A few weeks back, I did something rather mean—I wrote to a dozen or so friends serving in China and asked them what one book they would recommend to someone wanting to serve in China. The people I asked work in various ministry sectors, and live in different parts of China.
Once they got past castigating me for asking such an absurd question, they all managed (some grudgingly) to name one book. Here is the list (in no particular order):
- Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, by Evan Osnos
- China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know, by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
- China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power, by Rob Gifford
- Cross-cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christ-like Humility, by Duane Elmers
- J. Hudson Taylor, God’s Man in China, by Mary Taylor
- Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Balance of Power, by David Aikman
- Mr. China: A Memoir, by Tim Clissod
- Think Like Chinese, by Zhang Haihua and Geoff Baker
- To Change China: Western Advisors in China, by Jonathan Spence
And one person recommended that anyone interested in serving in China just read ZGBriefs every week.
I certainly won’t argue with that!
Image courtesy of: books by Joann Pittman, on Flickr.
