Over the past few months there have been numerous articles and posts written about the new Foreign NGO Law. We have been trying to keep you updated on new developments through this blog and ZGBriefs, but we thought it would be helpful to compile the resources (so far) in one place.
This week sees the arrival of Chinese New Year, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar. Most of China will shut down for the week as people return to their ancestral homes to celebrate with family. For Chinese Christians, the holiday can often bring them mixed emotions: happiness and distress. Christians are excited to celebrate with family and friends. But, they also experience instances when their Christian faith rubs up against cultural expectations. In a society where Christianity often runs counter-cultural, Chinese New Year is a particularly concentrated moment of trials. In this translated article from Christian Times, the author reminds Christians of what is most important when they return home for the New Year.
What do “prehistoric powers,” “skinny blue mushroom,” “melon-eating masses,” and “chuanpu” have in common?
The church in China is in a period of incredible growth. Concurrent with this exponential numerical growth, Chinese Christians have developed a passionate interest in taking the gospel to parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe where relatively few Christians live scattered among two billion non-Christian people.
The Chinese church has a growing passion to participate in missionary sending to unreached peoples. Nevertheless, previous studies have highlighted a lack of cultural awareness and linguistic ability among Chinese missionaries hindering missionary effectiveness. I recently conducted interviews with Chinese missionaries. Data from these interviews suggest that Chinese missionaries are being better trained and becoming increasingly adept at culturally contextualizing the gospel message. This kind of forward progress should be strongly encouraged.
The new Foreign NGO Law requires approval from a “Professional Supervisory Unit” or “Chinese Partner” in order to conduct activities in China. So what's the difference between them?
As China moved from 2016 into 2017, a wave of heavy pollution blanketed the Northeast for over a week. The persistent smog not only made headlines abroad, but also generated much online conversation. Although many Chinese have learned to cope with or weather regular pollution, these unprecedented levels of smog caused many to question more seriously what effects the pollution has on their lives. How have some Chinese Christians responded? The journal Territory put together several reflections from Christians on varying contrasting themes related to pollution.
In the latest issue of ChinaSource Quarterly, two Christians in China offer their thoughts on the future of Chinese mission sending structures.
As Joann Pittman skillfully conveys in her new book, The Bells are Not Silent, the church bells of China provide a valuable—and until now, largely neglected—window into the life of China’s church.
As the sending of cross-cultural workers from China gains momentum, many international sending organizations see China as a rich source of potential new workers for the harvest.
China Christian Daily recently posted a list of the most popular news stories from the China Christian Times. Some may be surprising.
On Sunday, January 1 China’s new law governing foreign NGOs in China went into effect. The good folks at China Development Brief have put together a helpful infographic covering the basic information about the law.