Pray

Church impact is very uneven in this region, but includes a number of areas where minorities are remarkably responsive to the gospel. Large ethnic minority churches thrive in Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, while the majority populations remain rooted in Buddhism or Islam. Pray for these groups to continue to grow in the Lord and transmit the gospel to neighbouring peoples. The Philippines and Timor Leste are two of Asia's four majority Christian countries.

Exciting growth has occurred, especially in areas previously closed or hostile to the good news. The Church is growing to unprecedented levels in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and even in some areas of Indonesia. But the breakthrough is yet to come, especially among the namesake peoples of several nations: the Thai of Thailand, the Burmese of Burma/Myanmar, the Malays of Malaysia and the Lao of Laos.

Missions vision. In much of Southeast Asia, missions vision is limited to impacting the unreached majorities in each respective country. The sizeable Christian minorities in Singapore and Malaysia have an outstanding mission-sending record. But something special is happening in the Philippines, and to a lesser degree, in Indonesia. There are millions of economic migrants who live and work abroad as part of the Filipino diaspora. They are increasingly gaining a vision to use their presence throughout the world as an opportunity to shine the light of Jesus - even into the most difficult countries, such as those in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. As their home churches back in the Philippines begin to see themselves as sending churches for these newly realized tentmaking missionaries, the Kingdom impact on the world will be massive.