Opportunities for the gospel in Asia

Asia offers enormous potential to reach more of the next generation with the gospel.

In many ways, Asia is a world unto itself. The continent covers roughly 30% of the earth’s land area, is about one-and-a-half times the size of Africa, and is home to approximately 5 billion people—about 60% of the world’s population. Across that vast expanse are thousands of languages and an extraordinary range of cultures, histories, and traditions.

The opportunity to share the Good News is enormous.

With Christians making up less than 10% of Asia’s population, the opportunity to share the Good News is enormous. Reaching these people, however, comes with significant challenges.

The first is simply getting to them. Across a continent this large, communities are often separated by great distances and geographic barriers, such as deserts and mountains, making some populations especially difficult to access. For example, Mongolia, a landlocked country over twice the size of the state of Texas, is home to only 3 million people, making it the least densely populated independent country in the world. Harsh winters, low rainfall, the Gobi Desert, and high mountains can make some communities especially difficult to reach.

Getting to a community is only part of the challenge.

Getting to a community is only part of the challenge. The word “Christian” is not understood the same way in every community in Asia. In some places, Christianity is familiar and woven into the country’s history.

In others, Christians are a small minority, and people lack familiarity with the Christian faith and traditions. So, while the Philippines has a long Christian history and South Korea has a large, established community of believers, in other Asian countries Christians may make up only a small percentage of the population.

Communicating the gospel there involves more than translating it into another language.

Meanwhile, thousands of languages are spoken across the continent. And communicating the gospel there involves more than translating it into another language. Culture also shapes how people understand what they hear. Biblical truth must be communicated clearly and faithfully in ways children and families can understand within their own cultural context.

And in some places, the obstacles are even greater. Government restrictions can make sharing the gospel dangerous, while civil conflict and political instability can uproot families and isolate communities. Myanmar provides one example.

Years of civil war have displaced millions, while Christians also face religious discrimination and persecution. The country is ranked No. 14 in terms of countries facing the most severe Christian persecution, as many believers have been killed, villages have been destroyed, and churches have been bombed, with thousands of people displaced.

National missionaries are finding ways to teach and disciple children.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake that Myanmar experienced last year has heightened the struggles experienced by many Christians. Yet even under those conditions, national missionaries are finding ways to teach and disciple children.

This work highlights a powerful way to minister in Asia: training, equipping, and supporting local believers as they lead ministry where they live. Because these workers know the language and culture and have relationships within their communities, they can often communicate with children and families in ways outsiders often struggle.

At Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF®), we have seen how that strategy can bring the gospel to more children. In Myanmar, one teacher recently trained 96 people in children’s ministry, while many more teachers and volunteers throughout Asia are being equipped to teach and disciple children in their own communities.

A child who hears and responds to the gospel today may become a future parent, teacher, pastor, missionary, or community leader.

There is particular value in focusing evangelism and ministry efforts on young people. Children are continually learning, asking questions, and forming beliefs that will influence the rest of their lives and the next generation. A child who hears and responds to the gospel today may become a future parent, teacher, pastor, missionary, or community leader.

Children also take what they learn home with them, sharing it with parents, siblings, and friends. We have seen this happen in the Philippines, where parents began asking to learn more after their children attended regular Bible clubs. Adult Bible studies followed, more families became involved, and, in some communities, those relationships eventually helped give rise to new churches.

There is reason for hope.

While there is still much work to be done, there is reason for hope. Across Asia, believers continue to share the gospel, and churches are reaching their communities. This wider impact often begins with a single child who hears and responds to the gospel, then shares the good news with a family, a community, and eventually another generation.

Fred Pry is the Vice President of Administration at Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF®), the most impactful child evangelism ministry in the world, reaching over 27.4 million children with its face-to-face ministry in 2024. Fred joined CEF in 2003 as director of a local chapter in Pennsylvania before being appointed state director of Virginia. Later, he was invited to lead USA Ministries, and since 2024, he has been serving in the role of Vice President of Administration and providing further leadership to the organization as one of CEF’s executive staff.