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Connecting Your Congregation Connect with the Immigrant South and Southeast Asian communities South and Southeast Asian immigrant communities in the US are in need of emotional and spiritual support. Many have lost friends and relatives. Most South and Southeast Asian immigrants are typically well educated, tend to be middle class and live in suburban communities. They are doctors, engineers, accountants, computer programmers as well as business people. You may also find that certain neighborhoods in your city have populations of people from a particular country. For example, if you ask where Sri Lankans live in New York, the obvious answer is Staten Island. If you ask where Indians live and have their businesses in Chicago, the obvious answer is Devon Avenue on the Northside. There are likely to be locally available resources for connecting with the immigrant communities. Wherever possible, we encourage you to connect with the houses of worship that serve the immigrant communities. In the spirit of Jesus’ command to “Love your neighbor,” you may call the local temple, mosque or church and offer your support and seek ways to work together in common concern for the people suffering the devastation of the tsunamis. Sri Lanka and South India Sri Lankans belong to two major ethnic/language groups, Sinhala and Tamil. The tsunami hit the Southeastern-most state in India, Tamil Nadu hard as well. Most Sri Lankan Sinhalese are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition (tradition of the monks). Sri Lankan Tamils and the people of Tamil Nadu share the language, culture and religion. Most Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindus and are likely to worship in Hindu temples (particularly South Indian – Tamil temples). Sri Lankan Christians are both Sinhalese and Tamil and typically worship in mainstream churches.
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, although located 900 miles from the mainland of India are Indian
territory. These islands were devastated in the tsunami. There are very
few people from those islands in the United States. Indonesia, Malaysia and Maldive Islands Eighty eight percent of the population of Indonesia is Muslim. They tend to worship in orthodox Mosques and easily blend with other South Asian and Middle Eastern Muslims. Indonesians are 1.3% of the US Muslim population. The largest religious tradition in Malaysia is also Islam, although there are Buddhists, Hindus and Daoists is reasonable numbers as well. The archipelago of Maldive Islands was hit hard and many of the islands totally destroyed. Most Maldavians are Sunni Muslims. The population of Maldive Islands is 270,000 and not more than a few people are in the United States. Those who are here are likely to worship in orthodox mosques.
Thailand Thailand's population is relatively homogeneous. More than 85% speak a Tai language and share a common culture. Theravada Buddhism is the official religion of Thailand and is the religion of about 95% of its people. Disclaimer: This resource is intended to be a helpful resource to churches and other religious institutions to reach out to the South and Southeast Asian immigrant communities at a time of their emotional and spiritual need. It is incomplete and requires more research. If you have other relevant information that should go on this page, please email it to: shanta@ncccusa.org Other Resources on the NCC website: |