Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Intercultural Studies
College
Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary
Program
Doctor of Missiology DMiss
First Advisor
Bruce Bauer
Second Advisor
Boubakar Sanou
Third Advisor
Samuel Telemaque
Abstract
Problem
There has been a significant increase in the number of Chinese missionaries sent by the Chinese Union Mission to plant diaspora churches overseas through its Global Chinese Missions initiative. Yet missiological research on the topic remains embryonic. There is a growing need for an in-depth understanding and assessment of trends, mission methodologies, outcomes, impact, and particularly missiological implications for the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in China and globally.
Method
Dialogue with the research objectives suggested a combination of methods: a literature review (biblical, historical, theoretical, documental) and qualitative field research via ethnography as the most appropriate methodological approach to addressing my research questions.
Results
The literature review indicates that diaspora missions are both biblical and contextual, and have been consistently employed throughout various periods, from the early Christian Church period to the pioneering years of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The field research identified seven findings, reflecting the Chinese missionaries’ core reality in their mission to the diaspora Chinese overseas.
Conclusions
Five major missiological implications for the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from the engagement of Chinese missionaries in mission to diaspora Chinese overseas were drawn by comparing the research findings with the literature review. These implications may have an impact on the mission of the Church on both a regional and a global scale.
Subject Area
Chinese missionaries; Chinese diaspora; Missionaries--China; Seventh-day Adventists--Missions; Global Chinese Missions Initiative;
Recommended Citation
Portes, Gustavo E. P., "Xuanjiao De Zhongguo (Missionary China) Missiological Implications from the Engagement of Chinese Adventist Missionaries in Mission to Diaspora Chinese Overseas: an Ethnographic Perspective" (2026). Dissertations DIS. 9.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dmiss/9