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India has more (and larger) people groups with no Christians, churches or workers than any other part of the world. Vast areas of China as interior have never been reached with the gospel. And Southern Asia contains the largest population of non-Christians in the world.
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BOB WALDRON, Executive Director
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Professor Nuñes dos Santos writes in Atlantis: The Lost Continent Finally Found (2005) that the vanished civilization described by Plato 2000 years ago has finally been located in the South China Sea. Whether or not Santos has actually located Atlantis, his assertion forces us to acknowledge that for many years Asia has been a lost continent for churches of Christ.
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The Orient figured large in the early years of our missions history. Missionaries like Azbill and McCaleb entered Japan as early as 1892. George Benson ventured into China before World War II and afterwards others went to South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand.
But in the last 20 years we have sent only four long-term mission teams to Asia: two to Thailand, one to the Philippines and the other to Japan, only the Japan team has gone in the last 10 years. In light of the gargantuan needs of Asia the response by churches of Christ has been deplorable. Clearly, we must focus more of our resources on the East.
Asia, after all, is where most of the worlds population lives. More than 60 percent of earths inhabitants call Asia home. Three of the worlds four most populous nations are in Asia: China (1.3 billion), India (1.1 billion) and Indonesia (222 million).
Asias peoples are receptive. Evangelicals have planted over 300,000 congregations in India. The growth of the church in China since 1977 has no parallel in history. The 1.2 Protestant members in 1949 grew to 17 million members in 2000, as well as an estimated 45 million house-church members. David Aikman, former Beijing Bureau Chief, for Time magazine, and author of Jesus in Beijing, states, "Within the next 30 years, one-third of Chinas population could be Christian, making China one of the largest Christian nations in the world."
Most of Asias people have never heard the message of Christ. India, for example, has more (and larger) people groups with no Christians, churches or workers than any other part of the world. Vast areas of Chinas interior have never been reached with the gospel. Compounding the need is the fact that Southern Asia falls within the 10/40 window, extending from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the equator, containing the largest population of non-Christians in the world.
Perhaps its time to rediscover the lost continent of Asia.
Missions Resource Network is pleased to announce the hiring of Mark Hooper as Facilitator for Asian Church Planting. Mark and his wife, Debbie, spent five years as missionaries in Mumbai (Bombay), India. Returning from India, Mark served for 16 years as Assistant Professor of Bible and Missions at Freed-Hardeman University. For 14 of those years he was also the Director of Missions and led numerous student campaigns, most of them into Asian nations. Mark has taught college-level courses covering the Asian religions of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
We believe Marks experience, expertise and academic training will greatly improve efforts in churches of Christ to develop a strategic and collaborative plan to evangelize the great continent of Asia.
Mark received his B.A. and a Masters of Theology in Missions from Harding University. He also earned an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Mumbai, where he is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree.
He and Debbie have two children, Kyle and Kristen. Kyle recently returned from a year of teaching English in Asia and Kristen spent this summer serving at the Children of Hope home in Mexico.
As Facilitator for Asian Church Planting, Mark will develop and chair an Asia Advisory Panel of respected Asian Christians, missionaries and former missionaries. He will recruit and prepare mission teams for strategic locations in Asia that have been selected by the Advisory Panel. Mark will also serve as a consultant to teams on the field and to their respective supporting churches.
Instead of being the lost continent for our fellowship, perhaps now Asia will increasingly be on our hearts, in our prayers and in our plans.
Resources for Asia
Aikman, David. 2003. Jesus in Beijing. The former Beijing bureau chief for Time magazine, Aikman chronicles the evangelization of China, taking you inside the religious revolution occurring in that nation. A must read.
Hattaway, Paul. 2003. Back to Jerusalem. Waynesboro, GA: Authentic Media. Many Chinese house-church Christians believe their divine calling is to take the gospel from the coast of China all the way back to Jerusalem, the birthplace of Christianity, evangelizing the Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu nations along the way.
Naipaul, V. S. 1990. India: A Million Mutinies Now. Nobel Prize winner V.S. Naipaul's masterpiece on India is must reading for those seeking a deeper understanding of this complex country. The book consists of well-written personal in-depth interviews about various individuals personal struggles with tradition, castes, Hindu-Muslim religious conflict, etc.
Ruthven , Malise. 2006. Islam in the World (3rd ed. paperback). New York. Oxford University Press. Considered one of the best books for gaining an understanding of modern Islam. Contains new chapters on the impact of 9/11, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the rivalry between Sunnis and Shias, and the debates about democracy raging throughout the Muslim Word.
Subbamma, B. V. 2002. New Patterns for Discipling Hindus. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library. Presents practical suggestions for discipling Hindus.
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