Transforming missiology : an alternative approach to missiological education with special reference to the DR Congo

Abstract

This study emerged from an observation on the reality of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as being less "missionary-sending country" at the global level while housing several tertiary theological institutions and churches in full bloom. The assumption was that missiology and theological education in such a context needed to be revisited. If graduates had a training which encompasses a personal and profound inner conviction for missio Dei, they would realize the power of transforming missiology. While being subject to change, their missiology would also be an activity susceptible to bring change to their life and churches. Therefore, the purpose of this concurrent mixed method study was to better understand how the prevailing missiological training programs in the DRC aligned with the preoccupation of providing missiological education for God's glocal and holistic mission. The key question was: How does the prevailing missiological education in the DRC align with the purpose of missio Dei? Undertaken from the evangelical perspective through a study of selected Protestant universities, the thesis strived to relate educational and conceptual frameworks, didactics and pedagogics of missiology to God's glocal mission. Mission history, theology and education made the backbone of the study. Based on the theoretical and empirical findings of the study, some profound root causes of the current status of missiology and missiological education in the DRC were identified and discussed: historical legacies, theological convictions, educational realities, economic and political factors, and ecclesiastical structures. In the light of the findings, a proposition of transforming missiology for a fruitful missiological education emerged from the study. Although undertaken in the strict context of the DRC, the findings of this study can be generalized to other contexts, including the particular context of the Francophone Africa.