Ethne » Buddhism

Prayer Initiatives

Buddhist Monitor — Mon, 21 Oct 1985 10:19:10 +0000

A Billion Hours of Prayer for a Billion Buddhists

The Billion Hours of Prayer Project is a call to raise one billion hours of fervent prayer and intercession by Christians globally for the Buddhists of the world. This may be accomplished by individuals, families, blocks, cells or congregational groups. If a minimum of 20 million Christians world-wide burdened for and loving their Buddhist neighbors, will commit to intercede one hour each week – or just 10 minutes each day – for the duration of one year, we will have raised over one billion hours of intercession. As an international body of intercessors, we firmly acknowledge that God loves all the people of the Buddhist world, lavishly and without respect of persons. If this is God’s posture, it will be ours, as Christ-followers as well. A prayer guide has been created to bless the peoples and nations of the world in unprecedented ways, through prayer and intercession, for the transformation and salvation of all Buddhist peoples. For more information, leads on tools and guides, as well as posting information for commitments toward this end, see http://www.billionhours.org.

Buddhism on the Rise in Africa

Buddhist Monitor — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 10:29:13 +0000

From 3,400 adherents in 1900 and 11,600 in 1970, Buddhism has risen to an estimated 134,000 by 2000, and is projected to rise to 293,000 by 2025. Buddhism is very dispersed and disorganized yet growing. Tens of thousands of Buddhists live in Ghana and more live in small informal groups in other countries. Buddhist centers are located in South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zaire. A small volume of papers was written as a result of a conference in 1998, discussing how to contextualize Buddhism for Africa.

Although Buddhism is growing in Africa, it is still a negligible component. It is, at this point, almost completely among the expatriate community: few Africans are introduced in it. This trend bears watching but presents another opportunity: is it possible to evangelize Buddhists in Africa, disciple converts, and send them to Buddhist strongholds as church planters?

Buddhism in South Asia

Buddhist Monitor — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:12:22 +0000

South Asia generally includes the 7 nations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and British Indian Ocean Territories. Variety is the spice of life, and there is certainly much variety in the world’s spiciest region. In these 7 countries live almost 3,000 least-reached people groups! Islam controls the hearts of many of the peoples of Bangladesh, but 10 least-reached peoples there are primarily Buddhist.

In Bhutan, 70 percent of the population practices a form of Buddhism originating from Tibetan or Lamaistic Buddhism. Although its population is less than one million, over twenty-one people groups are still least-reached in Bhutan. Buddhism was born in India, spread to Nepal, China, Bhutan, and Southeast Asia and now to much of the rest of the world. Some of the peoples of southern and northeastern India are Christian, but only two percent of that great nation have embraced Christ. Over 920 million people in over 2,000 people groups remain to be reached in India alone, and of those, more than 52 people groups are least-reached Buddhist groups! In Nepal, official statistics show about 11% Buddhist but the reality is probably much higher and more than 31 Buddhist people groups here are least-reached. Sixty-nine percent of Sri Lankans practice the Theravada form of Buddhism. Although there are only 6 least-reached Buddhist groups in Sri Lanka, the population of these groups is well over 14 million people! Christians from these nations are making heroic efforts to reach this region for Christ and God is at work. But a truly great challenge remains!

Buddhism in Bangladesh

About 0.5% of the population of Bangladesh follows the Theravada form of Buddhism. Bangladesh, or the historical Bengal, has a unique place in the history of Buddhism, for two reasons. First, Bengal was the last stronghold of Indian Buddhism. It survived there as a socio-cultural force until the 12th century while disappearing from other parts of the Indian subcontinent. Second, it is generally claimed Bengal was the home of Tantric Buddhism, a later development in Bengal. Most of the remaining Buddhists are the Arakanese living in the southeastern areas of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts: groups such as the Chakma, Chak, Marma, Tenchungya and the Khyang as well as the Khumi and the Mru.

Despite early patronage by some of the Bengali rulers, with the decline of the Maurya Empire, Buddhism met its first major setback. In the 2nd century BC. During the post-Gupta period Harsavard-hana gave Buddhism new impetus but when Shashanka ascended the throne in the 6th century, he ordered the extermination of the Buddhist monks in and around Kushinagar, cut down the Bodhi tree of Bodh Gaya and threw into the Ganges a sacred stone bearing the footprints of the Buddha. When the Pala Dynasty ruled in Bengal from the 8th to the 12th centuries, Buddhism experienced its golden age. Though devout Buddhists, the Pala rulers were sympathetic to other religious faiths. So, while Buddhism was almost wiped out in other parts of the Indian subcontinent, it also became a dominant force in neighboring regions, extending its influence to Tibet to the north and the Malaya peninsula to the south. Buddhism began to decline and disintegrate after the Palas when the royal support waned and the coming of Islam through the subsequent defeat of the Sena dynasty caused surviving monks to flee into Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan. The Buddhist laity were either converted to Islam or integrated into Brahmanism.

Buddhism in Bhutan

Before the introduction of Buddhism, Bön religion was prevalent in Bhutan. Imported from Tibet and India, perhaps in the 8th century, Bön doctrine became so strongly reinvigorated by Buddhism that by the 11th century it reasserted itself as an independent school apart from Buddhism. Bön continues to be practiced in modern Bhutan and it still influences the practice of Buddhism there.

Mahayana Buddhism was the state religion of Bhutan, and Buddhists comprise about 70 percent of the population. The state religion is supported financially by the government through annual subsidies to monasteries, shrines, monks, and nuns. Guaranteed representation in the National Assembly and the Royal Advisory Council, Buddhists constituted the majority of society and were assured an influential voice in public policy. The Jhe Kenpo, the highest Buddhist office, is said to hold equal power with the king in Bhutan.

The majority of Bhutan’s Buddhists are adherents of the Drukpa sect of the Kargyupa (literally, oral transmission) school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Bhutan’s national policy, sometimes referred to as “Gross National Happiness”, aims to preserve and protect the country’s natural and cultural heritage and results in opposition to the influence of Christianity on several levels as a result. Persecution against Christians remains strong and periodically results in imprisonment of believers because of their faith and witness. A national constitution was being prepared and reviewed recently which would guarantee certain freedoms of religion and is a hopeful sign.

Buddhism in India

The historical Buddha, born Siddharta Gautama, was born to the Shakya clan, between 546-324 BC, in the plains of Lumbini, Southern Nepal. Under a fig tree, now known as the Bodhi tree, he vowed never to leave the position until he found Truth. At the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment. He was then known as Gautama Buddha, or simply “The Buddha”, which means “the enlightened one”. For the remaining 45 years of his life, he travelled the plain of central India, teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse range of people.

Before the royal sponsorship of Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BC, Buddhism seems to have remained a relatively minor phenomenon, and the historicity of its formative events is poorly established. Two formative councils are supposed to have taken place, although our knowledge of them is based on much later accounts. The councils tend to explain the formalization of the Buddhist doctrine, and the various subsequent schisms inside the Buddhist movement.

After the 13th century, Buddhism largely disappeared from India, leaving only a few Buddhist communities in the Himalayas and in what is now Bangladesh as mentioned earlier. It left a lasting impression on Indian life and culture, including ideas such as renunciation, non-violence, karma, freedom from rebirth, as well as its sense of social justice, tolerance and democracy. The number of Indian Buddhists remains quite small; under 10 million persons (excluding refugees from elsewhere) in a country of over 1 billion. Revival movements have been attempted with limited success.

• Neo-Buddhism is the 20th century revivalist movement among bahujan caste and untouchable Indians, initiated in 1956 by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

• Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) is a Buddhist movement that was founded in the UK by Sangharakshita (formerly Dennis Lingwood) in 1967, followed by the Western Buddhist Order in 1968. In 1978 Indian wing of the FWBO founded. Known as the Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana Tibetan refugees live in Bhutan, Nepal, and India. The Tibetan refugees were devout Buddhists who were persecuted for their religious beliefs by the Chinese after the ‘Liberation’ of Tibet in 1959 and fled into neighboring nations, many of whom remain in refugee camps to this day. They have worked diligently to preserve their culture, religion, language and customs and remain fairly isolated from outside influences, although the younger people are beginning to be influenced and to migrate outside the camps.

Buddhism in Nepal

Buddhist influences are evident in the culture of Nepal, including that of many Hindu and Animist castes. Presently, there are three main Buddhist schools; Tibetan Buddhism, Newar Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism. Tourism is another important factor for promoting Nepali Buddhism to the world. Every year, Kathmandu can receive more than 10,000 travellers from all over the world just to visit the Boudha Chetiya and the Swayambhu Chetiya stupas.

Due to Nepal’s close proximity to Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism is the most widely practised form. Many Buddhist groups are also influenced by Hinduism and often Hindus and Buddhists alike worship at one another’s shrines and holy places. Buddhism is the dominant religion of the thinly-populated northern areas, which are inhabited by Tibetan-related peoples, namely the Sherpa, Lopa, Manangi, Thakali, Lhomi, Dolpa and Nyimba. They constitute a small minority of the country’s population.

Ethnic groups that live in central Nepal, such as Gurung, Lepcha, Tamang, Magar, Newar, Yakkha, Thami and Chepang, are also followers of Buddhism. These ethnic groups have larger populations compared to their northern neighbours. They came under the influence of Hinduism due to their close contacts with the Hindu castes.

In turn, many of them eventually adopted Hinduism and have been largely integrated into the caste system. The Kirant tribes, especially the Limbu and the Rai, have also adopted Tibetan Buddhist practises from their Buddhist neighbours. The Jirel, which is considered a Kirata tribe, have also adopted Tibetan Buddhism.

Buddhism in Sri Lanka

About 69% of the country adheres to the Theravada tradition of Buddhism. Sri Lanka is the country with longest continuous history of Buddhism. Theravada has been the major religion in the island since soon after its introduction in the 2nd century BC by Venerable Mahinda, the son of the Emperor Ashoka of India during the reign of Sri Lanka’s King Devanampiyatissa. During this time, a sapling of the Bodhi Tree was also brought Sri Lanka and became known as Sri Maha Bodhi. The Pali Canon was put into writing in Sri Lanka around 30 BC. The ethnic and religious conflict between the Hindu Tamil and the Buddhist Sinalese has dragged on now for many years, causing great suffering. Efforts to restrict Christianity continue to

come in the government and persecution remains a constant fact of life for believers. However, this pressure has caused more unity in the Body of Christ and through research, there is a greater understanding of the remaining task for believers in this nation. Prayer remains a key to seeing real, lasting breakthroughs here.

Buddhism in Northeast Asia

Buddhist Monitor — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 11:43:07 +0000

The 7 countries of Northeast Asia are lands humming with action. China, Japan and South Korea have economies that are growing at rates that almost defy imagination. The 21st century could easily be
the time when Korean and Chinese missionaries take the lead in reaching the world for Christ.

Presently Korea is the second largest sending base in the world and is preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the great Korean revival of the early 1900’s when Pyongyang (A) was known as the “Jerusalem of Asia.” But China may soon catch up and surpass them because of their “Back to Jerusalem” vision to send Chinese missionaries back along the old Silk Roads carrying the gospel back to Jerusalem. Also, this is the first time when Mongolia has had a lasting church and they too are already sending missionaries to other nations. Yet, over 450 people groups in Northeast Asia remain Least-Reached. North Korea, Mongolia and Japan remain formidable challenges with over 95% least-reached. But in China itself, although representing only 14% of its population, over 499 least-reached peoples remain to be reached with good news! Of the sixteen largest remaining least-reached people groups, four are located primarily in Northeast Asia. The largest remaining least-reached people group in the Buddhist megasphere is the Japanese with 122,351,000 people. The ninth largest group is the Mongol of China with 5,972,000. The fourteenth largest group is the Khalka Mongol of Mongolia with 1,681,000 and the fifteenth largest group is the Eastern Khampa of China with 1,279,000. God’s time for Northeast Asia is now!

Pray for the Least-Reached People Groups of Northeast Asia:

FULFILLMENT: Pray for God to show peoples of Northeast Asia that true fulfillment and prosperity is found only in Jesus Christ who gives us Life and that more abundantly.

FREEDOM FROM FEAR: Pray that these peoples living in fear of spirits and of the future to experience peace, joy and freedom from oppression in Jesus.

FALSE TEACHERS: Pray for discernment to recognize false teachers and through the Holy Spirit to know the Truth that sets them free.

FATHER’S HEART: Pray that the Father”s heart of love, acceptance and forgiveness be experienced by every person among these Least-Reached Peoples of Northeast Asia.

FAITHFULNESS: Pray for new believers to daily experience God’s faithfulness and to be faithful in their walk with Him, letting their light shine before men so they glory God in heaven.

Buddhism in the South Pacific

Buddhist Monitor — Tue, 16 May 2006 23:07:23 +0000

The first missionaries that went to the 27 island nations of the South Pacific 200 years ago were stunned by the beautiful green landscapes and women with long black hair. But they were also appalled by immorality, human sacrifices and idolatry. Thanks to the hard work of these missionary pioneers, it is difficult to find ethnic groups in this part of the world that have no contact with the gospel, but still there do remain between 25 and 30 least-reached people groups, mostly immigrants and Jews, of the total 1,500 peoples by country. Today, the Pacific Islanders are taking the gospel a step further—they are sending and being sent as missionaries themselves.

Eight of the remaining least-reached peoples in the South Pacific are Buddhist:

Group/Country/Population

Japanese/American Samoa/1,200

Central Thai/Australia/ 26,000

Central Khmer/Australia/24,000

Japanese/Australia/31,000

Cantonese Han Chinese/Christmas Island/30

Vietnamese/New Caledonia/7,000

Khmer/New Zealand/5,200

Mandarin Han Chinese/Northern Mariana Islands/17,500

Vietnamese/Vanuatu/900

Total population-112,830

Immigrants constitute up to half the population of certain districts of Sydney, Australia, and citywide more than 50 temples are located here. More than 150 are located in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. But, in addition to these immigrant groups, Buddhism is rising fast in the entire region, especially in Australia in which Buddhism is now the second largest religion.

Although Australia was once a homogenous Western country founded by convicts from England in the 18th century, since the mid-1970’s the doors slowly opened to Asian immigrants as trade with Asia increased so that now these immigrants make up 10% of the population ,or 2.2 million people, and are expected to reach 25% of the population by 2020. Buddhism is the inevitable outcome of this demographic shift but fear of this “Asianization” has caused some political leaders to have second thoughts about policy decisions and hate crimes are on the rise. A documentary recently aired on public television entitled “Over the Fence” showed neighbors of a Cambodian temple complaining that the chanting frightened horses, another neighborhood complained that the chanting was too loud and in another that the number of cars was causing traffic in the streets.

Although Australia is committed to cultural diversity, a growing backlash fuels a fear of the loss of its national identity. Buddhism first came to Australia 50 years ago through a Dutch migrant named Leo Berkeley who came into contact with a Sri Lankan monk and was instructed in Buddhist teachings. Berkeley later founded the Buddhist Society of New South Wales which continues to flourish today. Today it seems, non-Asians are converting en masse, according to some. Perhaps Buddhism is thriving because it seems compatible with the perceived needs of an increasingly global society. Cuong Le, a Vietnamese Buddhist recently held the “Buddha in Suburbia” exhibition and plans for a follow-up exhibit highlighting the influence of Asian culture on Australia “All Things Asian Are Becoming Us.” This may not be so well-received by all. Pray that God would open the eyes of believers in this region to the opportunities for the gospel right on their doorsteps.

With the belief that “to be Thai is to be Buddhist”, Christians face quite a challenge to reach the 25,000 Thai living in Australia. In fact, only one small ethnic Thai church is working to present the gospel to them. Thai food has become popular among many white Australians and Thai chefs are becoming common in Australia’s major cities. Thai immigrants are experiencing prosperity and security here after having fled from such places as Bali following the Muslim extremist bombing of the hotels there in 2002. Pray for Christians in the South Pacific to find creative meaningful ways to reach the Thai and all the other immigrant groups living in this region. Pray for God to prepare hearts to receive His message of love and forgiveness.

In another location in the South Pacific, tensions against immigrant groups are surfacing. This month a major uprising has taken place in Honiara, Solomon Islands, making the 2000 uprisings there look like a drunken party, an Australian expatriate said. After a request from the Solomon’s government, Australia deployed 110 troops from their base in Townsville to join the 282 Australian Federal Police already there and then, shortly, another seventy extra AFP officers were sent after 29 were injured in the rioting. Australian expats claimed they had no immediate concern for their safety despite the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars of damage had been done right under the nose of the 300-odd Australian police because rioters were targeting the Asian community and had not expressed any anti-Australian sentiments.

Protestors had accused Chinese businessmen of bribing members of the government and backing the newly-elected Prime Minister. It was the worst unrest in the capital since Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific governments intervened to end years of bloody ethnic gang conflict in 2003. Rioters have set fire
to downtown Chinatown region of East Honiara the capital city, burning most of the buildings. Police lost control of the situation and called on the Australian government to send in the Australian Army to quell the trouble and give the police some help in returning to law and order. It’s not a pretty situation. Fifty Chinese business leaders were evacuated quickly to Australia and the Australian Air Force evacuated other expatriates who wanted to leave as well. The violence and destruction seemed to be directed mostly at the Chinese business community who control most retail shops in Honiara. There is also a lot of resentment toward Malaysian logging companies and fishing fleets who many claim are unfairly exploiting the Solomon Islands people. There is a third strand of ill-feeling against the Taiwanese government that is vying for influence there as well. The underlying tensions exploded with the spark of the newly elected Prime Minister who was the previous Deputy PM. Almost all Solomon Islanders would claim to be Christian.

Despite this societal unrest, the Launch Out Missions Conference comes in early May in the Solomon Islands. “There is a fresh wind blowing in the Islands, and their great desire is that they will be able to respond adequately to what the Lord is saying to them,” writes Marilyn Rowsome, a missionary working in Melanesia. Last year’s conference saw a attendance double what had been expected. When asked who was willing to go out as cross-cultural missionaries, 200 made their way forward. Pray for this year’s conference to launch a fresh wave of new missionaries equipped and filled with the Holy Spirit to take the gospel throughout the unreached world.

May 13-14 witnesses hundreds of people traveling to Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, to participate with locals in the Espiritu Santo Southland 400 Year Celebration. “In God we stand” is not a statement found on a US coin or bill but is rather the motto of the small Pacific republic, Vanuatu, formerly New Hebrides, located southeast of the Solomon Islands. It is composed of 12 larger and 70 smaller islands and became independent in 1980, although the effects of colonization still remain. As in the Solomon Islands, over 90% claim to be Christian. May 14th is the 400th anniversary of the declaration made by the Spanish explorer, Pedro Fernandez de Quiroz, when he prophesied that the unknown lands to the south of where he was standing would be “Terra Australis de Espiritu Santo,” meaning “the Southlands of the Holy Spirit.”Pray that the strong Christian presence in Vanuatu will grow in the power of the Holy Spirit and be effective against the efforts of Muslim missionaries actively setting up mosques and offering free education. Pray that this celebration will lead to missionary action throughout Asia. Pray that the available gospel recordings in 63 languages will be well-used in this polyglot nation.

In this same nation of Vanuatu live 900 Buddhist Vietnamese. Less than 1% of the overall population, they remain unreached largely because of their small numbers—they are simply overlooked. Recently in a local election, one of the parliamentary candidates was Vietnamese, a great stride forward for the society compared to the last century. But, their spiritual condition remains unchanged. Pray that the Evangelical Churches of Vanuatu will develop a burden to reach their Vietnamese neighbors and will bring the message in the way they can understand and respond. Pray that materialism because of rising incomes do not erect a barrier to the gospel but that the Holy Spirit creates a deep heart hunger for God among them.

Northern Mariana Islands is home to 17,500 Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese, mostly employed in the garment industry. Garment production is by far the most important industry which makes sizeable shipments to the US under duty and quota exemptions. The garment industry recruits labor from East Asia because of the limited supply of local labor. Although Han Chinese are reached in many parts of the world, no church exists here among them and they have largely maintained their traditional Chinese religion, steeped in Buddhism. As is often the case, populations of immigrant workers prove difficult to reach though there may be local churches in the area because of working hours, isolation, difference in culture and language, and even resentment against them by natives. Pray that God will use local believers to find a way to bring God’s love and good news despite barriers that may exist.

Myanmar’s secret police have sent thousands of Burmese Buddhists fleeing to places like the U.S. Territory of Guam in the South Pacific for asylum. They hope Guam will be a way station for them and eventually they will be able to move into the United States to find a new life. A rumor started that Christians were more likely to be granted asylum so many people claim to be Christian, although most remain Buddhist. Pray that God provides protection and mercy for these Buddhist Burmese and that these asylum seekers find Jesus as
their Fortress and Strength.

New Zealand is home to over 5,000 Khmer who serve as unskilled labor or start businesses and work long hours hoping to make lots of money. This love of money is a spiritual stronghold that keeps many from Christ. The missionaries trying to establish a Khmer Church in Christchurch lament that most Cambodians lack spiritual hunger to attend regularly unless they feel they can get something out of it, and even when they attend, they often also worship at Buddhist temples. The church there was established by Dutch missionaries who say this church feels “foreign” to those refugees who fled Cambodia’s Killing Fields in the late 1970’s. The majority of Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists who use their temples as centers of religious and cultural practice. Pray for spiritual hunger among the Khmer that will lead them to the Bread of Life and for younger Khmer as they are beginning to be assimilated to New Zealand’s culture to turn their hearts to Christ rather than to secularism and materialism.

There are no more Unreached people Groups in New Caledonia. In May some Christians here are going to formally and officially repent and ask forgiveness to other Pacific Islanders for killing the first missionary evangelists who were martyred here over 150 years ago. As far as we know this has never been done before and we trust it will bring a change in the spiritual Atmosphere. We invite prayer that the Lord will move in a new way to reach out now to all the people living here from the least reached groups through to the more recent immigrants, as a result of these actions and prayers.

The islands of Wallis and Futuna, too, have no unreached groups. The island of Futuna now has a new claim to fame in that it has not just one, but TWO complete Bibles!! One was completed by the new group of evangelical Christians, and the other was completed by the majority Catholic grouping. Even though it is still extremely difficult for outside missionaries to penetrate here, the living Word of God is present, at least in Futuna. Please pray that all sorts of people will read this and that the same Spirit who inspired and transformed Martin Luther will do the same in Futuna, and perhaps through them in Wallis also. There are a growing number of Wallisian and Futunan Christians in New Caledonia.

A Billion Hours of Prayer

Buddhist Monitor — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 22:55:57 +0000

[lang_en]Obstacles to the gospel for Buddhists

To bring the good news of Jesus Christ to Buddhists, we must overcome a number of obstacles. People groups without Gospel witness remain so for one of several reasons: It may be because they are unrecognized by believers because they are small in number, isolated from the remainder of society in groups such as immigrants or refugees, overseas foreign workers, or international students. Buddhist groups often live within restricted access nations–nations all but closed to foreigners and often evangelism is forbidden within them. Governmental restrictions can prevent or severely restrict freedom
to meet to worship or to disciple new believers, hindering the spread of the gospel.

Location itself can make reaching Buddhist groups a challenge, either because of their remoteness, harsh climate, difficulty of access (weather, distance, climate), and some groups are nomadic or semi-nomadic. Buddhist groups may have unwritten languages or the language itself may be so loaded with Buddhist meaning that it is difficult to accurately communicate the Truth. This can result in terminology confusion so that Jesus is mistaken for just another rein-carnation of the Buddha, for example. Religious barriers may prevent Buddhists being receptive to the gospel—Christianity may be viewed as a religion of foreigners or even as a threat to the religious establishment. In some cases, competing religious systems are considered to bring bad karma for the entire community and as such are vigorously resisted. Buddhism erects formidable worldview barriers in the accurate communication of the gospel.

In Buddhism, there is no Infinite Personal Creator to whom they are responsible and who reaches out to them. The Buddhist believes the ultimate origin of the chain of causes and effects that brings about the illusion of life is avicca or ignorance. If the Christian insists God is the ultimate cause, then the Buddhist says, “He must be Ignorance.” It is hard to communicate the simple Christian phrase, “God loves you” to a Buddhist. When a Christian uses the word God, he or she is thinking of the Lord God who created the world and everything in it. Buddha taught there are no gods or supreme beings—everything is illusion. Christians believe God loved humanity and reached out in the form of Jesus—Buddhists believe that desire is the root of all suffering and a person receives what he or she deserves nothing more or less. The concept of sin to the Buddhist is karma—“Do good, receive good; do evil, receive evil.” It is a religion of self-effort with
no idea of how much effort is enough to satisfy the impersonal force of karma. Yet, there is no Personal Guarantor of that law—the God who judges sin as well as forgives it is not in their thinking. There isno clear basis for action, decision or growth because Buddhists believe that, although one must depend upon one’s self for “salvation”, yet self is anatta (non-self or illusion). There is no basis for all creation in God, no purpose in creation and no reflected “Image of God” to explain man. The concept of salvation is diametrically opposed to the Christian view—to the Buddhist, the goal is emptiness and extinction of desire, if not of conscious life itself but to the Christian, it is fullness of life in the intimate presence of a loving Father.

Buddhist groups are insulated from gospel influence often times by social barriers in the communities and families in which they live. Because the family group participates in merit-making activities for the benefit of the group, if one member desires to avoid participation, it is considered to affect the entire group. Losing face is a real concern for individuals from Buddhist backgrounds. And, because Buddhism is so entwined in the language and culture of the people groups under its influence, the thought is that “to be Thai, is to be Buddhist” for example. To reject Buddhism is to reject one’s family, community, and national identity. Messengers of the gospel may also inadvertently cause barriers to the gospel to be erected by their very actions. Insensitive or unwise presentation of the gospel, a failure to contextualize the message or a lack of cultural sensitivity can close the doors tightly against the message.

In the center of Beijing, at the back of Tiananmen Square, is the Forbidden City. On the outside is a massive mural of Mao Tse Tung. It looks forbidding, imposing, but directly below, the once barred gate is wide open. In many ways, as Christians, we tend to look at Buddhism and Buddhists as being forbidden or forbidding. But the imposing statues and idols are like the façade propped up by flimsy supports concealing a wide open door. When we pray, we do not need to see Buddhism as an impenetrable wall, but as hiding millions of people who are hungry for God and ripe for harvest. God is already poised to shine His light brightly into the Buddhist nations. Prayer is like a light cord that causes that light to shine.

Why is prayer so important?

God loves all the people and peoples of the Buddhist world, lavishly and without respect of persons. If this is God’s posture, it will be ours as Christ-followers as well. Despite challenging obstacles, God
is a God of the impossible. Spiritual conflict demands concentrated prayer to break the controlling forces of darkness in the heavenlies that is preventing seeing, hearing and understanding the message of good news. Daniel 9:3-4, 17-23 tells us of this unseen struggle which is only won through fervent prayer. Ask God to break down these powers and to free Buddhist hearts to hear the Word of God through the Holy Spirit.

In most Buddhist peoples’ minds, to turn from Buddhism is like becoming a traitor to one’s own people group and nation. Ask God to change the idea that to become a Christian means I lose my cultural identity. Bold, humble confrontation of the gospel and Buddhism—a dynamic encounter of the living Lord with the sleeping Buddha is needed. Ask God for the power of the Holy Spirit to BE His witnesses and for Him to confirm His Word with signs and wonders following. We must use a person-centered approach while maintaining a truth-centered gospel. Ask God to send laborers into the ripe harvest fields guiding those laborers to the people of peace whose hearts are prepared to hear and receive good news.

Prayer obeys Jesus’ command to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers. Prayer brings us into God’s presence, which changes us. Prayer reveals to us God’s plans so we can cooperate with Him in them. Prayer invites God’s participation & presence in the process. Prayer removes hindrances to the gospel. Prayer prepares the hearts of unbelievers to hear the good news. Prayer releases resources necessary to accomplish the task. Prayer insures protection for workers and their work. Prayer releases spiritual power to fulfill the call. Prayer exercises divine authority to change situations & people. Prayer IS the battle! Prayer maintains the victory. And prayer is the key to seeing breakthrough among Buddhist peoples.

A Call for One Billion Hours of Prayer for the Buddhist World

Recognizing that success in reaching Buddhists is “not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit”, SEANET, the Buddhist world partnership, issued a call to the Body of Christ for an unprecedented concert of prayer for the one billion people under the shadow of Buddhism in the world. This is a call to join one billion hours of fervent prayer and intercession by Christians globally for the Buddhists of the world. This may be accomplished by individuals, families, blocks, cells, congregational groups and prayer networks. A movement starts with individuals who are moved. The famous 100-years missionary prayer meeting of the Moravian community led by Count Zinzendorf is long gone. Today’s worldwide church is also a global family of increasingly connected, informed ‘World Christians,’ followers of Jesus intent on teaching all the nations to join this following. We are compelled to raise a global concert of prayer on behalf of this one
billion Buddhists—offering at least one hour of focused intercessionrepresentative of each one. One Billion Hours is 100 thousand years of continuous prayer. Imagine this colossal marathon of intercession packed into just one or two focused years. One Billion Hours is 20 million world Christians, from every corner of the globe, as individuals, local fellowships and prayer networks, each contributing 10 minutes a day, 6 days a week, 50 weeks of one year.

How are we praying? We’re asking for:

1. Their spiritual enlightenment and salvation;

2. Them to experience the fullest revelation of Creator God and his love for them in Christ;

3. Their nations to prosper and to know genuine peace; for justice and truth to prevail in their societies, governments, institutions and families;

4. Freedom from every physical, social, psychological and spiritual oppression;

5. Those who will go and actually cross frontiers: workers among all Buddhist peoples, initiating indigenous, holistic church plantingmovements;

6. Renewal within churches, evidenced in spiritual, moral and ethical practices;

7. Servant leadership in the churches, which empowers believers for community witness and ministry.

Getting There from Here

Remember: if a minimum of 20 million Christians, worldwide, burdened for and loving their Buddhist neighbors, will commit to intercede one hour each week—or just 10 minutes each day—for the duration of one year, we will have raised a great volume of petition before our Father in heaven for the peoples of this part of the earth. This is an unprecedented call for a mighty blessing of God on Buddhists, so that they will experience all the justice and goodness of his kingdom.

Additional Resources:

PDF copy of BillionHours. Trifold glossy color brochure encouraging and challenging the Body of Christ to join in an initiative to raise 1 billion hours of prayer for the 1.38 billion people of the Buddhist world.

Days of Enlightenment—Prayer for Buddhists. Supplement to theCommission magazine, co-produced by SEANET, a 15-day prayer guide to help intercede for those “sent” ones whom God has called to incarnational ministry among Buddhists. To order call 1-800-866-3621 or email resource.center@imb.org .

A Billion Wait—A Prayer Guide for the Buddhist World. Produced by SEANET and re-published by OMF, available for order through Ian Roberts of OMF joepoon@psmail.net. A country-by-country guide to the 24 nations with significant Buddhist influence, including relevant points for prayer. produced by SEANET.

Peoples of the Buddhist World by Paul Hattaway. UK: Piquant Publications, 2004, 454 pp. An invaluable resource for mission strategists, Bible translators and prayer intercessors from well-known
author Paul Hattaway whose meticulous research provides detailed information on all the Buddhist people groups in the world. The book includes articles about different forms of Buddhism, where and how these are practiced and what special challenges they present for Christians who want to bring good news of Jesus to them.

For more information, leads to additional tools, a daily guide, as well as for posting your personal, church’s, or your network’s commitments toward this end, contact Liz Adleta (asianrd@sr21.com).

[/lang_en]

Obstacles to the gospel for Buddhists

To bring the good news of Jesus Christ to Buddhists, we must overcome a number of obstacles. People groups without Gospel witness remain so for one of several reasons: It may be because they are unrecognized by believers because they are small in number, isolated from the remainder of society in groups such as immigrants or refugees, overseas foreign workers, or international students. Buddhist groups often live within restricted access nations–nations all but closed to foreigners and often evangelism is forbidden within them. Governmental restrictions can prevent or severely restrict freedom to meet to worship or to disciple new believers, hindering the spread of the gospel.

In Buddhism, there is no Infinite Personal Creator to whom they are responsible and who reaches out to them. The Buddhist believes the ultimate origin of the chain of causes and effects that brings about the illusion of life is avicca or ignorance. If the Christian insists God is the ultimate cause, then the Buddhist says, “He must be Ignorance.” It is hard to communicate the simple Christian phrase, “God loves you” to a Buddhist. When a Christian uses the word God, he or she is thinking of the Lord God who created the world and everything in it. Buddha taught there are no gods or supreme beings—everything is illusion. Christians believe God loved humanity and reached out in the form of Jesus—Buddhists believe that desire is the root of all suffering and a person receives what he or she deserves nothing more or less. The concept of sin to the Buddhist is karma—“Do good, receive good; do evil, receive evil.” It is a religion of self-effort with no idea of how much effort is enough to satisfy the impersonal force of karma. Yet, there is no Personal Guarantor of that law—the God who judges sin as well as forgives it is not in their thinking. There isno clear basis for action, decision or growth because Buddhists believe that, although one must depend upon one’s self for “salvation”, yet self is anatta (non-self or illusion). There is no basis for all creation in God, no purpose in creation and no reflected “Image of God” to explain man. The concept of salvation is diametrically opposed to the Christian view—to the Buddhist, the goal is emptiness and extinction of desire, if not of conscious life itself but to the Christian, it is fullness of life in the intimate presence of a loving Father.

Why is prayer so important?

God loves all the people and peoples of the Buddhist world, lavishly and without respect of persons. If this is God’s posture, it will be ours as Christ-followers as well. Despite challenging obstacles, God is a God of the impossible. Spiritual conflict demands concentrated prayer to break the controlling forces of darkness in the heavenlies that is preventing seeing, hearing and understanding the message of good news. Daniel 9:3-4, 17-23 tells us of this unseen struggle which is only won through fervent prayer. Ask God to break down these powers and to free Buddhist hearts to hear the Word of God through the Holy Spirit.

A Call for One Billion Hours of Prayer for the Buddhist World

Recognizing that success in reaching Buddhists is “not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit”, SEANET, the Buddhist world partnership, issued a call to the Body of Christ for an unprecedented concert of prayer for the one billion people under the shadow of Buddhism in the world. This is a call to join one billion hours of fervent prayer and intercession by Christians globally for the Buddhists of the world. This may be accomplished by individuals, families, blocks, cells, congregational groups and prayer networks. A movement starts with individuals who are moved. The famous 100-years missionary prayer meeting of the Moravian community led by Count Zinzendorf is long gone. Today’s worldwide church is also a global family of increasingly connected, informed ‘World Christians,’ followers of Jesus intent on teaching all the nations to join this following. We are compelled to raise a global concert of prayer on behalf of this one billion Buddhists—offering at least one hour of focused intercessionrepresentative of each one. One Billion Hours is 100 thousand years of continuous prayer. Imagine this colossal marathon of intercession packed into just one or two focused years. One Billion Hours is 20 million world Christians, from every corner of the globe, as individuals, local fellowships and prayer networks, each contributing 10 minutes a day, 6 days a week, 50 weeks of one year.

How are we praying? We’re asking for:

1. Their spiritual enlightenment and salvation;

2. Them to experience the fullest revelation of Creator God and his love for them in Christ;

3. Their nations to prosper and to know genuine peace; for justice and truth to prevail in their societies, governments, institutions and families;

4. Freedom from every physical, social, psychological and spiritual oppression;

5. Those who will go and actually cross frontiers: workers among all Buddhist peoples, initiating indigenous, holistic church plantingmovements;

6. Renewal within churches, evidenced in spiritual, moral and ethical practices;

7. Servant leadership in the churches, which empowers believers for community witness and ministry.

Getting There from Here

Additional Resources:

Peoples of the Buddhist World by Paul Hattaway. UK: Piquant Publications, 2004, 454 pp. An invaluable resource for mission strategists, Bible translators and prayer intercessors from well-known author Paul Hattaway whose meticulous research provides detailed information on all the Buddhist people groups in the world. The book includes articles about different forms of Buddhism, where and how these are practiced and what special challenges they present for Christians who want to bring good news of Jesus to them.

[lang_en]Obstacles to the gospel for Buddhists

Why is prayer so important?

A Call for One Billion Hours of Prayer for the Buddhist World

How are we praying? We’re asking for:

1. Their spiritual enlightenment and salvation;

2. Them to experience the fullest revelation of Creator God and his love for them in Christ;

3. Their nations to prosper and to know genuine peace; for justice and truth to prevail in their societies, governments, institutions and families;

4. Freedom from every physical, social, psychological and spiritual oppression;

5. Those who will go and actually cross frontiers: workers among all Buddhist peoples, initiating indigenous, holistic church plantingmovements;

6. Renewal within churches, evidenced in spiritual, moral and ethical practices;

7. Servant leadership in the churches, which empowers believers for community witness and ministry.

Getting There from Here

Additional Resources:

[/lang_en]

[lang_en]Obstacles to the gospel for Buddhists

Why is prayer so important?

A Call for One Billion Hours of Prayer for the Buddhist World

How are we praying? We’re asking for:

1. Their spiritual enlightenment and salvation;

2. Them to experience the fullest revelation of Creator God and his love for them in Christ;

3. Their nations to prosper and to know genuine peace; for justice and truth to prevail in their societies, governments, institutions and families;

4. Freedom from every physical, social, psychological and spiritual oppression;

5. Those who will go and actually cross frontiers: workers among all Buddhist peoples, initiating indigenous, holistic church plantingmovements;

6. Renewal within churches, evidenced in spiritual, moral and ethical practices;

7. Servant leadership in the churches, which empowers believers for community witness and ministry.

Getting There from Here

Additional Resources:

[/lang_en]

Reviewing the Target, Task, Trajectory, and Temple of Missions

Buddhist Monitor — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 22:48:32 +0000

[lang_en][lang_en]I was just sent a listing of the 390+ “least-reached Buddhist” peoples—in the classic sense (not in the way Todd Johnson helped us “recount” the Buddhist world as Alex Smith and others have been saying for some time now, 2005)…totaling a little more than 271 million least-reached peoples of the Buddhist world (obviously eliminating groups like the Koreans).

You can count out this list certain ways. For instance, Laos is a fairly small country (3.4 million), but it still contains almost 30 of these Buddhist peoples. Japan, in contrast, is a fairly large country,with a total of over 122 million Buddhists within it. Yet, its count of “Buddhist peoples” is only three, and one contains 122,351,000 of those 122,612,000 souls!

I decided to “go for the numbers,” since they were about the only thing given in this listing. How many of these 390 peoples number over 10 million in size? Only six. In fact, only 16 (including these 6) are over 1 million in size. What percentage of the 271 million are in the top six groups? 79 percent! And 93% are in the top 16 groups (larger than one million).

Top 16 “Least-Reached People Groups” of the Buddhist World

Source: Joshua Project

1 Japanese - Japan: 122,351,000 3

2 Burmese - Myanmar: 28,153,000 3

3 Thai – NE Thailand: 18,664,000 3

4 Thai – Central Thailand: 18,455,000 3

5 Sinhalese - Sri Lanka: 14,253,000 4

6 Khmer - Cambodia: 12,232,000 3

7 Nau Buddh - India: 7,318,000

8 Thai – Northern Thailand: 6,262,000 3

9 Mongol - China: 5,972,000 2

10 Thai – Southern Thailand: 5,111,000 3

11 Shan Tai Yai - Myanmar: 4,269,000 2

12 Lao - Laos: 2,680,000 3

13 Arakanese Rakhine - Myanmar: 1,965,000 2

14 Mongol – Khalka Mongolia: 1,681,000

15 Khampa – Eastern China: 1,279,000 0

16 Yangbye – Yangye Myanmar: 1,144,000 3

TOTAL for this Group: 251,789,000

GRAND TOTAL for ‘this’ B world: 271,252,000

Some 93% of the “Least-Reached People Groups” of this Buddhist World are from these 16 groups (out of 390 groups total). So for all of our anxiousness about least reached groups, and how much it would take us in personnel and funds spent to reach the last of the 390 in our part of the world, reaching four out of five of these people would simply take a concerted effort of actually, successfully reaching just SIX of these groups, or, for well over 90%, would take just sixteen!

I would reword this “discovery” by simply saying our primary need may not be for “numbers” of workers, but rather a means to meet our end—actually ‘reaching’ unreached peoples. After all, the Singhalese, the Central and Northeastern Thai, Japanese, and to a lesser extent the Burmese and the Khmer—or basically four out of five “unreached peoples”—have had between them scores of decades of cumulative missionary investment already!

The question is: Has Christ found a home in these cultures? In The Next Christendom Mr. Jenkins points out Christianity, in some cases dating to times earlier than its local competition, still invariably looks like and is identified as a foreign religion, a relative newcomer in the religious milieu of things. Jenkins points out that, in the 2000 years since Christ, according to David Barrett, the numbers of Christians (in millions) looks something like:

Christians (in millions) by year

Continent-a.d. 500/a.d.1000/a.d.1200/a.d. 1500

Africa-8.0/5.0/2.5/1.3

Asia-21.2/16.8/21.0/3.4

Europe/Russia-14.2/28.6/46.6/76.3

GRAND TOTAL -43.4/50.4/70.1/81.0

Jenkins himself thinks the estimates for Asia and Africa are still low, as difficult as religious demographics in history are to reconstruct. He also says “Westerners have simply forgotten the once-great Christian communities of the Eastern World” (25)

Back to the main question: Has Christ found a home in these cultures? The smaller the culture, certainly the easier the task. But with the larger culture comes as well the royal family, the hierarchy of a royal caste, and the long reach of popular culture and things like religion. One friend of mine in Thailand said the very popular phrase: ‘To be Thai is to be Buddhist’ can really be reversed and hold more meaning: “To be Buddhist is to the Thai.” In other words, there is a kind of nationalism inherent in the religion and so the religion is tied to the culture as a form of identity. It is not a way of saying, ‘we are all stuck to this religion.’ It’s more like, “We have an identity as the Thai, and it certainly has been tied, among other things, to the label and general meaning of “Buddhist.” Yet many within the society would hardly know what they are saying beyond that sort of strong, socialnationalism.

Part of what we’re saying [at this conference] is that such a nationalism is good. It is not by nature or somehow demonic because we can find that in spots of the militaristic, religious or other sectors. No, we are looking at a loyalty to the ethne which should not easily be broken. And, as noted above, religions have fought over the loyalties of these people, with mixed results. Yet often, the Christian influence is forgotten where it once may have been quite significant. The most obvious case from history would be China.

So what would it look, actually, for a “nation” of this sort, to be “discipled?” If a nation is to be discipled, the commanding heights of a nation’s life have to be opened to the influence of Christ; for Christ has redeemed human life in its entirety. Conversion to Christ does not isolate the convert from his or her community; it begins the conversion of that community. Conversion to Christ does not produce a bland universal citizenship: it produces distinctive discipleships, as diverse and variegated as human life itself. Christ in redeeming humanity brings, by the process of discipleship, all the richness of humanity’s infinitude of cultures and subcultures into the variegated splendour of the Full Grown Humanity to which the apostolic literature points (cf. Eph. 4:8-13) This means the influence of Christ is brought to bear on

the nation’s thought, the patterns of relationships within that nation, the way the society hangs together, the way decisions are made. (Andrew Walls: The Missionary Movement in Christian History)

Immediately, then, we must ask ourselves, what would a truly Buddhist nation look like if this were to happen? Would a sector of this society worship in Western-style buildings, singing Graham Kendrick (or Charles Wesley) songs, or building seminaries? In other words, would the society as a whole, experience a radical shift in its ‘look’ in order to “become Christian?” Or would, indeed, the “influence of Christ be brought to bear on the points of reference for this group” of people…. Christ’s entry into the nation’s thought, patterns of relationship within the nation, the way the society hangs together, the way decisions are made…? How does “the community,” in contrast to “the individual,” experience conversion? Are we talking about Christ’s influence on politics, education, the rule of law, the court system, neighborhood behavior, celebrations/festivities, agriculture(tilling, sowing, reaping), interethnic/international relations, its relation to science and technology—all of life and every kind of living? How would its “Buddhist-ness” come in contact with this way of life?

We could move rather quickly to the discussion which Richard Niebuhr gave to the relationship of Christ to culture: above, against, within, transformer, etc. of culture. We could have a wide variation on how to go about seeing this happen—as we already have in history. But here let us say that as outsiders, the missionary has both the benefit and liability of being ‘in reaction’ to many things which are simply “new” to him, his worldview, but which, as an emissary of the gospel, he may be inclined to lump together with all that is at odds with his message—with which he may be overly-familiar. It seems to be summed up in the lessons the Jews had in dealing with the first Gentile converts to Christ in the book of Acts. There it seems they showed amazing flexibility with their own ways, in dealing with thosewho had no Old Testament background in the ways of God but were indeed embarking on eternal life as a group of different people.

But then the church in these places has another task, and that is to find where it converted, not to Christ, but to a ‘foreign religion’which bears not the life of Christ but the forms of a foreign faith, and that there it can never really cross the bridge of ‘discipling that whole nation’ since it—itself is fundamentally foreign and not well—received by the majority of observers.

We must also remember that during the first centuries, the Gentile church, while not encumbered by overt Jewishness, was still an intensely persecuted minority, often coming up against the deification of the Ceasars, actually called “atheists” by their watchers who expected them, like all others, to worship the living king. The Christians, on the other hand, worshiped only one Lord, their kurios, Jesus Christ, the son of God. But they also, with time at the hands of their oppressors, saw the “kingdom” turn, and would, in the long run, find themselves succumbing to the very same temptations of power—which their oppressors had abused, persecuting, in the end, those who ran against the faith of Christ. The church came full circle in about one hundred years there, causing some groups thereafter to spurn all secular power as abhorrent and against the will of God.

The thesis of this paper is that Scripture calls us to something else, and resisting even those temptations is possible—as are all other temptations—and God has, within the discipling of the nations,another picture of his coming “kingdom” which shall never pass away.

by Stephen M. Spaulding[/lang_en]

I was just sent a listing of the 390+ “least-reached Buddhist” peoples—in the classic sense (not in the way Todd Johnson helped us “recount” the Buddhist world as Alex Smith and others have been saying for some time now, 2005)…totaling a little more than 271 million least-reached peoples of the Buddhist world (obviously eliminating groups like the Koreans).

Top 16 “Least-Reached People Groups” of the Buddhist World

Source: Joshua Project

1 Japanese - Japan: 122,351,000 3

2 Burmese - Myanmar: 28,153,000 3

3 Thai – NE Thailand: 18,664,000 3

4 Thai – Central Thailand: 18,455,000 3

5 Sinhalese - Sri Lanka: 14,253,000 4

6 Khmer - Cambodia: 12,232,000 3

7 Nau Buddh - India: 7,318,000

8 Thai – Northern Thailand: 6,262,000 3

9 Mongol - China: 5,972,000 2

10 Thai – Southern Thailand: 5,111,000 3

11 Shan Tai Yai - Myanmar: 4,269,000 2

12 Lao - Laos: 2,680,000 3

13 Arakanese Rakhine - Myanmar: 1,965,000 2

14 Mongol – Khalka Mongolia: 1,681,000

15 Khampa – Eastern China: 1,279,000 0

16 Yangbye – Yangye Myanmar: 1,144,000 3

TOTAL for this Group: 251,789,000

GRAND TOTAL for ‘this’ B world: 271,252,000

Christians (in millions) by year

Continent-a.d. 500/a.d.1000/a.d.1200/a.d. 1500

Africa-8.0/5.0/2.5/1.3

Asia-21.2/16.8/21.0/3.4

Europe/Russia-14.2/28.6/46.6/76.3

GRAND TOTAL -43.4/50.4/70.1/81.0

the points of reference in each group. The points of reference are thethings by which people know their identity and know where, and to whom, they belong. Discipling a nation involves Christ’s entry into the nation’s thought, the patterns of relationships within that nation, the way the society hangs together, the way decisions are made. (Andrew Walls: The Missionary Movement in Christian History)

by Stephen M. Spaulding

Top 16 “Least-Reached People Groups” of the Buddhist World

Source: Joshua Project

1 Japanese - Japan: 122,351,000 3

2 Burmese - Myanmar: 28,153,000 3

3 Thai – NE Thailand: 18,664,000 3

4 Thai – Central Thailand: 18,455,000 3

5 Sinhalese - Sri Lanka: 14,253,000 4

6 Khmer - Cambodia: 12,232,000 3

7 Nau Buddh - India: 7,318,000

8 Thai – Northern Thailand: 6,262,000 3

9 Mongol - China: 5,972,000 2

10 Thai – Southern Thailand: 5,111,000 3

11 Shan Tai Yai - Myanmar: 4,269,000 2

12 Lao - Laos: 2,680,000 3

13 Arakanese Rakhine - Myanmar: 1,965,000 2

14 Mongol – Khalka Mongolia: 1,681,000

15 Khampa – Eastern China: 1,279,000 0

16 Yangbye – Yangye Myanmar: 1,144,000 3

TOTAL for this Group: 251,789,000

GRAND TOTAL for ‘this’ B world: 271,252,000

Christians (in millions) by year

Continent-a.d. 500/a.d.1000/a.d.1200/a.d. 1500

Africa-8.0/5.0/2.5/1.3

Asia-21.2/16.8/21.0/3.4

Europe/Russia-14.2/28.6/46.6/76.3

GRAND TOTAL -43.4/50.4/70.1/81.0

by Stephen M. Spaulding[/lang_en]

Top 16 “Least-Reached People Groups” of the Buddhist World

Source: Joshua Project

1 Japanese - Japan: 122,351,000 3

2 Burmese - Myanmar: 28,153,000 3

3 Thai – NE Thailand: 18,664,000 3

4 Thai – Central Thailand: 18,455,000 3

5 Sinhalese - Sri Lanka: 14,253,000 4

6 Khmer - Cambodia: 12,232,000 3

7 Nau Buddh - India: 7,318,000

8 Thai – Northern Thailand: 6,262,000 3

9 Mongol - China: 5,972,000 2

10 Thai – Southern Thailand: 5,111,000 3

11 Shan Tai Yai - Myanmar: 4,269,000 2

12 Lao - Laos: 2,680,000 3

13 Arakanese Rakhine - Myanmar: 1,965,000 2

14 Mongol – Khalka Mongolia: 1,681,000

15 Khampa – Eastern China: 1,279,000 0

16 Yangbye – Yangye Myanmar: 1,144,000 3

TOTAL for this Group: 251,789,000

GRAND TOTAL for ‘this’ B world: 271,252,000

Christians (in millions) by year

Continent-a.d. 500/a.d.1000/a.d.1200/a.d. 1500

Africa-8.0/5.0/2.5/1.3

Asia-21.2/16.8/21.0/3.4

Europe/Russia-14.2/28.6/46.6/76.3

GRAND TOTAL -43.4/50.4/70.1/81.0

by Stephen M. Spaulding[/lang_en]

Sri Lanka: Buddhist Elite Seeking Greater Control

Buddhist Monitor — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 22:26:24 +0000

[lang_en]Sri Lankans elected a new president [November 17] who faces the challenge of dealing with a Buddhist elite seeking greater control over religious minorities. Christians are greatly concerned about pressure on President Mahinda Rajapakse from Buddhists.

Prior to the elections, Rajapakse formed an alliance with the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU or National Heritage Party), a Buddhist party that has campaigned vigorously for the adoption of anti- conversion laws. These laws would restrict freedom to convert from one religion to another and cast doubts on the motives of any religious group offering social or material assistance to the poor.

Now Rajapakse must deal with leading Buddhist monks who want the constitution amended to make Buddhism the state religion. Failing this, anti-conversion legislation will no doubt be put back on the parliamentary agenda.

Extremists have launched many violent attacks against Christians and churches in recent years, particularly after a leading Buddhist monk, Ven. Soma Thero, launched a campaign against conversions to Christianity in 2002.

A report issued by the U.S. State Department on November 8 took note of these acts of violence, saying Sri Lankans should honor their constitution – which protects the right of each citizen to practice the religion of his/her choice (Compass Direct).[/lang_en]

Sri Lankans elected a new president [November 17] who faces the challenge of dealing with a Buddhist elite seeking greater control over religious minorities. Christians are greatly concerned about pressure on President Mahinda Rajapakse from Buddhists.

Buddhist Monks Press for Anti-Conversion Laws in Sri LankaBuddhist Monks Press for Anti-Conversion Laws in Sri LankaBuddhist Monks Press for Anti-Conversion Laws in Sri LankaBuddhist Monks Press for Anti-Conversion Laws in Sri Lanka

Buddhist Monitor — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 12:08:34 +0000

[lang_en]More than 1,000 Buddhist monks staged a protest in Sri Lanka on September 20, asking that anti-conversion legislation be put back on the parliamentary agenda before presidential elections scheduled for November 17. Other pressing issues, including tsunami relief efforts and ongoing peace negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), meant the legislation had been put on hold.

Two anti-conversion bills—one proposed by Minister of Buddhist Affairs Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, and the other by the Buddhist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU or National Heritage Party)—were presented to parliament earlier this year. The draft Bill for the Prohibition of Forcible Conversion, proposed by the JHU, called for prison sentences of up to five years and/or a stiff fine for anyone found guilty of converting others “by force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means.” It also encouraged members of the public to report cases of suspected forced conversion. Wickremanayake’s Act for the Protection of Religious Freedom proposed similar terms and was approved in principle by the Cabinet in 2004.

Monks from the JHU played a key role in Tuesday’s protest march and rally in Colombo, the nation’s capital. The JHU, however, has now dropped its demands for presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse, currently prime minister of Sri Lanka, to push the anti-conversion agenda forward before the elections.

The JHU signed a deal with Rajapakse last week promising electoral support in return for a more aggressive approach to negotiations with the LTTE, a rebel group that has fought for an independent Tamil homeland since 1983.

Anti-conversion laws were not – at least publicly – part of the election deal signed by the prime minister. JHU leader Athuraliye Rathna Thero, however, told the daily Colombo Page on September 20 that his party had “decided to withdraw its [anti-conversion bill], as the threat of conversion to other religions will not exist when Prime Minister Rajapakse becomes president.” Rajapakse traveled to Kandy, the Buddhist capital of Sri Lanka, to sign the deal outside the Temple of the Tooth, an important religious landmark. He knelt down before JHU chief monk Ellawala Medananda to formally accept his copy of the agreement, beforeentering the temple with Medananda to observe Buddhist rites.

According to local media reports, the 12-point agreement included a revision of the government’s ceasefire agreement with the LTTE; a rejection of plans to give limited autonomy to the rebels; and an end to the “Joint Mechanism” agreement that allowed joint administration of tsunami aid in LTTE-controlled areas.

Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is now in danger of splitting over the deal. President Chandrika Kumaratunga of the SLFP had hoped to reach a permanent peace agreement with the rebels during her term as president; however she has already served two terms and is not eligible for a third.

In July, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed concern about growing religious intolerance in Sri Lanka. The commission claimed the JHU bill would “fall short of international standards with regard to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief.”

The commission urged the Sri Lankan government to refrain from passing laws that were “inconsistent with international standards.” In response, the JHU sent a letter to U.S. Ambassador Jeffry Lunstead in early August, condemning the United States’ stand on the anti-conversion bill.

“We are deeply concerned about the recent statement made by your Deputy Secretary of State, Ms. Christina Rocca, with regard to the two anti-conversion bills presented to the parliament of Sri Lanka,” the letter read in part. “We believe your government’s opinion [about the law] is baseless as there would be no barrier to any individual to change his/her religion [of] their own will after these bills are passed. We are only prohibiting unethical conversions, which we sincerely believe is a punishable offense.”

Documented evidence suggests otherwise. The Buddhist campaign against religious conversions began in earnest in 2003. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka recorded over 170 attacks on Christian individuals or institutions between January 2003 and January 2005. In many of these incidents, Buddhist monks were present and played a leading role. The violence has continued this year. Most recently, a Four Square Gospel church in Horana, Kalutara district, was ordered to close after a Buddhist mob threatened worshipers at Sunday services on July 31 and August 7. The police accepted that the church had a constitutional right to meet together but ordered the meetings to stop, as they had supposedly provoked a “disturbance of the peace.” Church members were ordered not to meet for worship in any other location. In July, a Roman Catholic church in Patunagama was attacked during the night and set on fire. A second Catholic church in Pulasthigama was set alight in broad daylight on July 16. Unidentified extremists also planted explosives outside the Christian Family Church in Kayankerny, Batticaloa district, in the early hours of July 7, causing severe damage to the newly-built church.

[/lang_en]

More than 1,000 Buddhist monks staged a protest in Sri Lanka on September 20, asking that anti-conversion legislation be put back on the parliamentary agenda before presidential elections scheduled for November 17. Other pressing issues, including tsunami relief efforts and ongoing peace negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), meant the legislation had been put on hold.

[/lang_en]

Buddhism in France

Buddhist Monitor — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 22:24:13 +0000

[lang_en]France has witnessed a huge growth in the influence of Buddhism—particularly the Tibetan variety—in the past 20 years, thanks to the establishment of numerous monasteries and the charisma of the Dalai Lama.

A survey last September revealed 11% of French people described themselves as “close to Buddhism”, behind 62% who said the same of Roman Catholicism and 19% who opted for Protestantism. Judaism trailed behind Buddhism with eight percent and Islam with six percent. The French Buddhist Union says there are 600,000 practising Buddhists in the country, including 400,000 from Southeast Asia, 50,000 Chinese and 150,000 of French origin. (Source: Update 29, http://website.lineone.net/~ccbs.uk/) [/lang_en]

France has witnessed a huge growth in the influence of Buddhism—particularly the Tibetan variety—in the past 20 years, thanks to the establishment of numerous monasteries and the charisma of the Dalai Lama.