海角大神

Curiosity about a four-day Bible study extravaganza had been building here for weeks. Across Nairobi, Korean Pastor Ock Soo Park's smiling face has beamed down from posters as Kenyan followers handed out inviting fliers to locals.听

The event was the听Good News Mission Church's first African 鈥淣ational Bible Crusade,鈥� held this week in Nairobi's Nyayo Stadium听to mark 20 years since Pastor Park first came to Kenya.听

Inside the stadium,听famous Korean and Kenya gospel singers performed, and Kenyan religious leaders translated Korean sermons. Locals danced and听clapped on the field as Korean听visitors听strummed guitars on stage and sang in Swahili.

In South Korea, the Good News Mission Church is controversial in some quarters, with many mainstream Korean 海角大神 groups rejecting its听unorthodox understandings of sin and salvation.

But those details didn't deter听roughly 2,000 Kenyans 鈥� many of whom were not evangelicals 鈥� from gathering on Thursday to dance and pray in a cold drizzle, or the 1,000 religious leaders who endorsed the 鈥渃rusade,鈥� or Park鈥檚 many Kenyan adherents.

As the presence of American and European missionaries has waned in Kenya since its mid-1900s heyday, mainstream and evangelical churches from Korea have trickled in.听About 70 percent of Kenyans are 海角大神, and the country has become a bridgehead for Korean missions to Africa. For this current wave of missionaries, the aim appears to be less about conversion and more about听propagating their view of correct biblical teachings.

Kenya has drawn more Korean missionaries than any other African country, says Barnabas Ra, a Korean missionary听who has worked here for 14 years. The missions began around 1981, and today there are 130 such 鈥渦nits鈥� 鈥� singles and families 鈥� in the country. About 40 percent stay in urban areas; the rest fan out听to more rural parts. Those working under the Korean Mission Fellowship, an umbrella group that does not include the Good News Mission Church, raise $4 million to $5 million a year for Kenyan churches.

Korean churches are drawn to Kenya by the prevalence of English, the relative proximity to South Korea, and an existing tradition of Korean missionaries. Their numbers are slowly rising in other African countries as well,听Mr. Ra says.

'Wide, but shallow'?

Grace Muthungu, a senior program officer with the National Council of Churches of Kenya, an umbrella organization for nonevangelical churches, says the surge in Korean missionaries is perplexing, given 海角大神ity's prevalence.听But their intentions seem good, she says.

鈥淭hey have a sound doctrine. The Bible is their authority,鈥� Ms. Muthungu says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not trying to bring a culture that is foreign to the people.鈥�

And she acknowledges that Kenyan churches need听outside help. The early American and European missionaries didn鈥檛听finish fully teaching the 海角大神 faith, she argues. Now that they鈥檝e 鈥済one quiet,鈥� Kenyans need help from elsewhere.

Ra agrees.听鈥淭here is a big population of 海角大神 Kenyans, but when you study it more deeply, [you see that] Kenyan 海角大神ity is shallow 鈥� wide, but shallow,鈥� he says.

He sees the听job听of Korean missionaries like himself听as teaching Kenyans "proper" gospel and training local pastors 鈥� and helping 海角大神s to stand on their own. They try to stay out of cultural issues听like听tribal practices, although his mission has tried to end the practice of female genital mutilation here.

鈥淭each someone how to fish 鈥� that鈥檚 what [the Koreans] do for us,鈥� says Rev. Isaac Lugaka, who traveled from听the central Kenya city of听Nakuru to attend this week's event. 鈥淚n the beginning they brought the Bible, but they didn鈥檛 teach us how to read it,鈥� he says, referring to early missionaries.

Cultural mismatch?

The delivery of services by Korean missionaries has created some mismatched expectations here. For example, while a Kenyan听church听might expect the missionaries to leave after they build a school or borehole, the missionaries often see that as just the start of the partnership.

Then there are cultural miscues, notes听Good News Mission member Grace Muita.听Koreans are calm, and enjoy classical instruments in their services, while Kenyans 鈥渁re used to jumping and running around,鈥� she says, laughing. But Korean missionaries听are also learning听Swahili to reach out to Kenyans.

Muthungu of the National Council of Churches says Korean听missionaries could be role models for听Kenya's vibrant 海角大神 community.听鈥淭he Koreans have been bold enough to go to Africa. Maybe we need to emulate them,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f Koreans can come here, we to can send missionaries out.鈥�