Hong Kong
Date Entered: 1951
Major Ministries: Church planting, theological education, social center and educational ministries.
Country Profile
Population: 7,018,636
Peoples: Chinese (Cantonese) 89.2% (official), other Chinese dialects 6.4%, English 3.2% (official), other 1.2% (2001 census)
Politics: Limited democracy
Religion: Eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Perched on fragments of Southeast China’s coast is the great commercial center of Hong Kong. Positioned on either side of its magnificent deep water harbor are the cities of Kowloon and Victoria. Packed into 25 square miles are six million people. Only 50 square miles of the area’s 410 are cultivated.
Due to the nature of its recent growth, Hong Kong is a melting pot of China’s millions. Many different dialects reverberate in the narrow streets and in the market places; however, Cantonese is by far the most prominent.
Religiously, most families in Hong Kong cling to traditional Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, with an underlying ancestor and spirit worship. Secular education has driven many young people away from old beliefs, and left them with a core of atheism overlaid with cultural observance of traditional Chinese festivals. Materialism and financial success form the basic motivation in nearly every life philosophy.
Each “satellite” city in Hong Kong houses at least 500,000 people. In order to plant churches in these housing estates, ABWE uses such ministries as social service centers, kindergartens, nurseries, study centers, and most recently elderly centers. More traditional methods, including tract distribution, personal evangelism, and discipleship programs, are combined with center ministries to build bridges to people of all ages and classes.
There is no future without trained national leadership. China Baptist Theological College is training pastors and lay leaders for the local churches. It is the school’s goal to prepare Chinese for missionary ministry in mainland China and other parts of Asia.