What is Indigenous?
In China, the state sanctioned Protestant church is called the Three Self Patriotic Movement. It may be an abnormal place to go looking for missiological concepts, but the Chinese government is on to something. What are the three selfs?
- Self Administration - lead from within
- Self Support - financed from within
- Self Propogation - futher evangelization made from within
In the stated vision of DongTeam.org, an indigenous church is our objective as we pray for the Dong church. The American Heritage Dictionary defines indigenous as "originating and living or occurring naturally in an area or environment." The three self priniciples are excellent, and are the ultimate goal, but only touch the "living or occuring" part of the definition.
Let's pray first for this part of an indiginous church: the working out of indigenous principles for those churches that already exist.
Father, our Dong brothers and sisters need your guidance and support as they learn to lead, financially support, and spread their own church. Help us to pray more frequently and more in depth to spiritually support them in this great calling. Please give them the training and encouragement they need as you use them for the glory of your name.
Posted by DongTeam on 18 February 2005