The Chinese population is growing steadily, and Chinese people are migrating to different countries around the world. According to recent studies, four of the top ten countries with the largest Chinese population overseas are situated within the Southern Asia-Pacific Region. This opens numerous opportunities for ministry in reaching the Chinese people. According to statistics, Indonesia ranks number one with 11 million Chinese people living in their country. Followed by Thailand with 7.01 million, Malaysia with 6.72, and Singapore in number 5 with 3.01 million.
Dr. Samuel Wang, Interfaith Services Director of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division expresses his excitement in taking advantage of this privilege to reach out to his fellow Chinese living outside of their motherland.
“Chinese in general are proud of their history and heritage. However, Chinese culture and traditions change over time, further away from their origin which was exposed to the oral revelation of God before the Bible was written,” Dr. Wang explained when asked about the challenges of reaching out to fellow Chinese people in this developing generation. “Buddhism, commercialism, secularism, and many other influences had a great impact on the Chinese all over. Many of the overseas Chinese have lost their language, as a result, the Chinese cultural identity becomes blurred. So, it is more challenging. You need to re-educate them about their history and legacy as well as the truth for life in the Bible. However, they are prone to be exposed to the real Chinese origin and legacy. It often comes as a great surprise, and in this way, a connecting bridge can be easily made to the Bible,” Dr. Wang added.
According to Dr. Wang, Digital Evangelism is an instrument that God gave providentially in this generation as it can break down the walls and barriers of religion and culture. This enables the message of hope to reach households who have been long closed for the truth.
Opportunities to produce online content made available for various audiences is an effective tool to send the message across especially to those people who are seeking answers for their curiosity.
In January, Dr. Wang was invited to join an online bible discussion about Chinese outreach produced by the Little Light Studios https://www.littlelightstudios.tv/about-us/ This online content was launched on January 29 and after 10 days, over 18,000 people have viewed the material.
Before this program, Dr. Samuel Wang had been active in producing online content providing resources on how to reach the Chinese people. Contents about discovering China open a clearer understanding of Chinese history, and present opportunities to learn more about China’s culture and ethnicity.
Dr. Wang intends to produce more content to be made available online that may reach 1.44 billion Chinese people around the world.
“People are getting more and more interested in learning and expanding their perspectives on culture, history, and the deep and vast love of God. It also explains the extra-biblical pieces of evidence of God’s love and the authenticity of the Bible interpreted in its ecclesiastical and practical sense,” Dr. Wang said. “This type of information and message provides a unique way to reach people’s hearts for understanding more of God’s love and His revelation to man. It is expected that this will soften the soil for the seed of the Gospel to grow,” Dr. Wang added.
Edward Rodriguez, Communication Department Southern Asia-Pacific Division