When third world church leaders come into contact with the West there is a clash of cultures on
a number of different levels. The level that I am concerned with in this paper is the clash that is
experienced at the level of worldview, those assumptions about reality that often are
unconsciously held. For many in the third world, and more specifically those in Muslim societies
with which I have lived in and am most familiar with, the reality of the supernatural and
accompanying supernatural phenomenon is assumed. These assumptions often conflict with the
secular, Enlightenment assumptions in much of Western Evangelicalism which make it hard for
those of us from the West to accept as legitimate supernatural reality, phenomenon, and the
supernatural disposition of those in the host culture. Of course, Western evangelicals are not
devoid of belief in the supernatural. But there is a tendency for it to be more theoretical in
nature, and often is thought of as something associated with Bible times, but not modern times.
The distinctive difference in worldview can be seen in the following third world case studies that
I have gathered. Many of them are first hand experiences.
Nigeria
In 2001 in Jerusalem I talked with a Nigerian Bible translator working with SIL. He was in
Jerusalem at the Home for Bible Translators learning modern and biblical Hebrew to help him
with Old Testament translation work. I had finished giving a talk similar to this one, and he told
the following story: Whenever the people in his church in Nigeria are sick, or they feel they have
been put under a curse, or they are being plagued by manifestations of evil spirits, they usually
go to the local shaman for a solution. This practice is not spoken about publicly, because overtly
it is not condoned. But the church members feel that the church does not have a solution for
these problems. My Nigerian friend asked that when Westerners come to societies like his, that
they be much more sensitive to their supernatural worldview and be ready to help them in
practical ways to access the kind of supernatural power available to them in Christ Jesus to be
able to be victorious over the power of evil spirits, and occult and magic practice.
Iran/Turkey
In 1991 while working as a church planter among Iranian refugees in Turkey, I met a young
Iranian Muslim convert whom I will call Ali. After discipling him for about two years in the
context of an Iranian church, we sent him to another city to pastor a fledgling Iranian church
there. He has now been faithfully serving the Lord for a number of years. Ali became a Christian
in Iran during the reign of Ayatollah Khomeini. He told me that Jesus appeared to him in a
vision, during the day, when he was awake. In the vision Jesus said, "Follow me." Up until that
point Ali had not met any evangelical Christians (although he was aware of Armenians and
Assyrians living in the area, who were in traditional churches). Without any information other
than his vision, and without a Bible, Ali attempted to follow Jesus. At some point he came upon
a cross, which he secretly wore around his neck, under his shirt. This was potentially dangerous
for him because his family were devout followers of Khomeini and his brother was a pasdar,
one of Khomeinis revolutionary guards, infamous for their fanaticism. Eventually Ali made