Toward a New Praxis-Oriented Missiology: Rediscovering Paulo Freire's Concept of Conscientizacao and Enhancing Christian Mission as Prophetic Dialogue: 46 (American Society of Missiology Monograph)

The new and different frontiers and factors discussed in missiology are reshaping the meaning of mission. Christian mission today is searching for new directions to approach the postmodern postcolonial and ecumenical paradigms. This book argues that mission is the process of embodying the content and praxis of the gospel not the transmission of knowledge that keeps an established structure and culture alive (often justified by a specific ecclesiological model). Thus mission initiates a transformative process of faith which leads to personal and social transformation. This work brings into dialogue Stephen Bevanss notion of mission as prophetic dialogue and Paulo Freires concept of conscientizacao. The aim is not to discover a method to do mission but to rescue the process that leads to transformation allowing one to encounter the other where they are while respecting the uniqueness of every person culture church and society. Prophetic dialogue enriched by conscientizacao (and vice versa) can open new perspectives within missiology and provide a new approach to mission praxis. This approach is then analyzed through the experiential and transformative elements of the Verbum Dei charism applied in ministry demonstrating the effectiveness of prophetic dialogue and conscientizacao in the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity mission praxis.