In the following article, I affirm Back to Jerusalem's (BTJ) significance and commend these principles to the people of the twenty-first century. BTJ is a missionary vision received by Chinese pastors in the 1940s.
With the enthusiasm of China's global ambition and the rapid growth of the Chinese Christian community one of the fastest growing churches in modern times with unofficial figures ranging from 35 million to 80 million, one may easily speculate on a merging of these two elements into a new missiological movement. These three emerging issues of Chinese Christianity may have a bearing on contemporary global mission: the diasporic Chinese community, Chinese Christian merchants the Wenzhou Christians, and the Back to Jerusalem Movement (BTJ).
An overview and assessment of the "Back to Jerusalem" movement.
An OMF prayer packet.
Among all debates and controversies about the Back to Jerusalem (BTJ) phenomenon, the issue of training Chinese missionaries seems to have fallen on the sidelines. More attention has been given to issues such as the controversial number of 100,000 missionaries, abuse of the genuine grass-root missionary spirit, and who has the right to represent BTJ. Despite the legitimacy of all these concerns, traininga critical component that determines the outcome of missionshas not been given enough attention.
The "Back to Jerusalem" movement can be traced back to a vision for evangelism which God gave to several different indigenous Chinese Christian mission movements in the 1940s.
Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development by Bryant Myers. Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books, 1999. 279 pages with index; soft cover; ISBN: 1570752753; $22.00.
A book review by Daniel Eyler
Stories of the lives of real people affected by disabilities show the scope of the challenges they face and the need for transformation in the services and resouces available to them and in the attitudes of the people in their communities.
From the editor's desk.
An overview of the medical services situation in China reveals that the needs are still great and the potential for Christians to make an impact medically and spiritually remains.
A brief overview of the CHE development models in use in China.
Much is being done in China to advance medical and community services in rural areas. One example, a potential model for other areas of China, is the Zhaotong Community Development Program in Yunnan Province.