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Peoples of the Buddhist world

A Christian prayer guide

Pray for Buddhists

PEOPLES OF THE BUDDHIST WORLD
A Christian Prayer Guide
By Paul Hattaway
Piquant. 453 pages. £14.99
ISBN 1 903689 90 2
(Distributed by IVP, freephone 0800 622968)

Produced by the same author as Operation China (and duplicating some of its material), this book presents details of 238 people groups which are largely Buddhist. While some of these are small tribes, it includes the large populations of Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and China. It is good to have a book drawing attention to Buddhism, from which there have not generally been many converts and which is proving popular among people in Britain and the US.

There is a mass of information here about both the different people groups and approaches to evangelising Buddhists. There are photos on every page and most of these feature individuals who are without Christ. To view Buddhists as a group is to depersonalise them, but the pictures make us realise that these are real people who need to hear the gospel. Various incidents from church history remind us of the failure of Christians to take the gospel to countries like Japan.

The growth of the church in Korea is recounted, but there is no warning note of the faster growth of Buddhism currently in that country. The testimonies of converted Buddhists are an encouragement to prayer and very instructive about the process of evangelisation. Buddhists are not likely to respond to instant forceful demands to believe or to those whose presentation of the gospel shows little understanding or dialogue with the spiritual desires of sincere Buddhists. I recently heard that a young Thai thought that a Western presentation of the gospel was about Man United’s weakness after the loss of David Beckham to Real Madrid! Buddhist evangelism demands people who will give time to learning culture and language; to form friendships and build trust; to manifest the gentleness and kindness of the Lord.

This book has been produced more cheaply than Operation China which is reflected in the cheaper price. Here is a great invitation to pray seriously for Buddhists.

Ray Porter,
currently OMF East Region Director and, from September, Director of World Mission Studies at Oak Hill Theological College