Reaching People with a Buddhist Worldview

Endorsements

• Reaching People with a Buddhist Worldview helps the reader understand the theological, social, and cultural challenges involved in communicating the gospel effectively to Buddhist people. Through years of experience in a variety of Asian contexts, the authors have learned that Christian witness must engage the truth, goodness, and beauty in Buddhism and Buddhist communities. This is an excellent book for pastors and missionaries working with Asian Buddhists.

  Stephen Bailey, PhDAssociate Professor of Mission and Development Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary

• This book refutes the old idea that “for missionaries, understanding Buddhism was not relevant to the way they preach the gospel,” so there was “no need for reflection on potential issues posed by a Buddhist worldview.” The book is deeply relevant, accessible, and convincing. It is an eye-opener and provides food for thought for both local church leaders and foreign missionaries, as well as congregation members. It is the most insightful and crucial reading for the progress of the gospel in the Buddhist world.

  Mali Boon-Itt and Bantoon Boon-Itt, PhD

• This timely volume makes a compelling case: ministry among Buddhists without understanding Buddhism is like repairing a car blindfolded—you might occasionally grab the right tool, but mostly you’re guessing. Drawing on rich personal stories and rigorous scholarship, the authors challenge the Protestant church’s long-standing failure to engage seriously with Buddhism or to address Christianity’s perceived foreignness in Buddhist contexts. With the global rise of short-term missions and Western forms of ministry, their insights are urgently needed. Importantly, to share Christ meaningfully among Buddhist peoples, we must understand the Buddhist worldview that shapes identity, belonging, and morality. When we ignore this worldview, we unintentionally misread Buddhists through Protestant assumptions—leading to chronic misunderstandings, weakened evangelism, and discipleship gaps where unaddressed Buddhist commitments quietly persist. The concluding chapter alone deserves to be required reading for anyone serving among Buddhist communities.

  Chris Flanders, PhDProfessor of Missions, Abilene Christian UniversityMissionary in Thailand for 11 years

• This is a crucial, clarifying work. For too long, the Western mission world has operated under a flawed assumption, what this book rightly labels the “Evangelical Protestant Interpretation of Buddhism,” which incorrectly assesses Buddhist adherence based on foreign cultural markers. This narrow understanding has actively disabled existing Thai and Buddhist-background churches from finding culturally appropriate ways to follow Jesus.

  This book is an essential, firm challenge: We must stop merely exporting foreign forms and aggressive methods. The solutions to the deep-seated barriers of identity, ritual, and communication lie exclusively “inside the Thai church and Thai culture,” not in imported techniques.

  If the goal is truly to see “fresh indigenous expressions” of faith, foreign mission resources must be redirected now. We must fully invest in, trust, and empower indigenous leaders to deploy “tried and true” local methods developed on “native soil,” ensuring they have the legitimacy and tools to translate the Gospel story effectively within their own cultural context. This volume is indispensable for anyone serious about fulfilling the Great Commission in the Buddhist world and resourcing movements that will actually transform it.

  Dwight Martin, MBAPresident, Association of Free Churches in Thailand

• This book directly addresses one of the central challenges of contemporary mission: how to communicate the gospel to people shaped by a Buddhist worldview. By integrating solid theoretical reflection with field-based wisdom, this volume offers valuable guidance for all who are engaged in mission. Chapter 4, in particular, presents insights from three missionaries with long experience in ministry in Japan, clearly identifying the influence and obstacles of Buddhism in the Japanese context and offering constructive ways forward. As a Japanese pastor, I found this chapter both deeply instructive and personally encouraging. I pray that God will richly use this book and that it will contribute to the powerful advancement of the gospel among people influenced by a Buddhist worldview.

  Rev. Noriyuki Miyake, MPhilPresident, Central Bible College

• Just as there are different expressions of the Christian Gospel (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, etc.), there are different expressions of the Buddha Dharma (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, etc.). One Gospel, many forms; one Dharma, many teachers. The editors and authors of this compilation not only acknowledge the different articulations of Buddhism, they recommend various missional “languages,” each one designed to make the Gospel come alive in disparate Asian Buddhist cultures and countries. When in Theravada Sri Lanka, give voice to the Gospel’s take on dukkha, anicca, anatta. When in Vajrayana Tibet, announce the gospel story using tantra, mantra, mandala. And be prepared to have Christian-Buddhist exchanges you never thought possible. An extraordinarily useful resource.

  Terry C. Muck, PhDProfessor of Religion, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

• As a representative of a school that prepares missionaries, and of a young mission agency that supports long-term ministry, I welcome this publication with great joy. This book will be a true blessing for all those called by God to serve in a Buddhist context, as it offers not only a clearer understanding of Buddhism and its main expressions but also practical solutions for discipleship within this religious and cultural environment—insights coming from practitioners who have devoted decades of their lives to this work. Now, when the final frontier in mission is represented by the unreached people groups, this manual can contribute significantly to the better equipping of those who will minister in Buddhist settings and, ultimately, to the advancement of the Gospel to “the ends of the earth.”

  Pastor Gheorghe RitisanPresident and Founder, Romanian Center for Cross-Cultural Studies (CRST)President, Romanian Pentecostal Foreign Mission Agency (APME)

• Why does the gospel come across as noise to most participants in the three strands of Buddhism? This practical and perceptive volume, birthed in the crucible of years of field service across Asia, calls for experiential apologetics anchored in long-term relationships over evidential apologetics. Don’t miss this perceptive path to a required paradigm shift.

  Tom Steffen, DMissEmeritus Professor of Intercultural Studies, Cook School of Intercultural Studies, Biola UniversityCo-author, Character Theology

Additional Details

• Pages: 232
• Publisher: William Carey Publishing
• Binding: Paperback
• Publish Year: 2026
• ISBN: 9781645086918
• Vendor: William Carey Publishing