Portugal District celebrates translation of theology book on mission

About 75 people gathered on May 1 in Lisbon to celebrate the publication of a Portuguese translation of Dr. Dean Flemming’s book, Recovering the Full Mission of God: A Biblical Perspective on Being, Doing and Telling.

Over an entire year, Recuperando a Missão Completa de Deus was translated by three people representing the Portuguese Language Literature Committee. The book provides a Wesleyan-Arminian resource for theological education and preparing people for ministry, according to Raquel Pereira, Portuguese Nazarene Literature Coordinator in Portugal.

However, the content of the book is accessible to any reader, she added. With discussion questions at the end of each chapter, the volume can be a resource to Portuguese-speaking Sunday school classes and small groups anywhere in the world.

“The dynamics of being, doing and telling in the Christian life from a biblical perspective is relevant to a broad audience,” Pereira said. “Besides our ministerial students, the present ministers (pastors included) and all God’s people who want to be faithful to God’s call to participate in His mission in the world will benefit greatly from reading this book.”

The book launch was part of Theological Conversations Day, of which Flemming was a main speaker. The event was hosted jointly by the European Nazarene College Portugal Learning Center and District Ministerial Studies Board. Participants separated into small groups to discuss missional ecclesiology in Revelation, based on the paper, “Living the Future,” which was presented at the Nazarene Global Theology Conference in South Africa in 2014.

“People really engaged, they were encouraged, cried together, talked with each other, even during lunch, and shared in groups on how we need to be intentional about being the Church of God in the here and now,” Pereira said.

The 44 copies of Recuperando a Missão Completa de Deus were not enough to meet demand, so more copies will be printed for the Portugal District Assembly in November.

“This is a clear sign of how much people need meaningful and helpful resources in their language for themselves, and to serve others,” said Nikolaj Sawatzky, Eurasia Region Literature Coordinator. “I am very grateful to Raquel Pereira and her team for their tireless efforts in making this book available for our Portuguese-speaking brothers and sisters around the world.”

Flemming is professor of New Testament and Missions at MidAmerica Nazarene University, in Kansas, USA. Previously, served as a Nazarene missionary, teaching for many years at European Nazarene College, based in Germany, as well as Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary, in the Philippines. He has published four other books, including Why Mission? and Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission.