It is important for returnee Christians to ask God for wisdom as they follow Peter’s admonition to early Christians who were struggling: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
We know that our love for God, for his kingdom in China, and for returning Chinese Christians demands that we equip our returnees with all that they need to remain faithful to Jesus.
![A young Chinese man reads the Bible sitting outside. May we welcome [Chinese international students], love them, teach them about Jesus, and disciple those who believe. May we prepare them well to return and may the churches in China prepare well to receive them.](https://media.chinasource.org/uploads/2024/12/QAR-2024-04-CSP-9-ChinaSource-Chinese-Christianity-Returnees-International-Students-Sino-US-Relations-300x150.jpg)
May we welcome [Chinese international students], love them, teach them about Jesus, and disciple those who believe. May we prepare them well to return and may the churches in China prepare well to receive them.
Check out the books in the Resource Corner to help the returnees and returnee ministries in your life.
Guangxiao Church and Zion Church, two of Guangzhou’s leading and historical churches, are pioneering youth-focused outreach efforts to counter the decline in youth attendance. To attract them to the church, the two churches offer various youth-centered activities, including a "Faith Pharmacy," comic exhibitions, and storytelling sessions.
I was born in a Christian family and my grandma is a faithful Christian. She likes reading the Bible in the afternoon even though she only has a primary school education. At that age, I couldn’t understand what this meant to me, but seeds of faith were planted in my heart though I didn’t know it yet.
Chinese house churches must deliberate on how to be genuinely Chinese and truly Christian. Both the concepts that are overemphasized cause distortion. It takes constant navigating to be “in the culture but not of it.” Authentic Chinese Christianity will result from keeping both ideas in healthy tension as Chinese house churches negotiate between indigenizing and acting as pilgrim communities.
ChinaSource was formed in 1997, reflecting the spirit of the Lausanne Movement and in accordance with the Lausanne Covenant. Together with other global ministries, Dr. Brent Fulton and several colleagues founded ChinaSource with the goal that the global church would better understand the church in China and seek ways to serve Christ’s church together.
In the face of uncertainty and anxiety about the future, Christians must return to the essence of the gospel. While the gospel has the power to transform society, societal change has never been the primary focus of Christian faith. The gospel transforms society by bringing hope to individuals and inspiring moral renewal. The gradual transformation of individual lives collectively fosters societal progress.
![A young Chinese woman prays in the church. May we welcome [Chinese international students], love them, teach them about Jesus, and disciple those who believe. May we prepare them well to return and may the churches in China prepare well to receive them.](https://media.chinasource.org/uploads/2024/12/BL241209-header-ChinaSource-Chinese-Christianity-Returnees-International-Students-Sino-US-Relations-300x150.jpg)
May we welcome [Chinese international students], love them, teach them about Jesus, and disciple those who believe. May we prepare them well to return and may the churches in China prepare well to receive them.
On November 14, 2024, nearly 200 Chinese pastors, church leaders, theologians, and educators from around the world gathered at the picturesque Biola University. Together, they celebrated the historic establishment of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Chinese Christianity (IASCC) and the Biola Research Initiative for Chinese Theology.
As we close out 2024, I am filled with gratitude—for God’s goodness that has pursued us, for faithful partners like you, and for the lives being transformed through his love. Today on this Giving Tuesday, I invite you to join us. Your partnership helps us connect people, ideas, and resources to advance God’s work in China and beyond.