Pioneers to Partners
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More About This Title Pioneers to Partners

English

Beginning with Japan's early exposure to Christianity by the very successful Roman Catholic mission to Japan in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the resultant persecution and prohibition of Christianity, Laman lays the groundwork for understanding the experience of nineteenth-century Protestant missionaries, among whom those of the Reformed Church in America were in the forefront. The early efforts of the Browns, Verbecks, Ballaghs, and Stouts, their failures and successes, are recounted within the cultural and political context of the anti-Western, anti-Christian Japan of the time.

Verbeck's service to the government helped bring about gradual change. The first Protestant church was organized with a vision for ecumenical mission, and during several promising years, churches and mission schools were organized. Reformed Church missionaries encouraged and trained Japanese leaders from the beginning, the first Japanese ministers were ordained in 1877, and the Japanese church soon exhibited a spirit of independence, ushering in an era of growing missionary/Japanese partnership.

The rise of the Japanese empire, a reinvigorated nationalism, and its progression to militarist ultranationalism brought on a renewed anti-Western, anti-Christian reaction and new challenges to both mission and church. With the outbreak of World War II, the Japanese government consolidated all Protestant churches into the Kyodan to facilitate control.

Laman continues the account of Reformed Church partners in mission in Japan in the midst of post-war devastation and subsequent social and political tensions. The ecumenical involvement and continued clarification of mutual mission finds the Reformed Church a full participant with a mature Japanese church.

English

Charles E. Van Engen
-- Professor of Biblical Theology & Missions, Fuller Theological Seminary
"Masterfully arranged, thoroughly documented, thoughtfully written, this gracious book is an easy and interesting read and a moving testimony to the profound influence of the Reformed Church in America's 150 years of mission partnership and presence with the church and the people of Japan. Anyone interested in Asia, in Japan, in the RCA, and in God's mission will find here a treasure trove of lessons and examples in Christian mission and evangelism, interwoven with the stories of many well-known, beloved women and men who lived out their love of Jesus and love of Japan, supported by loving and committed churches and individuals throughout the Reformed Church in America."

Dennis N. Voskuil
-- President Emeritus, Professor Church History, Western Theological Seminary
"Bravo! This long-anticipated study of the missionary presence of the Reformed Church in America in Japan does not disappoint. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Pioneers to Partners is a must read for those who are interested in global missions history. It is also an invaluable resource for those engaged in cross-cultural missiological study."

Thomas John Hastings
-- Senior Research Fellow, Japan International Christian University Foundation
"Career missionary, former 'dean' of the RCA community in Japan, and my former colleague at Tokyo Union Theological Seminary, Gordon Laman has given the church and the study of mission history the most comprehensive English work on Japanese Protestantism since Richard Drummond's A History of Christianity in Japan (1971). In an engaging narrative style that seamlessly weaves personal and ecclesial witness into the complex story of modern Japan, Laman passionately recounts the contributions and struggles of the RCA missionary community. Based on years of careful research, Pioneers to Partners will instruct and inspire scholars and lay readers in the U.S. and Japan."

I. John Hesselink
-- Missionary to Japan (1953-73), emeritus president and professor of theology, Western Theological Seminary
"Having served for more than forty years as a Reformed Church in America missionary in Japan, Gordon Laman is eminently qualified to write this important study. His experiences as both an evangelist and as a theological educator in Japan enable him to write with insight and sensitivity about the special challenges of Christian witness in that country. He also handles deftly the complex relationship of missionaries and the indigenous church as well as the interaction of the church and Japanese culture."
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