Andrew F. Bush will speak on his new book Learning from the Least: Reflections on a Journey in Mission with Palestinian Christians.
Dr. Bush has served since 1998 with a Christian organization in the Palestinian West Bank and spent this summer there. In his book Learning from the Least, he recounts the powerful testimonies of Palestinian Christians who chose to be agents of reconciliation with those who would normally be regarded as enemies. Dr. Bush seeks to support and encourage non-Western Christians by listening to and learning from them as they make costly decisions to follow Christ in the most difficult circumstances.
Dr. Bush is an expert in cross-cultural Christian mission. He has more than twenty-five years of experience in international missions and is a scholar in mission theology and praxis. He is a frequent lecturer in churches, retreats, colleges, and universities on trends in contemporary missions, the challenge of engaging with Islam, a Christian response to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and discovering creative ways of participating in the mission of God. Along with his mission service and many speaking engagements, he teaches at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pa.
The program is open to the public with admission by donation. For information, email: info@mhep.org or phone: 215-256-3020.
“This book is about peacemakers who are light in the darkness and the salt and hope of Christ within despair. They are the living testimony that the reign of the Prince of Peace has begun! Although powerless and marginalized, their witness is an astonishing departure from all forms of missionary triumphalism. They humbly carry forward the mission of Jesus, who in his resurrection proclaimed, ‘As the Father has sent me, so send I you!’ For all Christians who love Israel, for all who have compassion for the Palestinians, for all who are concerned for the ‘all nations’ of the Great Commission, this book is must reading!” –David W. Shenk, Global Consultant, Eastern Mennonite Missions
“With the Bible in our hand and a newspaper in the other it is easy for armchair preachers and teachers to pontificate as to how Christians should position themselves as they view the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but it is something far different to become existentially involved in that situation as a missionary. Andrew Bush and his wife have done the latter, and in this book he not only tells of their experiences, but utilizing biblical studies and theologically based ethics helps the rest of us who seek justice for both Jews and Palestinians to define what we should propagate and do to live out the mandate to be agents of reconciliation.” –Tony Campolo, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Eastern University