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A growing church needs leaders
On the wall of my office is a blownup picture of an elderly Chinese gentleman. He is standing in Tiananmen Square, where I took the photograph of him, clothed in the grey Maoist worker suit and cap. His face shows both bewilderment and wonder as he struggles to integrate the reality he is experiencing with the history he has lived through. He wears the memories of a difficult era when China was isolationist and untainted by modern consumer-driven materialism. Yet, here he stood in that great square surrounded by signs of China’s rapid movement toward consumerist capitalism. I often reflect on the bewilderment and wonder in his face, and occasionally I detect the struggle of Asia today, which is affected by enormously countervailing forces that make the continent difficult to stereotype or categorize. Each year I teach a class on "A Spirituality for Mission" at the Overseas Ministry Study Center in New Haven, Conn. I always am impressed by the significant number of Korean missionaries who participate in the class as they prepare to return to mission contexts in countries like Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Tanzania and a host of other places. As mission from the West has seen decline in the last few decades, the energy and passion for mission represented by the Korean church is simply phenomenal. On the other hand, despite a long history of mission, beginning in 1542 with Jesuit missionaries in Kyushu and continuing in 1550 when Francis Xavier undertook a mission to the capital Kyoto, the number of Christians in Japan today is only 1 percent. East Asia today is, if anything, a confounding paradox, not easily put in a box. Alongside the Japanese experience of the achingly slow growth of the church in that country, there is the remarkable story of the growth of the church in China. When missionaries were evacuated from China at the midpoint of the century, it is estimated that there were only 750,000 Christians in the entire country. Half a century later the number is estimated at 30 million–50 million Christians. We have only just begun to hear hints of the missionary interest and potential of the Chinese church and its diaspora. In the 1980s, mission strategists frequently spoke about the "10/40 window." This window referred to the geographical distance between 10° and 40° north latitude. In this window resided most of the world’s Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists — counted in the billions — and the majority of them lived in Asia. While it is heartening that in the last quarter-century the church has seen significant growth in places like Mongolia and Nepal (the fastest-growing church in the world), there remain vast numbers in this region who have not heard the good news of Jesus Christ. The experience in China and Nepal is a poignant reminder that nationals are probably the most apt and strategically positioned church planters, and that the explosive growth of the church brings the need for the development of leaders. And, despite the remarkable economic growth in many parts of Asia, there is still enormous poverty, deprivation and suffering in many parts of Asia that fuel, for example, the Maoist rebellion in places like Nepal. At Mennonite Mission Network, we recognize both the great needs and the immense opportunities represented by the diverse realities of the Asian context. If the last half of the 20th century saw the burgeoning of the church in Africa, the first half of the 21st century could become the era of unprecedented growth for the Asian church. We see our role as walking alongside our partners in the Asian context as they plant new churches and respond to overwhelming economic challenges. We support them as they seek to develop leaders for the churches in that region and send mission workers to the many unreached groups in that context and around the world. Will you walk with us as we
seek to walk with the Spirit and our
partners into the purposes of God for
that region and through that region
for the world? In light of changing
geopolitics and what God has made
possible in that region in the last
half-century, I believe we stand before
an unprecedented opportunity. Join
us through your prayers, your person
(as you personally respond to God’s
call to join others serving there) and the sharing of your gifts
so that our partners and workers can be equipped for their
ministry on that continent. Thank you for the generosity and
support you have shown for this important work in the past.
For the sake of those whom God loves in Asia, we invite you
to continue to walk with us as we walk toward God’s future
for Asia. In this issue: Features Highlights Viewpoints |
