Missional Praxis To Reach Out Muslims In Venezuela

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF MISSIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MISSIONAL PRAXIS FOR LOCAL CHURCHES TO WITNESS TO IMMIGRANT MUSLIMS IN VENEZUELA

A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO
DR. MARK HAUSFELD
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
MHT 642 CONTEXTUALIZED THEOLOGY
OF THE MASTER OF ARTS IN THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

BY
JENNY FERNANDA VIELMA CACERESSPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI
APRIL, 2011



CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...................... 1
Part
1. BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF MISSIONS ................... 2
In the Old Testament
The Second-temple period
In the New Testament
Contextualization in the Old and New Testament
The Apostolic Church
2. HISTORY OF ISLAM AND SOCIALANALYSIS: DESCRIPTION OF ISLAMIC PRESENCE IN VENEZUELA ................ 13
3. MISSIONAL PRAXIS FOR THE VENEZUELAN LOCAL CHURCHES PARTICIPATION IN
REACHING IMMIGRANT MUSLIMS. … ...................19
CONCLUSION ...................23
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................... 25
APPENDIX No. 1 28
APPENDIX No. 2 29
APPENDIX No. 3 30INTRODUCTION
The Bible displays the mission of God as His purpose to redeem all people groups on earth from sinfulness, through the provision of salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God commissions His redeemed children to participate in the spread of the “good news” of salvation to all those who have not yet heard them, including the individuals of unreached people groupswho migrate to places where the Church exists. In the last decade, many Muslims have moved to Venezuela, a Christian nation. The Venezuelan Church must create strategies to mobilize the local churches to engage and witness to local Muslims.
In order to respond effectively to this challenge, this paper will first reflect and enunciate a Biblical theology of missions of the progressive developmentof the mission of God, specifically the Old Testament, during the second-temple period, and in the New Testament. The theological reflection will define the missionary role of the local churches in presenting the Gospel to Muslims in Venezuela. The second section of the paper surveys the basics of the history of Islam and analyses of the society of Muslims in Venezuela, including: demographics,politics, culture, and beliefs. The third section develops a missional praxis or strategy for the local churches to witness to Muslims neighbors. The goal of this study focuses on understanding through Scriptures God’s desire for “all people” to know Him, and to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit on how to engage and contextualize the message to Muslims living in Venezuela.PART 1:
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF MISSIONS
God has always had a plan of salvation for humanity, and the Bible progressively reveals it. Since the beginning of creation God promised a savior to all people groups and nations through the promised seed—Jesus Christ. The missio Dei starts with God who invites His people to participate in His plans for the redemption of the whole creation.Only when Christians recognize God’s mission expressed in the text can they purposely participate in fulfilling His mission. A Biblical theology of missions studies the salvation activities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit throughout the world, geared toward bringing the kingdom of God into existence.
Christopher Wright describes the Bible as “the grand narrative of the truth thatreveals the story of God’s mission, as a universal claim that affirms humanity.” One must read the Bible missiologically, recognizing the Bible’s authority in missions not just with a biblical basis of missions but as a missional hermeneutic of the Bible. A missional hermeneutic takes the “indicative” and the “imperative” of the biblical revelation with equal significance, and interprets each in the...