The article analyses the Russian Orthodox Churchs missionary activity of the in Southeast Asia, with a focus on its prerequisites and the stages of its development. ROC missionary work in the region could build on the experience of pre-revolutionary spiritual missions in Asia, as well as on the Orthodox communities of Russian emigrants after the revolution. Important factors are also the formation of the global labor market; international tourism; and the aspiration of compatriots living abroad to preserve the Russian World (Russkii Mir). The article analyses the Russian historiography of the missionary activity of the Russian Orthodox Church in Southeast Asia. With the establishment of the Patriarchal Exarchate in Southeast Asia in 2018, with its center in Singapore, a new stage of missionary activity in the region began. The establishment of the exarchate in Southeast Asia brought about the systematical management of the numerous Orthodox parishes that appeared at the turn of the millennium in this region. Relying on little-known and understudied historical sources, the authors identified the forms of missionary work in various countries and assessed the scale of activities in relation to the prevailing confessional traditions. This includes an analysis of missionary work in countries dominated by Buddhism (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos), Christianity (the Philippines), and Islam (Indonesia, Malaysia), with special attention paid to the situation in socialist Vietnam and multi-confessional Singapore. The authors conclude that the missionary activity of the Russian Orthodox Church in Southeast Asia has now passed through several stages from the emergence of the first Orthodox communities in the region to the formation of centralized structured management of the numerous new parishes, with missionary work conducted in ways that respond to the local characteristics.
Perceptions of a miracle are extremely diverse and, in many ways, culturally determined. The article discusses a local example of a miracle – the ritual of rain management, which is widespread in Indonesia. In the article, the author inquires, where is the boundary between the shaman’s actions perceived by the participants of the rite as a craft or a practical skill, and at what point in that rite the public has the feeling of witnessing a miracle. In addition, the rain shamans who belong to the Sundanese ethnic group are faithful Muslims and convinced that all miracles come from Allah. The power to move or hold the rain is not the ability of the shaman himself.
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