Chinese Church Voices occupies a unique place among the many online resources currently available on Christianity in China, enabling those outside China to hear directly from China’s Christians. If you’re not already a subscriber, we invite you to sign up below and start “listening in on the conversation.”
Brent Fulton
Four years ago we launched a new content initiative, called Chinese Church Voices. Our goal was to translate a sampling of what Chinese Christians themselves are writing and posting online in public forums. These online forums include blogs, microblogs, Christian news sites, church websites, and websites devoted to particular topics such as theology, the family, and current affairs.
The first post, “Where Are the Churches?,” published on June 18, 2012, featured an online map showing where the churches in China were located.
This map was posted on the Weibo page of Chinese Christian Digital Media, with the following notation: "On the Baidu maps site, if you type in ‘church’ and do a search, you get this map. Think about the past 100 years. Western missionaries received a call, and through much suffering, gave their lives to irrigate this hard and rocky soil. Every Christian should think about this. Because of the persevering love of God, the Chinese people have a beautiful future."
Since then we have published more than 200 posts. Our sources and the articles selected for translation represent both the house church and Three-Self perspectives.
The types of pieces we publish are varied and include sermons, in-depth interviews, commentary on contemporary social issues, and testimonies. A review of the posts that we have done over the past few years reveals a few trends.
Here are four of those trends along with links to relevant posts.
1. Chinese believers are joining the conversations that erupt online when major events occur, offering a Christian perspective.
2. Chinese Christians are exploring what it means to live out their Christian life within a particular cultural context with its own set of cultural rules.
3. Evangelism is important, not just locally, but globally as well.
- Conversation Between a Taxi Driver and a Pastor
- Paying the Price: An Interview with a Shenzhen Pastor About Cross-cultural Missions
4. Churches are looking for ways to engage with society and to minister to the marginalized.
Again, what sets these posts apart from others is that they are the voices of Chinese Christians themselves, not just analysis from outsiders. And even in this season of political tightening in China, the Christian conversations on the internet are continuing.
Selecting and translating the articles is not an easy process, and we are grateful for the team of translators and reviewers who are assisting with this project. They know who they are!
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News and Notes
- Brent Fulton’s article, “China Reveals What It Wants to Do with Christianity,” appeared in Christianity Today.
- The China Gospel Research Alliance, comprising ChinaSource and three other organizations, held a consultation in Hong Kong earlier this month for two dozen researchers from China, Hong Kong and Europe.
- Brent Fulton preached at Evangelical Community Church in Hong Kong.
- Brent Fulton was interviewed by Christianity Today for a forthcoming article on foreign non-governmental organizations.
Ways to Pray
- Pray for the Chinese Church Voices translation team as they scour the internet in China for articles that highlight the concerns of the Chinese church.
- China’s new law on foreign NGOs, which takes effect January 1, 2017, has far-reaching implications for organizations engaged in China. Pray for wisdom for church and agency leaders outside China and for officials in China who are in the process of determining how the law will be implemented.
- Lift up the financial needs of ChinaSource as we approach the summer months.
- Give thanks for an enthusiastic response to the first ChinaSource Institute online course, “Serving Well in China.” In April more than a thousand students registered for the course.
- Give thanks that overall readership of ChinaSource publications has grown more than 35% since the year began. We are encouraged that readers are interacting with our content and continue to find it a valuable resource.
In Case You Missed It
A selection of recently published items
- House Church Leader Li Tian’en Dies in Shanghai, Chinese Church Voices, May 10
- The New Normal for Faith-based NGOs in China, From the West Courtyard, May 4
- 4 Takeaways from Xi’s Speech on Religion, From the West Courtyard, April 27
- Encouraged by a Chinese Missions Group, From the West Courtyard, April 22
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