This is the first half of our conversation with Dr. Carlos Cardoza-Orlandi, the Frederick E. Roach Professor of World Christianity at Baylor University. In it, we widen our lens to taken in Christian history as a global discipline. We discuss mission as a lens to rethink the history of Christianity, his studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, what it means to pursue missions in 'Christianized' nations, and the role that personal biography plays in good historical scholarship.