In this compendium, Jim articulates the impact of the nature and shape of the interface between the West and Africa, and how that interface works or does not work. Read on if you are interested in Africa, mission, development, globalisation, communication, linguistics, theology, dependency, or power dynamics in intercultural perspective. The conclusions reached in the fourteen articles in this compendium endorse Jim's deepening conviction that some Western missionaries and development workers ought to engage in their ministries in Africa and the majority world using indigenous languages and locally available resources. To this end, Jim and some of his missionary colleagues formed the Alliance for Vulnerable Mission in 2007.

From 1988 to date, missionary Jim Harries has perceived a gap between what outsiders suppose and the reality he observes in sub-Saharan Africa. He has moved from agricultural teaching, to development, to Bible teaching--often using African languages. Jim has forged deep relationships with indigenous African churches. He lives in an African village using his own stipend to rear local orphan children using their mother tongue. Jim has a PhD in theology from the University of Birmingham (UK) and has published widely.