Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs.
Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and Chinese Culture and Communication at Wheaton College (IL) and Taylor University (IN).
Joann has a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and an MA in teaching from the University of St. Thomas (MN).
She is the author of Survival Chinese Lessons and The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China.
Her personal blog, Outside-In can be found at joannpittman.com, where she writes on China, Minnesota, traveling, and issues related to "living well where you don't belong."
You can find her on Twitter @jkpittman.com and on Facebook at @authorjoannpittman.
She makes her home in New Brighton, Minnesota.
ZGBriefs | November 3, 2022
I lasted three years in China without taking a COVID test (November 2, 2022, The China Project) Yes, dear reader, I have broken my streak. After three years (well, shy three months of it), in the last three weeks I have taken 15 throat-swab tests. Some were stabbers, some ticklers; some explorers, others gorers; some dabbed, some jabbed, a few stayed in there till I gagged. One kept me aah-ing till I drooled like a dog onto the pavement.
ZGBriefs | October 27, 2022
Teaching English as a Second Language (October 6, Field Partner) Seek to be the best teacher in the department. Your teaching role is not something you put up with just so that you can ‘evangelise’. Be the best and earn the right to witness to Jesus.
An Interview with Mike Frith, Founder and Director of OSCAR
ChinaSource is excited to partner with OSCAR, which stands for One Stop Center for Advice and Resources. The UK-based website offers both in-person and online courses, including the British Culture Orientation course. Find out about this course and more aspects of OSCAR’s work in this “3 Questions” video interview with Mike Frith.
ZGBriefs | October 20, 2022
How Xi Jinping is reshaping China, in five charts (October 17, 2022, Christian Science Monitor) Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to win a rare third term in this week’s 20th Communist Party Congress. Understanding how Mr. Xi has transformed China over the past decade can offer clues for what comes next.
ZGBriefs | October 13, 2022
How Xi Will Consolidate Power at China’s Twentieth Party Congress (October 5, October 5, 2022, Council on Foreign Relations) At the Chinese Communist Party meeting, leader Xi Jinping will likely receive a third term. Here’s what that could mean for his control of China and the party.
Public Lecture: Out of the Darkness and Into the Light of the Global Stage
Protestant Churches in China After 1979
Join us in-person or online on November 13 for the autumn lecture given by Richard Cook and hosted by ERRChina.
ZGBriefs | October 6, 2022
Church-State Relations: Lessons from China (August, 2022, Themelios) This article delineates various biblical principles that circumscribe the church’s relationship to the state. In addition to more general principles, these include the recognition that the mission of the organized church is distinct from that of individual Christians, that political institutions tend to become anti-Christ and oppressive, and that our context will determine the extent to which the church can exercise its prophetic voice.
Father, Long Before Creation
Though the world may change its fashion, you will still remain the same; your compassion and your cov'nant through all ages will remain.
ZGBriefs | September 29, 2022
Some Americans’ views of China turned more negative after 2020, but others became more positive (September 28, 2022, Pew Research) When looking at individual Americans, roughly a quarter of U.S. adults (26%) became more negative toward China between 2020 and 2022. Around one-in-five (17%) became more positive toward it, while 53% did not change their views in one direction or the other, according to the analysis.
ZGBriefs | September 22, 2022
Temple excursions booming among Chinese youth (September 21, 2022, The China Project) According to government data, there are currently more than 33,000 Buddhist temples in China. An increasing number of them find themselves hosting urban youth who seek an escape from the rat race.