Did you know that there are roughly 500 million Buddhists in our world today? The vast majority of these live in countries that are gospel-impoverished. The largest unreached people groups heavily influenced by Buddhism include the Japanese, Vietnamese, Burmese, Thais, Khmer, and Sri Lankans. Reaching Buddhists must be a priority for followers of Jesus Christ.
It has been the McPhail family’s privilege to help proclaim Christ among the Khmer of Cambodia since 2000. We are very burdened to present the need of the Gospel among the unreached Buddhist peoples. This has resulted in opportunities to teach on Buddhism and reaching Buddhists in churches, Bible college, and seminary settings.
Over the last couple of months, Forrest participated in a panel discussion and had an interview for a radio program about Buddhism. During this time, a friend and missionary co-worker, Chris Seawright, was also interviewed for a seminary podcast. All three of these recordings are listed below and focus on the Buddhist world. We are not experts, by an means, but we hope to be a help by God’s grace.
It is our hope that many will take advantage of these recordings. Reaching Buddhists apart from the power of the Holy Spirit is not possible. We are grateful that, “with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)!” Through Him, Buddhists are becoming followers of Jesus Christ even today!
Virtual Roundtable, Radio Broadcast, & a Podcast
Gospel Fellowship Association’s Virtual Roundtable series includes this episode on Reaching Your Buddhist Neighbor. Panelists include missionaries who have served in Cambodia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and a Restricted Access Nation (RAN). They discuss Buddhism in various contexts through their experiences and talk about reaching Buddhists for Christ. It includes a Q & A after the main session as well (about 90 minutes). Forrest represents Cambodia on the panel.
Reaching Your Buddhist Neighbor
Pioneer Missions & Buddhism in Cambodia
Hosts of Heritage of Faith Radio in New York City interviewed Forrest about Buddhism and then about his book, Pioneer Missions: Meet the Challenges, Share the Blessings. Here is that radio broadcast (under 1 hour).
Missionary Chris Seawright has served many years now in both Cambodia and Thailand. Chris was interviewed by Ben Edwards of Detroit Baptist Seminary for their podcast Theologically Driven. They discussed Folk Buddhism in Southeast Asia (about 33 minutes). Chris has also written a very helpful small book entitled, Do the Work of an Evangelist: Context-Sensitive Gospel Communication to those with a Folk Buddhist Worldview.
Ministry in Buddhist Southeast Asia
You might be interested in the following articles here on Rooted Thinking that address Buddhism in different ways: In the Beginning There Was No Buddha and the Food Offered to Idols Series. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments or suggest further articles on something related to Buddhism.
Will you pray with us today for the Buddhist world? Jesus said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord to send out laborers into His harvest” (Mt 9:37-38). It is our prayer that some reading this will be called to go and preach the Gospel in the Buddhist world for Jesus’ sake.
All Scripture quotations are from the ESV unless otherwise noted.