This week’s blog is sponsored by Christian Focus Publications and written by John Stuart Ross, author of a new biography about Scottish missionary John Ross (no relation), The Power and the Glory: John Ross and the Evangelisation of Manchuria and Korea The new biography of my namesake, the Scottish missionary John Ross (1842-1915), is the first published in English. From 1872 to 1910, Ross worked in northeast China, but his influence spread south into Korea, resulting in both regions in large numbers of spontaneously expanding, locally sustainable, Presbyterian polity churches, independent of missionary control. Neglected for over a century, the story of Ross was never more relevant than it is today: here are five reasons why. 1. Unsatisfied with passing off a smattering of language, the adoption of local dress and superficial adherence to local customs as cultural awareness, Ross immersed himself in the history, literature, philosophy and religion of China and Korea. The benefits were enormous: he gained respect for himself and acceptance for the gospel. 2. As an expatriate, Ross could never achieve what local Christians could. His priority, therefore, was to recruit and train Chinese and Korean evangelists on fire with God’s grace. Intellectual ability had its place, but, as he put it, ‘when the stubborn iron-ore of the heart has to be smelted, the lamp alone is of little value. We need the fire.’ 3. Ross trusted the Holy Spirit in the people he trained. Rejecting paternalism, he insisted that without independent indigenous ministry the church would remain a frail child … Continue reading Five things John Ross Teaches us about Effective Evangelism