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）。
This afternoon the good folks at FEDEX delivered a small package to my house, and it wasn’t even a Christmas present. In fact, it was something better — my passport, with a brand-spanking-new Ten-year, multiple entry tourist visa to China.
Much is written these days about what makes China tick. It's the pragmatism. It's nationalism, and the desire to be a player on the world stage. It's "socialism with Chinese characteristics," which to some is just another way of saying capitalism.
This book contains 15 short lessons designed to give you just enough language learning to help you function in very basic situations. This is a must for travelers or those who are going to live in China and are looking for a way to get some of the basics.
That's a question I hear quite a bit whenever I speak on China. People want to know about the availability of Bibles in China. Unfortunately many people still believe that owning a Bible is illegal in China, something that hasn't been true for decades. But as with most things in China, the issue of Bible availability is complicated.
A month or so ago I was having a lovely outdoor dinner with group of friends, one of whom was a high school kid from Beijing studying at a school here in the Twin Cities and living with an American host family.
On November 1, 2014, The Economist published an excellent article about the church in China, titled "Cracks in the Atheist Edifice." Written by veteran correspondent Rob Gifford (author of China Road), the article gives an overview of how the church (and individual Christians) in China are stepping out of the shadows, and the various ways in which the government is being forced to deal with this growing and more visible church.
In July, I wrote a post titled "Ten Lessons from the Church in China" in which I highlighted ten responses by foreign Christians in China to the question "what specific lessons can the church in the West learn from the church in China?"
In the mid-1990s, while studying Chinese, I stumbled across a Chinese expression that was a "key" to helping me understand what was going on. I was working through a textbook called Speaking of Chinese Culture that taught about key Chinese cultural rules and values. One chapter was on this Chinese concept called nei wai you bie (内外有别), which means "insiders and outsiders are different."
Contrary to what many think, getting ahold of legally published Christian books in China is quite easy. In addition to Christian bookstores, which exist in most major cities, China's e-commerce site Taobao is a great source of Christian material.
When trying to understand the church in China, it's easy to let predetermined narratives drive our interpretation of the things we observe. A recent article in the Huffington Post is a clear example of this.
Anyone serving in China knows that one of the more vexing issues to deal with is "security." How public can / should I be about my faith? How public can/should I be about the faith and values that undergird my ministry?
On October 1, the Cornerstone Blog of The Religious Freedom Project at The Berkeley Center published two helpful posts on religious liberty in China.