Stories

Firsthand accounts of faith lived out in the context of Chinese Christianity.

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Andy Pearch holds his adopted son, Hudson, who is kissing his cheek. Hudson was adopted from China as a baby. Andy reflects on the making of the movie, “It was a wonderful testimony of God’s blessing to discover that Hudson’s documentary is helping to fulfill the legacy of Andrew Gih. After watching the documentary, you might want to get an update on Hudson.”

From Andrew Gih to Hudson

It was a wonderful testimony of God’s blessing to discover that Hudson’s documentary is helping to fulfill the legacy of Andrew Gih. After watching the documentary, you might want to get an update on Hudson.

• May 3, 2024 •

Starbucks and McDonalds franchises next door to each other in Shanghai, China. Nothing succeeds like success, and many Christian ministries have adopted a franchise-like pattern based on a founder’s compelling vision facilitated by a highly structured and quality-controlled delivery system…[But] can the gospel be franchised? I think not.

Sharing the Gospel: Franchise or Indigenization?

Nothing succeeds like success, and many Christian ministries have adopted a franchise-like pattern based on a founder’s compelling vision facilitated by a highly structured and quality-controlled delivery system…[But] can the gospel be franchised? I think not.

• April 26, 2024 •

Jingjiao—Not Nestorian

In AD 635 Christian missionaries whose worship language was Syriac traveled thousands of miles down the Silk Road to plant a church in China. The imperial officials examined their teaching and issued a decree (preserved in the stele) allowing the church to be established.

• April 23, 2024 •

A white letterboard with black letters that read “God is faithful.” A Chinese believer describes how God worked in their church during the pandemic, saying “As a result of the happiness group, our church experienced significant growth, even doubling in size. Witnessing God’s work among us during the pandemic, we went on to establish our own missionary society in X Province, dispatched a small group of individuals.”

Rising Strong

As a result of the happiness group, our church experienced significant growth, even doubling in size. Witnessing God’s work among us during the pandemic, we went on to establish our own missionary society in X Province, dispatched a small group of individuals.

• April 2, 2024 •

An image of a group of women walking at a university in China. Amy Young writes, I was blessed to have lived and worked in China for much of my adulthood and be able to hold up my part of the sky. Does this contradict the point I made above about being limited by my gender? Life is more nuanced than blanket statements. Both are true for me, at times I felt limited by my gender and at times I felt not limited by it.

Being a Foreign Woman in China

I was blessed to have lived and worked in China for much of my adulthood and be able to hold up my part of the sky. Does this contradict the point I made above about being limited by my gender? Life is more nuanced than blanket statements. Both are true for me, at times I felt limited by my gender and at times I felt not limited by it.

• March 20, 2024 •

Tibetan shops and people in Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal. What is needed is people who know Jesus and love Tibetans enough to find ways to engage them personally, enough to walk with them through faltering steps of faith, and enough to endure long enough in the field that seeds sown find their way to good soil, hearts God has already prepared.

From the Forbidden City to NYC

What is needed is people who know Jesus and love Tibetans enough to find ways to engage them personally, enough to walk with them through faltering steps of faith, and enough to endure long enough in the field that seeds sown find their way to good soil, hearts God has already prepared.

• March 18, 2024 •

A compass and Bible on top of a city map. Expectations for new missionaries as well as for their sending bodies should include a long-term developmental perspective that recognizes on-field difficulties as expected and as the normative shaping events God intentionally uses to develop cross-cultural ministry capacity.

Crossing Cultures: Capacity and Insight

Expectations for new missionaries as well as for their sending bodies should include a long-term developmental perspective that recognizes on-field difficulties as expected and as the normative shaping events God intentionally uses to develop cross-cultural ministry capacity.

• March 15, 2024 •

Right then and there, in our apartment, [two Chinese friends] made the decision to follow Jesus. Something he said that evening has stayed with me for the past 25 years. He stated, “I always knew he was there. I just didn’t know his name.”

“I Always Knew He Was There”

Right then and there, in our apartment, [two Chinese friends] made the decision to follow Jesus. Something he said that evening has stayed with me for the past 25 years. He stated, “I always knew he was there. I just didn’t know his name.”

• March 11, 2024 •

Our new identity in Christ allows us to bravely face everything that being a woman entails… Even if the world, Satan, or our own sin constantly seek to deceive us, we can, by fixing our eyes on God, bravely and strongly maintain our feminine identity.

More than Just “Good”

Our new identity in Christ allows us to bravely face everything that being a woman entails… Even if the world, Satan, or our own sin constantly seek to deceive us, we can, by fixing our eyes on God, bravely and strongly maintain our feminine identity.

• March 5, 2024 •

Crossing Cultures: Ethnocentric Conversion

The Apostle Peter’s ethnocentric conversion exploded into fullness through an unanticipated personal interaction with Cornelius, a gentile military officer who lived out his fear of God in household leadership, generosity, and constant prayer (Acts 10:1–2).

• February 23, 2024 •