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RPTS Webniar on December 8: “The Damage of the Parachurch Model for Short-term Missions, and What is the Solution” with Steven Miller, Adjunct Professor of Missions Recorded

On Tuesday, December 8, at 3 p.m., RPTS hosted a webinar for alums and friends with Adjunct Professor of Missions, Rev. Steven Miller.

Click here to view the recorded webinar.

The webinar was entitled “The Damage of the Parachurch Model for Short-term Missions, and What is the Solution", and included a critique of the Short-Term Missions "industry" after he attended a major conference on the topic this summer in Chicago, and will address industry buzzwords and phrases such as "Contextualization of the Gospel", "Theology is Local", "Missiology", and the new label for missionaries now being "practitioners". Professor Miller also shared surprising statistics, such as the fact that four to six billion dollars are spent annually on the Short-term Missions “industry", what doesn't get done and what is redone with service projects, and common dangers with limited local connections. As well, he raised concerns about the questionable purposes today in Short-Term Missions as noted by industry leaders, that of the experience of “being there”, deeds not doctrine, and a committment not to transform culture but preserve it for study.

Professor Miller also shared on the Reformed theology and method of missions as derived from the Bible, and denomstrated how Short-Term Missions should come out of the Biblical theology and method of missions as an element of the overall approach. Rev. Miller has thirty years of pastoral and missionary experience. He and his wife, Jane, continue interest in and contact with the church they helped establish in Eritrea, East Africa, where the population is largely Muslim and Eritrean Orthodox. He has a powerful first-hand witness of proclaiming the Gospel to all the nations, having also preached in Poland, Cyprus, Egypt, and Kenya.

Thanks to our sponsor, RP Missions!