Church leaders first need to learn to see missions as organic to their fellowship’s identity in this world…. Cross-cultural workers need to recognize and embrace their role as messengers to their home churches…committing more time and energy to communicating well with their supporters back home.
While insensitive cross-cultural work has often resulted in closed doors or deportation, sensitive and authentic cross-cultural work has time and again won over the hearts of the Chinese people.
Lament is bringing our loss, our complaints to God, and as a result experiencing sweet communion with him in the midst of pain.
Imagine the confusion for young children who left their toys at home when they went on vacation, and then never returned. Instead, they found themselves back in the land of their grandparents, often bouncing from one temporary home to another.
[W]e give ourselves (and others) many gifts when we intentionally attend to our inner processes and emotions in the presence of the Lord.
. . . we choose to stay for now because of our firm belief that God will use these circumstances according to his will and for our good. We also stay because of a strong sense of call to China and our love for China.
As expatriates move from founders and leaders to colleagues, and now consultants, foreign contributions are increasingly in the nature of support and encouragement from behind the scenes, providing practical help in a few key areas as requested.
What is the most important thing I would want someone going to China to know?
The experiences of the few remaining expatriate cross-cultural workers in China suggest that while we are not at the end of Christian development work in China, we are confronted with a substantially different ministry context.
As we stop to listen, as we hear the Chinese people’s stories, as we discover for ourselves Chinese history, as we put ourselves in China’s shoes, the Chinese context and therefore their practices and worldview become more understandable.
Thanks to all our wonderful friends and donors, we are looking forward to what 2022 will bring with renewed energy for our kingdom calling.
The experience of ministering as an expatriate in China is quite different today, as those who remain struggle to carve out meaningful roles in an increasingly challenging environment.