Our China Stories
Who Moved My Church?
The key to the Western church’s ongoing effectiveness may well be its ability to learn from majority world believers, many of whom have experience in living out their faith in the face of political and cultural restrictions.
Giving Thanks in the Darkness
This thanksgiving glimmers with the hope that our engagement will help to complete the story…about what China is becoming. But what happens when we ourselves are the ones in need, with neither the opportunities nor the means to enter into the story in the way we thought we were supposed to?
Will History Repeat Itself?
Whether a century ago or today, whatever our China stories may purport to tell us about being apolitical, of “leaving our politics at the door” or “staying out of politics,” one of the hard lessons of history is that foreign Christian involvement in China is unavoidably political.
Enduring Friendship
When our friendship storyline is out of step with the larger cultural narrative, whether in China or in the West, how do we as the body of Christ continue to build bridges of understanding?
What if Christianity Is No Longer Successful?
May the stories we tell in this new era be stories of God’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of his people. The gospel is still unique and true, even when it is not clothed in the outward signs of success.
Ethical Storytelling
Everyone who has been to China, or met a Christian from China, or read or heard something about Christians in China, has a story to tell. But no one has the whole story.
Nothing New under the Sun
There have been seasons in China’s history when the sky seemed the limit. The possibilities for believers seemed endless…. Yet, there have also been seasons when China was closed, seasons when nothing seemed possible. And usually these followed a very open season, such as was not too long ago.
Rediscovering the Plot
Each... aspect of the Christian witness speaks to one facet of the totality of Christ’s kingdom reign. Each provides a complimentary narrative in the overall plot, which is the story of Christ at work in and through his witnesses on earth.
A Positive Legacy in China
While insensitive cross-cultural work has often resulted in closed doors or deportation, sensitive and authentic cross-cultural work has time and again won over the hearts of the Chinese people.
Serving China’s Missionary Church
Serving China’s missionary church will require seeing “success” through a new lens, defined not by big-budget projects and exotic stories, but by the faithfulness of those who are willing to labor in obscurity on the margins, often unannounced and unnoticed, with perhaps few visible results.