Pray for: Asia

Praise God for the growth of the Church into new places. Lands previously cut off from overt Christian ministry are now home to dynamic, growing churches and unprecedented numbers of believers. This started with China in earlier decades, then moved to the former Soviet countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus Republics and Mongolia in the 1990s, and most recently in a number of Southeast Asian countries. Even in the heart of the Muslim world, thriving ministry to Christian populations (and other expatriate, non-Muslim peoples) is happening. Only in Saudi Arabia and Maldives are there no public-meeting Christian congregations; even in these countries (and many others), there are numbers of believers meeting together privately or in secret.

Praise God for the indigenization of Christian ministry and leadership in Asia. The recent growth of the Church has largely been through the work of national workers, local evangelists and ordinary believers. These churches are, more than ever, Asian in structure, style and leadership – taking forms relevant for those they are trying to reach. Beyond the continent itself, Asian Christian leadership is assuming a much greater role in the global body of Christ. This includes countries such as South Korea, China and India but also places such as Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia.

China’s re-emergence as a global superpower is possibly the major global political and economic factor in the first decades of the 21st Century. China is growing more assertive in international diplomacy and political engagement. The pragmatic marriage of centralized state control with an increasingly capitalist economy has achieved stupendous financial growth. But such growth, fuelled by massive consumption of resources, cannot be sustained indefinitely; what happens when the bubble bursts will have a global impact. The major demographic shift to an aged population (as a result of the one-child policy) will place great burdens on those of working age. The huge gender gap – in many areas, a shortfall of 20-30% from equal gender balance – has further serious implications for long-term societal stability. The quasi-colonization by ethnic Han of China’s hinterlands (Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet, Yunnan) and accelerating immigration to under-populated and under-developed Russian Siberia are all potentially calamitous to the indigenous populations. Pray for God’s will to be done, in China as in heaven.

Demographic shifts will have massive implications for Asia’s future. The rapidly rising life expectancies and reduced birth rates of the populations of China, Japan and South Korea will place great burdens on the next generation. The gender gap is caused by selective abortion and infanticide in East and South Asia; these have created a deficit of tens of millions of girls, giving rise to prostitution, sex trafficking, wife-buying and abduction. Then there are the burgeoning populations in most of the Arab world, particularly Yemen and Palestine (also the poorest Arab countries) as well as Afghanistan, Pakistan and many Southeast Asian countries. Over the next 50 years, all of these dynamics combined will generate incredible pressures on nation-states and fuel large-scale migration, unrest, economic upheaval, and ecological stress. Lord, have mercy on the vulnerable amidst Asia’s teeming billions!

The region that witnessed the birth of the Church now sees its rapid decline. Large-scale and sustained emigration after centuries of tenacity has denuded the Middle East of most of its Christian communities. This slow burning process rapidly accelerated along with the violence in Syria, Iraq, etc. over the last several years. For the Church to have endured this long, despite discrimination and persecution, is remarkable. The rise of Islamic extremism in the region increased the pressure to marginalize and even eliminate Christian presence. Orthodox Jewish pressures on Messianic Jews are also acute. Pray that the ancient Orthodox and Catholic communities might come to new life and vigour to become effective witnesses. There is an encouraging, almost unbelievable, acceleration of new movements of people to Christ in the region, but these are not yet large enough to offset the losses of traditional Christians.

Persecution remains present in all countries of South Asia, although location, social context and time frame all factor into the intensity thereof. Christians are on the receiving end of persecution – mostly from Hindus in India and Nepal, from Muslims in Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives and even from Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Some of this is unavoidable, as responses of resentment and fear of church growth. But some result from lack of sensitivity and wisdom by Christians ministering into these situations. Pray that evangelists, church planters and missionaries might share the gospel with love and boldness, but also with humility and wisdom.

The three largest non-Christian religions in the world are rooted in Asia; they are also the most challenging for Christians. In Asia alone, there are 1.3 billion Muslims, 1.2 billion Hindus and 470-920 million Buddhists (the higher figure if the Chinese, Japanese and other intermingled ethnic religions are included). Pray for renewed fervor in intercession, vision for mission, and all the resources required for a new wave of Christian workers sent to these nearly 3 billion people in need of Jesus.