Our kaleidoscope shows that profound social, religious, and economic changes have changed the way we view our task. Poverty, hunger, civil wars, and exploitation cast a dark shadow. Millions of refugees surge across one border or another. While some nations have found wealth, others struggle to remain viable. Political regimes closely aligned with entrenched religious authorities strongly oppose the gospel.
Old religions surge out of Asia and Africa.
Persecution of Christians reigns in a number of countries. To meet these challenges, churches are sending so-called tentmaker missionaries who use their professions and businesses to establish beachheads for Jesus. Huge population shifts have forced missionaries to take a new look at their church-planting strategies. In the next century more work will focus on urban areas with the attendant problems of dislocation, poverty, loss of identity, joblessness, and crime. North American Christians now have more financial and spiritual resources than they have ever had.