''Cam' Townsend is rightly known as the visionary founder of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and the Wycliffe Bible Translators. This joint effort is now the largest Protestant mission organization in the world, a mission that has dramatically changed the culture of what used to be known as faith missions.' 'Townsend revolutionized Protestant missions by emphasizing that missionaries needed to learn the language of the people to whom they were sent and to live among them in order to understand their communities. His system stressed training the missionaries in public health, basic education, and agricultural skills. The demonstrated success of missionaries who followed Townsend's plan led to SIL/WBT influence in the larger societies in which the organization was present.' 'The very success of Townsend's methods led to trouble with his base in the United States. A New Vision for Missions is the biography of a pioneering Protestant missionary who advanced evangelical Christian
