Highlights from Faculty Associate Dr. Jonathan Bonk
The Center for Global Christianity and Mission celebrates the diverse and valuable contributions of our Faculty Associates.
Dr. Jonathan Bonk offers the following report on his recent work:
“I continue to serve as President of the Korean Global Mission Leaders Forum. From November 9-12 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, we convened our 6th biennial forum — this one on the theme ‘Missions and Money.’ The forum was a hybrid affair, but went very well. The book containing forum papers, case studies, and workshops was officially released in March, together with a Korean version of the book.
“We are also planning for one more forum under my watch, also in Pyeongchang, scheduled for November 7-10, 2023. We’re tackling what is perhaps the most challenging theme of the series: “Global Calamity and Mission: Climate Change and the Gospel of Hope.”
“I published a short article on “Andrew Walls: Mentor, Friend, Exemplar” in the Journal of African Christian Biography. Vol. 6, No. 4 (October 2021), Pp. 3-21. And I’ve agreed to do a 5,000-word article on “The Writings and Legacy of Andrew F. Walls” for The Palgrave Handbook of African Christianity from Apostolic Times to the Present, scheduled for publication in 2023.
“I continue to preach somewhat regularly in our Mennonite congregation, and I have given a lecture and been featured in one “conversation” as a Canadian Mennonite University Fellow here in Winnipeg. The topic of that particular conversation was: “‘Exterminate all the brutes’: A conversation on Christian mission’s complicity in the west’s grand quest to “civilize” the uncivilized and “develop” the underdeveloped.” You can tell I’ve been reading Joseph Conrad and Sven Lindqvist and Raoul Peck! Not very cheery stuff, but necessary.