By an Asian Navigator leader
History of the Asia-Pacific Buddhist Forum
Several years ago, a group of national ministry directors in the Asia Navigators sensed a need to rethink their models for sharing the Gospel and for discipleship in their own Buddhist cultural contexts. They realized that Western methods weren’t working well in Asia, and they wanted to find ways to serve the lost in their communities in such a way that the Gospel would be received as good news by people ascribing to a Buddhist worldview.
To that end, in 2018 the Asia Regional Director organized a gathering in Kuala Lumpur called the Asia-Pacific Buddhist Forum. The forum was so helpful to staff that they gathered for a second time in October 2021, this time as a three-day series of virtual meetings coordinated by Jerry Chen (former country director for the Taiwan Navigators), George McBride (from the Thailand Navigators), and Beng Lee Tan (coordinator of NLT of the Malaysia Navigators).
About twenty Navigators from across Asia met for the forum, including nationals and expats from Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and New Zealand (the latter serve international students from Asia). About 60% of the forum participants were themselves Buddhist background believers.
The purpose of the forum was not to teach, but to create space for mutual learning where participants could freely share their experiences. Each day of the forum began with a plenary session followed by deep discussion around one of three topics: worldview and the Gospel; worldview and discipleship; and finally worldview and community.
Buddhist Worldview
The first challenge in reaching out to Buddhists is to understand their worldview, which is very different from a Western or Christian perspective. In the Buddhist worldview there is no transcendent god. People focus on trying to become a better person, and they believe they will improve themselves little by little over each subsequent lifetime. When they finally reach nirvana, meaning they don’t need to attain any more virtue, they become one with the universe in a kind of emptiness and stop being reincarnated.
Buddhists also believe that other religions are different paths to the same end. They perceive that the Bible teaches Christians to do good, and they see no need for its message in their lives since they are already on a path to the same goal.
Sharing with Buddhists
Participants in the forum have learned to share their faith in a way that is relevant to the Buddhist worldview. They avoid terms like conversion. What they hope to see is a change of relationship (from strangers into followers of Jesus) more than a change of religion. This path is easier when disciples of Christ express the Gospel in terms that make it sound like the good news it is. For example: Jesus makes you a better person, but this happens through grace, not through your own efforts, and you don’t need to keep living more and more lives to reach that; Jesus can make you better in this life. They have also learned that it is more effective to share the good news slowly over a long period of time, giving people bits and pieces of the Gospel that relate to their current life situations rather than sharing the whole message as a package. Sharing the Gospel is a long journey of years, not a one-time event.
Navigators in Buddhist contexts have learned that community is key in reaching their friends and neighbors. It’s really important to live among them with a genuine and stable presence. As Jerry Chen pointed out, “Some people sharing the good news are like pirates trying to plunder a village. They rush in and try to pull people out. But then believers get isolated from their relationships and influence. That’s harmful to the movement of the Gospel; it stops the flow.”
Rather than frightening unbelievers by rushing in with the Gospel, it is effective to live among them and build authentic mutual relationships over time. When people start following Jesus, they should remain implanted in their communities and keep influencing their own networks.
Measuring Relationships
“One of the biggest temptations in ministry is achievement,” Jerry Chen says. “How we evaluate our ministry is important, because if we evaluate the success of our ministry with numbers, then it will be a disaster to the Buddhist-background community. We need to rethink how we evaluate our ministry.” One fruit of the forum was a new set of indicators to measure whether ministry is heading in the right direction among Buddhists. These indicators reveal the strength of relationships rather than input or output statistics. For example:
How often do your lost friends serve you? A genuine relationship should be a two-way street. If people love to serve you, that’s a good indicator of a strong mutual relationship.
How often do your lost friends initiate getting together with you? If people feel your love toward them, they should want to hang out together instead of trying to escape.
How often do people invite you into their homes to share a meal with them? In the Asian cultures where Navigators are doing ministry among Buddhists, sharing a meal at home is a good sign of comfortability and acceptance.
These types of indicators give people freedom to develop deep relationships over long periods of time without trying to rush forward toward contrived outcomes.
Impact of the Forum
The fruit of the forum is ongoing. Since the event, a working group has continued to collect stories from various countries and maintain a chat group for practitioners to share their difficulties and questions. Many participants mentioned feeling lonely and frustrated before the forum. Gathering with others who are facing the same challenges helped them feel understood.
Perhaps most importantly, as Jerry Chen stated, “Participants in the forum were filled with love for the lost. They left inspired to genuinely love their community without strings attached. They were also encouraged to think in terms of long-term impact instead of short-term achievements.”
Please pray for the next Asia-Pacific Buddhist Forum to be held in two years. Ask that more people will be led to join with attitudes of humility, ready to listen and learn from one another. Pray that Navigators across Asia will seek the Lord and hear from him about how to serve the lost in their own contexts.
