<p> Based on 13 months of ethnographic research, this dissertation documents how the people of Tautu, Vanuatu incorporate the global flows of biomedicine and Christianity into their local knowledge structures and social practices and the resulting integration of biomedical, Christian, and traditional medical ideologies and practices. This integration is articulated in Tautuans&rsquo; theories of illness causation and categories of care; knowledge practice; diagnosis and treatment processes; definitions of health and illness; and healing narratives. At the center of this creative, integrative process are traditional social relations based on kinship and exchange and the related principles of pragmatism, &ldquo;dividuality,&rdquo; and reciprocity. However, Christianity&mdash;specifically &ldquo;gift&rdquo; narratives in which Tautuans explain that their healing knowledge and powers come from God&mdash;is the main discursive frame through which Tautuans create a middle ground between &ldquo;traditional&rdquo; and &ldquo;modern/Western.&rdquo; </p><p> These gift narratives serve multiple purposes. First, they allow patients and practitioners to organize their past experiences and to make sense of suffering. Second, in these &ldquo;gift&rdquo; narratives Tautuans authorize certain aspects of traditional medicine by reconstructing them as Christian knowledge. Third, through these narratives Tautuans are carving out a space where biomedical, traditional, Christian forms of healing are complimentary practices, as the idea that all types of medicine are &ldquo;gifts from God&rdquo; causes the categories of biomedical, traditional, and Christian to fall away and to be subsumed by the larger heading of &ldquo;spiritual healing.&rdquo; Fourth, these gift narratives are also religious narratives about salvation intended to convert people not only to kastom medicine but also to the Christian faith. Finally, these narratives are an attempt to appropriate and indigenize biomedical ideologies and forms of knowledge production and to gain international recognition of the efficacy of traditional medicinal plants; these narratives, then, illustrate Tautuans&rsquo; desires to globalize their local practices and to engage with the modern world on their own terms.</p>

<p> This study explores the attractions that make for a successful ministry among Jews, and the hindrances that have impeded, and continue to impede, that mission. It begins with an overview of the theological, historical and missiological frameworks of this ministry, and then introduces the results of fieldwork done in Israel through interviews, case studies, observations, focus groups, and surveys, supplemented by other relevant literature that, altogether, forms a data base for strategizing future missionary work. </p><p> Non-believing Jews and Jews who had accepted Yeshua&mdash;so called Messianic Jews were asked what motivated them to either accept Yeshua as the Messiah or to reject him. From their responses the researcher has established a list of eighty-seven attractions. Among the most important inducements to conversion are: reading the New Testament, discovering Yeshua the Jew, and a witnessing friend or family member. Parallel with this list of attractions, the researcher has compiled a list of forty-five hindrances (theological, historical and sociological), among which are, most importantly: family opposition, fear of giving up one's Jewish identity, Christian doctrines (trinity, supersessionism&hellip;) and the Church's traditional anti-Judaism. </p><p> A second focus is on leadership. Here the researcher explores the differences between a secular and religious leader; the necessity of an effective training; and the need for contextual preparation, in which the Mission to the Jews is undertaken by persons who are equipped to effectively lead in a cross-cultural ministry and contextualized congregations. </p><p> \This leads us to our third focus, on contextual issues. A ministry among Jews must be a contextualized ministry. It is supported in this study by a presentation of a positive view of Jews and a friendly Christian theology based on the awareness of the Jewishness of Yeshua, which is one of the first attractions for Jews. </p><p> This study concludes with recommendations and applications to leaders of the World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center, which minister to Jews. Jews don't lose their own Jewish identity in accepting Jesus but fulfill themselves in the Messiah, which, pragmatically, means retaining Jewish rituals that are compatible with Yeshua's message.</p>