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As a child, I remember walking by the open door of a house and hearing the awful wailing of the Mudang woman—a kind of shaman witch doctor—who had been called into a home where there was a crisis. The woman would dance in order to drive out the spirit that had caused the crisis. As the Mudang danced, the members of the family would put money into her pockets. They believed the more money they gave, the more blessings they would receive. Now that the "blessings" are drying up for the Asian Christians, they are beginning to look inward.

For example, the church in South Korea is finally recognizing its materialism and secularism—trends that have been predicted by some who have charted the tremendous church growth in our country during the 1980s. To these ecclesiastical watchdogs, it was just a matter of time until the South Korean church would be facing the kinds of things the church in the West is facing. They have been proven right. Decay has set in. Already in 1994, a statistical bulletin put out by the government's Ministry of Information posted a 4 percent decline in church attendance. That decline has continued, and pastors are feeling it at the grassroots level. One pastor of a 6,000-member church in Seoul reently told me his church has experienced a 43 percent decline in giving since the economic crisis became full-blown. That same church has laid off nine of its pastoral staff and cut a number of its projects for the year. Construction on a building project had to be halted for lack of funds.

Since the Asian churches, particularly the churches in South Korea and India, have become sending churches, missions have also taken a severe hit in the economic fallout. The South Korean church, with over 5,500 missionaries in more than 100 countries, is scrambling to come up with new ideas of how to continue funding its mission endeavors. In November of 1997, the South Korean World Missions Association arranged meetings among the missions executives of South Korea to deal with the critical situation arising from the 100 percent devaluation of the South Korean currency. In January, the same group adopted a strategy that included seven recommendations to its 58 member agencies. Included among the recommendations was one that supporting churches raise 40 to 50 percent more support for each missionary, while the missionary in the field cut living expenses by 50 to 60 percent. They encouraged South Korean missionaries to send their children to local indigenous schools rather than to expensive foreign schools. And the South Korean World Missions Association recommended mission administrators reduce overhead costs and cut back on travel expenses for executives.

Pastors and denominational leaders are also hearing the summons. In the countries of Asia where economic prosperity has flourished, the pastor has also participated in the blessings. A long-time concern stemming from the rapid growth and economic prosperity of the church in South Korea has been the politics of money. Money has been the cancer eating away at integrity within the church. Bribery has been common in church politics. I know of one pastor of a large church who was running for the position of moderator of his denomination. At the annual convention, he paid the hotel bill for key delegates in return for their votes.

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November 16 1998, Vol. 42, No. 13