Asians in Diaspora and Diasporas in Asia
Asians in Diaspora and Diasporas in Asia is a collection of essays originally presented and discussed at the 2023 Jeju Diaspora Consultation – a conference aimed to convene church and mission leaders in Asia and global Asians. Edited by Sam George, Bulus Galadima, and Jeanne Wu – it is an academic book that gives context and consultation to current gospel missions.
Open Your Eyes to God’s Mission
World Christianity and Global Diasporas: Coming, Staying, Going by Kirsteen Kim is the first chapter and a standout of the book. It presents the interrelationship of migration and settlement in the role of missions. Kim gives two examples of this relationship. First, she discusses how the Korean diaspora has been inseparable from Korean Christian growth and expansion. Second, she shows how Los Angeles, California, is a global crossroads of migrating communities. She furthers the conversation by saying the Christian faith centers on the God who came and stayed with us. Migration and hospitality are equally viable in the life of the church – we are the church scattered and we are the church gathered. She ends the chapter with a call to move our response to migration beyond evangelism, challenging us to spread the gospel and actually help suffering, migrants, by having discernment and to take responsibility for caring for our neighbors together as the world Christian community.
Yoon Jong Yoo’s chapter on Hospitality and the Imago Dei in the Bible is also remarkable. Yoo affirms that hospitality is one of the most important themes of the Bible. I was curious to see Yoo explain that the concepts of God’s image and likeness in the creation story are transformed into justice and righteousness within the context of salvation history, specifically through the story of Abraham. We are human beings with Imago Dei and royal obligations to be compassionate as we manage and rule the world. A human being, created in the likeness of a king, is called to care for all other creatures. We are a royal priesthood who participate in the ministry of hospitality to all people.
Open Your Hearts to God’s Mission
This book takes you around the Eastern world. I learned about the migrants and refugees in Malaysia, and how the church has a great opportunity to reach out to the different nations that they host and disciple them. The church can take the gospel to the end of the Earth by “discipling the diaspora.“ I learned about the Filipino Christian community and how so many of them are spread overseas. There is a need for pastors, and theological training, but there are also vulnerable children with absent parents left behind. I remembered that we have to pray for our brothers and sisters across the world.
I was also made aware of a different type of diaspora, as Christa Foster Crawford wrote on those who have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to human trafficking. She says our response to exploitation and injustice is integral to the identity and mission of the church and one way we witness to the world. Crawford challenges us to get rid of the things in our own lives that represent abuse, control, and exploitation that lie at the heart of more obvious commercial forms of exploitation. We want a holistic mission that focuses on prevention, intervention, and restoration. Christians have a calling to help the hurting and bring God’s children back home into the kingdom.
Vision for Missions
This book will open your eyes to the what God is doing in the world. It will open your heart to God’s people who are homeless and hurting. It will give you a clear and compelling vision for missions in Asia.
I received a media copy of Asians in Diaspora and Diasporas in Asia and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.