I’m sitting at my computer grading papers from the students in my “Anthropology for Christian Mission” course at Nagaland Bible College in India. Suddenly, wafting through the cool night air, comes the enthusiastic singing of “Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way…” What? Where am I? Oh, I’m in the Naga Hills of Northeast India, and the children singing at the elementary school next to the college are preparing for their Christmas pageant in a few weeks.

I chuckled, but it’s another example of globalization, and although their great-great-grandparents were infamous headhunters 100 years ago, Christianity and the global flows of ideas, people, and material things has changed all of that. Now the challenge is helping this generation of young people to move beyond the nominal forms of Christianity that plague their churches, and to rediscover the life-transforming power of the gospel.

Since my last newsletter in August, I’ve spent a week with the Asia leadership team of the Baptist Mission Australia, meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I had such a wonderful time working with these leaders who have had years of cross-cultural ministry experience, putting into practice what I call “incarnational identification.” What’s that about? It means, in life and in ministry, we attempt to identify deeply with people and their cultures who are sometimes radically different from ourselves. It is similar to the way that God identified with human beings by becoming a first-century Palestinian Jew in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus emptied himself of his power, privilege, prestige, and position of being equal with God (Philippians 2:5-8) in order to identify with us. You would think that most missionaries would carry out their ministry this way, by identifying deeply with the people among whom they live, but many do not.

I had a 13-hour layover in Seoul on my way home from Chiang Mai. So, Paul and Elizabeth Choi, former students from many years ago at Asbury Seminary, took me to the DMZ on the border with North Korea. Then Paul presented me with a copy of the newly published Korean translation of my book, Crossing Cultures with the Gospel. Paul, who is an accomplished translator from English into Korean, did the translation.

While I’ve been here in India, I’ve received a request asking my permission to translate and publish my book into Telugu, which is another widely spoken language in India. A Hindi translation is nearly complete and will be published next year. A Chinese translation will also be published in 2026. I am so grateful that this book, that took me five years to write and fifty years to live, is now being read and used around the world.

I started writing this newsletter in India, but I’m finishing it in Bangkok, Thailand. The day after Thanksgiving, I flew to Bangkok, where this week I am training over 120 Chinese missionaries and pastors. There are 35 people attending in-person, and over 90 participating via Zoom gathered in six locations scattered around China. I have felt so empowered this week by the Holy Spirit, thanks to the prayers of many.

At the end of the course, I invited participants to share briefly what they had learned and what the course had meant to them. One person after another stood and shared such insights as how they now had a new perspective on the way the gospel relates to their culture, how they now understood the Incarnation as a model for mission and not just a theological doctrine, and many more discoveries. These “testimonies” went on for 1.5 hours.

In our ministry, the audience may change through generations and across space, but the message of the life-transforming power of the gospel remains the same. My passion is to help people to tell the story of Jesus across cultural barriers, and then to live as if they believed it was true. In 2026 I have more invitations for teaching and training than I can say grace over. As 2025 draws to a close, I am filled with gratitude and amazed that in this “retirement” season of life, the Lord has given me such rewarding and fulfilling ministry to do. Thank you for your role in partnering with me through your prayers and support, thus making it possible to do. Blessings on you in this season of Advent and best wishes for the New Year ahead.

Cordially,

Darrell Whiteman