Asian immigration is transforming the Australian church and society. Migration from Asian countries occupies six of the ten largest groups migrating to Australia. While most Australian churches are declining and aging, Asian Australian churches are young and growing. The end of white Australian Christianity is near. The future of the church is Asian.
Sunburnt Country, Sweeping Pains shares the stories of Asian Australian women as they experience inequality, racism, sexism, and stereotypes in ministry and mission. These women also talk about the joy and meaning they find in serving God's church and world. In this book, Graham Joseph Hill examines 21,987 NCLS surveys, 36 detailed surveys, and 15 in-depth interviews with Asian Australian Christian women. These women share their stories of discrimination and efforts to bring change. They also offer proposals for a more equal, fair, and just Australian church.
Sunburnt Country, Sweeping Pains is essential reading for all who value the voices and stories of women and want to address racism and sexism in church and society. Asian Australian Christian women guide us toward a multiethnic church that values equality and dignity for women and men of all cultures.
Industry Reviews
“Graham Joseph Hill is well-known as a scholar and an author who conveys the sound of the field. Many of his writings have focused on reflecting the voices of ethnic minorities, women, and marginal people in Christian ministry. Migration is one of the essential phenomena in missionary works. However, the traditional mainstream society does not understand the difficulties of immigrants. I recommend this book to pastors and missionaries amid a changing society.”
—Timothy Hyun Mo Lee, Korea Baptist Theological Seminary
“Sunburnt Country, Sweeping Pains is an essential and honest look at the challenges that Asian Australian women have faced (and still face) as ministers of the gospel. It is a timely study for the church to examine in this rising season of justice that God is sweeping worldwide. May God use this book to bring about healing, redemption, and much-needed change for our sisters in ministry.”
—Eddie Byun, Talbot School of Theology
“This is a timely book that spotlights the under-recognized contribution of Asian Australian women to Australia’s increasingly diverse churches. Asian Australian women are uniquely gifted to create and facilitate third spaces and disciple and minister to people from third cultures. This book is essential for church ministers who wish to deeply embrace and empower their diverse congregations beyond mere representation.”
—Enqi Weng, Deakin University
“This stimulating, accessible, and revealing book . . . makes visible the lived realities and the discrimination that migrant Asian women experience within society and the church. It shares their powerful and faith-filled efforts to foster a change that rests on values of equality, dignity, and justice within the church. This book enables the reader to appreciate and critically analyze the intersections of gender, ethnicity, and religion.”
—Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity
“If you think that this book is a niche, think again! Graham Joseph Hill and Jessie Giyou Kim’s research is timely and specific to Australian Christianity yet no less urgent and relevant to the rest of the church striving to be one new humanity in Christ in a diverse and globalized world. Sunburnt Country, Sweeping Pains is a unique and much-needed resource!”
—Ahmi Lee, Fuller Theological Seminary
“Sunburnt Country, Sweeping Pains is a profoundly moving, biblically based, and excellent book on Asian Australian women’s experiences of inequality, racism, sexism, and stereotypes well as joy and fulfillment in ministry and mission. It includes thirty-six constructive suggestions for dealing with such racism, sexism, and inequality. Highly recommended as essential reading!”
—Siang-Yang Tan, Fuller Theological Seminary
“This pioneering book showcases the leadership and ministry of Asian Australian women and explores discrimination and barriers they face. Using an intersectional approach that includes race, gender, class, and migration, this book contributes to our understanding of the changing face of world Christianity. I highly recommend it.”
—Kwok Pui-lan, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
“This book breaks down the wall of orientalism in Australian society and the white male-dominated theological field. It contributes to true reconciliation in Christ between the host and the guest, enabling them to overcome the social gap. For the migrant and the diaspora generation living through the twenty-first-century pandemic, this book tills the earth to plant new seeds and let the marginalized voices echo.”
—Hanna Hyun, Juan International University
“This is such necessary research capturing
