Evangelizing East Asian students in the United States with special reference to media tools

This dissertation explores issues involved in evangelizing and discipling East Asian students in the United States. Factors necessary for the production and use of media tools with this group are described. Chinese students from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, Japanese and Korean students are studied with special emphasis on the East Asian Generation X.; Receptors are described from the perspectives of acculturation patterns and worldview change, attractions and obstacles to faith and conversion patterns. Needs of students at three points in the spiritual decision process are identified, and sixty-four media tools which might meet those needs are evaluated. The study concludes with guidelines for the production and use of media tools with these students.; A literature review on acculturation and worldview change led to the hypotheses that these students have traditional (Confucian and shamanistic), modern and postmodern assumptions in their worldviews and that the primary social network in the United States is the major influence on worldview change. It was further hypothesized that these students are more similar to their American peers than previous generations of foreign students were.; Thirty-six new converts and seekers were interviewed concerning attractions and obstacles to faith and conversion patterns. This data was supplemented by surveys of seventy-one students. The hypotheses introduced above were supported by interview and survey data. The strongest attractions to faith were Christian groups and individuals; obstacles included difficulty believing in God, other unanswered apologetics questions and failure to experience God. The most common conversion pattern was conversion to community before conversion to Christ; the second was crisis followed by commitment. A third pattern, reversion to a previous faith following failure to get results from God, was noted. It was observed that the needs of students preparing to return home are often not met sufficiently.; Many of the media tools evaluated seemed to have been produced on the assumption of sameness rather than the assumption of difference; this made them inadequate for international students. It was recommended that evangelism and discipling be based in international communities with student leadership. Media tools could then be used to supplement relational evangelism.