icon
close-icon
image description image description
image description image description
image description
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Where We Work
    • US Regional Reps
    • Our History
    • MTW Staff Careers
    • Contact Us
  • Pray
  • Go
    • Search Opportunities
    • Mission Trips
    • Summer Internships
    • 1–11 Months
    • Longer Term
    • Specialized Ministries
      • Medical
      • Workplace Ministries
      • Arts, Music & Media
      • RUF Mentored Internships
    • Multicultural Mobilization
  • Give
    • Donations Hub
    • Missionaries
    • Projects
    • Estate & Gift Planning
    • Disaster Response/Compassion Fund
  • Stories & More
  • Events
  • Resources
    • All Resources
    • Cultivate
    • Videos
    • 1% Challenge
    • Resources for Kids
  • My Account
    • My Giving
    • My Profile
    • Giving FAQs
    About arrow-dwn
    • Who We Are
    • Where We Work
    • US Regional Reps
    • Our History
    • MTW Staff Careers
    • Contact Us
    Pray
    Go arrow-dwn
    • Search Opportunities
    • Mission Trips
    • Summer Internships
    • 1–11 Months
    • Longer Term
    • Specialized Ministries
      • Medical
      • Workplace Ministries
      • Arts, Music & Media
      • RUF Mentored Internships
    • Multicultural Mobilization
    Give arrow-dwn
    • Donations Hub
    • Missionaries
    • Projects
    • Estate & Gift Planning
    • Disaster Response/Compassion Fund
    Stories & More
    Events
    Resources arrow-dwn
    • All Resources
    • Cultivate
    • Videos
    • 1% Challenge
    • Resources for Kids
    My Account arrow-dwn
    • My Giving
    • My Profile
    • Giving FAQs
Donate
image description image description
menu-icon menu-icon

When Church Planting Is Perilous: East Asia

In part one of our two-part series, we look at the danger and opportunity of church planting in East Asia.
Andrew Shaughnessy|21 Nov 2017
image description

This is part one of a two-part series following MTW teams responding to God’s call to plant churches in closed countries.

It’s a country with a long and bloody history of religious persecution stretching back centuries. As recently as 30 years ago, being a Christ-follower in this East Asian country meant accepting the risk of being killed for your faith, and Christians were routinely tortured, jailed, or “disappeared” in large numbers. Though rarely martyred anymore, some Christians are still imprisoned for their faith and all live under the constant, looming threat of a crackdown.

Despite the danger and the fear, the Church is growing and thriving more than ever.

“There’s an incredible, unprecedented opportunity in this country for church planting,” said MTW missionary Tom Middleton.* “It’s unlike any other country in the world, both in its challenges and its fruit.”

Tom and his team serve as facilitators, helping nationals plant churches and playing an instrumental role in developing a nationwide network of presbyteries and Reformed churches. This year, they’ll be examining more than 30 men for licensure or ordination as pastors throughout East Asia, and the list of qualified church leaders keeps growing. Yet security issues and persecution are still present.

“Most of these churches start with 20 or 30 people meeting in someone’s house for a Bible study,” said Tom. “But as a church gets larger they’ll have to move to some larger facility, and then they have to deal with the authorities trying to resist [their] meeting.”

And there’s the rub. The tremendous and exciting growth of churches also makes them more visible—and more imperiled.

“The government doesn’t like to see large, well-organized groups of people, especially when they’re nationwide, which is the case with both our church-planting network and our Presbyterian network,” said Tom. “Those are challenging things to maneuver.”

According to Tom, the Church has grown so large across the country that the government can’t control all that’s going on. Instead, they choose their targets strategically.

“They have a saying here: ‘You kill the chicken to scare the monkey,’” Tom said.

In other words, when the government decides to punish someone in a church, they make sure that everyone hears about it.

“Throughout the history of this country, missionaries have gone through an amazing amount of persecution, struggles, and difficulties, and have seen very little fruit,” Tom said. What they’re seeing now is the fulfillment of their work and the answer to years of prayer.

He adds, “This is an age where Christianity really is able to change [this country] and it’s because we’re coming alongside and helping the local Christians, not because we’re leading the charge.”

*Name has been changed. 

Next week we’ll look at part two of our series, When Church Planting is Perilous: South Asia.

author-img
Andrew Shaughnessy

Andrew Shaughnessy is a long-time word slinger who spent nearly six years as MTW’s staff writer, gathering and telling impact stories from missionaries across the globe. These days, he’s off working as an analyst and editor in the publishing industry, writing fiction, and mountaineering. He holds a B.A. in history and English literature from Covenant College, and an M.S. in political science from Portland State University.

Get Involved

video

Ministry Expanding: Join a New Team in Southeast Asia

Longer More right-arrow
video

Join an Expanding Team in Occidental Mindoro

Longer More right-arrow
video

Madagascar: New Team Forming

Longer More right-arrow
video

Yes, You Can Serve in Missions Even If …

You might think you're not qualified for missions for any number of reasons, but you might be just the person God wants to use.

See More right-arrow
video

How Church Planting and Mercy Ministry Work Together to Advance the Gospel in Cambodia

In Cambodia, as in other MTW fields around the world, planting churches and establishing ministries of mercy and justice go hand-in-hand.

See More right-arrow
video

9 Ways to Care for Missionaries

Missionaries need discipleship, care, and connection to the body of Christ. The church can step in to help.

See More right-arrow
video

The Joys, Challenges, and Lifelong Impact of Growing Up Overseas: A Conversation with Four Former Missionary Kids

Missionary kids grow up traveling to new places, eating good food, and meeting different types of people—all leading to an adventurous childhood full of opportunities to experience the beauty, diversity, and complexity of God’s great, big, wonderful world.

See More right-arrow
video

Timothy House: Church Planter Training in Community (VIDEO)

A two-year intensive church planter training model is producing fruit in Muslim-majority Senegal, where new churches are greatly needed.

See More right-arrow
prev
next

Pray that God would remove perceived obstacles people have to serving in missions, and that those He is calling would take steps to explore service.

Related Story right-arrow

Pray that those who experience God's grace through mercy ministry would be drawn into the local church and accept the truth of the gospel.

Related Story right-arrow

Pray for missionary kids growing up overseas, and for missionary parents with concerns about the impact of missionary life on their kids.

Related Story right-arrow
video

Ministry Expanding: Join a New Team in Southeast Asia

Longer More right-arrow
video

Join an Expanding Team in Occidental Mindoro

Longer More right-arrow
video

Madagascar: New Team Forming

Longer More right-arrow
video

Yes, You Can Serve in Missions Even If …

You might think you're not qualified for missions for any number of reasons, but you might be just the person God wants to use.

See More right-arrow
video

How Church Planting and Mercy Ministry Work Together to Advance the Gospel in Cambodia

In Cambodia, as in other MTW fields around the world, planting churches and establishing ministries of mercy and justice go hand-in-hand.

See More right-arrow
video

9 Ways to Care for Missionaries

Missionaries need discipleship, care, and connection to the body of Christ. The church can step in to help.

See More right-arrow
video

The Joys, Challenges, and Lifelong Impact of Growing Up Overseas: A Conversation with Four Former Missionary Kids

Missionary kids grow up traveling to new places, eating good food, and meeting different types of people—all leading to an adventurous childhood full of opportunities to experience the beauty, diversity, and complexity of God’s great, big, wonderful world.

See More right-arrow
video

Timothy House: Church Planter Training in Community (VIDEO)

A two-year intensive church planter training model is producing fruit in Muslim-majority Senegal, where new churches are greatly needed.

See More right-arrow

Pray that God would remove perceived obstacles people have to serving in missions, and that those He is calling would take steps to explore service.

Related Story right-arrow

Pray that those who experience God's grace through mercy ministry would be drawn into the local church and accept the truth of the gospel.

Related Story right-arrow

Pray for missionary kids growing up overseas, and for missionary parents with concerns about the impact of missionary life on their kids.

Related Story right-arrow
close-icon

Donation Error

Please enter valid amount.

mtw logo
Mission to the World
1600 North Brown Rd
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
United States
Donor-Advised Fund Portal
Circle Portal
About
  • Who We Are
  • Where We Work
  • US Regional Reps
  • Our History
  • MTW Staff Careers
  • Contact Us
Pray
Stories & More
Events
My Account
  • My Account
    • My Giving
    • My Profile
    • Giving FAQs
Go
  • Search Opportunities
  • Mission Trips
  • Summer Internships
  • 1–11 Months
  • Longer Term
  • Join the Story
  • Specialized Ministries
    • Medical
    • Workplace Ministries
    • Arts, Music & Media
    • RUF Mentored Internships
  • Multicultural Mobilization
Give
  • Donations Hub
  • Missionaries
  • Projects
  • Estate & Gift Planning
  • Disaster Response/Compassion Fund
Resources
  • All Resources
  • Cultivate
  • Videos
  • 1% Challenge
  • Resources for Kids
image description
image description
image description
image description
image description
image description
1-678-823-0004
[email protected]
mtw logo
Mission to the World
1600 North Brown Rd
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
United States
Donor-Advised Fund Portal
Circle Portal
About arrow-down
    • Who We Are
    • Where We Work
    • US Regional Reps
    • Our History
    • MTW Staff Careers
    • Contact Us
Pray
Stories & More
Events
My Account arrow-dwn
    • My Account
      • My Giving
      • My Profile
      • Giving FAQs
Go arrow-dwn
    • Search Opportunities
    • Mission Trips
    • Summer Internships
    • 1–11 Months
    • Longer Term
    • Join the Story
    • Specialized Ministries
      • Medical
      • Workplace Ministries
      • Arts, Music & Media
      • RUF Mentored Internships
    • Multicultural Mobilization
Give arrow-dwn
    • Donations Hub
    • Missionaries
    • Projects
    • Estate & Gift Planning
    • Disaster Response/Compassion Fund
Resources arrow-dwn
    • All Resources
    • Cultivate
    • Videos
    • 1% Challenge
    • Resources for Kids
image description
image description
image description
image description
image description
image description
1-678-823-0004
[email protected]
Manage Consent

To provide the best experience, we use cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent may adversely affect certain features and functions. If you wish, you may view our privacy policy.

Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}