Asia and Pacific

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Asia and Pacific
Asia and Pacific: Wikimedia Commons, 2009
Countries with Anabaptist-Related Groups Formally Associated with MWC	15 (2009)

In Asia and the Pacific there are 15 countries with Anabaptist-related groups officially associated with Mennonite World Conference (MWC), as well as other Anabaptist-related groups still not officially attached to MWC. The Anabaptist presence in Asia has grown in a variety of different ways. The first Anabaptists in Asia were Dutch Mennonites from the Netherlands who established a missionary presence on the Indonesia islands Java and Sumatra in 1851. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Mennonite groups began missionary work in India and China, and from the 1940s on Mennonite relief workers volunteered throughout Asia. An Anabaptist presence also grew in Asiatic Russia beginning in the late 1800s as Russian Mennonite groups emigrated from eastern Russia. In the latter half of the twentieth century autonomous Anabaptist groups began to develop relatively free of North American or European missionary influence as individuals in several countries in Asia and the Pacific became interested in applying Anabaptist theology to their own distinct contexts.

The Anabaptist presence in Asia and the Pacific reflects the broader global trend of large growth in the Anabaptist church outside of the Europe and North America. In 1950 the Anabaptist population in Asia was less than 45,000, but by 2009 that number had risen to over 265,000.

Countries with Anabaptist-Related Groups

In 2009 there were 15 countries in Asia and the Pacific with Anabaptist groups officially associated with Mennonite World Conference, as well as other countries with Anabaptist groups without official membership in Mennonite World Conference.

Australia Cambodia China/Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan

Myanmar Nepal Philippines Singapore South Korea Taiwan Thailand Vietnam

Other Regions

Click on the links below to learn about Anabaptist-related groups in other parts of the world:

• Africa
• Caribbean, Central and South America
• Europe
• North America (United States and Canada)

Electronic Resources

• 2009 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ World Membership
• 2009 Mennonite World Conference Directory for Asia and the Pacific
• 2006 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ World Membership
• 2006 Mennonite World Conference Directory for Asia and the Pacific

Annotated Bibliography

• Bender, Harold S. "Asia (1955)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1955. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/asia (accessed 6 July 2009).

While dated, this encyclopedic article on the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online offers basic information about the early Mennonite presence in Asia. Additionally, the article includes a table of 2006 MWC Asia and Pacific membership numbers.

Archives and Libraries

• Mennonite Historical Library (MHL)

The MHL is a research level library located on Goshen College's campus in Goshen, Indiana that collects bibliographies, texts and images on topics related to the Radical Reformation, the Anabaptists, Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish and various related groups. The MHL has many resources on Mennonite groups in the Caribbean, Central and South America. To contact the MHL email mhl@goshen.edu or call (574) 535-7418.

• There are many archives and libraries throughout Asia and the Pacific relating to specific countries or Anabaptist related groups. To learn more about these archives and libraries click on the country links above.

External Links

Asia on Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online