Exploring the Land

by Shane Bennett, Kim Felder, Steve Hawthorne

Our eternal, compelling goal is to see all peoples worshiping Jesus. As missionaries take the gospel to all people, the questions that quickly rise to the top of their list almost exclusively have to do with themselves. But rather than beginning with issues specific to missionaries, we must begin with a focus on unreached people. We need to lift our eyes beyond ourselves and ask, "How will new believers in this people group worship?" "What will an inviting, relevant church look like?" Essentially, "How will these unreached people follow Christ?" Exploring the Land is designed to help you answer these important questions. Since 1988, numerous research teams have been sent to support ministries in North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. The method followed by these teams is available to you in this easy-to-use manual. Exploring the Land is also used by churches, agencies, and universities throughout the world. It will equip you to understand complex urban situations, to discern unreached people groups, and to develop culturally relevant church-planting strategies.

Genres: Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kaitlyn Barnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a super solid resource for ethnographic research but it really doesn’t cover much else. just found the title a little misleading but am looking forward to using the knowledge from this book in my own report!

[Michael Schmid · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book describing the ministry and methods of the Caleb Project, focusing a lot on learning about many different aspects of a culture to help with communicating the gospel effectively. I found the book helpful but also overwhelming, as I cannot imagine myself doing all the vast amount of research that is proposed in the book. But I can still take some helpful things from it, without having the pressure to accomplish everything exactly the same way as the teams of the Caleb Project.

[Caleb Stober · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after I had already led an ethnographic research trip, and I really wish I had read it before. This is the kind of book you read through once and then reference back to, as it's quite dense (with really helpful advice based on experience).

[Dad Bowers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bennett and his team give a very interesting method of investigation of peoples of a new culture. The F.O.Q.U.S. method is detailed so readers can put it into action quickly. It is designed for team use, but can easily be applied to individuals. The final S is for Strategy of ministry that will develop out of the study: how can the ethnographic findings be used to plan ministry to the people, to present the good news of Jesus Christ to the people, and how to show the culture the correctives needed.
I was impressed that Caleb Team has used this so much and that CIU recommends this book for its grad level courses.