Read more
Maybe you are familiar with the growth in recent decades of "majority world" missionaries being sent all over the world from non-Western countries (i.e., countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Middle East). This book focuses on missionaries sent from one non-Western country, analyzing the experiences of Chinese missionaries on the mission field. The missionaries interviewed were sent from house churches in mainland China, have served overseas for at least two years, and are ministering cross-culturally to non-Chinese on the mission field. The first research question relates to Chinese missionaries' successes and difficulties in cross-culturally building relationships with locals, learning the local language, and adjusting to the local culture. The second research question analyzes factors that have contributed to the Chinese missionaries remaining on the mission field. This included how pre-field preparation and on-field support contributed to their retention. Also analyzed were other challenges and needs the missionaries had on the field. The interviewees were serving in countries in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
About the author
Tabor Laughlin is a PhD student in Intercultural Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). He was a missionary in China for ten years and leads a small mission agency in NW China. He now lives with his wife and kids in Deerfield, Illinois. Laughlin blogs on ChinaSource and Desiring God and is the author of Becoming Native to Win the Natives (Wipf and Stock).
