Is the role of foreign workers in China changing? Yes and no. The biblical mandates remain unchanged: go into all the world; make disciples of all nations; love your neighbor; build my church. These scriptural imperatives also remain unfinished. Is the role of the foreign worker changing? It depends on where the worker is and who he or she relates to.
A ChinaSource interview conducted by Kay Danielson with a long-time expatriate Christian working in China.
Do foreigners still have a place in China service? A long-time worker in China provides perspective on the complexities of facing workers in China today.
China is undergoing extraordinarily rapid change. Development is occurring at a phenomenal rate; indeed a full transformation of the landscape is taking place, both urban and rurala transformation that we never dreamed possible only a few years ago. In addition, all of this is taking place with an apparent resolve with inherent potential consequencesunintended consequences, perhaps, but no less serious in their social or environmental impactsthat could in fact undermine the very reasons for which the planned changes were initiated in the first place.
What are these changes, policies, actions? They can be summed up under the umbrella of all the development policies, projects and actions related to urbanization, on the one hand, and to several major environmental concerns in China's vast inland, western regions, on the other hand. How can "urbanization" and "environment"often seen as being on opposite ends of a spectrum or continuumbe drawn together and referred to as part of the same paradigm? The answer: through the notion of sustainability.
Experience begets guidelines that can help in decisions regarding indigenous investing.
Stewards in the Kingdom: A Theology of Life in All Its Fullness by R. Scott Rodin.
Reviewed by Kerry Schottelkorb
The editor's perspective...
China is developing at a phenomenal rate, and urbanization may be the most obvious feature of China’s human landscape in the 21st century; yet, we must ask the question: At what price such rapid development?
Chinese Christian business people are finding innovative ways to steward the resources God has given them.
Christians need to be good stewards of their identity and their time. They also need to value "being" over "doing."
What is the Christian's responsibility to the natural environment created by God?
The Chinese church practiced stewardship of its God-given gifts and abilities in reaching out to those who suffered in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.