One issue for younger Christians in China is where to turn for good teaching on issues related to relationships and marriage. Because there are fewer Christians in the generation that preceded them, there are few role models. Therefore, the need for resources and training for the Chinese church in this area is great.
One man who is speaking to this need is Yuan Datong (Andrew Yuan), a Christian marriage counselor who conducts marriage workshops in churches all over the country. He has also authored a number of books on the subject, including Marriage: A Covenant for Life.
ChinaSource Team
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September 22, 2015
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Ideas
In China, the “post-eighties” denotes those who are were generally born during the 1980s. They are the earliest generation of those who became known in the West as the “Little Emperors” of China. Typically, they were raised in a family environment where all adults focused their attention on their only heir. R and J review the family relationships, psychological characteristics, and spokespersons for this generation. They then give suggestions for Christian expatriates working with this group.
R and J
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Ideas
An anonymous, small-scale study done by an agency among its Chinese coworkers provides insight into benefits foreign workers bring to their workplace or team as well as advice for improving relationships with their team members and friends.
Suzanne
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Scholarship
Chinese Christians have a unique place in global Christianity and are entering into deeper conversations with Christians worldwide. What do they offer each other? One of the greatest challenges to global Christianity is navigating fragmentation and diversity. Another significant challenge is interaction with people of other religions. How can Chinese Christians help in these and other challenges? What role do they play on the global scene? The author addresses these questions in his discussion of this topic.
Todd M. Johnson
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Scholarship
The changes in China are both positive and negative, and they require us to rethink the kinds of foreign Christians who are still needed in that country. Some kinds of foreigners are not needed while there is a great need for another kind—those who exemplify biblical values and priorities in all aspects of their lives. Not only can they help strengthen the testimony of Chinese believers and those who shepherd them, they can also act as evangelists.
G. Wright Doyle
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Scholarship
The author shares how his worldview has changed over the decades and how his relationships with others have changed as a result of this. As China continues to develop and grow, its need for foreign interaction will change. The deepest benefit foreign believers can bring is the benefit of a life that flows from God through Jesus; however, those whom China invites to come and stay will change according to the country’s felt needs.
Bill Job
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Scholarship
The Missionary's Curse: and Other Tales from a Chinese Catholic Village by Henrietta Harrison.
Harrison recounts the story of Catholicism in a small village in Shanxi, from its initial arrival at the opening of the seventeenth century right up to the present.
Andrew T. Kaiser
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Scholarship
The editor's point of view.
Andrew T. Kaiser
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Scholarship
While living in Beijing, I came to know well a migrant family. They had arrived in Beijing in the mid-1990s and had managed to find good jobs and earn enough money to buy an apartment and start a family. Even though they did not have a Beijing hukou, they managed to get their children into a decent school. It was interesting to watch the children grow up, because clearly they saw themselves more as urbanites, even though they technically weren’t.
Joann Pittman
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September 21, 2015
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Stories
When we encounter cross-cultural differences like the indirect communication style featured in my recent post on the rule of three we have a choice. You either complain about the difference and become frustrated or seek to understand it better and adapt.
Joab Meyer
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September 18, 2015
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Ideas
When a child is born in China, the parents must register him/her and obtain a hukou (household registration certificate). When a couple recently went to register their child, they were told that, since they were not married, they would have to pay a 40,000 yuan “social maintenance fee.” Not having that amount of money, they launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise money to pay the fee. Their story garnered a lot of attention and prompted discussion on social media. It was even covered by The New York Times.
ChinaSource Team
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September 15, 2015
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Stories
If you haven’t done so already, I highly recommend reading Builders of the Chinese Church: Pioneer Protestant Missionaries and Chinese Church Leaders, edited by Wright Doyle and Carol Hamrin.
Joann Pittman
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September 14, 2015
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Scholarship