Asians in general hate to say “no.” This stems from the fact that social harmony is far more important to most Asians, rather than their individual rights.
For some Asians (eg. Filipinos), it is almost impossible to say “no.” When they are invited to a party and do not want to attend it, they will say “I will try to come.” This is their equivalent of saying “no” without actually having to say it. For those of us who are familiar with their culture, it is quite clear that the answer is “no” but for those who are unfamiliar they will take this answer at its face-value and hope that the person will show up at the party. And be disappointed.
This difficulty of saying no can be a real problem when sharing the Gospel with an Asian. This is even worse when a respected foreigner is sharing the Gospel. A classic example of such a case is that of a foreigner who is an English teacher sharing the Gospel with his student. Assuming the student can really understand what the teacher is saying about sin, judgment, heaven and hell and Jesus Christ, the student is hard-pressed to say “no” to his teacher even if he disagrees with him.
Firstly, there is the respect for a teacher – which is particularly strong in Asia, especially in Confucian cultures (eg. China, Korea, Japan). Secondly, there is respect for a foreigner – who is often treated as a “guest” by Asians. Thirdly, there is the pragmatic reason of not wanting to offend a teacher – in whose hands are the student’s academic future! Fourthly, there is another pragmatic reason of being in the teachers’ good books – so that he can continue to practice his English with the teacher!
This is not to say that foreigners have no place in evangelism in Asia. Neither is this written to discourage English teachers from going to Asia to teach in our campuses. On the contrary, there is a very important place for foreigners in evangelism in Asia – especially in places where there are few foreigners.
Asians want to learn English! They want to learn about the world! They are curious! Some hope to study or work abroad – especially in the West. Foreigners attract and befriend them easily. In a typical Asian university campus (especially in the less cosmopolitan cities), a friendly foreign English teacher will usually have a group of “friends” hanging around him.
If this foreigner can team up with a local evangelistic partner, then together they can be a very powerful evangelistic team. The foreigner attracts the audience and is a good testimony of God’s love, and the local waits for an opening from the Holy Spirit to share the reason for that love (namely, the Gospel).
This foreign teacher-local evangelist team is one of the best ways to evangelize Asia!
The Asian harvest is plentiful but the foreign labourers are few!
Read more about Asian projects on www.goducate.org
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HE THAT DRINKS OF THE WATER THAT I GIVE HIM SHALL NEVER THIRST AGAIN!!! HEY!!!
That is my freedom! What is this searching in my life? What is this restlessness? What is this thirsting for something more? Jesus is all that I need.
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