Motus Dei. Edited by Warrick Farah, William Carey Publishing, 2021.

Motus Dei is Latin for “Movement of God.” In some ways, this is an expansion of Bhojpuri Breakthrough. That book told stories of the growth of Christianity in Northeast India through personal evangelism and the formation of what in the West are called cell groups or house churches.

This book is a collection of articles about similar movements in other places in the world, mostly Asia and North Africa. In a few of the chapters the author or location cannot be precisely identified for security reasons. It certainly appears that God is on the move. We read about some things the Lord was doing in A Wind in the House of Islam. This tells us how many people are going about it.

One lively discussion has to do with how people interpret the tenth chapter of Luke. In Luke 10:1-12, Jesus instructed seventy-two of His followers on how to share the Gospel with people in the places they visit. Luke 10:6 notes that they should look for a “person of peace.” There is even among those in these discipleship making movements (DMMs) some discussion about exactly what that means, but generally they look for someone who appears helpful or interested and is a part of the local population. This person may or may not be a convert or the first convert, but he or she is interested in at least helping the visitor or visitors.

One article noted how this has made a difference. Missionaries, whether foreign or local, often spent years presenting the claims of Jesus without gaining any followers. Someone specifically seeking a respected person of peace often succeeds in the same situation. One article attempting to do a statistical analysis of such work among Muslims in the Near East figured that about two and half percent of the population might be potential people of peace. When first arriving to a new village or city neighborhood, first finding such persons leads to quicker results.

Usually, the evangelist begins a Bible study to discuss who Jesus is. Eventually some will decide to become Jesus followers. Several writers note that this is very different from North America, say, where many people have a basic understanding of church teaching and what it means to commit to Christ. The “altar call” perhaps followed by baptism model is almost meaningless in a culture that knows no Christians.

Indeed, in some places the terms church and Christian are not used because of the cultural baggage associated with them. Christianity is often seen as foreign or Western. We could note that Communism and Socialism were actually invented in Europe, but that is not necessarily the perception even of those who live in Communist or Socialist countries on other continents.

I personally am reminded of a lady I know who belonged for many years to a nondenominational Christian church. She was from Ireland and said that she could never join a Protestant church because of what she had been told about Protestants, but since her church was unaffiliated, she had no problems with it.

Articles vary a little on how much contextualization is needed. Obviously, anyone bringing a message to a different culture has to understand the language and culture to some extent. In many places, the local people come up with their own teaching methods and hymns done in a manner that fits with the local styles of poetry and music. A few places, however, leaders have said those considerations are secondary, and some have succeeded using Western music and a more formal church style.

Even where that is done, for example in Thailand, there are still concessions made to the local culture. At least one Bible study that developed into a church met in Buddhist temple. In that culture, too, gifts to the dead are part of the religion. Converts will eventually give that practice up, but they have to do it in a way that is not offensive. Otherwise, it is an insult to one’s parents and ancestors.

One writer expressed difficulty in contextualizing the life of Jesus in a Muslim setting. This may have to do with the cultural baggage Muslims often carry about Jews since those are the people Jesus mainly served. Still, when we read the Gospels, the religious leaders who opposed Jesus believed and acted in many ways the way Muslim religious leaders do today. Their morals are similar, they are strict about dietary laws, they reject idolatry, they see someone calling himself the Son of God as blasphemous. Readers or hearers of the Word have to see these things for themselves as they learn Jesus’s story.

Obviously, there are going to be differences depending on whether the local culture is literate or not. Even many literate cultures value story telling, and the story of Jesus gets their attention.

Much is written here about church “generations,” meaning churches that plant or spawn other churches, usually in adjoining villages or neighborhoods. Since the 1990s some of these movement have created churches to the seventh generation.

There are other interesting discussions here. In most places there are no other churches, but in some locations there are already more traditional churches established. How do these cell groups relate to a Protestant church that has been there for fifty or a hundred years but has done little evangelizing?

There are also some articles on the character of not only the people of peace but of the evangelists and leaders. After all, the goal of most of these DMMs is to leave a cell to a local leader. Of course, there are also challenges when a local evangelist comes to a place which is culturally different. For example, an evangelist with a Hindu background comes to a village with a similar language and culture but is Muslim.

While most of these movements have arisen within the last thirty years, there are things more established and more Western churches can learn from. Bible discussion groups are often more meaningful than passively listening to a preacher. That model began in the Middle Ages when most people were illiterate and had to depend on someone who could read the Bible to tell them about God. Any belief tends to be more meaningful if the individual grasps it and makes it his own.

This comes to another repeating image from the Bible. Not only do people in DMMs point to Luke 10, they also point to the stories of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-11:17) or the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:11-40). In both cases, it was not just one person who converted—indeed, of the more than two dozen conversion stories in Acts, only two involve a single person. It was a family or a group of neighbors or a group of people studying the Bible together who converted together. That appears to be the usual biblical pattern.

Observers have also noted that people who were poorer or in a lower class or caste received more healings or miracles than those who were wealthier or from a higher class or caste. I have observed the same in churches and ministries in America. It is probably a reflection on dependency and God’s own compassion. See, for example, Jeremiah 9:23-24 and James 2:5.

It is exciting to read about and hear what the Holy Spirit is doing in places that have until recently been separated from the Gospel. Not only that, but there are things that those in the established or organized “Western” churches can learn from. God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).