East Asia

The Spiritual Need in East Asia

East Asia is located on the eastern third of the 10/40 Window, where one-fifth of the world’s population (about 1.4 billion people) lives, with the Han Chinese being the largest ethnic group in the world. East Asia is very densely populated, particularly on the coastline and along inland rivers, with an average population per square mile almost three times higher than the global average. Conversely, some rural parts of the region have the lowest population densities in the world. Some people groups living in such places are considered forgotten by the reach of missions.

Whether highly-connected urbanites or nomadic agrarians, East Asians make up more than 1 billion people who are not Christians. Most of them have never heard the gospel or had access to a Christian church. According to the Joshua Project, there are over 400 unreached people groups in East Asia.

Several major non-Christian religions originated in this region, including Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Shintoism, and other deeply-rooted Eastern belief systems. While these belief systems continue to pervade culture and tradition, many in East Asia are raised with a secular, atheistic education and mindset—aided by the prevalence of communism.

Despite this secularism and spiritual confusion, some East Asians are very open to talking about faith and are honest about their questions—especially young adults, which leaves the door open to evangelical missions to East Asia. There is an unprecedented need for discipleship and relationship building among young believers to proclaim clear, compelling biblical truths and application for everyday living.

Evangelical Missions To East Asia

ABWE is striving to close the evangelism gap on the most-populated continent that has the fewest number of Christian workers per capita. Our team needs help unifying efforts and developing team strategies for evangelism, discipleship, church planting, and leadership development to target unreached populations and support church-planting efforts across the region.

Teaching students at the University Level, High School and Middle School levels, or serving in the business world bi-vocationally provide the greatest opportunities to develop relationships with young people and influential leaders. We need additional team members who are passionate about teaching, ESL, and working alongside our national church partners as we seek opportunities to share the gospel and partner with new churches in East Asia.

Is God leading you to reach another culture to make his gospel known in East Asia?