周寧現任華源協作夥伴關係與中國事工副總裁，並擔任《每週中國快訊》（ZGBriefs）編輯。
加入華源協作之前，周寧曾在中國工作 28 年，期間擔任過英語教師、語言學生及專案主任，也為在中國工作的機構與企業提供跨文化培訓。她曾在明尼蘇達州的西北大學（University of Northwestern–St. Paul）教授中文，並在惠頓學院（Wheaton College）及泰勒大學（Taylor University）教授中國文化與溝通。
周寧擁有西北大學社會科學學士學位，以及聖湯瑪斯大學（University of St. Thomas）教學碩士學位。
周寧著有 Survival Chinese Lessons 和 The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China 兩本書。
周寧也經營個人部落格 Outside-In（joannpittman.com），分享對中國、明尼蘇達州、旅行，以及「如何在不屬於自己的地方好好生活」等主題的觀察與思考。
讀者也可以透過 X（@jkpittman）及 Facebook（@authorjoannpittman）關注周寧的動態。
周寧目前定居美國明尼蘇達州新布萊頓（New Brighton）。
The third element that Huo Shui highlights for us in “Living Wisely in China” is the Chinese notion of “face.” This one is arguably the most important and the most difficult for westerners to grasp. He gives us a glimpse into how “face” plays out in everyday life in China.
The second essential element of Chinese culture that Huo Shui writes about in “Living Wisely in China” is the importance of eating and drinking, particularly as it relates to forging and establishing relationships.
In 2000, a Chinese writer named Huo Shui wrote an article for the ChinaSource Quarterly titled “Living Wisely in China.” In it he takes a look at four essential elements of Chinese culture that westerners must grapple with (and hopefully get) in order to be effective in China.
The first one is taiji (tai-chi), the slow-motion martial art that is popular among people of all ages in China. Taiji requires inner strength and patience, both of which are required in order to accomplish things in China.
This past month has seen a flurry of articles written about the religious sentiments of Chinese youth, all triggered by the release of a survey conducted by the National Survey Research Center of the School of Philosophy at People’s University in Beijing. Many of the stories picked up the angle that Islam was the most popular religion, while others highlighted the growing popularity of religion in general among Chinese young people.
These stories actually prompt deeper questions about what life is like for youth in China today. What are Chinese youth like? What are the issues they wrestle with? How are they coping with the pressures of life? Are they really interested in spiritual matters?
A look at Nanjing.
Much has been written about China’s urbanization over the past three decades, as the rural/urban ratio has shifted from 80/20 to roughly 50/50. Most of this urbanization has taken place as a result of millions of people picking up and moving from the countryside into the cities, leaving behind, in many cases empty villages or villages with only old people left.
When I was teaching on a university campus, one of the things that surprised me was the admission by many of my students that they were afraid of ghosts. One of them put it to me very succinctly: “We are atheists during the day, but when the lights go out it’s a different story.”
June 25th marked the 150th anniversary of Hudson Taylor’s call to take the gospel to China and the founding of the China Inland Mission (today’s OMF), an event that not only precipitated a wave of missionary activity to China, but also upended the traditional ways in which missionary work had been conducted.
Awhile back I was going through some old files on my computer and ran across something that a Chinese friend gave me years and years ago. It is a list of 12 so-called "golden rules" of doing any kind of business in China.
On June 4, 2015, ChinaSource President Brent Fulton was a guest on the Connecting Faith program of My Faith Radio in the Twin Cities. Host Neil Stavem spent the hour talking with Brent about modern China and some of the unique challenges and opportunities facing the country and the church in China 26 years after the crackdown in Tiananmen Square.
Must-read books for those who want to serve in China.
In April, the Chinese government made available for comment the draft of a proposed Foreign NGO Management Law, which, if enacted as is, could significantly impact the work of foreign NGOs currently operating in China.
In the weeks since the draft was published, there’s been much discussion and analysis of the implications of this proposed law. Below is a roundup of some of the best pieces I’ve seen on the subject (so far).