God’s New Ambassadors: Korean Missionaries in America

Team Members/Contributors

Rebecca Kim Pepperdine University Contact Me

About this religious institutions discontinued

This study examines the de-Europeanization and globalization of Christianity through case studies of Korean missionaries who are planting churches in the U.S. to save average Americans’ souls. As the largest non-western missionary-sending country in the world, and held up as the new global force of Christianity, Korea is sending its missionaries across the globe, including the U.S. Extending beyond the Korean Diaspora, Korean missionaries are taking part in an interesting historical reversal. A formerly missionary-receiving country is sending out missionaries to a nation that significantly contributed to its own conversion to Christianity. This shift, also occurring in Europe as well as in Canada, raises interesting questions. What happens when the roles are reversed—when the missionary is not the “white man” and the “native” is a white westerner in a developed and historically Christian country? What kind of religious communities do the new missionaries build? What do the relationships between the missionaries and their congregants tell us about the dynamics of race relations within the Christian community and the de-westernization of the Christian faith? These questions will be answered using secondary data analysis of missionary statistics as well as through field research, surveys, and interviews from inside one of the largest missionary sending organizations in South Korea. The outcomes of this project include academic conference presentations, journal articles, articles for Christian magazines, presentations at meetings and conferences for Christians involved in world mission, and a university press book proposal.

Image Title Year Type Contributor(s) Other Info
The Spirit Moves West: Korean Missionaries in America 2015 Book Rebecca Kim