Country Profile: Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong is the first Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy of July 1, 1997. With a land mass of 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Its population is 95 % ethnic Chinese and 5% from other groups. After being a British colony for over 150 years till 1997, the current culture of Hong Kong is greatly influenced and often described as 'East meets West.' As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade. Hong Kong people enjoy religious freedom. There is a large variety of religious groups in Hong Kong, including Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. Approximately 43 percent of the population practices some form of religion. The region is home to approximately 700,000 Buddhists and Taoists, 320,000 Protestant Christians, 243,000 Roman Catholics, 90,000 Muslims, 40,000 Hindus, 8,000 Sikhs, and 4,000 practicing Jews.

The work of OM Hong Kong is two-fold: It is a home office sending out recruits from Hong Kong churches to many OM fields, and we also have an outreach ministry to ethnic minorities coming into Hong Kong from South Asia. There are over 300,000 people from minority races in Hong Kong, the equivalent to the number of Christians in the city. People have come to work as a result of globalization and economic development. However, taking root and residency in this predominantly Chinese community is challenging. The outreach team aims to offer them not only warmth, but to take that one step further, leading them to the love of Christ. The team works in cooperation with several local churches and schools, combining proclamation and social service. Activities include visitation, Chinese tuition, adaptation courses, counseling, etc. The team is on one hand serving the great needs among the minority races, and on the other hand mobilizing the local believers and churches to take part in the cross-cultural mission at our doorstep.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony, became the second SAR of China on December 20, 1999. OM started to serve there in 1999 before the handover. The Christian population is pretty small that there are only 63 churches and approximately 0.5% of the population is evangelical Christians. However, the city is strongly dominated by idol worshipping and gambling. Macau has overtaken Las Vegas as the world’s No. 1 gambling market. The challenge is huge, but the workers are few. In the moment, we only have one worker to serve the marginalized people in the region. Come to join us in responding to the great needs in this harvest field!

The team is rooted in this vivid city. If you are interested in joining us to be salt and light among the marginalized people in Hong Kong and Macau, please contact Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spambots. Es necesario activar Javascript para visualizarla  (Hong Kong) or Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spambots. Es necesario activar Javascript para visualizarla (Macau)'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text85336 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spambots. Es necesario activar Javascript para visualizarla  for more information.

Young people (aged 18-30) from New Zealand, Australian, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Canada and Korea may visit Hong Kong by joining the Working Holiday Schemes/Arrangements. For details, they can approach the Chinese embassies or consulates-general in their countries.

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A quarterly report is sent out in Chinese and English, please let us know if you would like to be on the mailing list.

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Alternatively, please check out our website: www.omhk.org