The Gospel of Mark was written around A.D. 70 earlier than other Gospel Books. This Gospel reflected the cultural and historical contexts in which Mark the author of the Gospel lived. Mark did not merely write about the life and work of Jesus Christ, but also contextualized His life and ministry theologically for his community of faith. This paper focuses on how Mark's view and his understanding of Jesus' mission can be interpreted and applied to modern cross-cultural missions. According to this study, the Gospel of Mark is significantly missional and therefore his community of faith was mission-oriented. The center of the Gospel is Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again among the dead three days after his death. When He died, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Then a Roman centurion confessed, "Surely this man was the Son of God" (Mk15:39). When He rose on the first day of the week, the sun shone brightly. The power of darkness disappeared. Jesus' disciples were called and trained by their Master to become fishers of men (Mk1:17). For about three years they were always together with their Lord. However, they were scattered when their Lord Jesus Christ was arrested and persecuted by Jewish leaders under Pilate. Some women from Galilee followed Him to Golgotha, where He was crucified. Judas betrayed Him. Peter confessed that he would never leave Him alone. However, he denied Him three times before the rooster crowed twice (Mk14:30). The disciples were rebuked by their Lord because they did not understand God's salvific will, that is, Jesus' death and His resurrection for the whole mankind (Mk10:45). The Gospel of Mark reveals that the primary purpose of His incarnation was to proclaim the Kingdom of God, the core of the Gospel (Mk1:38). The Kingdom of God was already initiated through His ministry among the people who were physically sick, economically poor, and socially isolated. It can be established and expanded through His presence and the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was forsaken completely by His Father, the God Almighty, for our sins. The Gospel of Mark denies any forms of imperialism in which Christendom, rather than Christianity is expanded through weapons under the name of Jesus Christ. The Gospel does not show the easy or successful ways of mission. Rather, to follow Jesus Christ the Gospel points to the cross which every Christian should bear. Jesus Christ will come again in clouds with great power and glory (Mk13:26). Whoever follows Him to die with Him will rise with Him on the Day of His coming. The Lord will gather His people from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens (Mk13:27). The work of God enables the Gospel to meet receptive hearts and the Kingdom of God will be accomplished.

This study focuses on some evangelism models to reach secular people. John Wesley’s “ Order of Salvation" model, James Engel’s “ Count Down" model, Agnes Liu ’ S “ Triangle" model, George Hunter's “ Target" model, and Joseph Aldrich’s “ Relationship" model are reviewed. John Wesley’s “ Order of Salvation" model is effective in understanding how secular people become Christians. Further, it is also effective in conserving the new converts. Its small group dynamics can be contextualized in different cultures. James Engel’s “Count Down" model is effective in understanding how secular people become Christians in terms of spiritual maturity However, it overlooks the multi dimensions of how people become Christians. Agnes Riu’s “ Triangle" model is an effective way to understand the several dimensions of how secular people become Christians. It is better than James Engel’s model in this regard. However, it shows an extremely simplified conversion process. George Hunter’ s “ Target" model is an effective way to understand how secular people become Christians, also. It is an extended form of John Wesley’s “ Order of Salvation" model. It takes the c비tural gap into a serious consideration Joseph Aldrich’ s “ Life- Style Evangelism" is based on inter personal relationships. As the early church employed this model, so too modern evangelism needs to apply it to reach secular people effectively. Some evange1ism models are more effective than others according to different cultural contexts. So some models needs to be contextualized in different cultures to be effective. The Lord wants a greater harvest.

Church growth movement began with Donald A. McGavran’ s book The Bridges of God. The book shows that people movements are effective means wbereby people can become a Christian in tbe form of mass conversion. In the same vein, McGavran claimed that “ Men like to become Christians without crossing social, linguistic, or class barriers." He founded the Institute of Church Growth through which be propelled cburch growth movement although he struggled in its early stage. He published the Church Growth Bulletin periodically which was read among missionaries and pastors all over the world. He became the Dean of School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. There he taught mission courses with Alan Tippett, Ralph Winter, Artbur Glasser, and Charles Kraft. He published a classic textbook Understanding Church Growth in which he explained whatever he wanted to express concerning church growth in the world. He authored with Arthur Glasser Contemporary Theologies of Mission to defend evangelical theologies of mission against ecumenical theologies of mission. He is called “ the father of the church growth movement." C. Peter Wagner was impressed by McGavran’s teaching about church growth and his book The Bridges of God. He was invited by McGavran to teach church growth courses at Fuller Theological Seminary. He experienced divine healing when he attended a revival meeting in his mission field of Latin Arnerica. He published lots of books concerning church growth, spiritual gifts, and spiritual battles. He became the best disciple of Donald McGavran and revised Understanding Church Growth although he missed a crucial chapter regarding discipling urban populations. He maintained the evangelical theologies of mission and stressed making disciples of all nations based On the Great Commission. He authored the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit. Among his books, Church Growth and the Whole Gospel and Strategies for Church Growth are more theological than others. These two books deal with theological foundations for church growth. He stressed intercessory prayer through which Kingdom of God is extended. He taught the course “ The Ministry of Healing and World Evangelization" (MC 510) with John Wimber who left Fuller Theological Seminary to lead Vineyard movement. In addition to these two men, George Hunter, Eddie Gibs, Win Arn, Kent Hunt, Elmer Towns, Charles Chaney, Lyle Schaller, Delos Miles, Ralph Winter, William Easum, and Thom Rainer have studied church growth and taught it. Church growth was criticized by many but it became a science in theological circles. The church growth movement today tends to be evangelical while accepting a holistic position. As McGavran pointed out, the 19th century was the great century in terms of mission, but the 20th century became the century of church growth. The key of church growth movement is discipling all nations of the world. In doing so, all Christians are called to reach many groups of people who are yet to be Christians aIl over the world. The church growth movement is essential to reach them.

There are many different cultures in this world. Likewise, it is important to understand that cultures are largely different. There are about 175 definitions of culture according to cultural anthropologists. However, it is clear that there is only one Gospel in the midst of many different cultures. It is the biblical truth which cannot be changed under any circumstances. The biblical truth sets people free of sins and lets them have eternal life (In. 8:36). The goal of missions is to witness to Jesus Christ, the Word of God and pursue true conversion as a result of a radically different world view. The core of true conversion is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The way of making His disciples and the meaning of becoming His disciples could be different according to culture. A cross-cultural missionary should understand culture and love the people in culture and minister to the people's needs in order to communicate the Gospel to the people (I Cor. 9:20). The cross-cultural missionary needs to encourage the people to become Christ's disciples as Jesus Christ served the people in incarnational ways. The people need to encounter the Lord in their own culture and have a close fellowship with Him. In consequence, the cross-cultural missionary should not impose his or her own cultural forms upon the people whom he or she is called to serve. Rather, a cross-cultural missionary needs to communicate the biblical truth instead of his or her own cultural forms. It is because what is sacred is not a cultural form but the biblical truth. To communicate the biblical truth to the people, the crosscultural missionary needs to distinguish biblical meanings from cultural forms and to communicate the biblical meanings to the people in their cultural forms. As discussed, culture is an effective medium of communicating the Gospel message to the people who are yet to be Christians. The cross-cultural missionary has the responsibility to share the Gospel with the people without destroying their culture. As Abraham respected and accepted the Hittites' custom (Gn. 23: 1-19) and the apostle Paul encouraged Gentiles to become Christians while remaining in their cultures (Acts 15), a cross-cultural missionary has to respect the people's culture. Human culture is worth being saved. Culture is an effective means of fulfilling God's intention. There is a close relationship between the Gospel and culture. The Gospel traverses, judges, and saves culture. The Gospel dedicates, sanctifies, and beautifies culture. The Gospel exorcises demons in culture. Culture receives or rejects the Gospel. Culture communicates the Gospel and conditions peoples to have faith in it. Culture brings glory to God.