MISSION AND EVANGELISM - Prof. Dr.

David Pascua
by: Giovanni Russel D. Bosita – January 10,2021

Contextualization, inclusivity and life affirmations are important factors of my mission perspective

and agenda. Mission and evangelization should always have the character of fluidity and relevance,

that are needed to be applied to different settings (cultural, sociological and spiritual) and

circumstances that will truly reflect the life of the church including the necessities and realities of the

un church or non-Christians that it seeks to reach out. In the process of developing my mission

philosophy, I make sure that the theology and message it conveys is dynamic and applicable to what

the present context is requiring and is always inclusive and life affirming. Relevant issues such as

social justice, human sexuality, materialism and indifference should not be abstracted from the

general theme of mission and evangelism. Although some of these realities are difficult and

challenging, the mission and the message of the gospel should touch every aspect and experiences

related to a human person including their struggles. I understand that most of our people inside the

church are still “closed” to issues that for them are too “sensitive”, “liberal” and “progressive.” And

most of them choose to apply the traditional model and approaches to mission and evangelization. It is

my conviction however, that church workers should embrace the responsibility of challenging the

community of faith, in addressing present realities and relevant issues, in order for our missional work

and evangelization to be relevant, and inclusive to those neglected and marginalized.

I admit that my own missional work and perspective is continuously evolving. It is open to be

improved and challenged in order for it to grow towards a more matured manner, resulting to effective

ministry and missional approach. It is also undeniably influenced by a distinctive “Wesleyan

emphases” which I learned through the course of my own spiritual formation and development.

Emphasis on God’s grace and the importance of personal and social holiness forms the baseline of my

missional philosophy. All of this are rooted from the Wesleyan heritage that put emphasis on

“practical divinity”, which is shown through the “genuine” faithfulness of the lives of the believers

and their dependency to God’s grace. I personally believe that effective and successful missional work

and evangelization is best evidenced by the “transformed” lives of the believers of the church. And

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those who are tasked to lead the church should be the first to be transformed by the love and grace of

God.