Fair skin, light-colored eyebrows, a prominent nose, and deep, ocean-blue eyes—this is many people's impression of missionaries. However, missionaries are no longer predominantly white; Asian and Black communities are involved in missions.
“In the past, we would say Christianity was a ‘Western religion,’ and missionaries always came from Western countries, but this started to change 50 years ago—not all missionaries are white anymore,” said Jang, a pastor serving in a Korean mission organization.
He noted the rapid change in global missions, citing a survey from a North American research institute which showed that Christianity was growing quantitatively in the Global South.
A survey (unamed for security reasons) shows that in 1900, 82% of Christians worldwide lived in the Global North; by 2020, only one-third resided in the Global North. In 1970, 31,000 missionaries were in the Southern Hemisphere, compared to 227,000 in the North. By 2021, the Global South had 203,000 missionaries, while the North remained at 227,000. African, Latin American, Asian, and Australian Christians now make up a growing proportion of global Christians.
This change has led to a shift of mission movements from the West to the East. In the past 50 years, Korean missionaries have increased from fewer than 50 to 30,000; South American, from zero to 30,000; Philippines, from zero to 3,000.
Most countries in Africa, Asia, and South America aren’t wealthy. Mission organizations in those areas can not use the Christendom model of Western churches, since it requires extensive financial resources.
Pastor Jiang said, "At the 1911 Edinburgh Missionary Conference, Western churches proposed the mission slogan, 'From the West to the non-West, from here to the world; the West has the responsibility to evangelize.' Consequently, many countries in Europe and North America, including the UK, the US, and Canada, began mission efforts in other countries."
"Typically, mission agencies selected missionaries, whom churches prayed for and supported financially. Their mission strategy was to establish schools and hospitals first; once locals favored Christianity, they would establish churches. This is the Christendom model," he continued.
Some Western scholars began re-evaluating this model, pointing out that it is not applicable in the morden era nor suitable in other countries. For example, the Christendom model was the best strategy of its time for Western missions, but now it’s time for the churches in the Global South to move beyond the Northern Christian mission model, said Christian mission historian Andrew Walls.
Jang believes it is time to initiate a new mission model, which is “a new missionary force has emerged from Asia, Africa, and Latin America to reach out to other countries.”
- Edited & translated by Abigail Wu
白皙的皮肤、浅色的眉毛、挺立的鼻梁、菱角分明的脸庞、如海洋一般湛蓝深邃的眼眸……这是大多数人在谈起宣教士外貌时的印象。然而，不知道从什么时候开始，宣教士渐渐不再仅仅只是以白人面孔为主；逐渐开始出现了黄种人和黑人的面孔。时至今日，人们会特意以 “西方宣教士”来代指那些几百年前奔赴远方一线宣教现场的白人宣教士。
“以前，我们都说基督教是洋教，宣教士都是白人。但是从50年前开始就已经在改变，不都是白人在宣教。”
一位来自韩国宣教机构的姜牧师在一次谈话中分享了他最近几年对宣教策略方面的研究和思考。他称普世宣教的变化是非常快的，并引用了一份来自北美研究机构的调查资料，指出现在南半球的基督徒越来越多。
1900年南北半球的基督徒比例为82：18，而到了2020年这比例转变为了33：67。1970年，南半球基督徒人数是31000人，北半球基督徒人数是227000人；2021年，南半球基督徒人数是203000人，北半球基督徒人数是227000人。在基督教人口中，非洲、拉丁美洲、亚洲、澳洲的人数越来越多，占比也越来越大。
对此现象，姜牧师举例说明：“以前基督徒大部分都是白人，现在很多黑人成为了基督徒。”
相应地，宣教策略也开始发生了转变，以西方教会为主的宣教运动转变为以东方教会为主。
50年前，韩国宣教士不到50人，现在却有3万人；50年前，南美洲一个宣教士也没有，而如今南美却有3万宣教士在宣教现场。菲律宾以前也没有任何宣教士，但是现在这个国家却有3千宣教士；印度以前也没有过任何宣教士，但是现在去印度的不同种族宣教的人有2000人之多。
那么，东方教会的宣教策略是否应该和西方教会的宣教策略一样？以非洲、亚洲、南美洲为主力的宣教团体是否要学习并采取西方教会的宣教策略呢？
从亚非拉的实际情况出发，姜牧师指出：“非洲、亚洲、南美洲地区并没有什么富有的国家。虽然南美洲也有富有的国家，但是那些国家富有的人基本上都是白人。非洲、亚洲、南美洲大部分国家都贫穷的，而如果贫穷的国家想要承担传教的责任的话，该怎么做？”
贫穷的国家是很难效法西方教会的宣教方式的，因为西方教会所采取的宣教方式是一种“基督王国”的宣教模式；而这种基督王国的宣教模式需要耗费大量的金钱。
姜牧师说：“自从宗教改革以来，新教延续了传福音的使命。在1911年的爱丁堡宣教大会上，西方教会提出了一个宣教口号——从西方到非西方，从这里到全世界，西方有责任传教。因此，欧洲、北美的许多国家包括英国、美国、加拿大等开始向其他国家宣教。”
“谁来做宣教士呢？一般来说，是宣教机构选出来的人来做宣教士。而教会是为宣教士做祷告和奉献的。他们的宣教策略是先开始建立学校和医院；当本地人开始对基督教有好感，再开始建立教会。比如，印度就有基督教医院、学校和教会。他们把这个宣教的方式叫做基督王国模式。而这个模式是需要大量经费。”
因此，一些西方学者就开始反思，并指出这样的方式并不适用于当今时代，也不适用于其他国家。
比如，基督教传教史学家安德鲁·沃尔斯就曾说过：“基督王国宣教模式是西方传教的运动，是我们那个时代最好的宣教策略。现在是全球南方教会脱离全球北方基督教宣教模式影响的时候了。”
因此，姜牧师认为应该发起一种新的宣教模式；他认为这种宣教模式是“从亚洲、非洲和拉丁美洲开始出发去到其他国家宣教”。
一韩国牧者谈：过去50年来，世界宣教策略正在从西方转向东方教会
Fair skin, light-colored eyebrows, a prominent nose, and deep, ocean-blue eyes—this is many people's impression of missionaries. However, missionaries are no longer predominantly white; Asian and Black communities are involved in missions.
“In the past, we would say Christianity was a ‘Western religion,’ and missionaries always came from Western countries, but this started to change 50 years ago—not all missionaries are white anymore,” said Jang, a pastor serving in a Korean mission organization.
He noted the rapid change in global missions, citing a survey from a North American research institute which showed that Christianity was growing quantitatively in the Global South.
A survey (unamed for security reasons) shows that in 1900, 82% of Christians worldwide lived in the Global North; by 2020, only one-third resided in the Global North. In 1970, 31,000 missionaries were in the Southern Hemisphere, compared to 227,000 in the North. By 2021, the Global South had 203,000 missionaries, while the North remained at 227,000. African, Latin American, Asian, and Australian Christians now make up a growing proportion of global Christians.
This change has led to a shift of mission movements from the West to the East. In the past 50 years, Korean missionaries have increased from fewer than 50 to 30,000; South American, from zero to 30,000; Philippines, from zero to 3,000.
Most countries in Africa, Asia, and South America aren’t wealthy. Mission organizations in those areas can not use the Christendom model of Western churches, since it requires extensive financial resources.
Pastor Jiang said, "At the 1911 Edinburgh Missionary Conference, Western churches proposed the mission slogan, 'From the West to the non-West, from here to the world; the West has the responsibility to evangelize.' Consequently, many countries in Europe and North America, including the UK, the US, and Canada, began mission efforts in other countries."
"Typically, mission agencies selected missionaries, whom churches prayed for and supported financially. Their mission strategy was to establish schools and hospitals first; once locals favored Christianity, they would establish churches. This is the Christendom model," he continued.
Some Western scholars began re-evaluating this model, pointing out that it is not applicable in the morden era nor suitable in other countries. For example, the Christendom model was the best strategy of its time for Western missions, but now it’s time for the churches in the Global South to move beyond the Northern Christian mission model, said Christian mission historian Andrew Walls.
Jang believes it is time to initiate a new mission model, which is “a new missionary force has emerged from Asia, Africa, and Latin America to reach out to other countries.”
- Edited & translated by Abigail Wu
Korean Pastor: Dominant Role of Western Missions Disappearing in Past 50 Years
