The Mystery of the Mark: Anabaptist Mission Work Under the Fire of God

Nothing says more about the state of Christianity in our time than how Christians do, or refuse to do, "mission work." All the way from presenting the Gospel through entertainment (Christian movies and festivals) to preaching such a narrow, sectarian Gospel, based on such wobbly "fundamentals" that no one gets convinced (at least not for long), Christians have tried desperately through the last century to make themselves relevant, effective, or at least heard. Some have stooped to using the appeal of money, or glamour-"Christian celebrities." While eager active churches, particularly new churches with a need to prove themselves, pursue mission work as an end in itself. To motivate their members and give young people exciting assignments overseas. Good self-image. Publicity. All this, while conservative Christians, for lack of results, have stopped doing mission work altogether. Convinced the world no longer understands the Gospel, they stay at home and are content with being a city on a hill. "If anyone wants to find us," we reason, "they can come and look us up." Who, in the midst of this confusion, remembers Jesus' mission? The mission he gave to the church he bought with his blood? Does your church remember? Do you? In this story of two Anabaptist missions, one in 20th Century Africa, and the other in 16'th Century Europe, you may find a seed of truth that will help you decide. Real missionaries are prophets, we learn from the scriptures. Jesus calls them to carry his prophetic witness into the times and places in which they live. But would you know a prophet (a real missionary or "mission station") if you saw one? Look for the mark of Christ-or the mark of the beast-on their lives.

About the Author :
Peter Hoover is an author familiar to many conservative Christians of Anabaptist and other types in the United States, Canada and western Europe. He is a member of the non-sectarian Rocky Cape Christian Community in Tasmania, Australia. Born in Canada, Peter has also worked in Mexico, Costa Rica, United States, Chile, and Australia. Hoover's books have focused on the stories of Christians in recent centuries who have most closely reflected the relationships, values, zeal and impact which Christians originally claimed in the New Testament and ante-Nicene period. His books include Secret of the Strength (What Would the Anabaptists Tell This Generation?), which is published in both English [1] a German edition in Europe (as Feuertaufe. Das radikale Leben der Taufer. Eine Provokation) [2], and an online Spanish edition. Also, he has written Behold the Lamb (The Story of the Moravian Church), and The Russians' Secret (What Christians Today Would Survive Persecution?)[3], and The Mystery of the Mark: Anabaptist Missions under the Fire of God [4] . In 2006, Hoover was featured on the American television program, Dr. Phil, for his involvement in an effort to find and recover the children of an American mother whose father was concealing them in a Christian community in Belize. In 2010, Hoover was subject to a brain tumor. It was surgically removed in the Hobart Royal hospital on 14 July, taking away much of his ability to read and write. n his email newsletters, which were often rambling due his disease, he spoke of what he believed was his imminent death. This was to proved to be not the case as he has since regained most of his former abilities. Wikipedia"