After having been the only child for many years, my parents finally brought home a tiny bundle—my very own baby sibling. While many would celebrate the arrival of another member to the family, that special day was instead laced with disappointment for my father. I found out much later that my mother went into labor before my father got to the hospital. When he finally arrived, he took a look at the baby, uttered in dismay, “Another girl,” and walked off.
Father’s Day in China, like many other countries, falls on the third Sunday in June. It is not an official holiday in China, nor is it widely observed, especially in comparison to other similar holidays such as Mother’s Day and Children’s Day. Yet, for those working among Chinese (in any context) it does provide a unique opportunity to generate gospel-oriented discussion given the central theme of God the Father in the Bible.
Reading Kathleen Lodwick’s How Christianity Came to China (Fortress Press 2016) was disturbing for two reasons.
Last week millions of Chinese high school students took the annual two-day college entrance exam know as, the gaokao. For these students and their families, much of their young lives have led up to this moment. Many of their future hopes and dreams also ride on their exam scores.
While stress ran high, Chen Fengsheng, a Three-Self pastor in Wenzhou, offered this prayer for the gaokao season.
Last week Brent wrote about a Christian serving among China’s Muslims who joined in the Muslim celebration of Ramadan. Given the fact that we are now at the halfway point of the month of fasting, I thought it would be a good time to highlight some recent articles and resources about Islam in China.
The film Beijing Taxi, directed by Miao Wang, a Beijing native who immigrated to the US in 1990, begins two years before the Olympics and follows the lives of three taxi drivers. Each of them shares their own perspective on Beijing’s transformation, China’s rise, and most importantly, what it all means to them. Is China hosting the Olympics really all the glitz and glory that it was dreamed to be? What price economic growth and development?
馬可牧師（Pastor Mark）是一位在中國服事、長期投身穆斯林世界跨文化宣教的基督徒。 去年，為了更深刻地理解他所服事的群體，馬可牧師親身參與了穆斯林的齋戒月（Ramadan）。他將這段經歷寫成文章，刊載於2016年冬季號《華源季刊》。 對馬可牧師而言，這段為期一個月、全球數百萬穆斯林共同參與的年度儀式，成了一次改變生命的經歷。他如此描述： 對我來說，那三十天絕非尋常意義上的三十個日子，也不僅僅是一個可以用「一個月」來丈量的時間概念。無論是從夜晚到清晨的輪迴，還是日出日落的交替更迭，我突然意識到，那三十天竟如同一個獨特的四季輪轉——讓人看見了嚴冬的深邃，也發現了早春的豐盛；讓人領略了盛夏的炎熱，也踏入了秋日的收穫。那三十天，對我而言是一段格外觸動心靈的旅程…… 在這三十天裡，我不僅消瘦了將近五公斤，也誕生了這篇文字。我所經歷的，是過去從未有過的。 馬可牧師對齋戒月的觀察，成了他作為一位服事中國穆斯林群體的中國信徒生命寫照。身體承受的飢餓，讓他聯想到跨文化工作者在異鄉常面臨的資源匱乏，以及對熟悉事物的渴望——這種飢餓感，唯有在基督裡才能獲得終極的滿足。他身處背景全然不同的人群中，參與這項陌生的儀式；這份身為中國人的孤獨，讓他聯想到，中國跨文化工作者在異文化中服事時，必然會面臨的孤立境遇。 最後，齋戒月結束之際，馬可因深層的心靈掙扎而陷入低潮。他指出，這種掙扎對於身處異文化、並致力於實踐「替代性救贖」（substitutive atonement）般的受苦精神的人來說，是預期中的代價——他們選擇為了所愛的人群，去承擔並面對這份痛苦與掙扎。 在親身體驗了這些切實可感的身體、情感與靈性衝擊之餘，馬可牧師也從這段長達一個月的旅程中，獲得了對中國跨文化工作者如何預備終身服事的嶄新洞見。他開始反思：受差派者，究竟需要具備哪些素質？他也進一步深思：像他這樣的差派者，又該扮演什麼樣的角色？ 如欲閱讀馬可牧師完整的齋戒月見證，請參閱原文〈這三十天〉。 本文原以英文撰寫，中文譯稿由華源協作翻譯刊載。
One of the growing challenges for the contemporary church in China is the swelling tide of secularism. Several Chinese Christians shared this concern with us in conversations at the Reformation 500 and the Gospel conference in Hong Kong last month. China’s increasing affluence provides society with opportunities, but also ever-morphing ideals. New and shifting norms for marriage, worklife and careers, parenting, and education confront Christians in subtle ways that more visible challenges (e.g. arrests, lack of resources, funding, etc.) have not.
In this blog post, originally posted by Oak Tree Publishing, Wei Chen shares the personal sacrifices she and her family have made in the face of secular values. She describes the troubling expectations of society on her and her family, and how her Christian faith pushed her to say “No!” to following along with the secular norms.
Our friends at The Gospel Coalition recently asked me to review Ian Johnson’s book The Souls of China: The Return of Religion after Mao. Last week, it was published under the title "China’s God-Shaped Vacuum."
China in Our Midst: Reaching Chinese International Students in America by Glen Osborn and Daniel Su of China Outreach Ministries (COM) will help anyone who wants to get involved in serving and reaching Chinese students but is uncertain about how to do it or wonders if they are qualified.
What are people saying about China's new Overseas NGO Law?
Last week we posted the second part of an article from ChurchChina about the impact of Reformed theology on evangelism in “Y Church.” Part one discussed the current situation of Y Church. The second part described in more detail how the research findings describe the impact of Reformed theology on Y Church’s evangelism. The third part gives recommendations for Y Church’s evangelism. This is part three.