Ideas

Editorial reflection and analysis on issues shaping Chinese Christianity.

Latest

Business as Mission or Business as Blessing?

Are you looking to start a business to fulfill a mission or to bless a community? The latest ChinaSource Conversations podcast, “Businesses that Bless,” seeks to answer that and other questions related to doing business in China.

Businesses that Bless

Brent Fulton, president of ChinaSource talks to Gary Hopwood, chief global officer for David C. Cook, and Nora Hughes, the founder of Business4Blessing about doing business in China to bless the people and the community. They distinguish the business-as-blessing concept from other ways of viewing using business to bring the gospel to a community, including characteristics of a business that blesses a community and how to get started in this kind of business.

4 Takeaways from Xi’s Speech on Religion

At a long-awaited national conference on religion, held in Beijing April 22-23, CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping outlined his vision for “helping religions adapt to the socialist society” under the direction of the Party. Here are a few prominent themes from Xi’s speech.

Foreign NGO Management Law

Earlier this month a spokesman for China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) announced that the NPC Standing Committee is scheduled to review the draft law governing foreign NGOs operating in China. 

Financial Management in Chinese Churches

In March China Christian Daily published an interview with a pastor from Dalian about the importance of properly managing church finances in Chinese churches. He highlights some of the difficulties that churches in China have in this area and some suggestions for improvement.

3 Questions: Dr. Brent Fulton

A ChinaSource 3 Questions interview with Dr. Brent Fulton, author of China's Urban Christians: A Light That Cannot Be Hidden and president of ChinaSource.

Tearing Down the Walls

If you’ve been to China you have probably noticed that it is a society of walls. There are walls around schools, factories, and housing estates. Sometimes the entities within these walls are huge, covering many city blocks. In an attempt to alleviate congestion and open up more through ways through the cities, the Chinese government in February issued a new regulation calling for walled communities to open up their roads and streets to through passage. In other words, they want the walls to come down. In this article, originally published in the mainland online journal Territory, the writer uses this new regulation as a starting point for a discussion of the walls that we build in our hearts and how only through the cross can we tear them down.

Ideology and Orthodox Authority

One of my favorite China books is The Sextants of Beijing: Global Currents in Chinese History, by Joanna Waley-Cohen. In it she chronicles China’s historical interactions with the outside world, arguing that China has never been as isolationist as historians have suggested. What the West often perceived as isolationist policies or attitudes were instead China’s insistence that authority must never be surrendered to outsiders.

5 Keys for Adapting and Thriving in Chinese Cultural Settings

Brent Fulton, president of ChinaSource, talks with Joann Pittman, senior vice president of ChinaSource, and Amy Young, author of Looming Transitions: Starting and Finishing Well in Cross-Cultural Service about five essential keys for adjusting well to the cultural challanges of China. They also introduce ChinaSource Institute and its first on-line course "China: Serving Well Where You Don't Belong," taught by Joann and Amy. 

What Should the Chinese Church Pass on to the Nations Part 2

Earlier this month, the mainland publication Church China published a long article examining the importance of solid theological preparation for Chinese involved in the Great Commission. Last week we translated portions of the article. In part two, we continue with the translated portions, followed by short summaries and observations by the translator (in italics).

From the Pulpit to the Marketplace

In the new occasional journal Missions and Vocations, Rev. Ronald Yu, President of China Ministries International, traces his journey from pastor to missional entrepreneur.