Multilingualism in incarnational ministry: A quest to reach the neglected

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Multilingualism in incarnational ministry: A quest to reach the neglected
 
Creator Kabongo, Kasebwe T.L.
 
Subject Missiology; Cultural Studies diversity; justice; incarnational ministry; learn; multilingualism; solidarity
Description Language is a critical tool for communication. This article uses the autoethnographic methodology to describe the author’s experience of language acquisition, which has influenced his understanding of multilingualism in incarnational ministry. He belongs to a missional order, InnerCHANGE, that uses an incarnational approach to ministry. InnerCHANGE understands incarnational ministry as a mission to meaningfully identify with people its members live among. InnerCHANGE’s membership is of diverse backgrounds culturally. Multilingualism within the order and in ministry contexts in a way that makes communication smooth is still an ideal rather than a reality. This article asks how multilingualism could positively contribute to InnerCHANGE’s quest for a meaningful incarnational approach. It found out that multilingualism could be a tangible act of equity and justice. It could also be a way to affirm diversity in a world that is constantly on a quest for a lingua franca, a contradiction to the event of Pentecost found in Acts 2. Finally, it could be an act of solidarity towards the valorisation of languages that some people see as inferior. It concludes by stressing that black Africans should be at the forefront of valorising their native languages in proudly using them and producing knowledge that could be shared with fellow Africans and non-Africans.Contribution: This article intends to contribute to the ongoing debate on the relation of the gospel to culture. Its focus is on language, which is one of the components of a culture.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor None
Date 2022-04-20
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Autoethnography
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v78i1.7333
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 78, No 1 (2022); 5 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7333/21857 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7333/21858 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7333/21859 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7333/21860
 
Coverage African theology Post-apartheid South Africa Black African
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Kasebwe T.L. Kabongo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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