Crossing Cultural Divides: Sharing Christ in the Buddhist Heartland
For over two hundred years, Christian missionaries have been serving in the Buddhist world of Southeast Asia, yet it remains one of the largest unreached people groups in the world. My wife, Kathryn, and I have known we were called to be international missionaries since we were children and have earnestly sought the Lord's direction as to where He would send us. As we began to hear about the need for the gospel to be planted, cultivated, and harvested in the Buddhist world, our hearts began to stir with curiosity and questions. Why have two centuries of gospel presence proven insufficient to make the gospel accessible to the one billion people living in these Buddhist contexts? How is it that over 50% of people in these Buddhist nations have never even heard the name of Jesus? More importantly, why haven't more believers gone?
We joined Ohio's first vision trip to the Buddhist world in September 2022 along with six other ministers to simply grow the heart for ministry in that region – and did God grow it! After over twenty-seven hours of travel, the team finally arrived in Saigon, Vietnam. While in Vietnam, the goal was to learn about a model of missions called BAM: Business as Mission. Missions in Vietnam and many other Buddhist countries must be unique, as they are closed to missionaries coming in to evangelize. We partnered with AG missionaries who operate a coffee shop. Alongside the coffee shop, the team in Vietnam hosts locals in daily Conversation Rooms – an open door for missionaries to simply interact and have conversations with locals while building relationships, working on English, and prayerfully dropping seeds of the gospel throughout the conversation.
We were privileged to participate in this form of ministry. While not every Conversation Room interaction led to a full gospel presentation, the last night of ministry for us remains impossible to forget. As fifteen locals sat in a room with Kathryn, a local missionary, and myself, I casually brought up the countless Christmas decorations I noticed while traveling the city a few days prior (remember: it's September). A local who was also a Christian chimed in and noted that the Vietnamese celebrate Christmas not to remember Jesus' birth but more so as a casual holiday to get with family and appreciate one another. At that moment, a lady in her mid-thirties raised her hand and asked the most profound question of the trip: "Who is Jesus? I have never heard that name before." The gate to the gospel flung wide open, and my wife had the honor of completely laying out the message of Christ to a room of people, some of whom had never even heard the name of Jesus before.
After a few days of ministry, we flew to Thailand and connected with Mark Durene, the founder of the Change the Map initiative. The following days consisted of spiritual warfare, moments of intense seeking after the Lord, and spiritual awakening. We traveled to Buddhist temples where followers of Buddha ring gongs, prostrate before carven idols, sprinkle holy water with lotus flowers, embed demonic images on their bodies, and glean "power" from dead monk's bodies. It was truly incomprehensible. Simply put, the Bible came to life. Our eyes were opened to what scripture meant concerning God's gracious rebukes against the Israelites as they turned to idolatry rather than remaining faithful to the Lord.
Randy Young, leader of the Agora Group in Cleveland, shared this wisdom with the team on one of our first evenings in Vietnam: "We have to be more impressed with what our God can do than what the enemy has done." Psalm 110:1 declares that Jesus' victory has placed the enemy under His feet, and therefore the saints of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit, have nothing to fear. What is it going to take to change the map? It is going to take the Church having the faith, belief, and support to send hundreds of new workers to the field. Further, it is going to take thousands of individuals to commit to intercede on behalf of every nation, tribe, people, and tongue that they will hear the saving name of Jesus.
If you are interested in being a part of a vision trip, or other missions trips, visit www.ohiomissions.com/missions-trips for more information.
————————
Matt Sullivan
Youth Pastor at Radiant Life, Dublin
