Editor's note: Paul Yuan is a Chinese missionary currently serving in Australia for 19 years. He came to faith in China, pursued further studies overseas, and has since been engaged in campus ministry, primarily reaching university students and recent graduates. Initially focused on Chinese communities, his mission work has expanded across diverse cultural groups. In the past three years, he has increasingly devoted himself to outreach among Pacific Island nations. In the second part of an exclusive interview with China Christian Daily (read part 1 here), Paul shares his reflections on cross-cultural mission and the strategies he has adopted. He also provides an overview of the countries in Oceania where he serves and encourages Chinese Christians to step out and learn from one another.
Paul's first impression of mission work overseas was a sense of freedom. Unlike in China, he could form student fellowships on university campuses, openly recruit members, organize activities, and use school platforms and resources. Connecting with other clubs and building networks was also easy.
Yet this freedom brought challenges. In Australia, openness introduced diverse values, exposing young people to confusion and uncertainty about choices.
When asked which religion was thriving in Australia, Paul answered, "None." Hinduism and Islam are heavily secularized, and Christianity has been assimilated, becoming more charitable under Eastern religious influence while its core beliefs weakened. Mission efforts by Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses have struggled as well. Paul observed, "If I had to name what's thriving, I'd say LGBT ideologies—sexual and gender diversity movements—are what's truly thriving."
Three years ago, Paul expanded his mission from Australia and New Zealand, largely influenced by Western culture, into the Pacific Islands, encountering even more diverse cultures. He described these islands as shame- or guilt-based cultures, rather than accountability-based ones. Though predominantly Christian, most people are cultural Christians who don't understand sin or salvation. Strong family ties, tribal traditions, and superstitions heavily shape their worldview. Politics, culture, and religion are deeply entwined.
Reflections on Cross-Cultural Missions
"Cross-cultural missions are inherently challenging," Paul said. Entering a foreign culture means facing culture shock—new food, language, perspectives, emotions, and physical discomfort. The first six months to a year may feel novel, but from around one to four years, there's a period of deep struggle. "What is truth? What is just culture or tradition?" These lines can become blurred.
Sometimes missionaries may oppose certain traditions or cultural traits, whether from the host culture or their upbringing, but inadvertently resist biblical truth or pass on culture under the guise of teaching the truth.
This prompted him to ponder how Jesus himself crossed the cultural chasm between heaven and earth in humility. "Thinking about Christ's humility—how he took on flesh and gave himself in love—challenges me to live out that same love in my life and mission."
A cross-cultural pastor whom Paul deeply respects once told him: A simple rule for cross-cultural missions is that the preacher feels comfortable, and the hearer feels comfortable too.
"I find 'comfortable' to be a simple yet profound criterion," Paul said. "Am I comfortable eating this food, wearing these clothes, spending time with this person? The human soul is sensitive—when I'm genuinely comfortable, they know I've accepted them, and they'll open their hearts to receive what I share."
But moving from discomfort to comfort isn't easy. "The missionary's humility and brokenness are the path that bears fruit," he added.
Cross-Cultural Mission Strategies
For Paul, effective cross-cultural mission follows the apostle Paul's model—not personally pastoring thousands, but equipping local leaders to reach their communities. He now raises local leaders who preach within their networks.
He also emphasized that the mission is broader than frontline work and should be understood holistically. Overseeing broader development efforts, Paul sees education as vital for mission impact. In many Asian countries where persecution exists, theological education has become a key tool for mission work. Economic factors also affect missions. In Australia, mission costs are high, directly limiting outreach scale.
In the Pacific Islands, Paul's work has expanded from university student ministries to youth ministries. The islands are poor and lack educational resources. Secularization is severe, with Hinduism and Islam presenting additional challenges. HIV is spreading among youth. Paul observed, "This shows legalistic or cultural Christianity is not enough to protect the next generation."
Through conversations with local churches, Paul learned that they are deeply troubled by the challenges of youth ministry. Young people are curious, ask many questions about faith, and challenge traditions after reading the Bible. However, under the shame-based culture, local leaders often cannot bear these challenges and are not equipped to serve youth. Thus, Paul sees youth ministry as a key channel to reach more people.
He urged Australian missionaries to break geographic barriers and engage more face-to-face with missionaries from other countries, beyond online exchanges. Oceania is spiritually and geographically isolated. Travel is expensive, and even inter-island flights are limited due to poverty and infrastructure, which causes division. Paul hopes for more visitors and that locals also travel more to strengthen global connections.
Country Profiles in Oceania
Paul stresses understanding the history of mission places to grasp people and challenges deeply. He noted Hinduism's influence in Oceania that Indian culture significantly impacts parts of Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. He believes that wherever Indian culture penetrates, secularization tends to follow quickly. This is because Hinduism is inherently pluralistic, and adding one more god doesn't matter. Once this mindset takes root, secularization is the next step.
For example, Queensland, Australia, with fewer Indians, is less secularized despite economic development than New South Wales. Victoria, by contrast, is highly secularized. This is partly due to a large Indian community, as well as its left-leaning political climate.
While Australia is home to a variety of conservative groups, Paul notes that their motivations and foundations vary widely and are not uniformly rooted in traditional gospel teachings. Historically, Anglicanism was the first Christian denomination to take root in Australia, followed by Catholicism. Both had tendencies toward monopoly. The Anglicans once persecuted Catholics, who were marginalized in early Australian society. This monopolistic mindset remains particularly strong in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, though Anglicanism elsewhere has liberalized.
These groups seek to maintain influence through institutional systems. Historically tied to politics, Anglicanism lost many of its structural advantages, but its ideological influence persists. While appearing Christian on the surface, some conservative factions react extremely and may conceal nationalist or white supremacist views under a religious veneer.
New Zealand is similar to Australia, but Paul estimates, around 40–50% of its culture is influenced by the Pacific Islands. It is also more directly influenced by the United States, especially in trade and consumer products. Due to past policies, its economy is now in crisis. The country lacks basic, productive industries, and its economy has struggled to recover after the pandemic. As a result, living costs remain high while housing prices continue to fall. Compared to Australia, New Zealand is less secularized. Some universities in Auckland encourage expressions of faith, in contrast to many Australian universities where religious expression is restricted.
The Pacific Islands are generally poor and underdeveloped. Paul sees potential in Fiji, which is becoming more open, with increasing direct flights and visa-free access for over 200 countries. Chinese passport holders can stay in Fiji for up to four months without a visa. However, secularization is intensifying there, and Hinduism and Islam are growing threats.
Most islands have limited educational resources. Many have only one or two seminaries crowded by students from all denominations due to faculty shortages. Paul once tried to buy a bookshelf in the Solomon Islands but found none in town; a local said, "People here basically don't read."
In Papua New Guinea, despite government efforts a decade ago to build nine universities to promote education, political instability in recent years has led to chaos, youth unemployment, and riots. West Pacific University was opened in 2021, but education promotion remains difficult. The country's faith foundation is weak, and secularism is prevalent. Many young people feel that cultural Christianity offers no answers, so they abandon their faith and descend into moral chaos.
At the University of the South Pacific in Tonga, regarded as one of the best regional universities, desks and teaching equipment are outdated. There are no projectors, just old slide projectors. Yet for Tonga, this is high quality.
Paul observes that wealthy and powerful nations are unwilling to help small countries that don't benefit them. "Unless a person, a country, or an institution is driven by the gospel, they will never give their best to the poor," he said. "Only those who truly understand the gospel will give their best."
Message to the Chinese Church
Paul hopes more Chinese Christians will step out in mission. He acknowledges that some may lose their faith once exposed to too much freedom and confusion, but he believes that's part of the learning process.
"The Bible speaks of repentance as a change of mind. I believe that change of mind is a crucial foundation for the Holy Spirit's work," Paul said. Such a change cannot happen through online exchange alone.
Drawing on history, Paul points out that in the early 19th century, some Chinese people who spent extended time abroad experienced shifts in thinking that eventually contributed to cultural and democratic reforms. Such transformation demands long-term engagement rather than brief exposure.
He emphasized, "Christ became flesh. The early church fought hard against Gnosticism—against the idea of just intellectual change without bodily engagement. If your body doesn't move, you cannot experience holistic transformation."
Paul calls not just for short-term mission but for long-term commitment: "We must be willing to stay long-term, to go through cultural clashes, personal struggles, and crises of self-worth. That's when we truly begin to learn what culture is, what Christ is, and how to love sacrificially across cultures."
(Paul Yuan is a pseudonym for safety reasons.)
