If you live near a major university, chances are you will meet a student or researcher from China. In the 2013-14 academic year there were 274,439 students from China studying in the US at the university level. That is 31% of all international students studying in the US. This year there are 600 freshman at the University of Illinois—nearly one out of every ten new freshmen. No wonder they have started Mandarin broadcasts of their football games!
Reading Cao Nanlai’s classic Constructing China’s Jerusalem in light of the highly publicized attacks on Wenzhou churches, the obvious question is whether the “Wenzhou model,” as Cao describes it, is still intact, or whether government intervention has significantly altered the formula of church growth and cultural transformation.
As more Chinese businessmen and businesswomen turn to Christ, they are increasingly looking for ways to be salt and light in their communities. In one community in Shandong Province, local Christian businesspeople have formed a fellowship to more effectively serve local churches and society.
Many who return to China do not get deeply involved with a church but instead are greatly influenced by their surrounding secular culture. How can we equip them not only to survive as believers, but to be life-long, fruitful church leaders?
A new blog in China called iWorship is giving voice to Wang Mingdao, one of the great evangelists and leaders of the Chinese church during the twentieth century. Last week, on our Chinese Church Voices blog, we posted a translation of one of their posts, called “Slow to Speak.” In it, Pastor Wang reminds us of the importance of using our words for God’s glory.
Are doors opening for Chinese Christians to be reaching Muslims with the gospel?
It is easy for the church to lose sight of her purpose in the face of today’s challenges. During a recent commemoration of Samuel Pollard, a missionary whose life dramatically impacted large pockets of southern Yunnan, Pastor Gai of Kunming preached on the nature of the church and the calling we must not lose sight of.
A ChinaSource "3 Questions" interview with Dr. Fenggang Yang, director of the Center on Religion and Chinse Society at Purdue University.
What is the most beautiful place in China?
More than 35 years after Deng Xiaoping’s ascendancy to power, a sober assessment of the political implications of Deng’s reforms is much needed. China’s Political Development: Chinese and American Perspectives proposes to fill this gap by bringing together the insights of two dozen eminent scholars, twelve each from China and the United States, to address key aspects of governance reform since 1978.
One popular new Christian blog in China is called iWorship (爱敬拜). A recent post featured an excerpt of some writing by Wang Mingdao, the famous Chinese evangelist of the early twentieth century. In it, he presents multiple scenarios where it is best to be slow to speak, reminding the reader of the importance of making sure that our words are being used for God’s glory. In the era of social media, which demands a comment or opinion or criticism of everything, it remains a good word for us all today.
Three cookbooks everyone who is interested in China—cooks and non-cooks alike—should know about.