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Introduction

       The Mission that we are involved in Asia and the Pacific is God's mission. But this understanding as to what God's mission is in Asia and the Pacific, there may be different opinions. Thus, a few questions are in order: what is this God's mission in Asia and the Pacific that we talk about? How is it understood till now? How should it be understood aright? What is meant by being Church in Asia and the Pacific today? Thus, an attempt is made in this paper to delineate God's mission as understood by some Christians, women and men, in Asia and the Pacific.

        This paper makes no attempt to define Asia and the Pacific region. It is taken for granted that there is a general knowledge about these regions and that there are similarities between Asia and the Pacific region in more areas than one and therefore, in a general, rather peripheral way, both these regions may be clubbed together in speaking about God's mission there. Differences between these two regions are there, no doubt. These differences are identified mostly in the area of socio-cultural and relgio-environmental backgrounds. But here, we are not so much concerned about the geographical, climatic, physical, demographic and other conditions of these regions. This, however, is not to say that we can ignore them. To answer the question: how to understand Asia and the Pacific, the answer is to say look at the challenges that are common to both of them in context.

       Secondly, this paper proceeds with the contention that the Christian Church is involved in God's mission in Asia and the Pacific today. Here no attempt is made to categorically state which church is involved in God's mission and which not, but to point out that the Church, as a whole, inspite of aberrations and apathy that we identify here and there. is involved in it. By Church, we do not mean the hierarchy, nor the clerical order, nor do we refer to the institutional character of the Church, but the sum and total of all those who confess that God in Christ is at work in history and that we are called to be co-workers and partners with God in Asia and the Pacific region.

        God's mission in Asia and the Pacific cannot be meaningfully and relevantly understood without a proper understanding of what it means to be Church. To understand what being Church in Asia and the Pacific implies, there is need to start from the challenges that Christian women and men are faced with in these regions. Thus, an attempt is made to highlight here the challenges that arise from these regions in the first part. In Part two, the present-day context of the Church in Asia and the Pacific is focused on to draw lessons for meaningful involvement in God's mission. In the final part, an attempt is made to point out the areas in which women and men in Asia and the Pacific are involved in carrying out God's mission as they understand it. Thus, we begin with identifying challenges that Asia and the Pacific are faced with today.

The Present-Day Context Of Asia And The Pacific

      In dealing with the Asian and the Pacific context, the relevant question to be raised is: whether their present-day context can be meaningfully understood without reference to the past of these regions? This question is important because, whatever the present Asian and the Pacifician context means is the net result of what happened as a result of their encounter with Western colonialism and imperialism during the past five hundred years. In other words, it is to make the point that the present-day Asian and the Pacifician political, economic, social and cultural context is a legacy of its encounter with the colonial powers. This point is clearly brought out by the Third World theologians thus:

        “The principal cause for the modern phenomenon of the underdevelopment of the peoples of the Third World is a systematic exploitation of their peoples and countries by the European peoples. From the end of fifteenth century, a large scale and unprecedented expansion of the European peoples brought most of the rest of the world under their military, economic, political, cultural, and religious domination”[1]

        In the process of colonization, western powers allocated to themselves the free or freed land spaces of the earth and established new sovereign states in them to preserve the land base of raw materials and power for themselves. Everywhere they established a pattern of economic exploitation in their favour. They exterminated entire peoples, enslaved millions, colonized others and marginalized all, thus laying the base of neo-colonialism, of their development and the underdevelopment of the Third World. Thus, colonialism is the root cause for the present underdevelopment of Asia and the Pacific[2].

The Present-Day Political Context Of Asia And The Pacific

        When the colonialists withdrew from Asia and the Pacific, power was not transferred to the people in these regions. That is, gaining of political independence led generally to the transfer of power to the small and powerful local elites who continued the economic system established by the colonial power[3]. Often schooled in the mission or church run institutions, these local elites became subsequent collaborators in the ongoing exploitation of the masses of the people even after political independence[4]. Although politically independent, countries in Asia and the Pacific are powerless to control the growing influence and exploitation of U.S., western Europe and Japan by their horizontal and vertical integration of companies. This resulted in the growth of giant Multinational Corporations (MNCs), based generally in the U.S., western Europe and Japan that wield enormous economic, political and cultural power of domination. With the advantage of the most developed technology, the MNCs keep exploiting the poor countries, that gap between the rich and the poor in Asia and the Pacific and within countries has continued to grow[5]. In other words, capitalism is the root cause for the increasing tensions in the dependent, free enterprise countries in Asia and the Pacific[6]. The growing unrest and revolt of the people in Asia and the Pacific is met with repression, generally in collaboration with foreign powers, by the local ruling elites. They set up military dictatorships, declare martial law or emergency rule in many of the Asian and Pacifician countries[7]. As a result, people's movements are repressed, political dissidents are imprisoned without trial, and there is a trend towards sophisticated and inhuman torture in these countries. Human freedom is a victim in most parts of Asia and the Pacific. This observation is underlined and deepened by the Third World theologians in their Wennappuwa Statement thus:

        “We realize that if large number of men and women find themselves socially deprived and progressively thrown further and further away from the centre of life and meaning, it is not a mere accident or the effect of a national catastrophe. ;n fact, from Pakistan to Korea, practically all parliamentary Governments, with the exception of Japan, have at some time given way to military governments or authoritarian regimes of one form or the other”[8].

        In the countries in Asia and the Pacific, not only political rights are suppressed, but also the rights of workers to strike in the cities and the right of peasants to organize themselves in the countryside. Many leaders and people holding political views contrary to the ruling group are condemned to spend several years in prison, often without due trial. Therefore, there is need to question the object and enforcement of law and order 'which consolidates the control of the power elites while thwarting the organized conscientious objections of the deprived minorities[9]. The continuous growth of struggle of the oppressed for liberation is a reaction to overwhelming oppression of the ruling elites in Asia and the Pacific. For the present-day political situation in these regions, there is reason to hold the powerful centres of Capitalism and their local allies responsible. Summay imprisonment, torture, disappearances and outright murdere are common occurrences in these regions. To counteract the irruption of the masses, the military and dictatorial regimes in many of the Asian and Pacifician countries, under the ideology of the national security state, set up police and para-military groups who act with impunity against their own people. To aggravate matters for Christians, there is an upsurge of reactionary forces within Christianity in opposition to liberation struggles of all forms, reinforcing the repressive stance and policies of their governments. Therefore, along with Third World theologians, one can say that 'Capitalism that has been (and is) responsible for most of the evils of our societies both from within and without[10]“. In the past, there were two super-powers, the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. which were responsible for the evils of Asia. Now we have only one super power, the U.S.A. It is this super-power and their local agents who wield a force of domination and exploitation - political, economic, ideological and even theological - on the countries in Asia and the Pacific. Regional powers and local elites are tools in the hands of the super-power. Domination and exploitation meted out to the countries in Asia and the Pacific are seen in monopolies, dictatorships, in racism, sexism, the feudal system, militarism and the national security state ideology[11]. U.S. as one of the super powers, until recently, in order to maintain its own security and sphere of influence, based its bases in the Philippines, divided Korea, maintains troops in Korea, uses the Pacific ocean for military exercises and surveillance and prods the alarming growth of militarism in Japan. and the U.S.S.R as the other super power, wielded its influence particularly in Vietnam and Afghanistan[12].

      In most Asian and Pacific countries. national security acts are legislated in order to ensure the control of the local elites on the people as well as to benefit the super power. In effect, these acts thwart the security of the people, apart from curtailing press freedom, suppressing the rights to assembly and manipulate the conduct of elections.

       To counter the forces of domination the people are rising up in revolt. People's uprising in Sri Lanka, Korea, Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Philippines are a demonstration of their will to reject their inhuman conditions and their determination to build a new community with dignity and equity.

       To sum up, the Asian and the Pacifician political context is dominated not only by the local elites, but also by the U.S. which pushes the world into a uni-polar world. The MNCs have a free hand, affecting not only the line of production, but also influencing politics, economics, culture, religions and so on. Local elites attempt to stay in power by legislating security acts to gain benefits for themselves and also to benefit the one super which has emerged as the policeman of the world. The attempt to stay in power by the national elites has led to military dictatorship under the ideology of the national security state and thus, many governments in Asia and the Pacific have become repressive, ruthless and anti-people[13]

The Present-Day Economic Context Of Asia And The Pacific

       Prior to colonization, the countries in Asia and the Pacific had a rather self-reliant economy, with a strong sense of communal solidarity. In certain respects, some of these areas were superior to the West in science, technology, agriculture, industrial methods, architecture and the arts[14]. But colonization undermined the economies of Asia and the Pacifician countries. As the Third World theologians have pointed out:

       “The colonizers undermined the economy of the colonies for their advantage... They made their colonies suppliers of raw materials based on cheap labour and markets for their finished goods. They forcibly expropriated fertile lands of the oppressed peoples, set up plantations of sugar, coffee, tea, rubber etc... Paying a mere subsistence wage to the workers and charging high prices for their exports, the colonial powers were able to add further to their capital stock. They continued the pillage of the raw materials of these countries: oil, tin, bauxite, copper, timber, gold, silver, diamonds. Hence for centuries the western European peoples had a free hand in Asia”[15].

        Colonialism has ended. But what we have in the countries in Asia and the Pacific is neo-colonialism. Neo-Colonialism is economic exploitation and it is operative in and through the giant MNCs[16]. What does neo-colonialism do? Here again, the observation of the Third World theologians seems to be valid:

        “Asia suffers under the heels of a forced poverty. Its life has been truncated by centuries of colonialism and a more recent neo-colonialism. Its cultures are marginalised, its social relations distorted. The cities, with their miserable slums, swollen with the poor peasants driven off the land, constitute a picture of wanton affluence side by side with abject poverty that is possible in the majority of Asia's countries. This extreme disparity is the result of a class contradiction, a continuous domination of Asia by internal and external forces. A consequence of this type of capitalist domination is that all things, time and life itself, have become marketable commodities”[17].

        In the countries in Asia and the Pacific, the national elites monopolize the industrial sector and help it develop along the lines of the local population[18]. The industrial sector depends heavily on foreign capital and technology[19]. And, as a result of unequal trade relations and the weakness of these countries, their indebtedness and dependence grow to an extent beyond their control. So much so, intentional banks and transnational corporations have become the new masters of Asia's politics and economics”[20].

       In the Asian and Pacific context, it is a small minority of owners who dictate the quality of life for the producers. The Transnational Corporations and the national elites together, with the overt or covert support of political and military forces decide what to produce, how and how much and where to produce and for whom to produce. Behind the facade of law and order are the Asian and the Pacifician cheap and docile labour and laws that leave the country open to unrestricted exploitation by foreign capital with the profit going to a small elite[21].

       On the other hand, the rural sector in Asia and the Pacific has remained stagnant. Much claimed agrarian reforms did not change the unequal social relations of production in the rural areas. The Green Revolution benefited only the middle and big landowners. As a result, a great number of peasants were driven off the land and ended in the slums of the swollen cities of Asia. The accumulated rural surplus was often reinvested in crops for export or channeled into urban industries, thus preventing the growth of production of food. Asia, which is potentially rich in agriculture, is thus forced to import food. Therefore, some Christians have already concluded thus: “Hunger and poverty will be the fate of the Asian masses for many years to come”[22]. Is this poverty an innocent social fact? No.

       “It is the result of structures of exploitation and domination much of it stems from centuries of colonial rule and is reinforced by the present international economic system”[23].

        What is happening is that technology, very much needed for Asian countries, is controlled by the rich nations. Because the ordering of international relationships are imposed on the Third World by the rich World, the process of dependence of the former on the latter is on the increase[24]. Thus, the present economic system which is capitalist, “... like an immense idol... cover(s) the earth with its cloak of unemployment and homelessness, hunger and nakedness, desolation and death”[25]. Therefore, the Third World theologians remarked thus:

        “Our people-hundreds of millions of poor, deprived and oppressed-live their lives in a historically created situation not of their own making. As they seek to live and to have a better life, they grow in consciousness that their struggle is not only for control of the material means of life and for freedom and active participation in deciding the direction of society”[26].

        To sum up, abject and glaring poverty is the rule of life in the most Asian and Pacifician countries. This poverty is forced and as such, is not an innocent social fact. Structures of exploitation and domination in Asia and the Pacific, most of it stemming from centuries of colonial rule, are reinforced by the present international economic system whose other name is capitalism.

The Present-Day Socio-Cultural And

Environmental Context Of Asia And The Pacific

       Asian and the Pacifician countries are rich in cultural and religious traditions. Religions, profound philosophies of life and culture have been the soul of the Asian and the Pacifician peoples for many generations[27]. But western domination, it is said, has also harmed native cultures and religions[28]. It is said that even missionary enterprise. and traditional theology, by imposing western values, have also contributed, sometimes unwittingly, to the cultural impoverishment of the Third World[29].

      In the countries in Asia and the Pacific, vast majority of people belong to other living faiths These people demand justice and equality and affirm their age-old religions and cultures and challenge the western oriented and narrowly Christian understanding of world and of history[30].

     Religions, in the past and even now, have been and are instruments of domination and exploitation. They have discriminated against women and have been vehicles of oppression and age-old practices. Despite this ambivalent role played by the religions and cultures, yet they have tremendous liberation potentialities[31].

       Asia and the Pacific are the homes of most ancient religions and thus, there is a plurality of worldviews. In such a context, it is to be remembered that Christianity is a newcomer to Asia and the Pacific and that it is a minority religion. In other worlds, the Christian community is a small part of a much larger multi-religious and multi-cultural community in Asia and the Pacific. Furthermore, Asian religions have their scriptures. So much once the life of the Church is emphasized in interpreting the Bible, then it becomes difficult to ignore other communities of faith. That is, in the context of many saviours, notions of revelation and inspirations, non-Biblical scriptures and truth claims, the story of the Bible needs to be retold, and in such a context the Christian concern needs to be ecumenical in its deepest sense. Concern for liberation from various forces of domination should be the ground of dialogue and common search with people of other living faiths.

        In the societal context, women are the most discriminated against are oppressed on all levels of society in Asia and the Pacific[32]. Although women constitute more than fifty percent of Asian and the Pacifician populations and have contributed to the social, economic and political development of Asia and the Pacific, yet they are accorded a 'minority' and inferior status both in society and in the churches. In the male-dominated Asian and the Pacifician societies, women and oppressed by customs and practices, stemming from feudal times and systems. The 'dowry' (bride-price) system practiced in many of the Asian countries, probably also in the Pacific region, makes women the object of bargaining and lead to tragic and inhuman consequences such as 'sati' (wife-burning), for instance, in lndia[33].

       With the coming of Capitalism and modernization of Asian and Pacifician societies, the oppression of women has become more evident by their absence in decision-making position even in issues and events that radically affect their lives[34]. Women are grouped in a lower pay scale and are vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Therefore, it is said:

        “A lower pay scale for women and their vulnerability to sexual exploitation to boost the nations economy are only two of the degrading ways in which women are oppressed”[35].

         In recent times, consumerism and tourism have pressured women into a cheap labour market with inhuman working conditions and late hours, and are exposed to harassment of unscrupulous employers. This situations has led many women and even young girls to prostitution. Tourism evicts inhabitants because there is need to build five-star hotels. This uncritical acceptance of tourism has led to a mass flow of industrial nations into the Third World, as well as their consumerist values and this has seriously affected cultural values and traditions. Tourist Industry has negative effects on the traditional economic system. Young boys are lured into jobs in hotels which are underpaid prostitution. In Sri Lanka, for instance, boys are being introduced into male-prostitution. 40% of all boys, aged between 10 and 19 years, interviewed and treated for early infections of Syphilis at the V.D. Clinic in Colombo General Hospital is a sad commentary. It is predicted that by 2000, the growing toll from AIDS in developing countries could easily rise to more than 1.8 million deaths annually. The sad thing is that the infected people are in their economically most productive years of age .between 15 and 40[36]. This is true in most free-trade zones in countries like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan.. Thailand and other countries. In short, the Asian as well as the Pacifician societies have largely failed to recognize the economic value represented by women[37]. Further, they are also discriminated against in the spheres of education, jobs, wages, and health and health-care and government policies. There is also a growing violence against women[38].

       In the social context of Asia and perhaps also in the context of Pacific, one thing that deserves mentioning for instance in India, is the mighty. divisive and oppressive caste system. Deeply entrenched in the very flesh of the people, caste system infects all the limbs and movements of the nation. As a stratification of society in a hierarchical pattern of relationships, the caste system has common elements with racist and classist structures elsewhere. In fact, caste system is worse than racism. Caste acts as the main obstacle to the unity and organization of all the exploited for an effective struggle against oppression and injustice[39].

       Since the Asian and the Pacifician countries are used as platforms for production and mechanization by the industrialized countries, the former face environmental pollution, thus leading to serious ecological imbalances. Jungles are cleared indiscriminately in order to grow more food, villages are removed in order to build mega dams and power projects and, there is soil erosion. In addition to this, there is the wrath of nature leading to natural disasters. Asia is one of the most disaster-proven continents in the world. Further, Asia and the Pacific regions are used as sites for dumping nuclear and other chemical wastes and, women are said to be the major victims of such an adventure. The deformed babies that are being born to mothers in these regions is a telling example of this inhuman enterprise attempted by the developed countries[40].

       To sum up, this is the historical context in which women and men in Asia and the Pacific find themselves. It is a context of oppression, exploitation, discrimination and marginalization. Is God at work in this context? If the answer is yes, then how could we involve ourselves as partners with God in God's mission in Asia and the Pacific? Before we understand the implication of this question, let us pause awhile to recapture the context of the Church in Asia and the Pacific.

The Present-Day Context Of The Church In Asia And The Pacific

        What does it mean to be Church in Asia and the Pacific in the midst of the above-mentioned enormous and diverse challenges? Is the Church in Asia and the Pacific competent to call itself 'church' in the strict sense of the word, biblically, theologically and otherwise? Is it capable of facing the challenges which confront her? How does the Church understand herself in the given context? These are questions that we need to raise as we try to understand” what being Church” in Asia and the Pacific means today.

       There may be different views about the present-day context of the Church in Asia and the Pacific. One of the inside views identified comes from several Christians, even bishops among them, both Protestant and Roman Catholic. For our purpose, I have chosen a few Protestant and Roman Catholic theologians and Church officials as representative voices.

        To begin with Late Bishop Lakshman[41], a noted Sri Lankan Anglican, has this to say about the Asian Church:

        Inspite of the loss of morale of a sense of being alien, and of both confusion and underlying fear in the face of the political, cultural and socio-economic revolution in Asia, the triumphalism of the Church remains... Money is still available from the funding agencies in the West to the established Churches, to religious orders, to development project-holders and also to social activists; and money is a dominant source of power in our societies where the majority of our people are poor”[42].

        This would mean that, according to Bishop Lakshaman, the established Church in Asia is rich and is being triumphalistic. Abesamis[43], a Filipino theologian, in identical terms reiterates the same thus:

        “The Church is poor. This does not mean that our institutions and sectors of our clergy and religious congregations are not rich. This is a story by itself”[44].

        This would mean that majority of the Asian Christians are poor whereas the established Church is not. To quote Abesamis again:

        “We are in the midst of a world where the culture is one of individualism, enterprise, efficiency, profit, competition, self-interest, domination, power, consumerism... It is a world of culture which is sometimes termed 'bourgeoisie'. The Church will admit that it has not remained unaffected by this culture, and that it has even co-operated in the bringing to birth and to nurturing of such culture”[45].

        This would mean that the Asian Church is an ally of capitalism. Pieris, a noted Sri Lankan Roman Catholic priest and an authority on Buddhism[46], has much more to say about the present-day Asian Church.

        The Church in Asia is not of Asia, but is a monarchical or feudal establishment of another continent. It was she who now offers a capitalistic technocratic model of 'human' development as 'pre-evangelization'. She is associated with the Mammon, Capitalism... The unholy alliance of missionary and the merchants of a previous era now continues with greater subtlety. The Church has an alliance with colonialism in order to survive. Because of her alliance with Capitalism, Church in Asia invests time and energy on theoretical battles against Marxism[47].

       Pieris confirms Abesamis' contention that the Asian Church is a collaborator in the neo-colonial structure. Not only that, the Asian Church, according to him, because it is in alliance with Capitalism, is involved in ideological battles against Marxism which to him is unnecessary.

       Fr. Louie Hechanova[48], a Redemptorist priest, finds distortion in the preaching of the Asian Church. The whole face of Christ is not presented, only half of it, he says. Dramatization of the stations of the Cross is the case in point. Jesus' last moments in life during which he was silent, meek, passive, patient, long-suffering and resigned are presented. This is unacceptable to Hechanova. So he says:

       “Such a Christ makes people guilty about resenting their lot, about speaking out to demand justice, to criticize those who are taking advantage of them. Such a Christ reinforces the attitudes of passivity, resignation, and indifference common to peasants and serfs in the feudal system”[49].

       This would mean that the Church in Asia distorts the gospel message and this in order to help the centres of power and domination. To this Balasuriya[50], a Roman Catholic Sri Lankan priest, raising the question 'why did the Church fail to understand the Asian revolution?”, adds thus:

       “High among the causes must be placed our theology which is imported from the West, individualistic in morality, socially uncritical, and heavily weighted on the side of the preservation of the status quo. We have a theology of essences, of a certain immobility in which the highest value has been the building and preservation of the Church itself”[51].

        Let us hear Balasuriya again:

      “We have been too preoccupied with ourselves, with our ghetto concerns. Our social services and institutions have kept us fully occupied. Even the best of the personnel of the Church hardly escaped the stronghold of the Church's institutions which often buttressed the prevailing social system rather uncritically”[52].

        This would mean that the Asian Church's pre-occupation is its social service institutions. This also means that her mere involvement in social service helps strengthen the prevalent social system and that it does not help change it. It means that the Asian Church is not that much interested in social justice. Let us hear Balasuriya once more:

        We have been disrespectful of other Asian religions and cultures. What have the Asian Churches learnt in 500 years from Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism or Confucianism? We have been spiritually too self-satisfied and proud to learn of others. Even Asian Christians have been too easily blinded by Western theology, the might of western power or even the sanctions of ecclesiastical discipline”[53].

        This would mean that Christianity in Asia has not respected the cultures in which it is a stranger and guest. Till now no attempt has been made by it to understand its host, - the Asian cultures and religions!. Lynn de Silva[54], a Methodist priest and a compatriot of Balasuriya, has this to say:

       “Anything that is done compassionately to remove alienation of one person from another, whether by the so-called religious people or by the secular people, is spiritual”[55].

        This would mean that Christianity has not only showed disrespect to Asian cultures and religions, but it has also ignored secular ideologies such as Marxism, Gandhism, Sarvodhaya etc. Emphasizing his point that quality of transcendence is in everyone whether he or she is a Materialist, a Marxist, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Muslim or a Christian, Silva comes to the conclusion that on the basis of mutuality and transcendence common to all religions and secular ideologies, dialogue is possible and that religions cannot simply ignore secular ideologies. This would mean that the Asian Christianity has so far ignored dialogue with other religions, cultures and secular ideologies and philosophies in Asia.

       We have heard enough from our brothers, all male voices. It is hightime that we listened to the sisters, the female voices.

       Generally speaking, the Asian Christianity, as practiced in the Church today, is seen as a religion of oppression by women. Aruna[56], Secretary in the Women's Desk of the WCC, finds the Church to be patriarchal and hierarchical in its structure, functioning, preaching and practice[57].

       Women find themselves discriminated against in the Church. They are not fairly and equally represented on Church committees, Councils, Sabhas, theological and liturgical commissions (we may add theological colleges also!). Even the qualified women are not accepted for positions in the Church and Church related institutions[58]. Park[59], a Korean woman theologian, puts it differently and qualifies it:

      “Women are not free in the Church. They are in the service areas of the Church. Their service is welcome but they are not treated as equals to men. Men are proud. They feel threatened to listen to women preachers”[60].

       Women are ordained here and there. But the issue of women's ordination continues to plague even now. Where women are ordained, there men refuse to receive communion when administered by a woman. The reason for this is the patriarchal ideology in the minds of the people. So she says:

       “Patriarchal ideology shapes people's mind in such a way that female sex and sacredness never go together”[61].

       Bernadeen Silva[62], opines that women are discriminated against on the basis of sex. Therefore, she tries to provide correction thus:

        The female and the male are equal in divinity and in humanity, i.e., in dignity, freedom, intelligence, will but only different in sexuality, bi-polarity”[63].

        Silva has problems with the teachings of the Church regarding sexuality. She questions the Church's emphasis on the prohibitions, pre and contra marital relations, divorce, adultery and contraception. Her problem is that the Church does not emphasize the positive perspectives as human love, the need to give and receive as these are not merely individualistic but communitarian. Therefore, she says:

       “The giving oneself to another fully is not a matter of giving and receiving physically and then going away as with lower animals but rather the giving of oneself to another fully in a context of love, in a desire to participate in God's act of creation and salvation which is liberation”[64].

        Aruna points out that it is the theology of the Church that 'legitimizes the low status accorded to women’[65]. Park emphasizes the same idea, but puts it slightly differently thus:

        “Its andro-centric theology with overriding male symbols and language, and male-oriented Asian religious beliefs strengthen the tradition of male domination in the Church... The worst is the rationalization of man's fear and hatred far women in the Church by andro-centric theology”[66].

        The problem seems to be the theology of the Church. So, what is the problem? Park drives home the point thus:

        “Dualistic notion has helped women to be associated with body, emotion, temptress and all the lower values in life, while men were associated with spiritual, intellectual, noble, sacred and all the higher values. The superior concept of male ideology was used in constructing traditional theology”[67].

         Further, God, who is worshipped in the Church, is a God who is far removed from the actual life of the people and thus, is irrelevant. Park brings home this point thus:

        “The presence of the God of theism, the unlovable mover and the personal God is, associated only with the Church: its building, the pulpit, the choir and ministerial robes, beautiful sermons angelic choirs and church doctrines”[68].

          Mary John[69], deepens this idea further thus:

         “For a vast majority of the people, God is still a far away deity. Traditional and alienated spirituality although alive and vital, this spirituality is practiced individually and is divided from the social and political realities and problems of the people. This spirituality prevents people from participating in people's struggles”.

          Thus, she provides the correction by saying that spirituality is not based on metaphysical principles or dogma, but on biblical and historical experience[70].

          To this, we add just one small piece of information: Of the two billion people in Asia, less than one percent are Christians, if China is also included in the count!. It will be a little more if the Pacific is also included in the count.

          To sum up, the Asian Christianity as preached and practiced in the established Church in Asia and perhaps the Pacific inclusive is:

–       rich and triumphalistic

–       in alliance with Capitalism and neo-Colonial structure

–       unnecessarily involved in ideological battles with Marxism

–       distorting the gospel message by presenting a one-sided picture about Jesus Christ.

–       burdened with outmoded and unsuitable imported theology

–       interested only in her survival and self-preservation

–       interested in social service and not social justice.

–       making no attempt to understand and seek dialogue with her hosts, - the Asian          

         religions, cultures and ideologies

–       a tiny minority

–       patriarchal (male-dominated, with male symbols, language and practices), hierarchical

         and oppressive

–       alienating women and discriminates against them on the basis of sex and its theology

         legitimizes the low status accorded to them and,

–       burdened with traditional and alienated spirituality.

        In other words, if we are to accept the testimony of these male and female voices, then it means that the Asian Christianity is not prophetic and relevant in the present-day context. But then, there are questions. Do these voices really reflect the reality? How far are we to accept them?. May be there are other questions and opinions as well. But I want to submit that I personally trust these voices because they are not far removed from the reality. The aim in presenting the views of these voices is not to present or paint a pessimistic view about the presence an role of Asian Christianity, but to see the reality as our involved sisters and brothers have attempted to see an-d it necessary, accept correction wherever necessary. If the Asian (and the Pacifician!) Christianity is not prophetic and relevant, then what should we do to be and to become prophetic? This is the question that leads us to the next and final section.

The Meaning Of Being Church In Asia And The Pacific Today?

       In the context in which we find ourselves, as it has been described in Part one, the Church cannot afford to be quiet, be neutral, be indifferent, be alienated, be isolated and be self-preserving. But, as was shown in Part two, this is exactly what she seems to be doing. Therefore, there is need for the Church leadership and others to understand what the members in the pews are faced with in their day-to-day experiences. The leadership does not seem to understand the plight of the people in the pews because, they are not with the people. The leadership of the Church, by and large, is interested only in its self-preservation, in acquiring more power and wealth, in exercising unlimited authority and in pre-occupying itself with the challenges of maintaining the Church structures and raising funds. The pre-occupation of the leadership is so intense that they tend to overlook the sufferings of the people. They seem to do this because they work within the framework of the Churches which own immense property and whose economic interests coincide with those of the privileged classes, and supportive of capitalism, private interest, competition, individualism and consumerism. Sebastian Kappen puts his finger on the obvious reason that he has identified thus:   

        “for the obvious reason that the financial nerve centre of the Asian churches lies in the capital countries of the West”[71].

        Most of the Church leaders are middle-class, who are in the minority and therefore, they can easily neglect the plight of the poor which they often seem to do, unfortunately.

        We should move further than this. If the leadership of the Church is alienated and alienating and is self-preserving and is concerned only about Church structures and raising funds to the extent of overlooking the sufferings of the people, then how to being the Church of God in Christ, of being prophetic and of being relevant in the context of Asia and the Pacific?

        Being Church means to be defined by the life and mission of Jesus of his own context as seen in the gospels. The Church ought to remember the fact that she is to live for the ideals/values of the Kingdom, to insert herself in the life and vocation of Jesus of his own historical context, to opt for the poor and the oppressed, to find relevance in the realm of politics, thus going beyond the economics of self-preservation, middle-class orientation, neutrality and being rich and triumphalistic and, to join in the liberative streams of Asian and the Pacifician religiosity.

       There are individual Christians and Christian groups who understand the meaning of being Church in Asia and the Pacific in partnership with God today differently from the way it is understood by the leadership of the Churches. Drawing inspiration from the life and work of Jesus of his own historical context, they identify themselves totally with the cause of this world, with the poor, the needy, the outcast and the victims of society. Some attempt to reread the scriptures[72], some adopt a simple life-style[73], some go to work and live with the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized, some directly involve themselves in confronting the power that be which oppress people, some question the belief and practice of the Church[74], and some others have made attempts to study other living faiths and seek dialogue with them[75].

       In a nutshell, all of these women and men seek to work in partnership to reach all people. They seek to work not only with other Christians, but also with people of different backgrounds, of persuasions and practices. They envision an egalitarian society both within and outside the Church, and seek to usher in a community, a foretaste of the Kingdom and God, which is characterized by the fullness of life, equality, freedom, and love. These involved people do not confine themselves to simply expressing their frustrations and hopelessness, but they rather seek to break every yoke that is around their neck and that of others. They wish to contribute to the full flowering of every person, male and female. They conceive of their mission as a mission of resurrection, i.e., offering life to all and enabling all to be human and good. They represent a comprehensive struggle for liberation from all oppression. They encompass a wide variety of issues such as: women's ordination, liturgical renewal, conscientization of grassroots women and men, developing contextual theologies and building up linkages with action groups. These women and men focus on issues of humanhood, dignity, identity, equality and survival of life, the flora and the fauna inclusive. Thus, God of creation and life is fundamental to their being and mission. It is these people who seem to understand better what it means “being Church” in Asia and the Pacific.