A free book written and given away by K.P Yohannan of ‘Gospel for Asia‘ which is a fascinating read which talks about the new wave of missionary work by native workers instead of just relying on overseas missionaries from the Western Countries like Europe, America and Australia.
Let me say that I agree with Yohannan points that native workers are better to reach the lost in Asia or their own country/ region because they:
- Do not have as far to travel which cuts down on costs.
- Already have an understanding of the culture.
- Better grasp of the language(s).
- Can survive and live on less.
However I think K.P Yohannan limits the power and impact a Westerner can have in Asia. I myself have visited a 3rd world Asian country on a mission/ Impact team and when they see a white fellow spending their money, eating with them and doing life with them. It shows that even we are from different areas of the world, we have something similar and that is Gods love.
I do think that generally Yohannan’s book is important as he highlights that these nameless missionaries can indeed do the job of bringing the good news of Jesus to the lost.
However one thing that did kinder annoy me was Yohannan’s bashing of the spirit of mammon in the Western world and how we hold back. While I do not disagree that we hold back, because we do battle with the spirit. However I thought he leaves out one of the worst country offenders and that is his own country, the Indians.
India is a magical place and I know God has called me to impact that nation but Yohannan fails to challenge his own country were the rich are rich, filthy rich and the poor are very, very stinking poor. Any country that can support two rival twenty/ 20 competitions were several players are given over one million US dollars for a month of cricket has some serious mammon problems.
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