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83-579: Open Doors was founded in 1955 by Andrew van der Bijl , a Dutchman more widely known as Brother Andrew, when he decided to smuggle Bibles to persecuted Christians in Communist Poland . He continued this work in smuggling Bibles to many of the Soviet -controlled countries and in 1957 was given a blue Volkswagen Beetle which he used to make deliveries within the Communist bloc. With this new car he

166-674: A Zen group, and through two books made Zen popular in the Netherlands. The guidance of the group was taken over by Erik Bruijn, who is still in charge of a flourishing community. The largest Zen group now is the Kanzeon Sangha, led by Nico Tydeman under the supervision of the American Zen master Dennis Genpo Merzel , Roshi, a former student of Maezumi Roshi in Los Angeles. This group has a relatively large centre where

249-449: A "country focus" to a "people group focus". (From "What is a People Group?" by Dr. Orville Boyd Jenkins: A "people group" is an ethnolinguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. There are two parts to that word: ethno and linguistic. Language is a primary and dominant identifying factor of a people group. But there are other factors that determine or are associated with ethnicity.) What can be viewed as

332-696: A Christian book store in the Gaza Strip . During the trip, van der Bijl also spoke about Christianity at the Islamic University of Gaza . Later visits also included trips to Pakistan in the 2010s, where van der Bijl attempted to meet with members of the Taliban . Van der Bijl criticized the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq , stating that American evangelical Christians were too supportive of these wars. He also criticized

415-510: A North American headquarters at Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca, New York . Lewis M. Hopfe in his "Religions of the World" suggested that "Buddhism is perhaps on the verge of another great missionary outreach" (1987:170). A Christian missionary can be defined as "one who is to witness across cultures". The Lausanne Congress of 1974, defined the term, related to Christian mission as, "to form

498-420: A beach near the city of Shantou in southern China on a mission they named Project Pearl. Project Pearl was carried out by an international crew of 20, led by Brother David. A semi-submersible, 137-foot barge, named Gabriella , was loaded with 232 waterproof, poly-wrapped, one-ton packages containing a million Chinese Bibles. A 97-foot tugboat named Michael was used to tow Gabriella to the beach, weaving through

581-653: A dramatic increase in efforts since the 20th century, and a strong push since the Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland in 1974, modern evangelical groups have focused efforts on sending missionaries to every ethnic group in the world. While this effort has not been completed, increased attention has brought larger numbers of people distributing Bibles , Jesus videos , and establishing evangelical churches in more remote areas. Internationally,

664-858: A former mission field and belong to a race other than Caucasian. Much Anglican mission work came about under the auspices of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG, founded in 1701), the Church Missionary Society (CMS, founded 1799) and of the Intercontinental Church Society (formerly the Commonwealth and Continental Church Society, originating in 1823). With

747-506: A government-controlled Communist tour to Czechoslovakia, the only legal way to be in the country, during which he left the tour to meet with local Christian groups. Later that year, van der Bijl founded Open Doors , a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians . Open Doors was involved in smuggling Bibles and Christian literature, offering training for Christian leaders, and providing financial and other support for persecuted Christians. In 1957, van der Bijl travelled to

830-558: A hostile policy towards Christianity and other religions, during the era of the so-called Bamboo Curtain . He went to Czechoslovakia when the suppression by Soviet troops of the Prague Spring had put an end to relative religious freedom there. He visited with Czech Christians and gave Bibles to the Russian occupying forces. During that decade, he also made his first visits to Cuba , which was relatively easy for him to visit because

913-466: A maze of anchored Chinese navy ships. The crew arrived at the beach at 9 pm. 10,000 Chinese Christians had gathered to bring the Bibles to shore and then deliver them all over China. Time magazine described Project Pearl as "A remarkable mission… the largest operation of its kind in the history of China." In 1988, Open Doors used Glasnost as an opportunity to openly provide one million Russian Bibles to

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996-430: A national or regional military. (Romans, Chapter 13) Despite the seeming opposition between the submissive and morally upstanding associations with prayer and violence associated with militarism, these two spheres interact in a dialectical way. Yet they when properly implemented they are entangled to support one another in the upholding of a civilizations morality and the prosecution and punishment of criminals. In some cases

1079-656: A nations military may fail to operate according to Godly principles and is not supported by the Church or missionaries, in other cases the military is made up of the Church congregants. The results of spiritual conflict are then present in different ways as prayer can be strategically used, for or against a military. Nigeria, and other countries have had large numbers of their Christian adherents go to other countries and start churches. These non-western missionaries often have unparalleled success; because, they need few western resources and comforts to sustain their livelihood while doing

1162-581: A new language) where they study the scriptures along with the Book of Mormon , learn new languages when applicable, prepare themselves to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ , and learn more about the culture and the people they live among. As of December 2019, the LDS Church had over 67,000 full-time missionaries worldwide and over 31,000 Service Missionaries. In Montreal in 1910, Father James Anthony Walsh ,

1245-708: A number of missions in the Americas and in other Western colonies through the Augustinians , Franciscans , and Dominicans to spread Christianity in the New World and to convert the Native Americans and other indigenous people. About the same time, missionaries such as Francis Xavier (1506–1552) as well as other Jesuits , Augustinians, Franciscans, and Dominicans reached Asia and the Far East , and

1328-399: A priest from Boston, met Father Thomas Frederick Price , from North Carolina. They agreed on the need to build a seminary for the training of young American men for the foreign Missions. Countering arguments that the Church needed workers here , Fathers Walsh and Price insisted the Church would not flourish until it sent missioners overseas. Independently, the men had written extensively about

1411-479: A scale from 0 to 100 depending on the persecution of church life, national life, community life, family life, private life and violence against Christians. Countries are categorized under "Extreme Persecution", "Very High Persecution" or "High Persecution". In 2021, all top 50 countries were in both the "Extreme Persecution" and "Very High Persecution" categories for the first time since the World Watch List

1494-459: A success by those inside and outside the church from this focus is a higher level of cooperation and friendliness among churches and denominations. It is very common for those working on international fields to not only cooperate in efforts to share their gospel message , but view the work of their groups in a similar light. Also, with the increased study and awareness of different people groups, western mission efforts have become far more sensitive to

1577-829: A teacher and some students live permanently. Many other groups are also represented in the Netherlands, like the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives in Apeldoorn, the Thich Nhat Hanh Order of Interbeing and the International Zen Institute Noorderpoort monastery/retreat centre in Drenthe, led by Jiun Hogen Roshi. Perhaps the most widely visible Buddhist leader in the world is Tenzin Gyatso , the current Dalai Lama , who first visited

1660-524: A viable indigenous church-planting movement". Missionaries can be found in many countries around the world. In the Bible , Jesus Christ is recorded as instructing the apostles to make disciples of all nations ( Matthew 28:19–20 , Mark 16:15–18 ). This verse is referred to by Christian missionaries as the Great Commission and inspires missionary work. The Christian Church expanded throughout

1743-710: A visit in 1732 to Copenhagen for the coronation of his cousin King Christian VI , the Moravian Church 's patron Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf , was very struck by its effects, and particularly by two visiting Inuit children converted by Hans Egede . He also got to know a slave from the Danish colony in the West Indies . When he returned to Herrnhut in Saxony , he inspired the inhabitants of

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1826-733: Is a social and spiritual movement founded in Jamalpur , Bihar , India , in 1955 by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921–1990), also known by his spiritual name , Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti. Ananda Marga counts hundreds of missions around the world through which its members carry out various forms of selfless service on Relief. (The social welfare and development organization under AMPS is Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team, or AMURT.) Education and women's welfare The service activities of this section founded in 1963 are focused on: Dawah means to "invite" (in Arabic, literally "calling") to Islam , which

1909-636: Is now regarded as the ancestor of all Shaivite pandits. Shantidas Adhikari was a Hindu preacher from Sylhet who converted King Pamheiba of Manipur to Hinduism in 1717. Historically, Hinduism has only recently had a large influence in western countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada. Since the 1960s, many westerners attracted by the world view presented in Asian religious systems have converted to Hinduism. Many native-born Canadians of various ethnicities have converted during

1992-512: Is said to have converted many to Buddhism in China, and made Chang'an , present-day Xi'an , a major center of Buddhism. Buddhism expanded rapidly, especially among the common people, and by 381 most of the people of northwest China were Buddhist. Winning converts also among the rulers and scholars, by the end of the Tang dynasty Buddhism was found everywhere in China. Marananta brought Buddhism to

2075-480: Is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century. The use of missions, councils, and monastic institutions influenced the emergence of Christian missions and organizations, which developed similar structures in places that were formerly Buddhist missions. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Western intellectuals such as Schopenhauer , Henry David Thoreau , Max Müller , and esoteric societies such as

2158-519: Is the second largest religion with 2.0 billion members. From the 7th century, it spread rapidly from the Arabian Peninsula to the rest of the world through the initial Muslim conquests and subsequently with traders and explorers after the death of Muhammad . Initially, the spread of Islam came through the Dawah efforts of Muhammad and his followers. After his death in 632 CE, much of

2241-782: The Algonquin natives who lived in lands claimed by representatives of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century. Quaker "publishers of truth" visited Boston and other mid-17th century colonies, but were not always well received. The Danish government began the first organized Protestant mission work through its College of Missions , established in 1714. This funded and directed Lutheran missionaries such as Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg in Tranquebar , India, and Hans Egede in Greenland . In 1732, while on

2324-645: The Buddhist tradition through the Indian Maurya Empire , but later into the Mediterranean as far as Greece. Gradually, all India and the neighboring island of Ceylon were converted. Then, in later periods, Buddhism spread eastward and southeastward to the present lands of Burma , Thailand , Laos , Cambodia , Vietnam , and Indonesia . Buddhism was spread among the Turkic people during

2407-819: The Byzantine Empire . In the earlier stages of the Ottoman Empire , a Turkic form of Shamanism was still widely practiced in Anatolia, but soon lost ground to Sufism . During the Ottoman presence in the Balkans , missionary movements were taken up by people from aristocratic families hailing from the region, who had been educated in Constantinople or other major city within the Empire such as

2490-475: The Latin translation of the Bible , Jesus Christ says the word when he sends the disciples into areas and commands them to preach the gospel in his name. The term is most commonly used in reference to Christian missions , but it can also be used in reference to any creed or ideology . The word mission originated in 1598 when Jesuits , the members of the Society of Jesus sent members abroad, derived from

2573-982: The Netherlands , France , and the United States . In Canada, the immense popularity and goodwill ushered in by Tibet 's Dalai Lama (who has been made honorary Canadian citizen) put Buddhism in a favourable light in the country. Many non-Asian Canadians embraced Buddhism in various traditions and some have become leaders in their respective sanghas . In the early 1990s, the French Buddhist Union (UBF, founded in 1986) estimated that there are 600,000 to 650,000 Buddhists in France, with 150,000 French converts among them. In 1999, sociologist Frédéric Lenoir estimated there are 10,000 converts and up to five million "sympathizers", although other researchers have questioned these numbers. Taisen Deshimaru

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2656-783: The Roman Empire already in New Testament times and is said by tradition to have reached even further, to Persia ( Church of the East ) and to India ( Saint Thomas Christians ). During the Middle Ages, the Christian monasteries and missionaries such as Saint Patrick (5th century), and Adalbert of Prague (c. 956–997) propagated learning and religion beyond the European boundaries of the old Roman Empire. In 596, Pope Gregory

2739-920: The Russian Orthodox Church , at a cost of $ 2.5 million. Open Doors partnered with the United Bible Societies to complete the task in just over one year. In 2005, 428,856 people from over 70 countries signed Open Doors' global Right to Believe petition, saying Yes to religious liberty and No to the UN's Defamation of Religions Resolution . The petition was presented to the UN in New York in December 2010. In 2015, Open Doors (including its affiliates) delivered 3 million Bibles and literature, and delivered relief and aid to 239,164 people. In 2018,

2822-542: The Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, with an increased push for indigenization and inculturation , along with social justice issues as a constitutive part of preaching the Gospel . As the Catholic Church normally organizes itself along territorial lines and had the human and material resources, religious orders, some even specializing in it, undertook most missionary work, especially in

2905-663: The Theosophical Society of H.P. Blavatsky , The Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Buddhist Society, London spread interest in Buddhism. Writers such as Hermann Hesse and Jack Kerouac , in the West, and the hippie generation of the late 1960s and early 1970s led to a re-discovery of Buddhism. During the 20th and 21st centuries Buddhism has again been propagated by missionaries into

2988-793: The Turkic tribes living in and bordering the area. The missionary movement peaked during the Islamic Golden Age , with the expansion of foreign trade routes, primarily into the Indo-Pacific and as far south as the isle of Zanzibar as well as the Southeastern shores of Africa. With the coming of the Sufism tradition, Islamic missionary activities increased. Later, the Seljuk Turks ' conquest of Anatolia made it easier for missionaries to go lands that formerly belonged to

3071-745: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (both traditionally said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Andrew), the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Paul). The Byzantines expanded their missionary work in Ukraine after the mass baptism in Kiev in 988. The Serbian Orthodox Church had its origins in the conversion by Byzantine missionaries of the Serb tribes when they arrived in

3154-440: The killing of Osama bin Laden , having previously prayed for him, and called the operation "murder". Van der Bijl's tenth book, Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ , was released in 2007. Van der Bijl died at age 94 on 27 September 2022; he had been married for 59 years to his wife, Corry (1931–2018). They had continued to live in Holland and were survived by five children and 11 grandchildren. At

3237-415: The 1940s he enlisted in the colonial army of the Dutch East Indies during the Indonesian National Revolution . After being involved in a massacre of Indonesian villagers while he was serving as a soldier, he endured a period of severe emotional stress, and later was wounded in the ankle during the fighting. During his rehabilitation, he began reading a Bible given to him by his mother. When he returned to

3320-621: The 19th century. The Russian Orthodox Church also sent missionaries to Alaska beginning in the 18th century, including Saint Herman of Alaska (died 1836), to minister to the Natives . The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia continued missionary work outside Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution , resulting in the establishment of many new dioceses in the diaspora , from which numerous converts have been made in Eastern Europe, North America, and Oceania. Early Protestant missionaries included John Eliot and contemporary ministers including John Cotton and Richard Bourne, who ministered to

3403-425: The 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE into modern-day Pakistan, Kashmir , Afghanistan , eastern and coastal Iran , Uzbekistan , Turkmenistan , and Tajikistan . It was also taken into China brought by Kasyapa Matanga in the 2nd century CE , Lokaksema and An Shigao translated Buddhist sutras into Chinese. Dharmarakṣa was one of the greatest translators of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. Dharmaraksa came to

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3486-515: The Balkans in the 7th century. Orthodox missionaries also worked successfully among the Estonians from the 10th to the 12th centuries, founding the Estonian Orthodox Church . Under the Russian Empire of the 19th century, missionaries such as Nicholas Ilminsky (1822–1891) moved into the subject lands and propagated Orthodoxy, including through Belarus , Latvia , Moldova , Finland , Estonia , Ukraine , and China . The Russian St. Nicholas of Japan (1836–1912) took Eastern Orthodoxy to Japan in

3569-403: The Chinese capital of Luoyang in 266 CE, where he made the first known translations of the Lotus Sutra and the Dasabhumika Sutra , which were to become some of the classic texts of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Altogether, Dharmaraksa translated around 154 Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna sutras , representing most of the important texts of Buddhism available in the Western Regions. His proselytizing

3652-410: The Great (in office 590–604) sent the Gregorian Mission (including Augustine of Canterbury ) into England. In their turn, Christians from Ireland (the Hiberno-Scottish mission ) and from Britain ( Saint Boniface (c. 675–754), and the Anglo-Saxon mission , for example) became prominent in converting the inhabitants of central Europe. During the Age of Discovery , the Catholic Church established

3735-408: The Jews was founded, which pioneered mission amongst the Jewish people; it continues today as the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People . In 1865, the China Inland Mission was founded, going well beyond British controlled areas; it continues as the OMF, working throughout East Asia . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has an active missionary program . Young men between

3818-617: The KGB tracked van der Bijl's activities. In 1967, van der Bijl published the first edition of God's Smuggler, written with John and Elizabeth Sherrill . An autobiography, God's Smuggler tells the story of his early childhood, conversion to Christianity, and adventures as a Bible-smuggler behind the Iron Curtain. Due to the press exposure following the book, van der Bijl stopped personally smuggling Bibles and Christian literature to other countries, and shifted to evangelism and fundraising campaigns in North America and Europe to support Open Doors. By 2022, it had sold over 10 million copies and

3901-486: The Korean Peninsula in the 4th century. Seong of Baekje , known as a great patron of Buddhism in Korea , built many temples and welcomed priests bringing Buddhist texts directly from India. In 528, Baekje officially adopted Buddhism as its state religion. He sent tribute missions to Liang in 534 and 541, on the second occasion requesting artisans as well as various Buddhist works and a teacher. According to Chinese records, all these requests were granted. A subsequent mission

3984-499: The Latin missionem ( nom. missio ), meaning 'act of sending' or mittere , meaning 'to send'. The first Buddhist missionaries were called "Dharma Bhanaks", and some see a missionary charge in the symbolism behind the Buddhist wheel, which is said to travel all over the earth bringing Buddhism with it. The Emperor Ashoka was a significant early Buddhist missioner. In the 3rd century BCE, Dharmaraksita —among others—was sent out by emperor Ashoka to proselytize and initially

4067-488: The Middle East. In his book Light Force , he tells of Arab and Lebanese churches in Lebanon, Israel and Israeli-occupied areas expressing great delight at the mere visit of a fellow Christian from abroad since they felt that the church in the Western world at large was mostly ignoring them. In similar fashion, van der Bijl and a companion, Al Janssen, visited Hamas and PLO leaders, including Ahmed Yassin and Yasser Arafat . Arafat granted van de Bijl permission to open

4150-418: The Netherlands he started attending church and committed himself to Christianity. In 1953, Van der Bijl studied at the WEC Missionary Training College in Glasgow , Scotland. In July 1955, van der Bijl visited Communist Poland to attend the 5th World Festival of Youth and Students in Warsaw, where he met a Christian bookstore owner that told him about a lack of Bibles in the Soviet Union . He signed up on

4233-463: The Portuguese sent missions into Africa. Emblematic in many respects is Matteo Ricci 's Jesuit mission to China from 1582, which was totally peaceful and non-violent. These missionary movements should be distinguished from others, such as the Baltic Crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries, which were arguably compromised in their motivation by designs of military conquest. Much contemporary Catholic missionary work has undergone profound change since

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4316-434: The Society for Missions to Africa and the East, was founded in 1799 by evangelical Anglicans centred around the anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce . It bent its efforts to the Coptic Church , the Ethiopian Church , and India, especially Kerala ; it continues to this day. Many of the network of churches they established became the Anglican Communion . In 1809, the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst

4399-418: The Soga clan, Buddhism rose over the objections of the pro-Shinto Mononobe and Buddhism entrenched itself in Japan with the conversion of Prince Shotoku Taishi . When in 710 Emperor Shomu established a new capital at Nara with urban grid plan modeled after the capital of China, Buddhism received official support and began to flourish. Padmasambhava , The Lotus Born, was a sage guru from Oḍḍiyāna who

4482-470: The Soviet Union's capital, Moscow , in a Volkswagen Beetle , which later became the symbol of Open Doors. An older couple, the Whetstras, had given him their new car because they had prayed about it and believed that van der Bijl would need the car. A man who lived in Amersfoort , Karl de Graaf, claimed that God told him to teach van der Bijl to drive. Later, when van der Bijl was in a refugee camp in West Germany, Philip Whetstra called van der Bijl to come to

4565-461: The USA organization spent $ 19,291,134 on programs to the persecuted church with $ 4.7 M spent on fundraising and $ 2.8 on administration. In 2022, it would have programs in 70 countries. On September 27, 2022, Brother Andrew, the founder of Open Doors, died at age 94 at his home in Harderwijk, Netherlands. Open Doors and its affiliates conduct programs in many countries: The organization publishes an annual World Watch List which ranks countries by

4648-435: The United States in 1979. As the exiled political leader of Tibet , he has become a popular cause célèbre. His early life was depicted in Hollywood films such as Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet . He has attracted celebrity religious followers such as Richard Gere and Adam Yauch . The first Western-born Tibetan Buddhist monk was Robert A. F. Thurman , now an academic supporter of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama maintains

4731-420: The West such as Ananda Metteyya ( Theravada Buddhism ), Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō ( Zen Buddhism ), the Dalai Lama and monks including Lama Surya Das (Tibetan Buddhism). Tibetan Buddhism has been significantly active and successful in the West since the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. Today Buddhists make a decent proportion of several countries in the West such as New Zealand , Australia , Canada ,

4814-399: The Whetstras' new house in Amsterdam. Although van der Bijl was violating the laws of all of the countries that he visited by bringing religious literature, he often placed the material in view when he was stopped at police checkpoints, as a gesture of his trust in what he believed to be God's protection. Van der Bijl visited China in the 1960s, after the Cultural Revolution had created

4897-432: The ages of eighteen and twenty-five are encouraged to prepare themselves to serve a two-year, self-funded, full-time proselytizing mission. Young women who desire to serve as missionaries can serve starting at the age of nineteen, for one and a half years. Retired couples also have the option of serving a mission. Missionaries typically spend two weeks in a Missionary Training Center (or two to three months for those learning

4980-425: The concept, Father Price in his magazine Truth , and Father Walsh in the pages of A Field Afar , an early incarnation of Maryknoll Magazine . Winning the approval of the American hierarchy, the two priests traveled to Rome in June 1911 to receive final approval from Pope Pius X for the formation of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, now better known as the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. Hinduism

5063-475: The country did not require visas from Dutch citizens, to bring Bibles after the Cuban Revolution . At that time, several Christian organizations, such as the American Bible Society and the Southern Baptist Convention 's Foreign Mission Board , did not support the practice of Bible smuggling, calling it dangerous and ineffective, and noting that Bibles were "freely on sale" in many Iron Curtain countries. KGB informers ultimately infiltrated Open Doors, and

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5146-477: The cultural nuances of those they are going to and those they are working with in the effort. Over the years, as indigenous churches have matured, the church of the Global South (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) has become the driving force in missions. Korean and African missionaries can now be found all over the world. These missionaries represent a major shift in church history where the nations they came from were not historically Christian. Another major shift in

5229-443: The era after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. Over time, the Holy See gradually established a normalized Church structure in the mission areas, often starting with special jurisdictions known as apostolic prefectures and apostolic vicariates . At a later stage of development these foundations are raised to regular diocesan status with a local bishops appointed. On a global front, these processes were often accelerated in

5312-404: The expansion of the empire came through conquest such as that of North Africa and later Iberia ( Al-Andalus ). The Islamic conquest of Persia put an end to the Sassanid Empire and spread the reach of Islam to as far east as Khorasan , which would later become the cradle of Islamic civilization during the Islamic Golden Age (622–1258 CE) and a stepping-stone towards the introduction of Islam to

5395-474: The focus for many years in the later 20th century was on reaching every "people group" with Christianity by 2000. Bill Bright's leadership with Campus Crusade, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board , The Joshua Project, and others brought about the need to know who these " unreached people groups " are and how those wanting to tell about the Christian God and share a Christian Bible could reach them. The focus for these organizations transitioned from

5478-411: The form of modern missionary work takes shape in the conflation of spiritual with contemporary military metaphors and practices. Missionary work as spiritual warfare (Ephesians, Chapter 6) weapons of a spiritual sense, is the primary concept in a long-standing relationship between Christian missions and militarization. Though when the Church establishes a governance, usually this results in a formation of

5561-470: The last 50 years through the actions of the Ramakrishna Mission , ISKCON , Arya Samaj and other missionary organizations as well as due to the visits and guidance of Indian gurus such as Guru Maharaj, Sai Baba , and Rajneesh . The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has a presence in New Zealand, running temples in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. Paramahansa Yogananda , an Indian yogi and guru , introduced many westerners to

5644-403: The later 1960s, in part accompanying political decolonization. In some regions, however, they are still in course. Just as the Bishop of Rome had jurisdiction also in territories later considered to be in the Eastern sphere, so the missionary efforts of the two 9th-century saints Cyril and Methodius were largely conducted in relation to the West rather than the East, though the field of activity

5727-449: The severity of persecution faced by active Christians. The WWL is based on research and comparison of field researchers, external experts, academics, and publicly available research documents but is subjective. In 2012, the methodology of the WWL was comprehensively revised in order to provide greater credibility, transparency, objectivity and scientific quality. In 2013, further refinement of the methodology took place. Countries are ranked on

5810-451: The slaves and together with Native Americans , including the Lenape and Cherokee Indian tribes. Today, the work in the former mission provinces of the worldwide Moravian Church is carried on by native workers. The fastest-growing area of the work is in Tanzania in Eastern Africa. The Moravian work in South Africa inspired William Carey and the founders of the British Baptist missions. As of 2014 , seven of every ten Moravians live in

5893-400: The teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi . Swami Vivekananda , the founder of the Ramakrishna Mission is one of the greatest Hindu missionaries to the West. Ānanda Mārga , organizationally known as Ānanda Mārga Pracaraka Samgha (AMPS), meaning the samgha (organization) for the propagation of the marga (path) of ananda (bliss),

5976-573: The time of his death, Open Doors was active in over 60 countries. The ministry yearly distributes 300,000 Bibles and 1.5 million Christian books and materials. The group is active in providing relief, aid, community development, and trauma counseling, while advocating for persecuted Christians around the globe. Missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education , literacy , social justice , health care , and economic development . In

6059-638: The village – it had fewer than thirty houses then – to send out "messengers" to the slaves in the West Indies and to the Moravian missions in Greenland . Within thirty years, Moravian missionaries had become active on every continent, and this at a time when there were fewer than three hundred people in Herrnhut. They are famous for their selfless work, living as slaves among

6142-763: The work they have chosen among a new culture and people. One of the first large-scale missionary endeavors of the British colonial age was the Baptist Missionary Society , founded in 1792 as the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen. The London Missionary Society was an evangelical organisation, bringing together from its inception both Anglicans and Nonconformists ; it

6225-531: Was a Dutch Christian missionary and founder of the Christian organization Open Doors . He was known for smuggling Bibles and other Christian literature into communist countries during the Cold War and, because of his activities, he was nicknamed " God's Smuggler ". Van der Bijl was born in Alkmaar , the Netherlands , on 11 May 1928, the fourth of six children of a poor blacksmith and an invalid mother. In

6308-558: Was a Japanese Zen Buddhist who founded numerous zendos in France. Thich Nhat Hanh , a Nobel Peace Prize -nominated, Vietnamese -born Zen Buddhist, founded the Unified Buddhist Church (Eglise Bouddhique Unifiée) in France in 1969. The Plum Village Monastery in the Dordogne in southern France was his residence and the headquarters of his international sangha . In 1968 Leo Boer and Wener van de Wetering founded

6391-560: Was able to carry more literature. Thereafter, the work of Open Doors continued to expand as it extended its network throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The name "Open Doors" referencing that of a welcoming group due to the doors being open at all times. He was responsible for smuggling millions of Bibles behind the Iron Curtain . On 18 June 1981, Open Doors delivered one million contraband Chinese Bibles in one night to

6474-649: Was central Europe. The Eastern Orthodox Church , under the Orthodox Church of Constantinople undertook vigorous missionary work under the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire . This had lasting effects and in some sense is at the origin of the present relations of Constantinople with some sixteen Orthodox national churches including the Romanian Orthodox Church , the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church , and

6557-692: Was founded in England in 1795 with missions in Africa and the islands of the South Pacific. The Colonial Missionary Society was created in 1836, and directed its efforts towards promoting Congregationalist forms of Christianity among "British or other European settlers" rather than indigenous peoples. Both of these merged in 1966, and the resultant organisation is now known as the Council for World Mission . The Church Mission Society , first known as

6640-590: Was introduced into Java by travellers from India in ancient times. Several centuries ago, many Hindus left Java for Bali rather than convert to Islam . Hinduism has survived in Bali ever since. Dang Hyang Nirartha was responsible for facilitating a refashioning of Balinese Hinduism. He was an important promoter of the idea of moksha in Indonesia. He founded the Shaivite priesthood that is now ubiquitous in Bali, and

6723-817: Was originally published. In 2022, Afghanistan overtook North Korea to become the country with the highest level of persecution. North Korea returned to the top of the list in 2023, with the highest levels of persecution ever seen. The report found Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa at the epicenter of violence against Christians. The 2024 list revealed that the number of Christians suffering persecution and discrimination for their faith has risen to 365 million. Extreme levels of persecution Very high levels of persecution Andrew van der Bijl Andrew " Anne " van der Bijl ( Dutch: [ˈɑnə vɑn dər ˈbɛil] ; 11 May 1928 – 27 September 2022), known in English-speaking countries as Brother Andrew ,

6806-571: Was published in thirty-five languages. A comic book adaptation of God's Smuggler was published in 1972 by Spire Christian Comics . After the fall of Communism in Europe, van der Bijl shifted his focus to the Middle East and worked to strengthen the church in the Muslim world, having visited Lebanon several times in the 1970s. In the 1990s, van der Bijl again travelled several times more to

6889-617: Was sent in 549, only to find the Liang capital in the hands of the rebel Hou Jing , who threw them in prison for lamenting the fall of the capital. He is credited with having sent a mission in 538 to Japan that brought an image of Shakyamuni and several sutras to the Japanese court. This has traditionally been considered the official introduction of Buddhism to Japan. An account of this is given in Gangōji Garan Engi . First supported by

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