Reaching out to diaspora Chinese in East Africa: Barriers and Bridges:

The influx of Chinese in East Africa presents churches with an opportunity to engage in cross-cultural evangelism right in their own neighborhoods. East African churches are well equipped to engage in evangelism and discipleship, yet Chinese immigrants in these urban areas are largely overlooked. This qualitative study seeks to understand the barriers and cultural bridges that East African church leaders identify regarding outreach to their Chinese neighbors. While language and cultural distance cause barriers, church leaders say they can bridge the distance with some extra cultural knowledge and the help of mediators. We conclude that church leaders’ understanding of reaching Chinese people is a good start—though incomplete—and can be informed with more exposure to cross-cultural strategies and issues related to contextualizing Christianity within Chinese culture.