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Book Reviews / Pneuma 32 (2010) 431-473
Jaakko Lounela, Mission and Development: Finnish Pentecostal, Lutheran, and Orthodox Mission Agencies in Development Work in Kenya 1948-1989 (Pargas, Finland: Å
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bo Akademi University Press, 2007). 296 pp., € 25.00 cloth, ISBN 978-951-765-394-7.
Jaakko Lounela offers an intriguing comparative analysis of diverse churches in their attempt to establish mission strategies and structures in Kenya from 1948-1989. Equally compelling is Lounela’s examination of the different approaches these denominations developed to accommodate an infusion of public funds from the Finnish government beginning in 1974. His conclusions regarding Lutheran, Orthodox, and Pentecostal mis- siology and the strategies each group formulated during this transitional period in modern Kenyan and Finnish Christianity offer some pertinent information for the theology and practice of all three traditions and for the broader study of Christian missionary faith and praxis.
Lounela completed his PhD at the University of Helsinki and he was a senior lecturer on the history of learning at the University of Oulu from 1987 until 2001. While his area of academic discipline is not in missiology, he relied on the expertise of other missiologists to guide his research. In addition, his tenure as a Lutheran missionary in Kenya from 1979-1986 allowed him primary access to his subject matter for this study and also influ- enced his decision to confine his research to Finnish mission organizations working in Kenya.
Lounela offers a solid methodology by comparing the missiology and missionary endeavors of Finnish Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Orthodox Christians before and after the period at which all three traditions were able to apply for public funds from the Finnish government. In fact, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) began receiving public funds from the Finnish Development Agency (FINNIDA) beginning in 1974. Trough an initiative from the United Nations in January 1961, Finland eventually followed the example of other Nordic nations by contributing funds through NGOs to assist various developing nations.
In 1977 FINNIDA made a distinction between NGOs and other mission agencies and began granting specific funds for four organizations. Tese included the Finnish Free For- eign Mission (FFFM), a mission organization representing a variety of Pentecostal churches and fellowships; the Lutheran Evangelical Association of Finland (LEAF), an agency representing the Finnish speaking members of the Lutheran evangelical movement; the Swedish Lutheran Evangelical Association of Finland (SLEAF) representing Swedish speaking members from the same tradition; and the Finnish Orthodox Mission (FOM), representing Finnish Christians from the Orthodox tradition. Lounela focuses his study on these four organizations and concludes his study in 1989 when the Finnish govern- ment began granting funds to mission agencies and NGOs without distinction. Te theo- logical and/or administrative adjustments that each group made in order to receive public funds and the divergent strategies each Christian tradition made to accomplish their mis- sion goals allow Lounela to make some interesting conclusions regarding these four orga- nizations and their variegated mission strategies.
Te strength of Lounela’s dissertation resides in his comparison of these four mission agencies and how their theology was reflected in their divergent strategies. Equally strong
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010 DOI: 10.1163/157007410X534111
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is his comparison of these groups before and after the use of public funds became avail- able. In addition, his observations regarding how both Pentecostal and Lutheran mission- ary organizations struggled with the possibility of diverting funds from evangelistic endeavors towards social development projects as public funds became available offers intriguing possibilities for further missiological and theological research. Perhaps just as compelling for Pentecostal and Orthodox Christians is how these two groups grew often through their use of political connections and circumstances. Lounela also makes excellent use of Finnish and Swedish primary sources in his research of this subject.
Nevertheless, Lounela is somewhat sparing in his use of primary East African materials and his heavy reliance upon statistical data given by David Barrett could have been strengthened by other sources. In addition, while he correctly identifies the origins of Pen- tecostalism in Finland through the early work of Tomas Ball Barratt, he seems to over- look many of the variegated expressions of Pentecostalism that developed in Finland and in East Africa over the past century. Instead he focuses on the work of early Finnish mis- sionaries to Kenya influenced by the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and by the early evangelistic work of Tommy Lee Osborn who helped found and assist many of the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya in addition to a variety of social development projects. Lounela leaves the reader and the researcher with some interesting anecdotes, informa- tion, and subjects worthy of further study. It is unfortunate that his research did not con- tinue into the next decade to follow the response of Lutheran, Orthodox, and Pentecostal missionaries as the HIV crisis spread throughout East Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. He alludes to problems some mission agencies encountered with the prevalence of tribalism, but the genocide in Rwanda and the recent political violence in Kenya make this seemingly intractable problem a much more serious issue that needs to be addressed. An additional passing reference worthy of further study is Lounela’s comparative research regarding the use of Finnish public funds which was dispersed according to the amount of work each group was doing in East Africa and not according to the size or influence of their constituency in Finland. All of these subjects could be pursued further by Lounela to give a better understanding of how different mission agencies can operate and pursue their goals with the increasing availability of public funds funneled through non-governmental, private, and even ecclesial organizations.
As Lounela concluded his research, he found that in spite of initial theological or philo- sophical reservations regarding the use of public funds for social work in Kenya, all three traditions began to utilize these funds at an increasing rate beginning in 1974. Schools were built, wells were dug, and medical clinics were established throughout Kenya. As a result, the quality of life for many Kenyans was significantly improved, and each of these agencies was able to gain increasing influence and membership in their respective organi- zations. No doubt, the developments discussed in this study occurred also elsewhere in the majority world as mission agencies worked with public funding for the common good — and that itself signals at least one positive result of mission in the postcolonial world.
Reviewed by Matthew Tallman
Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon, USA
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