At the beginning of this year, the well-respected pastor Rev. Wang (Thomas)Yongxin died at the age of 93 at his home in San Francisco. Rev. Wang was highly regarded as an influential ministry leader among the worldwide Chinese Christian population. He was known to carry a special burden for missions and the Great Commission.
Rev. Wang was born in Beijing in 1925 into a third-generation Christian family. In 1936, through the ministry of the celebrated evangelist John Sung, Rev. Wang became a Christian, after which he began to attend Wang Mingdao’s church in Beijing. He fled China in 1949 and spent time in Hong Kong and then Taiwan where he became a pastor. While on an evangelism tour in Europe, Rev. Wang felt God gave him a vision for mission to Chinese. “You will serve your kinsman with a fervent heart,” the Lord revealed to him. Rev. Wang eventually made his way to the United States in 1959 to study theology and in 1961 while living in Detroit he helped found the Chinese Christian Mission.
Rev. Wang was used by the Lord in many notable ways. In 1976, Rev. Wang attended The First International Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne I, known later as the Lausanne Movement) and was commissioned to direct the first Chinese Congress on World Evangelism. Later that year, Rev. Wang also helped found the Chinese Coordination Centre of World Evangelism based in Hong Kong. He later served the Lausanne Movement as Vice-Chairman in 1985, as International Director in 1987, and as the Director of The Second International Congress on World Evangelism (Lausanne II) in 1989.
This short remembrance from Behold Magazine, a Chinese ministry with which Rev. Wang worked, highlights the passion with which Rev. Wang served and reflects the love and honor in which many Chinese Christians hold him.
Passing the Torch
On January 4 at 9 o’clock AM Pacific time, Rev. Wang Yongxin went to be with the Lord in heaven at the age of 93.
Rev. Wang focused on one thing in his life—our Lord's Great Commission. To this end, he never slowed down his running pace.
In August 2009, Rev. Wang Yongxin, then 84 years old, personally led the first gathering of the Internet Mission Forum, a movement to promote the gospel in the new media age. After that, he attended several gatherings of the Internet Mission Forum. He also learned from the internet missionary Brother Gideon about how to open up and use Internet blogs.
Brother Gideon said, "Rev. Wang was one of the most senior Christian brothers I have ever seen who was willing to learn how to use new media to share the gospel." For such a highly respected elder to become so interested in new technologies, to still have such a child-like enthusiasm for evangelism, Rev. Wang was a wonderful example and a great encouragement to all of us who co-labor in Internet missions!"
Rev. Wang had a wish to start an "internet missions" program for the church and seminaries so that the gospel would be spread faster, farther, and broader. The wish was accomplished just before he died. Along with the Back to God Ministries and Overseas Campus Ministries, more than ten pastors and scholars joined together to record internet-based courses. The program will be launched in January this year.
We desire to pay our respects for our beloved spiritual elder, Rev Wang, and offer his labor as an offering to the Lord! Below is an introduction given by Rev. Wang for the program. We can remember him in his teachings; we can pick up the torch from his hand and carry it forward towards the goal of the Great Commission!
Original Article: 接過他手中的火炬, Behold Magazine
Sources Consulted on the Life of Rev. Wang Yongxin
- Lausanne Movement, “Thomas Wang: Former Lausanne International Director,” https://www.lausanne.org/about/leaders/advisory/thomas-wang
- Bible World, “王永信,” https://bible.world/%E7%8E%8B%E6%B0%B8%E4%BF%A1
- Gospel Herald, “王永信牧師安息主懷,” http://chinese.gospelherald.com/articles/26363/20180104/%E7%8E%8B%E6%B0%B8%E4%BF%A1%E7%89%A7%E5%B8%AB%E5%AE%89%E6%81%AF%E4%B8%BB%E6%87%B7.htm
- Chinese Christian Mission, “Brief History of CCM,” http://www.ccmusa.org/engl/aboutus/history_en.aspx
Header image credit: Screenshot from embedded video.
Text image credit: 接過他手中的火炬, Behold Magazine.
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