Firsthand accounts of faith lived out in the context of Chinese Christianity.
If a Christian from the West were asked what the biggest Christian news story out of China was in 2014, no doubt the answer would be the campaign to demolish church crosses in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. In fact, for many in the West, that might be the only Christian-related news story out of China they are aware of.
On November 26, the mainland site Christian Times published a long interview with a house church pastor in Shenzhen who has been leading short-term mission trips to Burma and other neighboring countries for several years. The title of the piece is “Shenzhen Pastor Talks About the Joy and Pain of Cross-Cultural Missions, Calling on the Church to Have the Courage to Pay the Price."
The forced removal of crosses from literally hundreds of churches in the Wenzhou area during the past year has called attention not only to the local government’s heavy-handed approach toward the church, but also to the phenomenon of the church buildings themselves.
This series of blog entries refers primarily to the question of expatriate Christians attending services at registered—or at least publicly “open”—Chinese churches. It is assumed that in most cases, the risks to local believers (and to the expat workers as well) are such that it would be irresponsible to participate regularly in unregistered church services. Part one dealt with some of the common objections to attending Chinese church services. In part two some of the main reasons why I have chosen to attend Chinese church services were given. Part three lists some of the ways I have been blessed by my attendance at Chinese church services.
This series of blog entries refers primarily to the question of expatriate Christians attending services at registered—or at least publicly “open”—Chinese churches. It is assumed that in most cases, the risks to local believers (and to the expat workers as well) are such that it would be irresponsible to participate regularly in unregistered church services. Part one dealt with some of the common objections to attending Chinese church services. In part two some of the main reasons why I have chosen to attend Chinese church services are given. Part three lists some of the ways I have been blessed by my attendance at Chinese church services.
Last week, on my way home from giving two days of lectures at Taylor University, I had the opportunity to visit the Center on Religion and Chinese Society, at Purdue University in Lafayette, IN.
This series of blog entries refers primarily to the question of expatriate Christians attending Chinese services at registered—or at least publicly "open"—local churches. It is assumed that in most cases, the risks to local believers (and to the expat workers as well) are such that it would be irresponsible to participate regularly in unregistered church services. Part one deals with some of the common objections to attending Chinese church services. In part two some of the main reasons why I have chosen to attend Chinese church services will be given. Part three will list some of the ways I have been blessed by my attendance at Chinese church services.
Earlier this month, The Economist published an interesting look at the popularity of Christmas in China, a country that is officially atheist, and makes no room for any official celebration of the holiday.
Churches in China (both registered and unregistered) are taking advantage of the popularity of Christmas to teach people about the true meaning of the festival.
Earlier this month the Chinese web portal Sina posted a photo essay on the town of Yiwu (Zhejiang), where most of the world’s Christmas products come from.
This afternoon the good folks at FEDEX delivered a small package to my house, and it wasn’t even a Christmas present. In fact, it was something better — my passport, with a brand-spanking-new Ten-year, multiple entry tourist visa to China.
A month or so ago I was having a lovely outdoor dinner with group of friends, one of whom was a high school kid from Beijing studying at a school here in the Twin Cities and living with an American host family.