Chinese Church Taking the Lead in World Missions

What a plan! Self-supporting, professional, Christian workers showing up to... work. Rather than arriving with their bags and seminary certificates and expecting to become religious local professionals. This is not to suggest that a seminary degree isn't a useful thing. All learning is of value just as surely as all truth is from the Almighty,

I'm reminded of how the Apostle Paul found fellowship with those of the same employment and craft. And our Lord, too, of whom it was asked: Is this not the carpenter?

Accordingly, David Aikman envisions “thousands of Chinese technicians and workers”, wearing the disguise of the professional workers of the Chinese led global system of economic development. Their disguise is their non-western physicality, presumably indicating a lack of ideological and religious agenda but in reality concealing the fact that they are the representatives of an international effort to spiritually transform the societies they encounter.

The Islamic world… will no longer be able to resort to the usual complaints about the ‘decedent west’ or the perils of globalization. Globalization is indeed here to stay and the Christian component of it, more and more, will have a Chinese accent.

This paper is published by the kind permission of the author who describes himself:

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at the center for the research of conversion and inter-religous encounters in Beer Sheva. My focus is on ethnicity and religion in contemporary China, particuarly in Yunnan Province. My doctorate dealt with christian missionary work in today's Yunnan and the way it realtes to issues of ethnicty, identity, state policy and globalization. 

In addition I teach Chinese history, culture and religion in Bar Ilan University and Herzog College.

Other papers he authored are found here.