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Dictionary Of Pentecostal And Charismatic Movements (1988) Discussion
Historical Perspectives on Pentecostal Missionaries in Situations of Conflict and Violence
GARY B. MCGEE
Early Pentecostal missions in this century resonated with the belief that the signs and wonders of the apostolic age had been restored for the evangelization of the world before the imminent return of Christ. By mid-century, permanent overseas ministries were beginning to flourish. To maintain freedom for ministry, Pentecostal missionaries have usually avoided taking sides on political social and economic issues. Even though preaching the gospel has sometimes jeopardized their safety, identification with Western powers frequently accounts for the turbulence they have experienced. Following an apolitical course has generally paid dividends, but in some circumstances only at the risk of creating a fundamental contradiction to the gospel itself.
The songs of the Pentecostal Movement early in this century resonate with the fervor of evangelizing the world through the power of the Holy Spirit.1 Since the spiritual dynamics behind the growth of the New Testament church were believed to have been divinely restored “in the last days,” as predicted by the prophet Joel (2:28-29; Acts 2:14-21),2 D. Wesley Myland (a well-known leader in the Christian and Missionary Alliance [CMA] who became a Pentecostal) penned “The Latter Rain” song, soon a favorite of the burgeoning movement. After each verse, Pentecostals enthu- siastically sang the words of the chorus:
Oh, I’m glad the promised Pentecost has come, And the “Latter Rain” is falling now on some; Pour it out in floods, Lord, on the parched ground, Till it reaches all the earth around. (Myland 1906:16)
Gary B. McGee, Ph.D., is Professor of Church History at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, Missouri. He authored the two-volume This Gospel Shall Be Preached (1986,1989), a history and theology of Assemblies of God foreign missions; and co-edited the Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (1988). His ministry abroad has focused on short-term mission assignments in Belgium, Yugoslavia, India, and Singapore.
Missiology: An International Review, Vol. XX, No. 1, January 1992
34 Gary B. McGee
Aimee Semple McPherson, foundress of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, wrote many songs as well.3 One of her best known was “Preach the Word,” requiring ten bars of notation in the Foursquare Hymnal. Marked “Con spirito” and reminiscent of band music at football games, it challenged church members to look beyond their local context and contem- plate the global mission of the Spirit-filled church (verse 1, chorus):
Hold the Foursquare Fortress firm, Tis the testing day. The enemy on ev’ry hand Presseth hard the fray. Lift the blood-stained banner high. It must not touch the ground. Preach the Foursquare Gospel with a certain sound! On every hand, Throughout the land, The enemy is stirred. But on we go Despite the foe, Till ev’ry man has heard. Preach the word, Preach the word, Till the nations all have heard, Preach it here, Preach it there, Till every land is stirred. Preach the word, Preach the word, Marching up the Foursquare way. Well hold the Foursquare Fortress Till the crowning day. (McPherson 1940:241)
In spite of the trumpeting of renewed power for world evangelization, the zero-hour eschatology of Pentecostalism left little time to carry out the great commission. Belief in the imminent return of Christ, shared by many evangelicals as well, pervaded the movement Every energy needed to be directed toward fulfilling Christ’s command in Matthew 28:18-20. Reflecting on the nearness of the second coming, one songwriter warbled: “When you see Jesus coming in the sky, Good-bye, hallelujah! I’m gone” (Sowders ca. 1932:186). Not surprisingly, Pentecostalism sparked a vigorous new mission- ary diaspora beginning in 1906, the vanguard of a worldwide revival of primitive Christianity that would one day challenge the historic churches to consider anew the role of the Holy Spirit in fulfilling the mission of the church.
From the triumphant medley of Christian conquest came a dissonant sound, however, when the Lord did not return according to the timetable, and problems overseas proved more forbidding and perilous than expected. Some missionaries died from diseases on foreign fields (at least one a year for the first 25 years of the endeavor in Liberia!), while others returned home disillusioned by the difficulties (McGee 1983:6-7). Those who stayed often suffered hardships, their activities frequently circumscribed by inadequate resources. Worse yet, a few experienced beatings, tortures, and even death at the hands of opponents.
The paths of Pentecostal mission history are strewn with the accolades
Historical Perspectives on Pentecostal Missionaries 35
of hagiography. This paper, however, represents a new attempt to explore such happenings and interpret their meaning for today’s missionaries and students of mission history. Why did they become victims of violence? What can we learn from these happenings? Due to limitations of resources, I will focus on the experiences of North American and a few European Pentecostal missionaries, without in any way intending to deprecate similar stories of missionaries from other regions of the world.
Conflict, Suffering, and Death Pentecostal missionaries have been physically assaulted or slain in a
variety of circumstances. The first to give his life in the cause of evangelism was probably Paul Bettex, an independent missionary to China early in this century. While the details surrounding his murder in 1916 are sketchy, he may have been robbed or simply been a victim of anti-foreign sentiments raging at the time (Frodsham n.d.).
In the 1930s, local tribes people attempted to poison Swedish Pentecostal missionaries in the Belgian Congo (Zaire) and Tanganyika (Tanzania), believing the latter had come to kill them (Sahlberg 1985:62, 64). Farther north, the famed Lillian Trasher (Assemblies of God [AG]) dodged bullets to save two toddlers at her orphanage in Assiout, Egypt, having been caught in a crossfire between Egyptian and British troops (Howell 1960:143-145).
Trouble also encountered the young missionary William Ekvall Simp- son (AG) in 1932 in southwestern China. Hauling supplies for his mission station at Labran, Tibet, Simpson, the son of pioneer CMA missionaries to China, was killed by bandits (Booze 1990:21-28). Despite the fact that differences of opinion over the baptism in the Holy Spirit had earlier split the CMA work in China, members of both groups gathered to mourn his loss with Alliance missionaries conducting the funeral. Other missionaries, such as the J. Elmore Morrisons (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada), faced the threat of violence in 1939 after the Japanese invaded China (Kulbeck 1958:317-320).
Farther to the West, the Russian-American Ivan E. Voronaev (Russian and Eastern European Mission [REEM]) returned to his homeland from New York City to preach the Pentecostal message. Beginning in Bulgaria and then in Russia, he met with considerable success during the years when Lenin ruled the Soviet Union and allowed tolerance for the sects. During Stalin’s reign of terror, Voronaev was arrested and died in a Siberian labor camp. The laige Pentecostal movement in that country owes a substantial debt to his labors (DurasofF 1972:220-224, 230).
Nazis also severely persecuted Pentecostals (Jenney 1980). Herman Lauster (Church of God [Cleveland, TN]) was imprisoned in Germany by the Gestapo and later forcibly drafted into the German army (Lauster 1967:48-63). But in a narrow escape from the Gestapo, G. Herbert Schmidt (AG and REEM), a founder of the influential Danzig Institute of the Bible (Salzer 1988), smuggled on board a merchant ship leaving for Sweden (Schmidt 1945:178-184). Only after the close of the war was he reunited with his daughters who had been left behind (his wife did not survive the war).
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Dictionary Of Pentecostal And Charismatic Movements (1988) Discussion |
Dictionary Of Pentecostal And Charismatic Movements (1988) Discussion