Conversion of Chinese Students in Korea to Evangelical Christianity

Factors, Process, and Types

Chang Seop Kang

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781666703528, 9781666703535
• eBook ISBN: 9781666703542
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Currently, about 6 percent of the eighty thousand Chinese college students in Korea are Christians, certainly no small number considering their future role within the Chinese Church. In this study, Chang Seop Kang seeks to find out the factors, process, and types concerning the conversion of thirty Chinese international students. This qualitative study gives a rich picture of their conversion stories, providing many examples from their insider perspectives. The key finding connecting these stories is experiencing God. Overall, this book showcases how an inductive data analysis such as grounded theory can produce a powerful message that affirms biblical truth.

1

Introduction

Statement of Research Problem

According to Miikka Ruokanen, Protestant Christianity has become one of the fastest growing religions in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter China).1 The total number of Christians in China is about 130 million, which is second only to the United States.2 The Chinese church has experienced phenomenal growth since the Chinese government implemented its Open Door Policy in 1979. Because the Chinese government and enterprises have been able to provide job opportunities, many Chinese people who studied overseas have been returning to their home country. Among the returnees, called hai-gui, there are many Christians who converted to Christianity while studying overseas. These Christian returnees are forming a new type of Chinese church, the urban intellectual house church, which is distinct from both the house church and the registered church (Three-Self Patriotic Movement Church).3 This new category of the Christian church makes Christianity no longer a religion only for the marginalized—the old, the sick, the illiterate, and women—as people used to characterize the house church movement.4

In 2012, I attended a forum, hosted by the Association of Chinese Mission Organizations, for those working to evangelize Chinese students. Many attendees asked for more information that could help them work more effectively. Since Korea began receiving Chinese students in 1994, the number of Chinese students in Korea has been gradually increasing. In 2011, there were 47,725 students in degree programs in Korea. In 2015, the Korean Ministry of Education estimated that approximately 54,000 Chinese students were currently studying in Korea, on almost every university campus.5 Although the significance of the ministry to Chinese students is apparent, little research has been conducted regarding their conversion to Christianity. Many pastors and missionaries in Korea who work with Chinese students mention the need for more research in order to help them understand the conversion of Chinese students.

Statement of Purpose

Conversion happens due to certain factors in the process of decision-making, and it may be of a particular type. The purpose of this study is to discover the primary factors, process, and types of conversion of Chinese students in Korea to Evangelical Christianity. Understanding why some factors are more positive in the process of conversion, whereas others may negatively affect the process can be beneficial to pastors who are reaching out to Chinese students.

Conversion does not happen in an instant but takes place through a process in which several factors work together in each stage, from the initial encounter to the decision to convert. Exploring the dynamism of the steps of the conversion process will give a big picture of conversion. My research was designed to identify specific types of conversions along with the factors that might distinctively affect particular types of conversion. For example, Chinese students, because they were brought up in strong, atheistic environments, might struggle to accept the concept of a deity. How do they come to accept this idea? What are the factors that contribute to such change? What does the process look like? What are the types of conversion? These are the questions that I address in this study.

Research and Interview Questions

The research question for this study is as follows: What are the primary factors, process, and types of conversion to Christianity among Chinese students studying in various programs in universities in South Korea? The question has three aspects: the primary factors, the process, and the types of conversion. In order to establish a religious conversion theory, I utilize the methodology of grounded theory.6

As grounded theory emphasizes, interview questions are simple and open-ended at the initial stage. One of the specific features of grounded theory methodology is that it is generative in terms of creating interview questions according to the principle of theoretical sampling. The researcher develops interview questions by way of theoretical sampling rather than preparing the questions beforehand. I developed four initial interview questions for this project:

1.What was your life like before you became a Christian?

2.What made you decide to become a Christian?

3.What were the difficulties for you in becoming a Christian?

4.How did you overcome these difficulties?

Definition of Terms

For the purposes of this study, certain terms are defined as follows.

•Chinese student: One who was born in China, came to Korea after graduating high school in China, is studying in or has graduated from a Korean university, and is currently residing in Korea.

•Conversi...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Precedents and Related Literature
• Chapter 3: Research Methodology
• Chapter 4: Findings
• Chapter 5: Conclusion
• Appendix A: Translation of Consent Form
• Appendix B: Translation of Demographic Questionnaire
• Appendix C: Location of Voice Recording Materials
• Bibliography