“你们敢花100万建立传教阵地吗?”——马克·邦廷和印度加尔各答的五旬节派差会的实用主义精神

“Don’t You Dare Spend a Million on the Mission Field ”: Mark Buntain and the Spirit of Pragmatism in Pentecostal Medical Missions in Kolkata,India

当马克·邦廷下定决心在加尔各答建立综合医院时,他走上了五旬节派差会历史上备受争议的道路。他关于圣灵指引他行动的主张对他在北美五旬节派教徒中获得合法地位和经济支持至关重要。邦廷明白除了加尔各答医院的筹资、建设、人员配置和获得医疗许可之类的沉重工作,他还面临的艰巨任务是说服他的五旬节派同伴相信他没有背弃对圣灵力量的信仰,从而去满足人们的身体、物质尤其是精神需求。

When Mark Buntain made the decision to build a general hospital in Kolkata he was heading down a much debated and controversial path in the history of Pentecostal missions.The assertion that the Holy Spirit was guiding his actions was vital to his being legitimized and financially supported by Pentecostals in North America who viewed socially-engaged ministries,even overseas,as reflecting a shift toward the liberal Christianity they negatively associated with the Social Gospel.Buntain knew that in addition to the overwhelming job of funding,building,staffing,and gaining medical accreditation for a hospital in Kolkata,he also faced the difficult task of convincing his fellow Pentecostals that he was not abandoning his belief in the power of the Holy Spirit to meet the physical,the material,and especially the spiritual needs of people.