ChinaSource asked for responses to Tom Jenning's article "A Holistic Perspective on Transforming Nations." The following, by Mike Barbalas, is the first of two responses that were given. Huo Shui responded in "Responses, Part 2."
A look at benefits of "business as mission" for China and the trends in the China that will affect its viability and potential impact.
Among all debates and controversies about the Back to Jerusalem (BTJ) phenomenon, the issue of training Chinese missionaries seems to have fallen on the sidelines. More attention has been given to issues such as the controversial number of 100,000 missionaries, abuse of the genuine grass-root missionary spirit, and who has the right to represent BTJ. Despite the legitimacy of all these concerns, traininga critical component that determines the outcome of missionshas not been given enough attention.
Sports events can become a means to encourage Christian service.
The "4/14 Window" refers to children and young people between the ages of four and fourteen. What does the 4/14 Window look like in a Chinese context? What are the needs and is the church responding?
From the guest editor's desk.
In the following article, I affirm Back to Jerusalem's (BTJ) significance and commend these principles to the people of the twenty-first century. BTJ is a missionary vision received by Chinese pastors in the 1940s.
With the enthusiasm of China's global ambition and the rapid growth of the Chinese Christian community one of the fastest growing churches in modern times with unofficial figures ranging from 35 million to 80 million, one may easily speculate on a merging of these two elements into a new missiological movement. These three emerging issues of Chinese Christianity may have a bearing on contemporary global mission: the diasporic Chinese community, Chinese Christian merchants the Wenzhou Christians, and the Back to Jerusalem Movement (BTJ).
An overview and assessment of the "Back to Jerusalem" movement.
Among all debates and controversies about the Back to Jerusalem (BTJ) phenomenon, the issue of training Chinese missionaries seems to have fallen on the sidelines. More attention has been given to issues such as the controversial number of 100,000 missionaries, abuse of the genuine grass-root missionary spirit, and who has the right to represent BTJ. Despite the legitimacy of all these concerns, traininga critical component that determines the outcome of missionshas not been given enough attention.
The "Back to Jerusalem" movement can be traced back to a vision for evangelism which God gave to several different indigenous Chinese Christian mission movements in the 1940s.