MORALITY AND SPIRITUALITY OF ASIAN LAY MISSIONARIES

AN ASIAN FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE

Authors

  • Mary Mee-Yin Yuen Chinese University of Hong Kong

Keywords:

Feminist Theology, Laity, Missiology, Missionary, Mission Theology, Women in Ministry

Abstract

This article examines the morality and spirituality of women lay missionaries from an Asian feminist perspective. With a renewed understanding of mission and evangelization, the women lay missionaries I interviewed are moral agents who participate in the mission of God actively. Asian feminist theology understands mission in a way that opens liberating spaces for global interdependence and responsibility for our common past and present. It interprets mission in relational terms, calling people to live in relationships to be fully human. Based on my interviews with the lay missionaries from Hong Kong and my observation of lay missionaries of other Asian places, I found that their understanding of mission is based on an inclusive, relational understanding of Divine power and relation. They integrate spirituality and morality through their ministries. They put their understanding of mission into practice, in solidarity with local people in the spirit of affirming relatedness. They collaborated closely with local people in dialogue and partnership.

Author Biography

Mary Mee-Yin Yuen, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Mary Mee-Yin Yuen is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Catholic Studies, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is also a guest professor of social ethics at the Holy Spirit Seminary College of Theology and Philosophy, Hong Kong, and teaches Catholic social teaching in various institutes in Hong Kong and Macau. She received her PhD in interdisciplinary studies (Christian ethics and Chinese social thought) from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, USA, and STL from the Jesuit School of
Theology, Santa Cruz University, USA. Her academic interests include social ethics, ethics and spirituality, globalization, economic justice, women and religion, feminist theology and Confucian ethics. Email: mymyuen@gmail.com

References

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Published

2016-06-30

How to Cite

Yuen, M. M.-Y. (2016). MORALITY AND SPIRITUALITY OF ASIAN LAY MISSIONARIES: AN ASIAN FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE. Asian Horizons, 10(02), 313–325. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/ah/article/view/2076