Editorial reflection and analysis on issues shaping Chinese Christianity.
The past decade has seen a groundswell of passion among Christians in China to pursue cross-cultural ministry. A corresponding wave of activity among outside organizations and churches has aimed at equipping China's church for this task.
On September 30, Austin Hill, host of the Austin Hill in the Morning program on Faith Radio, interviewed Brent Fulton about the situation in Hong Kong.
Our family lived in a tier one city in China for over five years, and during that time I homeschooled our children of various ages. While there I had the opportunity to mentor some Chinese homeschooling mothers, both one-on-one and in workshop settings. I also enjoyed teaching a session to Chinese Christian teacher-trainees on how to develop picture books into unit studies, and my older daughters and I had some experience teaching English at a bilingual Christian pre-school.
The BBC article "The Chinese cult that kills 'demons'" prompted a reader to ask recently, "Have you heard of this cult?"
The past year has seen a steady stream of stories about foreign companies in China being under investigation for regulatory violations and/or outright corruption. The offices of Microsoft were raided. Japanese, German, and American automakers are being probed. Two British nationals working for GlaxoSmithKline were recently jailed. And a Canadian couple that ran a business in the border region near North Korea has been detained on suspicion of stealing state secrets.
Former Hong Kong Chief Secretary Stephen Lam has a unique understanding of "One Country, Two Systems," the policy whereby Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. As director of the office that oversaw the Handover ceremony and related events, Lam worked with both British and Chinese officials to write a significant chapter in China's contemporary history.
The notion of social renewal is a common theme among urban church leaders as they consider what it means for the church to take its place on the stage of society. The need for social renewal is linked to the recognition that there is currently no shared belief system among China’s people.
American Christian parents face tough decisions about to how to best provide for their children’s education. But the toughest part is often deciding between a comparatively rich supply of good and legal options – local Christian schools, homeschooling (with a nearly overwhelming array of good curriculum and models), co-ops, hybrid homeschool/co-op, on-line Christian school, sometimes a good public school influenced by Christian teachers and administrators. All these choices offer their children a quality education and a clear path into college and the workplace.
Consider the two basic choices facing Chinese Christian parents.
Last week five members of the Almighty God cult (formerly known as Eastern Lightning went on trial for brutally murdering a woman in a MacDonalds restaurant in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province. The murder shocked the nation and prompted the government to launch a nationwide crackdown on illegal cults, or xie jiao (lit. evil religion).
Our friends at Catalyst Services picked up on a recent ChinaSource blog by Brent Fulton that asked "Does China Need More Leadership Training?" To further the discussion they asked others who are involved in training leaders globally for their responses to the blog and included them in their monthly e-newsletter.
Every Chinese leader since Chairman Mao has had a slogan (and accompanying campaign of some sort) that was meant to define their rule. President Xi Jinping's slogan is "The Chinese Dream." The organizing principle of his predecessor Hu Jintao's rule was "Harmonious Society."
A decade ago David Aikman wrote Jesus in Beijing, provocatively subtitled "How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Balance of World Power."