From Hope to Hardship

The untold story of the Belgian Gospel Mission and the influence of American Evangelicalism.

From Hope to Hardship begins with the missionary quest of Ralph and Edith Norton, who assisted John Wilbur Chapman around the turn of the twentieth century at the height of his success as a ‘mass-evangelist’ in major US cities and worldwide. The book explores the origins and development of the Nortons’ campaign, and the interactions between a transatlantic faith mission and the broader landscape of Belgian Protestantism. Through a detailed account of the historical context, in a vivid narrative the author examines how the theological framework of first-wave fundamentalism was creatively applied in a transcultural missionary context, introducing the reader to the mission's evangelistic strategies against the socio-political and religious background of post–World War I Belgium. In this comprehensive monograph, Aaldert Prins offers a well-documented and nuanced understanding of the mission’s successes, struggles, and leadership changes, making this book an essential read for anyone interested in the history of transnational evangelicalism and its missionary endeavors.

"From Hope to Hardship" was written by Aaldert Prins.

Aaldert Prins is an authority on Protestant heritage within KADOC-KU Leuven in cooperation with Evadoc and affiliated researcher in Historical Theology at the Evangelical Theological Faculty Leuven.

Yes, "From Hope to Hardship" is part of the "KADOC-Studies on Religion, Culture and Society" series. It's book 32 in the series.

Elena Arigita Maza (Universidad de Granada)
Florian Bock (Ruhr Universität Bochum)
Timothy Brittain‐Catlin (University of Cambridge)
James Chappel (Duke University)
Kim Christiaens (KADOC-KU Leuven)
Kathleen James-Chakraborty (University College Dublin)
​​​​James Kennedy (Utrecht University)
​​​Franziska Metzger (PH Luzern)
Patrick Pasture (MoSa‐KU Leuven) - chairman
Isabelle Saint‐Martin (EPHE Paris)
Thijl Sunier (VU Amsterdam)
Árpád von Klimó (Catholic University of America)
Veerle De Laet (Leuven University Press)
Peter Heyrman (KADOC-KU Leuven) - secretary

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to Peter Heyrman. The series welcomes monographs and edited volumes. Book proposals may relate to, for example, the political impact of religion, the dynamics between religion and welfare, and missionary history. All proposals and manuscripts are subject to double blind peer review involving at least one external reviewer (proposals) or at least two (manuscripts). The editors strive towards completing the review of proposals within two months and of complete manuscripts within five months after submission.

Please make use of the submission form to present your manuscript or proposal to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. The Desperate Quest for a Mission Field
   
2. Apostles of the Belgian Trenches
   
3. Bridgehead Brussels
   
4. Driven by Dispensational Urgency
   
5. Workers for the Vineyard
   
6. From Formative to Normative: The Structural Development of the BGM
   
7. From Dollar Mission to Beggars Mission, 1926-1936
   
8. New Leadership under the Clouds of War
   
9. The Nazi Occupation
   
10. Cutting the Umbilical Cord, 1945-1962
    

Conclusion
Appendices
List of Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index of Persons
Colophon

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for "From Hope to Hardship" is 10.11116/9789461666581.