangelistic Association, for example, based in North America, conducts extensive work in LATIN AMERICA. An Argentinian by birth, Palau uses the media as well as traditional crusades to do evangelism. Headed by Ravi Zacharias, a native of India, the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries focuses its efforts on reaching those who shape the ideas of contemporary CULTURE. Some evangelistic associations outside the West now target Western populations.
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