To commemorate the 120th anniversary of the death of Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, the Global Chinese Mission held a three-day online mission conference from July 25 to 27, 2025.
On July 25, Pastor Yu Mujie, a veteran missionary, spoke on "Disciples on Diaspora Missions," in which he explained its meaning and biblical foundation, shared the current status and new trends of missions in the 21st century, emphasized that the church is the base for missions, and encouraged attendees to remember the Great Commission, to make disciples of all nations.
Pastor Yu began by breaking down his topic. "Disciples on Diaspora Missions" refers to "us," while "diaspora" speaks of "context, environment, and historical background."
He recalled Jesus' instruction to His disciples before His ascension (Acts 1:8), stressing that "Jerusalem, all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" should be reached and preached to "simultaneously".
However, when Peter preached on Pentecost, leading to 3,000 baptisms; when Peter and John healed a man lame from birth at the temple gate called Beautiful; and when 5,000 came to believe, persecution soon followed. The scripture records that after Stephen's martyrdom, "a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria."
"Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went to the ends of the earth," Pastor Yu said. The term "diaspora" is now very common in the missions world.
By comparison, he described three approaches of evangelism: traditional mission is like "setting foot on unreached lands" in that churches send missionaries to the ends of the earth, fulfilling the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations." Internet Mission is like "looking to the north, south, east, and west": using the internet to reach people afar and widely, and using media to make netizens disciples of the Lord. Digital mission was once thought of as a distant future, but became urgent by the sudden arrival of the pandemic. Many churches began meetings in the cloud, reaching people of all ages and backgrounds through diverse media. From micro-missions to online training to integration, missions could no longer be done in isolation, which also fueled bi-vocational missions and workplace missions.
He noted that many traditional Chinese churches are still unfamiliar with digital mission, currently in a "trial-and-observe" stage. Most still focus on short-term summer mission trips, with medium- and long-term missions being rare exceptions, and often lack integrated planning and action. He emphasized, "The church needs to both train missionaries and disciple members to share the gospel."
"Do you already have missionaries ready to be sent out?" This was the question Pastor Yu was once asked by leaders of some Western mission organizations. "Honestly, I couldn't answer," he admitted. "I could only say, 'Give me five years after which we will have them.'" From that experience, he urged, "If the church is going to do mission, there must be a long-term plan."
"We must train everyone to be able to witness and evangelize. Everyone should be able to deliver sermons for three, five, or ten minutes and testify to what God has done in our lives, interweaving Scripture into our testimony. Every believer can be someone who shares the gospel," he said. He encouraged believers in persecuted countries not to feel wronged, for God's grace is sufficient; at the same time, he warned believers in countries with religious freedom to stay alert, as Satan will exploit any weak spot, often disguising itself as an "angel of light" in our lives.
Pastor Yu believed the 21st century is an era of diaspora mission. There are more than 200 million people away from their homelands, with many areas having dozens or even hundreds of foreigners. Christians can disseminate the gospel far and wide, and local churches can also share the gospel with other ethnicities. "The unbelievers are right before us, the opportunity is at our hand; believers are the missionaries, and the church is the base."
He summarized three models of mission: The first one is the Jerusalem Model which aims at equipping the saints who cannot be seduced by wealth or cowed by power and who can still do mission work even when scattered. The Antioch Model refers to a church commissioned by God's kingdom with a strong team. The Jerusalem disciples who were scattered built the Antioch church, which, within a year, trained disciples and sent out Paul and Barnabas, becoming a base for world missions. The third one is the Diaspora Missions Model: to the diaspora by sharing the gospel first with one's own people (for the early church, the Jews); through the diaspora by using scattered disciples to share the gospel; beyond the diaspora by sharing the gospel with Gentiles of other cultures (e.g., Greeks); with the diaspora by obeying the Holy Spirit's sending to begin reaching the ends of the earth in diaspora missions.
He believes 21st-century mission must combine traditional and digital approaches, starting with one's own kinsmen in China to overseas Chinese communities and their descendants scattered globally, then moving on to cross-cultural missions to the ends of the earth, near- and far-culture evangelism, with the church as the mission base, and moving on to digital missions.
Pastor Yu listed areas of gospel work possible in China: leadership training; urban evangelism; ministry to migrant workers; outreach to ethnic minorities; women's ministry; ministry to the elderly; disaster relief, orphan care, and holistic support; and ministry to overseas returnees.
He also mentioned the "Back to Jerusalem Movement", describing it as a "wish" for the gospel to travel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, and from the ends of the earth back to Jerusalem.
"I have nothing, no wealth, no resources," Pastor Yu said, responding firmly to some leaders' misconceptions. "But you have one Bible, two knees, a threefold cord (the domestic church, overseas Chinese, and the global church), the diaspora mission in all four directions, and five loaves and two fish."
Except Pastor Yu, the conference's guest speakers also included Pastor James Hudson Taylor IV (descendant of Hudson Taylor and President of China Evangelical Seminary), and Dr. Evan Liu, founder of the Global Chinese Mission.
Originally published by the Christian Times
- Edited by Karen Luo and translated by Charlie Li
