Echoes of the call
identity and ideology among American missionaries in Ecuador
Jeffrey Swanson
204 pages | ~6 hrs
Echoes of the call
identity and ideology among American missionaries in Ecuador
By Jeffrey Swanson
In Echoes of the Call, Jeffrey Swanson presents a profound exploration of spiritual identity and belonging through the lens of one hundred evangelical missionaries serving in Ecuador. This compelling sociological study reveals how those who answer the call to mission work become perpetual strangers, displaced not only from their homeland and culture but from their own time and place in history.
Drawing from his personal background as a missionary child, Swanson offers unique insights into the complex process of forming a missionary identity. He demonstrates how individuals craft their spiritual testimonies by weaving together personal experiences of separation, loss, and conversion with timeless themes of sacrifice, divine calling, and spiritual warfare.
The book traces the evolving nature of spiritual calling itself, examining how missionaries must continually reinterpret their sense of purpose when faced with unexpected challenges, moral ambiguities, and moments of profound disillusionment in their adopted countries. Through their own narratives, these spiritual seekers reveal the ongoing tension between idealism and reality in religious service.
Swanson argues that missionaries represent a unique category of individuals who transform their marginality into meaning, using their vocation as a creative force to construct purposeful lives. Their stories illuminate the broader human struggle to maintain faith and identity while navigating the complexities of cross-cultural spiritual work and the rhetoric required to sustain both personal conviction and external support.
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore Evangelistic work
- ✓ Explore Missionar
- ✓ Explore Church history
- ✓ Explore Missions, American
- ✓ Explore Christian Ministry
- ✓ Explore RELIGION
- ✓ Explore Protestant churches
- ✓ Explore Missions
Topics
Details
- Published
- 1995
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- ISBN-10
- 0195068238
- Pages
- 204
- Language
- EN
- LC Classification
- BV2853.E2 S93 1995
