After having been the only child for many years, my parents finally brought home a tiny bundle—my very own baby sibling. While many would celebrate the arrival of another member to the family, that special day was instead laced with disappointment for my father. I found out much later that my mother went into labor before my father got to the hospital. When he finally arrived, he took a look at the baby, uttered in dismay, “Another girl,” and walked off.
Father’s Day in China, like many other countries, falls on the third Sunday in June. It is not an official holiday in China, nor is it widely observed, especially in comparison to other similar holidays such as Mother’s Day and Children’s Day. Yet, for those working among Chinese (in any context) it does provide a unique opportunity to generate gospel-oriented discussion given the central theme of God the Father in the Bible.
Reading Kathleen Lodwick’s How Christianity Came to China (Fortress Press 2016) was disturbing for two reasons.
Last week millions of Chinese high school students took the annual two-day college entrance exam know as, the gaokao. For these students and their families, much of their young lives have led up to this moment. Many of their future hopes and dreams also ride on their exam scores.
While stress ran high, Chen Fengsheng, a Three-Self pastor in Wenzhou, offered this prayer for the gaokao season.
Last week Brent wrote about a Christian serving among China’s Muslims who joined in the Muslim celebration of Ramadan. Given the fact that we are now at the halfway point of the month of fasting, I thought it would be a good time to highlight some recent articles and resources about Islam in China.
The film Beijing Taxi, directed by Miao Wang, a Beijing native who immigrated to the US in 1990, begins two years before the Olympics and follows the lives of three taxi drivers. Each of them shares their own perspective on Beijing’s transformation, China’s rise, and most importantly, what it all means to them. Is China hosting the Olympics really all the glitz and glory that it was dreamed to be? What price economic growth and development?
马可牧师（Pastor Mark）是一位在中国服事、长期投身穆斯林世界跨文化宣教的基督徒。 去年，为了更深刻地理解他所服事的群体，马可牧师亲身参与了穆斯林的斋戒月（Ramadan）。他将这段经历写成文章，刊载于2016年冬季号《华源季刊》。 对马可牧师而言，这段为期一个月、全球数百万穆斯林共同参与的年度仪式，成了一次改变生命的经历。他如此描述： 对我来说，那三十天绝非寻常意义上的三十个日子，也不仅仅是一个可以用「一个月」来丈量的时间概念。无论是从夜晚到清晨的轮回，还是日出日落的交替更迭，我突然意识到，那三十天竟如同一个独特的四季轮转——让人看见了严冬的深邃，也发现了早春的丰盛；让人领略了盛夏的炎热，也踏入了秋日的收获。那三十天，对我而言是一段格外触动心灵的旅程…… 在这三十天里，我不仅消瘦了将近五公斤，也诞生了这篇文字。我所经历的，是过去从未有过的。 马可牧师对斋戒月的观察，成了他作为一位服事中国穆斯林群体的中国信徒生命写照。身体承受的饥饿，让他联想到跨文化工作者在异乡常面临的资源匮乏，以及对熟悉事物的渴望——这种饥饿感，唯有在基督里才能获得终极的满足。他身处背景全然不同的人群中，参与这项陌生的仪式；这份身为中国人的孤独，让他联想到，中国跨文化工作者在异文化中服事时，必然会面临的孤立境遇。 最后，斋戒月结束之际，马可因深层的心灵挣扎而陷入低潮。他指出，这种挣扎对于身处异文化、并致力于实践「替代性救赎」（substitutive atonement）般的受苦精神的人来说，是预期中的代价——他们选择为了所爱的人群，去承担并面对这份痛苦与挣扎。 在亲身体验了这些切实可感的身体、情感与灵性冲击之余，马可牧师也从这段长达一个月的旅程中，获得了对中国跨文化工作者如何预备终身服事的崭新洞见。他开始反思：受差派者，究竟需要具备哪些素质？他也进一步深思：像他这样的差派者，又该扮演什么样的角色？ 如欲阅读马可牧师完整的斋戒月见证，请参阅原文《这三十天》。 本文原以英文撰写，中文译稿由华源协作翻译刊载。
One of the growing challenges for the contemporary church in China is the swelling tide of secularism. Several Chinese Christians shared this concern with us in conversations at the Reformation 500 and the Gospel conference in Hong Kong last month. China’s increasing affluence provides society with opportunities, but also ever-morphing ideals. New and shifting norms for marriage, worklife and careers, parenting, and education confront Christians in subtle ways that more visible challenges (e.g. arrests, lack of resources, funding, etc.) have not.
In this blog post, originally posted by Oak Tree Publishing, Wei Chen shares the personal sacrifices she and her family have made in the face of secular values. She describes the troubling expectations of society on her and her family, and how her Christian faith pushed her to say “No!” to following along with the secular norms.
Our friends at The Gospel Coalition recently asked me to review Ian Johnson’s book The Souls of China: The Return of Religion after Mao. Last week, it was published under the title "China’s God-Shaped Vacuum."
China in Our Midst: Reaching Chinese International Students in America by Glen Osborn and Daniel Su of China Outreach Ministries (COM) will help anyone who wants to get involved in serving and reaching Chinese students but is uncertain about how to do it or wonders if they are qualified.
What are people saying about China's new Overseas NGO Law?
Last week we posted the second part of an article from ChurchChina about the impact of Reformed theology on evangelism in “Y Church.” Part one discussed the current situation of Y Church. The second part described in more detail how the research findings describe the impact of Reformed theology on Y Church’s evangelism. The third part gives recommendations for Y Church’s evangelism. This is part three.