Mission life: THE KUKMIN DAILY

“Professional experts can spread the Gospel while alleviating poverty in Asia”

2015-05-14 17:38

On May 12∼13, the Center for World Church Cooperation at Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary (PUTS) held its 16th annual Studies and Conversations on Asian Mission Theology. This year’s theme was “21st Century Asian Pacific Theology and Practice.” The participants discussed the role of the church toward solving problems in Asia including poverty, political oppression, economic disparity, and complications related to increased cultural diversity.

In his presentation “Poverty and Regional Development Mission in Asia,” Tetsunao Yamamori (speaker in photo), international director of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, said, “To fight against poverty and make progress in regional development, communication of the Gospel should be done through economic activities in the mission field, according to the universal priesthood… So far the church has been dichotomized into pastors and laypersons, and the spreading of the Gospel has been a mission limited to pastors. However, whether you’re pastor, entrepreneur, teacher, or lawyer, you can spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ using your expertise, whatever that is.”

He elaborated, “To approach an oppressive or closed country, missionaries have often used their professional expertise. Businesses are tools for God’s people to use in easing local poverty and building God’s Kingdom. While non-believers and anti-Christians are hostile towards traditional proselytizing, they respect successful entrepreneurship. Friendships between them and Christian entrepreneurs can easily extend to the spreading of the Gospel.”

Dean Kevin Ward, from the School of Ministry of the Presbyterian Church, Aotearoa New Zealand, made a presentation on “Cultural Diversity and Unity in Christ.” He said, “Obviously Jesus came to the Israelites as God’s Messiah, and spread the Gospel to them first. But he challenged the existing Jewish Law of Cleanliness, which excluded other races. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus eats with ‘unclean persons’; and he included Gentiles when he drove out the demons in Gerasenes… In multicultural modern society, the church should not exclude immigrants and migrant workers, but should help them manifest their full potentiality for church leadership and worship.”

In his keynote speech “Seeking and Sharing an Asian Mission Theology,” Honorary President Seo Jeong-un said, “Christians in Asia are very likely to continue as a minority. Christian mission will become more and more difficult, due to secularization, pseudo-religious sects, materialism, and resistance from other religions. However, to follow Jesus with the Cross on your shoulder is not an idea or a theory, but a historical event, a reality, and a basic norm of Christian mission. Though it entails suffering, Jesus’ spirituality is one of practicing forgiveness and love, and consistently upholding peace. Participation in God’s mission means paying the price and choosing to live according to the Gospel. We need to deny ourselves and follow Christ’s way through our practice of sharing.”

Reporter Lee Saya (Isaiah@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Photo by intern reporter Heo Ran


Click here for the original article in Korean

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