Robert and Betty went to the untamed Tibet and built relationships, preparing for themselves and others to move and live in these new areas. Robert was a visionary with deep understanding of the cultures, but also brave, as the title says, facing local robbers, politics, and later, war-haunted China.
At its most basic level, Sparks presents readers with a host of remarkable women and men who persist in talking about what really happened. In an environment focused on silencing certain aspects of the past, these are the stories of the Chinese citizens who say the quiet part out loud.
Given China’s place in the world order today, it is very unlikely that they will completely ban all foreigners.... We can be confident that no matter how few the foreigners or how persecuted the flock, our God who makes the rocks cry out in testimony will ensure that his witness is never silenced, and his kingdom continues to advance.
The study then takes a closer look at the brief emergence of a comparatively Chinese underground church…before concluding with a fascinating reflection on martyrdom, comparing the Chinese notion of suffering perseverance motivated by filial loyalty to the saints who have gone before with the European concept of sacrificing one’s life for the gospel.
Dr. Harris and Reed’s relational approach applies for individuals to begin relationships with Chinese people in various online spaces and understand their needs. The content of the book needs to be further contextualized for a local Chinese audience, where relationship building will have more nuances in both cultural and digital landscapes.
Adoption—a foundational metaphor of the Christian faith and a challenging topic in the world, especially when intertwined with China’s one-child policy era, international complications, and issues of identity for adoptees. In this collection from the archives, we’ve pulled together reflections, book reviews, and analysis to open up our perspective on adoption from China.
Drawing on his background as a distinguished New Testament scholar and his years of service in China, Menzies addresses important issues that impact the translation of New Testament terms, particularly those related to the work of the Spirit or other Pentecostal themes.
The women were among the bravest missionaries to serve in China… The authors describe…fending off bandits, experiencing bombing, walking miles and miles to get food, enduring flea bombs dropped on their city, hiding in the woods from violent mobs, and more.
The religious environment [in Dubai] prompts many Chinese expatriates to do some soul-searching… For Muslims… it has meant being in an environment where they are …part of a majority… They feel the pressure of having to be “good citizens” …as they are unofficial ambassadors.
The Christian community contributed a third way to imagine national salvation, an equivalent force to the two major political parties, the Nationalists (KMT) and the Communists (CCP)…. Modernist and Fundamentalists… had a common political vision. They both embraced Chinese nationalism and portrayed Christ as the only power that could overcome imperialism.
Official and popular attitudes towards the written language vacillate between shame (characters are too awkward, slowing China’s development) and pride (characters are China’s unique cultural heritage) …China’s place among the nations rises in tandem with the development of her language, revealing the intimate relationship between linguistic modernization and the modernization of the nation itself.
A review of A Reader in Chinese Theology edited by Chloë Starr, the best reader on Chinese theology available in English.