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Western Christians' greatest challenge
* At last someone is taking note of the recent exploding growth of the Christian faith in the non-Western world—the greatest number of new believers in all of history, by far ["Faith Without Borders," May 19]. At last someone is pointing out the amazing Third World mission movement, already equal in numbers to all missionaries from the West. I congratulate you for this well-researched article. I totally agree that the greatest challenge for Western Christians today is "learning how to enter creatively into truly equal partnerships with the Third World." That's what we have been trying to do for over fifty years. We have often felt like a voice crying in the wilderness; it's great to see our values and vision expressed on the pages of Christianity Today.

Chuck Bennett, President
Partners International
San Jose, California

* The photograph of the bowing heads and the outstretched hands in prayer on your May 19 cover is a beautiful expression of the universal message of the gospel, howbeit in cultural terms that many Christians may find uncomfortable. To be a follower of Jesus does not come easy for those who come from Muslim backgrounds, but it is gratifying to see that you recognize the possibilities that our Christian faith will be transforming, and be transformed by, non-Westerners in the days ahead.

To help your readers understand some of the complexities of the name of Jesus—Christian Arabs and their biblical literature and liturgy use the name "yasu'a," which is closer to the Yashua of the Bible than the Qur'anic name "'Isa." The message of Jesus in any language is one of salvation, and to world Muslims there is a denial that God in Jesus Christ is a Redeemer.

David Bentley
Zwemer Institute
Pasadena, Calif.

I want to commend you for the excellent work done on the May 19, 1997, cover story on the changing face of Christianity. The topics covered, the cover, the statistics and photographs used throughout the article were superb.

As you did last year on the issue of persecution, you again brought to the attention of North American Christians the reality that Christianity and, specifically, the evangelical movement, is truly a global movement that includes peers, great ideas, and effective strategies which are home grown and are springing up worldwide.

Dwight L. Gibson
North American Director
World Evangelical Fellowship
Wheaton, Ill.

Western "nonsense"?
Perhaps Richard Nyberg truly believes that Mozambique's trouble actually stems from too many firearms in the countryside. Or perhaps he just felt reluctant to criticize Mozambique's Christian Council in his article "Swapping Guns for Sewing Machines" [May 19], because commenting on the obvious naivete of the participants could have landed the piece in the editorial section.

As an editorialist, Nyberg could have pointed out that in a postwar climate with no established peacekeeping force, well-armed villagers could prove a deterrent to further aggression from bandits, whereas further disarmament would leave their communities vulnerable. He might have quoted the wry nineteenth-century observation that "God created men, but Col. Colt made them equal!"

The article gave more disheartening evidence that another germ of Western, liberal nonsense has infected Christians in a distant culture: If only we could get "those who have been using guns for robbing and killing … to exchange their guns … for plowshares," then the kingdom would be upon us. Miraculously, they would be forced to cease robbing and killing once those evil guns are removed from their hands. Such transparently misguided efforts to blame conflict on "an overabundance of guns and ammunition" make no more sense than saying that department stores cause shoplifting.

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July 14 1997, Vol. 41, No. 8