周宁现任华源协作伙伴关系与中国事工副总裁，并担任《每周中国快讯》（ZGBriefs）编辑。
加入华源协作之前，周宁曾在中国工作 28 年，期间担任过英语教师、语言学习者及项目主任，也为在中国工作的机构与企业提供跨文化培训。她曾在明尼苏达州的西北大学（University of Northwestern–St. Paul）教授中文，并在惠顿学院（Wheaton College）及泰勒大学（Taylor University）教授中国文化与沟通。
周宁拥有西北大学社会科学学士学位，以及圣托马斯大学（University of St. Thomas）教学硕士学位。
周宁著有 Survival Chinese Lessons 和 The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China 两本书。
周宁也经营个人博客 Outside-In（joannpittman.com），分享对中国、明尼苏达州、旅行，以及“如何在不属于自己的地方好好生活”等主题的观察与思考。
读者也可以通过 X（@jkpittman）及 Facebook（@authorjoannpittman）关注周宁的动态。
周宁目前定居美国明尼苏达州新布赖顿（New Brighton）。
Last week as the Internet in the US was melting, thanks to a dress and a couple of llamas, Chinese netizens were gripped by an online documentary that was going viral. The video, titled Under the Dome, is a hard-hitting look at the effects of pollution in China. It was posted on February 28, and within 48 hours had been viewed by 100 million people. Yes, you read that right, ONE HUNDRED MILLION!
Since 2002, I have had the privilege of compiling the ZGBriefs Newsletter each week. I travel a lot, which means that I have to pull it together wherever I happen to be on a Wednesday or Thursday. As I was putting it together last week, I got to thinking about all the different places that I have worked on ZGBriefs.
Geisler and Rhodes provide a valuable reference tool for anyone looking for help in refuting various false teachings. After discussing the definition of a cult, they give an overview of the doctrinal, sociological, and moral characteristics of cults. To untwist a Scriptural interpretation, they supply a Scripture reference that raises an important question, an explanation of the common misinterpretation of the passage, and an explanation of the correct interpretation.
On March 4, 2015, the OMF Global China Newsletter posted an article titled "Challenges for the Church in China." In it the author highlights four key challenges.
Earlier this month I got to spend two weeks back in Beijing, my former “home town.”
Over the past couple of months, we have published on Chinese Church Voices a number of posts about the growing awareness of the importance and practice of cross-cultural missions by Chinese churches.
When Father Ye Yaomin, a Catholic priest, returned to his parish in Foshan, Guangdong province in 1980 following years of persecution, his friends urged him to emigrate.
“China needs priests,” he replied.
If a Christian from the West were asked what the biggest Christian news story out of China was in 2014, no doubt the answer would be the campaign to demolish church crosses in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. In fact, for many in the West, that might be the only Christian-related news story out of China they are aware of.
On January 16, 2015, the magazine China Briefing reported that a new Charity Law, which has been in the drafting stage for months has finally been introduced as a bill in the National People’s Congress (NPC). The establishment of laws governing social organizations (NGOs) has long been rumored and hoped for in China, by domestic and foreign enterprises alike. Many Christian organizations are hopeful that a new law will make it easier for them to operate in China. Here’s what the article has to say about the draft law:
Crossing a cultural boundary inevitably leads to cultural clashes. Sometimes the clashes occur at the point of behaviors and customs, such as eating, drinking, or even how to cross a street. More often, however, the clashes occur at the deeper level of cultural values — beliefs about what is right and wrong or how how the world ought to be ordered.
Last week, on my way home from giving two days of lectures at Taylor University, I had the opportunity to visit the Center on Religion and Chinese Society, at Purdue University in Lafayette, IN.
Earlier this month, The Economist published an interesting look at the popularity of Christmas in China, a country that is officially atheist, and makes no room for any official celebration of the holiday.