As we prepare for Thanksgiving Day celebrations here in the United States, I’ve been thinking about expressions of thanks in Chinese culture and language. The most common way of expressing thanks in Chinese is xie xie (谢谢). But there is another word: gan’en (感恩). I love that en means “grace.”
As this painful summer passed, poor Pastor Hsi endured unspeakable suffering and pressure, but most of his co-workers still supported him firmly. The love and loyalty of people were a great comfort to him. But they still had to go through this refining furnace together. Sometimes it even seemed that God’s hand had withdrawn, and Satan was destroying the ministry at will.
The Lord builds his church, and the church he constructs will look a bit different in each climate and landscape. It is the seed that has power to grow roots down into deeply buried cultural expressions and expectations, roots that will produce fruit fitting the context, fruit that is both beautiful and empowering.
God’s truth remains constant across generations. He speaks to each one in unique ways while sharing the same message of salvation. What is he saying to the 150,000 Chinese students in the UK today? How can we meet their needs and invite them into God’s kingdom?
As someone who has been involved with China for over 60 years, I’ve witnessed the shifts in Sino-Catholic relations, from the closed society of the Mao era to the cautious engagements of today. This Quarterly issue is especially significant, addressing both longstanding and emerging challenges faced by Catholics in China amidst ongoing socio-political pressures.
![An image of John C. H. Wu with two Westerners. When he finally found the truth, Wu felt that it was just like “tripping blindly over [a] threshold and being thrown flat on his stomach into the House of Light.” In other words, one must give up believing he or she has the power to attain truth by oneself, and humble oneself to the point of realizing that it is a gift.](https://media.chinasource.org/uploads/2024/11/BL241111-ChinaSource-Chinese-Christianity-John-C.-H.-Wu-Republic-of-China-St.-Augustine-Beyond-East-and-West-300x164.png)
When he finally found the truth, Wu felt that it was just like “tripping blindly over [a] threshold and being thrown flat on his stomach into the House of Light.” In other words, one must give up believing he or she has the power to attain truth by oneself, and humble oneself to the point of realizing that it is a gift.
We need to go beyond dogma and statements to show and tell in more holistic, contextual and embodied ways. As the apostles declared and displayed Christ through prayer and worship (Acts 4:24; 16:25; Philippians 2:5-10), so can we find unique expressions that are embedded and empowered in our own cultures and tongues.
In 1973, I left my rural Christian childhood home and became a university student. I experienced the dissonance of a world that was much…
This is an invitation to listen to the echoes, following the recent Fourth Lausanne Congress on Evangelization held in Incheon, South Korea. When the noise dies down and silence starts to reign, what are we hearing and seeing? What is rising within? Here I share a small glimpse from the lens of an observer and virtual participant.
As I reflect on my past, I see that much of my struggle with identity came from trying to reconcile different worlds—my Chinese heritage, my upbringing, and the newfound faith that challenged everything I once believed. In a society where success is often measured by status and power, surrendering to Christ felt like a contradiction. Yet, in that surrender, I found my true identity.
Lausanne’s Fourth Congress on World Evangelism (L4) took place in Seoul (Incheon), South Korea from September 22–28 this year. Representation for L4 increased to 5,200 participants coming from over 200 countries. Rather than attempt complete coverage of the Congress in this blog, reflections will be framed around a series of questions to highlight several significant aspects.
In 1881, Hsi started a medical mission station, apart from foreign supervision, in Deng Village, five miles away from his home. He practiced medicine in the front and held meetings in the back, naming it “fuying tang” (Gospel Hall). Hsi served as a doctor, preacher, and boss, and his home was often crowded with people seeking help.