Sickness and healing expenence is universal, but the context in which both are perceived and dealt with is particular. Culture and the individual constitute the universal context. The social structures, values, beliefs, the symbol system of a culture and the tendency of the individual to act upon his existence within cultural parameters, inform the particular context. The relationship that exists between culture and the individual is best described as dialectic. The concept of dialect is the theoretical tool to analytically show how this relationship works out in real life. At the base of this relationship operates conflict. Sickness, or permanent ill health since early childhood as shown in an in-depth case study, triggers conflict on at least two levels: the personal-psychological and the socio­ cultural level. To effectively deal with sickness and the inner conflicts caused by it, is to channel the motivation to resolve them by way of employing a symbolic idiom, a cultural symbol that attains personal meaning. G. Chewe P. of Bemba ethnicity, the main actor of this thesis, demonstrates how his life experience of sickness made various symbols become operational, how he filled them with personal meaning, and that there was no hiatus between the public and private domain. Healing requires more than medical aid. Cultural symbols that become personal symbols are often tied into religious experience of some kind. Individuals who successfully employ personal symbols eventually achieve healing because the symbolic idiom helps them to resolve intrapsychic conflict. Missiology cannot escape from two realities: culture and the individual. If anything, missiology must be interested in culture and the individual. Missiology, in the role of aide-de-camps of the Christian Mission, shows the history of how individuals connect to God, and how God transforms them in their cultural environment. To be able to achieve both goals, the issues of context and conflict must be addressed. This thesis seeks to account for the dialectic between culture and the individual, how context and conflict shaped the person and the Christian G. Chewe P. of Bemba ethnicity, and how he acted upon this context to resolve his travail. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th (Missiology)

Summaries in German and English / German text / In dieser Forschungsarbeit wird qualitativ das missionarische Engagement der sansibarischen Christen den einheimischen muslimischen Sansibaris gegenüber auf förderliche und hinderliche Faktoren untersucht. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, diese Faktoren aufzuzeigen und dadurch ein Bewusstsein für die Problematik der fehlenden Ganzheitlichkeit zu schaffen, damit hier gegengesteuert werden kann. Dazu wird zunächst der ethnologische und religionsgeschichtliche Hintergrund über Sansibar vorgestellt. Danach wird die geschichtliche Entwicklung und das heutige Bild der sansibarischen Gemeinden und Kirchen skizziert, um anschließend anhand des empirischtheologischen Praxiszyklus die Planung, die Durchführung und die Ergebnisse qualitativer Interviews mit jeweils drei Pastoren und leitenden Mitarbeiterinnen sansibarischer Gemeinden und Kirchen darzustellen. Mit Hilfe der Grounded Theory lassen sich zwei Tendenzen von kaum bis bedingt gelebter ganzheitlicher Missionspraxis der Gemeinden und Kirchen und ihr jenseitsorientiertes Evangeliumsverständnis als Ursache dessen identifizieren. Abschließend wird der Ist-Zustand der Missionspraxis der Gemeinden und Kirchen beschrieben, indem basierend auf den Forschungsergebnissen Thesen formuliert werden. / This research work qualitatively examines the beneficial and hindering factors of the missionary commitment of the Zanzibari Christians to the native population. The aim is to describe these factors and to create an awareness for the lack of holistic mission so that countermeasures can be taken. Firstly, background information about Zanzibar is presented. Next, the historical development and current church landscape are described. Based on the empirical-theological practice cycle, the planning and execution as well as the results of qualitative interviews carried out with six church workers are then presented. Furthermore, based on the Grounded Theory, two tendencies of their mission practice ranging from negligible to minimal are identified, caused by a kingdom-come orientation concerning the understanding of the Gospel. Last but not least, based on the research results, the actual state of the mission practice of the Zanzibari churches is presented in three theses. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology)

This thesis is a missiological study of the francophone churches in the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. Francophone churches may be classified as African Initiated Churches (AIC) that have been planted by migrants from the French speaking countries of central Africa. They are characterised by the use of French and English as languages of worship and communication. The planting and the presence of these churches have become a more visible and remarkable mission phenomenon drawing scientific attention and is worthy of studying. The main issue of this study is the missionality of the Francophone churches. The investigation concerns the ways in which Francophone churches understand the mission of God, known as missio Dei, and the ways in which they express it in the community. In practice the exploration of the missionality of the Francophone churches discloses their nature, raison d’être, and their purpose, as well as their ministries, and allows us to determine the relevancy of these churches in the community. For this reason, in the study I explore and describe also the concept of the missional church in order to apply it to the Francophone churches. To that end, “Patterns of missional church” are used to measure the extent to which Francophone churches are missional. The study suggests the parameters of the development of a missional culture in a Francophone congregation and highlights the importance of the missional leadership in this respect. Finally the study proposes some missional ministries or contextual ministries that may express practically the missionality and consequently the relevancy of Francophone churches in their context. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

This thesis examines the missiological writings of Orlando E. Costas (1943-1987), particularly The Church and Its Mission: A Shattering Critique from the Third World (1974); Theology of the Crossroads in Contemporary Latin America (1976); Christ Outside the Gate (1982); and Liberating News: A Theology of Contextual Evangelization (1989). From the early 1970s until his death in 1987 he wrote over 130 articles and 12 books in both Spanish and English that addressed key missiological concerns. A careful reading of a selection of Costas's texts oriented around a hymn, a gospel song, a psalm, and a poem provides the shape of this thesis. This thesis argues that Costas formulated a Third World evangelical missiology. Chapter one investigates what Costas's autobiographical material expressed about his positions on conversion, Protestant evangelicalism, missiology, and those living on the ‘periphery' of life. Chapter two recognises his commitment to the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in particular and the Third World in general. Chapter three explores Costas's analysis of the Latin American Protestant Church in a revolutionary situation in the continent and chapter four examines his survey and critical appraisal of Latin American liberation theology. Chapter five recognizes the pastoral shape of Costas's missiology. Chapter six explores his critical interaction with two more conservative evangelical missiological positions, the Church Growth Movement and Peter Beyerhaus and the Frankfurt Declaration, and chapter seven surveys the discussion within the international evangelical community regarding the relationship between evangelism and social responsibility. Chapter eight examines Costas's Liberating News as an expression of Third World evangelical missiology. Chapter nine considers the theological issue of penal substitutionary atonement and his missiology. The thesis concludes with an appraisal of the issues and contributions of Costas's Third World evangelical missiology to current missiological discussion.

This multidisciplinary, applied study investigated whether the township church can be repositioned or re-discovered as an asset, which could be used to form strong community structures in local communities and in turn be the foundation for community development and Local Economic Development (LED) for Tshwane (specifically Soshanguve and Hammanskraal (S&H)). The concept of oikos is of central importance in the understanding of the ecological dimension of mission in relation to LED and was used in this thesis defined as oikomissiology which has a Christological basis and broadens the scope of mission by reinterpreting missio Dei and various socio-theological themes in order to realise the vision of collective wellbeing or shalom). Oikomissiology provided a framework / worldview for analysis, description, reflection and planning for action which releases the world, economics, the church and conventional Christian theology / missiology from the traps of anthropocentrism. A narrative approach enabled the “uncovering” of the voices of grassroots communities, giving grassroots participants (i.e. local church ministry representatives) freedom to tell their stories and share their experiences as far as LED is concerned, such that major economic concepts were spoken of in these stories in laymen’s language. The narratives were supplemented by interviews with experienced practitioners and church leaders, which resulted in gaining richer perspectives on LED and on how township congregations that participated in this research are attempting to respond to current socioeconomic crises in Tshwane (S & H). A literature study and a study of the physical space were performed in dialogue with narratives and interview findings. The findings of this applied study established that the township church, in relation to other community organisations and structures, is an asset that could play a number of vital roles towards improving LED in Tshwane (S & H). / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology (Urban ministry))