Abstract:
ABSTRACT
The book of Acts is often referred to by many scholars and preachers when
discussing Christian missions with emphasis on Acts 1:8 as the centrality of the
book. Unfortunately, very little exegetical study is done on the text by scholars
in relation to missions. It appears that Luke fails to provide a detailed blueprint
strategies or approaches to the command for missions (witnessing) in the text.
This article therefore considers Acts 1:8 exegetically to establish its missionary
importance. In the light of this, the article assesses the mission strategies of the
Early Church, Historic Missions and Neo-Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches
in Ghana. The article contends that, a reflection on the current trend of Neo-
Pentecostal/Charismatic approaches or strategies to missions in Ghana gives a
valuable insight of a departure from the early missionary strategies in general. The
article acknowledges that, the recent widespread involvement of Pentecostal and
Charismatic churches in the use of radio, social media, television, open-air crusades,
street evangelism, preaching in buses, prayer and prophetic meetings/conventions,
medical outreach work and social welfare are ways to fulfill missions in the light
of Acts 1:8. The article also highlights the need to broaden the understanding and
task of Christian missions to meet the challenges of the recent changing Ghanaian
Christian religious landscape.
Keywords: Missions, Missiology, Neo-Pentecostal Churches, Early Church,
Strategy, Book of Acts, Historic Churches.
