Swells in the Middle Kingdom
Expatriate Ministry in China during the Age of COVID
The experience of ministering as an expatriate in China is quite different today, as those who remain struggle to carve out meaningful roles in an increasingly challenging environment.
The Importance of Praying for the Work
A Pamphlet from 1910
Excerpts from a pamphlet from an earlier era selected to encourage new generations of readers to persevere in prayer on behalf of the work in China and around the globe.
Returning Home—The Chinese Church in Transition
Many Chinese believers enter the church at times of personal crisis. Financial troubles, broken relationships, health emergencies—real world trials often reveal to Chinese people the fractured nature of their safety nets, as friends, family, and the state fail to provide them with what they need. These moments of brokenness can be used by God to open people’s hearts to their own weakness and God’s strength.
Social Service Ministry in China
While social service has long been part of missionary work in mainland China, today a host of different factors are driving Chinese Christians to explore for themselves the place of humanitarian concerns within gospel ministry. For a growing number of local Christians, loving one’s neighbor through acts of service is rapidly becoming an indispensable aspect of Christian witness. This essay will first explore the role of social service in the history of mission in China before analyzing its place in the ministry of the contemporary Chinese church.
Lockdown Life
Choosing to face hardship—for remaining in China seemed foolish to almost everyone back in February—has brought us tremendous blessing, as each of us has experienced in the most concrete ways imaginable the solid trustworthiness of God’s promise: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Can I Leave Now?
We persevere through the frustration, alienation, and anxiety, trusting that if we seek first the coming kingdom then our loving Father who knows exactly what we need will provide for us—even in the midst of China’s latest storm. Maybe that’s why he keeps us here.
Churches, Posters, and State Propaganda
Compliance and Appropriation
A look at how churches are responding.
Re-thinking What Affects Effectiveness
An article on effective service from the ChinaSource archives.
Being a Western Christian in the Global Church, Part 3
How You Can Serve the Chinese Church
As Christians from the west we must stop thinking in terms of “the west and the rest” and embrace our identity as equal members of the world church, no more special or privileged than any of our sisters and brothers.
Being a Western Christian in the Global Church, Part 2
Recognize Your Place in the Global Church
Once we understand that the world in which we minister has changed significantly, then we are in a position to reassess more accurately what our role ought to be in the global church.