I believe that God is going to be stirring up the Asian Americans to rise up and to become a force in the missions movement. There are some very strategic reasons why I believe that AA’s make for great missionaries. Here they are:

Asian Americans have American Status but not American Faces

In a time when the world is frowning more upon American politics and culture, the “white man” is quickly losing sway in the global scene. White Americans, to many countries represent imperialism, capitalism, Westernization, and forced Christianity. And so the window for sending white people overseas, especially to Arab and Communist nations, is growing smaller and smaller as our image becomes worse and worse.

However, American status is still very high on the global scene.

Americans can travel in and out of countries easily. They are also welcomed in certain countries because they represent catalysts for modernization and globalization. We are still very well resourced, networked, and have ambassadors and safe havens in many countries around the world.

And that’s where the Asian Americans come in. Asian Americans make for great missionaries because they inherently have the best of both worlds.

They have American status, but not American faces. Asians are not known globally for trouble (they’re not terrorists, they’re not colonialists or conquerers..) so their face at the airport and among communities is unsuspicious. However, because they are Americans, they carry American status and priveliges.

The Education of Asian Americans Opens More Doors

It’s not a mystery that Asian Americans generally do pretty well in school due cultural work habits in conjunction with the immigrant mentality. They represent the highest percentage of people with a college education of any ethnic group in America (49%, 2008). This is not a boast, this is just the general facts.

And with education, comes access and open doors into levels of society that uneducated people cannot have access to. That comes with travel allowance, and acceptance into public institutions, and respect among local communities.

And combined with the American status, Asian Americans make for great missionaries because their education they have generally great access into countries as well as the intellectual repertoire to make an impact. Countries will welcome educated Americans to teach in their schools for purposes of modernization and educational benefits.

We could be using our education so that we can become doctors and make a safe and comfortable living for ourselves, but we can also use that status to bless with the world and nations who have never heard about Jesus because of our educational status.

Conclusion

So those are my two reasons to think about why Asian Americans would make great missionaries.

Brethren, go and preach the gospel!