A previous generation of Chinese Christians, cut off from all outside contact and separated from their leaders, was forced to rely upon the Lord alone as they sought the way forward. This seeking after God was an important part of their maturing process, and their testimonies bear witness to his faithfulness. While acknowledging that China and its church are at a much different place today, it is nevertheless worth considering whether outside intervention may unintentionally serve to short-circuit the process by which God seeks to mature the current generation of Chinese church leaders.
Brent Fulton
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July 31, 2014
It is often said that summer is for reading. We at ChinaSource love to read all year long, but we thought you might be interested in what members of the ChinaSource team have in our book bags this summer.
ChinaSource Team
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July 30, 2014
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Resources
"How many Christians in China?"
"Are believers still persecuted?"
Brent Fulton
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July 29, 2014
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Ideas
Churches, migration, and anti-corruption campaigns are the topics of this week's Top Picks from the ZGBriefs Newsletter.
ChinaSource Team
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July 28, 2014
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Resources
On July 17, a Malaysian Airlines flight travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot out of the skies over eastern Ukraine. 298 souls perished. In the days following, many Christians took to Weibo to express their condolences. We have translated a few of those posts below.
ChinaSource Team
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Stories
"Where are their pastors?" my Chinese colleague asked incredulously as she counted the visible tattoos on the arms and legs of some of the newly arrived Christian English teachers. "How can their pastors allow them to have tattoos?"
Joann Pittman
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July 24, 2014
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Stories
The rigid control structures comprising the "box" within which China's church currently operates are often assumed to be merely a function of China's Leninist political system. Were this system to be dismantled, one might argue, the "box" would come apart and China's Christians would enjoy genuine freedom of religion.
Brent Fulton
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July 22, 2014
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Stories
A big part of observing China is trying to figure out what is really going on. For those following recent events regarding the church in China, this has been especially true.
Joann Pittman
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Ideas
As the church in China continues to grow and mature, one of the issues that is coming to the fore is that of music. Until recently, much of the music played and sung in Chinese churches has been on the traditional side translated western hymns or indigenous folk-style music (popular in rural churches). Only in the past few years have we seen the emergence of what might be described as Christian Contemporary Music, popular, as one might expect, among the younger generation, particularly in the cities.
ChinaSource Team
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Stories
Cultural Foundations of Learning: East and West by Jin Li.
Reviewed by Lisa Nagle
There are deep cultural differences between Eastern and Western societies regarding learning and development. The notion of whether creativity is learned or not is just one of these. This book explores some of the differing approaches to learning found in these cultures and concludes with a look at them in the twenty-first century.
Lisa Nagle
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July 21, 2014
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Scholarship
The guest editor's point of view
Laura Coleman
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Scholarship
The author talks about his experiences as an international student from China who came to the U.S. to study in high school. He tells us of the challenges he faced and the sacrifices his parents made. He points out major differences between the two cultures and shares with us how the experience has changed him.
MA Jing
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Scholarship