K. P. Yohannan

An extraordinarily challenging look at missions and the role of those who claim to be followers of Christ. I work in missions and was encouraged and challenged by K.P.'s passion. The resistance he has encountered is, unfortunately, something that I have also seen in the church and I hope this book is used to bring to light the prejudice and bias the Western Church as a whole seems to have towards native missionaries. I have long believed it would be the natives, not the Westerners, that show more would see the Great Commission fulfilled and I hope to one day be a part of this growing movement. show less

I can honestly say that I'm not sure if I love or hate this book.

K. P. Yohannan is founder of Gospel for Asia. In Revolution in World Missions, he shares both the story of his life and his vision for evangelizing the remaining unreached people groups of Asia, particularly in India. The book is well-written, making clear arguments with which the reader may or may not agree. One thing the reader cannot deny, though, is the unbridled passion that Yohannan has for missions, the Gospel, and the show more unreached peoples of the world.

Of all the strengths in this book, four stood above them all.

First, Yohannan makes a compelling biblical case for Americans to abandon their materialistic worldview and embrace an attitude of sacrifice for world missions. Yohannan pulls no punches when it comes to this subject. In fact, the call for Americans and other westerners to consider the plight of the underfunded mission field is woven in nearly every chapter. This theme is not uncommon today. Writers like Francis Chan and David Platt have sounded the same alarm; yet Yohannan does so in a way that, for whatever reason, was more impactful on my soul than Radical or Crazy Love. Yohannan writes with such raw emotion and his life is so notably a living example of sacrifice that it impacted me in a very real way. In fact, I had to set the book down for a while to sort of "catch my breath." The intensity of my emotions were overwhelming and I needed to step away and process some of what the Lord was doing in my heart.

Second, Revolution in World Missions puts the death nail in the coffin of the social gospel - which is no gospel at all! Yohannan demonstrates how the priority of missions should be the proclamation of the gospel, not social care of the impoverished. He shows how the social gospel has been ineffective in the task of evangelizing Asia. He correctly notes that social ministry can be a great tool to proclaim the gospel, but also notes how in most social gospel outreaches, the primary aim is social ministry and the proclamation of the gospel often gets lost in the shuffle.

Third, Revolution in World Missions records Yohannan's understanding of the primacy of the church in discipling new believers and preserving fruit. Early on in his ministry he was an itinerant preacher who would return to villages only to discover that those who had converted were no longer following Christ. The Lord helped him realize that establishing churches was the secret to preserving the fruit of the ministry.

Fourth, Yohannan takes a bold stance against the word of faith movement and its off-shoot, the prosperity gospel. The church planters in Gospel for Asia live below the poverty line with those they are reaching. They see this as a sign of apostolic faithfulness. They sacrificial spirit inspires me!

There are some parts of Revolution in World Missions that concern me as well. For example, K. P. Yohannan often cites times in his life where he is mystically led. I have experienced the leading of the Holy Spirit in my own life, but I am frankly weary of people playing the "God Card." So many times I see people moving in ways that are either explicitly contrary to Scripture or, at least, contrary to the Spirit of Christ, because they are "mystically led." To be honest, I don't see any evidence of Yohannan following the Holy Spirit in an unscriptural way. My fear is that those who fly more fast and loose will view his testimony as empowering them to continue to be crass and unruly as "the Spirit leads them." Another weakness is his seeming disdain for denominational distinctive. I personally think that they only way to do away with denominational distinctives is to become unthinking. I don't think Yohannan would say that; I just don't see any emphasis on doctrine in this book. Finally, I wish he had more updated statistics in this book. Most of them are more than a decade old. I think if the statistics were updates that the book would be even more punchy towards the fat American church.

Overall, this is a book that should be read. Think as you read it. Feel free to agree or disagree with Yohannan. I did.

But if his goal was to make me think about how to live more sacrificially on mission for Christ, he did it!

FINALLY, I have a dear friend named Xiaoyun who was adopted from China. I call her by her American name, Evelyn. Evelyn came to America days before she "timed out" and became ineligible for adoption. Today she is a spunky, hilarious American teen. I just recently found out that she had partnered with Gospel for Asia to raise money for a program they do to spread the Gospel. They provide a family with chickens to raise if the family will listen to a Gospel presentation. One Gospel presentation costs about $11. Evelyn has raised nearly $47,000!!!!! If you want to know more about her fund raising for GFA, click here - https://www.mygfa.org/chicksforchildren/

I want to encourage you to think about how you could sacrifice for the Gospel. Maybe you would start right now and click on Evelyn's page. I believe your contribution will be used effectively to minister throughout Asia! show less

K P Yohannan preached at my church in the UK around 8 years ago and I was challenged by his message to be more involved in Mission/reaching out to the lost. This, the call of God, and many other things started me on the pathway into work as a full-time independent Christian Missionary...two others from my Church are now working with Gospel for Asia (KP's organisation) in the UK...no doubt also challenged by his message.

I re-read this book and found it just as challenging as the first time show more around. Brother KP's enthusiasm and heart for the ministry jumps out of the pages of this book as it does all of his books. The emphasis here is on whole-hearted commitment and taking action out of love for Jesus rather than a sense of duty. There is a serious wake-up call for the contemporary church here as KP addresses the issues of business/frantic church activity at the expense of prayer/reading Scripture. He again advocates simple living and gives practical examples of how to do this.

Health warning- This is really a challenging book and a radical call to greater commitment. Don't read this or any of KP's books if you want a comfortable life and are not prepared to make changes in your life! show less

I've mixed feelings about this one. I can't figure out if it's a 226 page sermon or sales pitch. Dr. Yohannan is of the opinion that the era of sending missionaries from the West to third world mission fields is over. It's time, he argues, for Western Christians to finance evangelists from the third world instead. It makes sense. After all, someone from the third world is more able to adapt to a simplified lifestyle that's in line with the people he or she are trying to reach. Also, they show more don't have the taint of Western imperialism that sticks to us folks from America and Europe. I have to agree. However... I couldn't quite get behind the book. I'm sure part of the reason is that Dr. Yohannan's criticisms of the typical American Christian lifestyle stung a bit. I can never be faulted for spending too little on myself and not enough on charity. But I think a deeper reason is that Dr. Yohannan sounds like he has discerned God's mission for his own life, and now thinks that it's also God's mission for the rest of the Church. Me, I'm not convinced. Still, it definitely is a book we Christians should read, if not to challenge your own lifestyle, than to hear yet another way God is spreading the Good News.
--J. show less