A Multidirectional Mission Approach, in Contrast to Reverse Mission in African Diaspora Pentecostalism

Abstract

Reverse mission is a notion that describes the current resurgence of faith from the global South to the global North. This notion suggests that the mission itself is one-directional (global North to South); hence, efforts to spread the word from the global South into the global North are described in the reverse direction. Contrary to the popular notion of “reverse mission”, this article proposes a multidirectional mission within the context of the African diaspora mission. This approach, which is closely related to the polycentric mission approach, is a mission that reaches everyone at any particular place. The multidirectional approach specifically suggests a mission paradigm that not only moves from south to north but also the south-to-south movement. This approach is biblical and supports the spread of the gospel to different parts of the world, hence the phrase “to the ends of the world”. This is achieved by describing reverse mission in the current definition and identifying the research gaps within this paradigm. The multi-directional approach is introduced and applied to the African diaspora Pentecostalism. The objective of the article is to demonstrate that the African diaspora Pentecostalism can spread the gospel to the different parts of the world, hence it cannot be described as “reverse mission” when describing its South-to-North impact. Reverse mission inadequately captures South-to-South mission dynamics and the historically multidirectional expansion of Christianity.