If you’ve ever read or seen The Princess Bride, there’s a character who responds to every assertion the other characters make with “Inconceivable!” And this is just how my Muslim friend responded the other day. She said, 不可 思议 which my Chinese dictionary translated as “Inconceivable!”
How did you feel the first time you visited a “foreigner’s” home? Were you nervous? Did you find yourself wondering what to wear, what food would be served, and whether to bring a gift? Perhaps you are more often the host. How do you help your cross-cultural guests feel at ease?
A young Chinese church planter shares how an indigenous mission to migrant workers grew over several years. The group has taught and commissioned other young workers who move to satellite towns and cities around Beijing, and other major cities, to plant churches that focus on migrants.
Having learned a little about Islam with Chinese characteristics, you might wonder if there is any point in studying “orthodox” Islam to help you understand your Hui friends. The answer is yes and no.
To those who have traveled long distances to visit tombs of long-dead holy men and their sons, the news of God sending his son to us sounds good. To those who revere a great man who gave his life to save 70,000 people, the man who died as a ransom for the world sounds, well . . . divine.
Serving China’s missionary church will require seeing “success” through a new lens, defined not by big-budget projects and exotic stories, but by the faithfulness of those who are willing to labor in obscurity on the margins, often unannounced and unnoticed, with perhaps few visible results.
The Lord is building this eternal dwelling and the stones he is using to construct this beautiful “holy temple” include dedicated young men and women from various parts of China like the two martyrs in Pakistan and like the Bernheims.
Starting with the Old School (Gedimu), this series introduces the main schools of Hui religious thought and practice, Hui diet, dress, customs, and festivals. Ideas for Christians seeking to better know and love their Hui neighbors in the name of Jesus are also included.
A PhD dissertation analyzing the experiences of cross-cultural workers sent from China is now available in Chinese.
China’s Ambassadors of Christ to the Nations by Tabor Laughlin was published in 2020 by Pickwick Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock, as part of their Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph series.
The book is based on Laughlin’s PhD dissertation analyzing the experiences of missionaries sent out from mainland China and delves into the cross-cultural challenges they face and other issues affecting their ability to remain on the mission field.
A Chinese translation of the original dissertation is now available.
What we Christians really want to know is: how can we share the gospel with such a diverse group? If saying the same, short phrase gets you free food in one place and the cold shoulder in another, how can we even dream of a Hui church?
The 19th century CIM pioneers teach us about patience, the need to focus on one people group, and the role of suffering. Later innovators like Harris teach us the value of contextualizing our language and lifestyle.