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Caring for Orphans: An Interview (2)

Chinese Canadian Margaret MacNeil’s gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics has drawn attention to international adoptions from China and to China’s orphans. Here we repost an interview with a Chinese Christian woman who left a corporate job to care for disabled orphans.

Returning Home—The Chinese Church in Transition

Many Chinese believers enter the church at times of personal crisis. Financial troubles, broken relationships, health emergencies—real world trials often reveal to Chinese people the fractured nature of their safety nets, as friends, family, and the state fail to provide them with what they need. These moments of brokenness can be used by God to open people’s hearts to their own weakness and God’s strength.

The Chinese Church in Transition

In my view, from the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 to the present, the development of the Chinese church (primarily the house church) has gone through roughly three phases.

The Increasing Role of the Laity

For decades, the church in China has relied on lay people. Some would say this is an ideal situation in the church. Others would say that the phenomenon points to deeper problems within the Chinese church. To be sure, the pros and cons of the rise of laypeople are debated within the Chinese church.

The Registered Church in China

Wayne Ten Harmsel pulls back the shroud of mystery surrounding Chinese registered churches for Western readers. Through interviews with Chinese pastors, evangelists, and lay Christians, he provides a rare view of what it means to live in the shadow of both the government and the well-known house churches.