These are contentious, fragile times; times when we are reminded of just how interconnected we all are in this world. On February 24 we hosted a virtual ChinaSource Connect event, the first day of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. One western world leader earlier that day had said: “We have awakened to a brand-new world.” We opened and closed our meeting in prayer, with our hearts especially turned to Russia and Ukraine. We remembered other regions, especially China, which will play a significant role in the results of the conflict.
One month later, the invasion has become a brutal war, with many Ukrainians fleeing to neighboring countries for safety. As of March 20, 2022, some ten million people, about 25% of Ukraine’s population, have been driven from their homes. World leaders, including US President Biden, have emphasized how delicate the situation is. All eyes are on China to see the government’s long-term response to the most violent and extensive European invasion in about eighty years.
With so much disastrous news, it seems as though our lives and world are more brittle than ever. However, even when we thought we had more control over our lives and futures, we didn’t. It has always been the case that the Lord is sovereign over everything that happens in the world and is in control of our lives and futures. His kingdom is advancing, even when it doesn’t look or feel like it.
The entire world, for good reason, is focused on the war in Ukraine. Certainly what happens there affects us all, and our prayer and support for the Ukrainian people, as well as prayers for the Russian people and surrounding regions are timely and well placed.
We are also reminded, in deeply concerning times like these, of our responsibility to be faithful stewards of the calling God has given ChinaSource to serve and partner with God’s people in China and the Chinese diaspora as well. Of course, we know in God’s eyes it’s all connected.
Don’t Miss This!
With everything else taking place in the world today, I hope you won’t miss the spring issue of the ChinaSource Quarterly entitled Reaching Migrant Workers in China. You will be encouraged in your faith, inspired, and motivated by the compassion and grace of those who love and serve among their friends, brothers, and sisters in China’s migrant community.
Taking it to Prayer
In a recent survey of ChinaSource readers, 59% said they prayed in response to the publications they have read. We are so thankful to hear this! In the future we will provide more resources to help with prayerful application of ChinaSource content. For now, as you read the ChinaSource Quarterly you will find yourself praising, thanking, and interceding along the way!
Kerry Schottelkorb
President
News and Notes
Webinar
Chinese Christianity in the Modern Era: Making Sense of the Present in Light of the Past
In this webinar, Dr. Easten Law will provide a historical overview of the different threads running through Chinese Christianity’s modern development including themes of folk religiosity and healing, ethical living, familial belonging, and national salvation. What can these historical themes tell us about the church’s role amidst China’s current inward, nationalistic turn and how should we orient ourselves in response?
Date: April 7, 2022
Time: 1:00PM (US Central Daylight Time)
Presenter: Easten Law
Registration is free
ChinaSource Quarterly, 2021 Spring Issue
Reaching Migrant Workers in China, guest editor, Reggie Reimer
In his editorial, “The Struggles and Strengths of China’s Migrant Workers,” Reggie Reimer gives an overview of the themes addressed in the articles:
The entrenched hukou system, along with the opportunities it either afforded or excluded, had created—or perhaps revealed—a class-based society. Migrants tended to be poor and sometimes looked down upon, had little access to education and health care, and took jobs no one else wanted. They were the unskilled factory workers, trash collectors, restaurant servers, security guards, vegetable sellers, and the primary construction force behind the building of China’s cities, highways, and rail lines. Over the years, hundreds of conversations and dozens of friendships brought me into the migrant world. I regularly heard stories of financial pressures and the painful struggles of separated families.
To read this thought-provoking issue of the ChinaSource Quarterly, go to Reaching Migrant Workers in China.
ChinaSource Team News
- On March 6, Brent Fulton preached at Home of Christ 6, English Congregation, in Newark, California.
- Joann Pittman participated in the annual Midwest Conference on Missionary Care in Bloomington, MN on February 25 and 26.
- On February 24, Joann gave an interview to Field Partner International on her life and work in China and beyond. Watch the video on the Field Partner International website.
Ways to Pray
From the ChinaSource Team
- Praise the Lord with us that the February 24 virtual ChinaSource Connect event brought many together to compare life and ministry notes, to pray, and to discuss ways of working together in the future.
- Pray that God will confuse the plans of the enemy and that our Heavenly Father’s redemptive plan and kingdom will advance in Ukraine, Russia, and throughout Eastern Europe. Pray for the protection and salvation of lives in the physical and spiritual realms.
- Remember to pray for the people of Hong Kong where more than 5,000 people have died of COVID in the last month. The number of new cases has been declining recently.
From the 2022 Spring Issue of ChinaSource Quarterly
- Ask God to strengthen those who are preaching the gospel, making disciples, and planting fast growing churches in migrant communities across China. For more details, please see “Thinking about Multiplying Migrant Worker Churches in Urbanizing China” and “The Unfinished Story of Living Waters“.
- Given the new wave of urbanization in China, pray that China’s churches will have a new vision of God’s kingdom that will keep them planting vigorous churches with new concepts and new models.
- Lift up church planters using new models that focus on reaching migrants in all tiers of China’s cities.
- Pray for China’s internal migrants facing the challenges brought about by the hukou system and living between rural and urban environments.
- Call on the Lord to bless China’s left-behind children and the relatives, often grandparents, who care for them.
- Pray for migrant women, both married and single, who usually must help support, or may be the only support, for their families.
- Pray for all of China’s migrants as they so often face instability in both location and employment as well as family separations.
In Case You Missed It
A selection of recently published items:
- Humbly Striving for Growth—Li Yan (2), ChinaSource Blog (CCV), March 22.
- An Invitation to Lament, ChinaSource Blog, March 21.
- National People’s Congress 2022, ChinaSource Blog, March 18.
- The Search for Home: Resonances between Heaven and Earth, ChinaSource Blog, March 16.
- Humbly Striving for Growth—Li Yan, ChinaSource Blog (CCV), March 15.
- Wahhabi-Inspired Islam in China, ChinaSource Blog, March 14.
- Three Little Pandas in a Pandemic: A Book for Families, ChinaSource Blog, March 11.
- Getting to Know China’s Migrant Workers, ChinaSource Blog, March 09.
- I Was Cornered but God Heard My Prayer, ChinaSource Blog (CCV), March 08.
- 3 Questions: The Transitions Workbook, ChinaSource Blog, March 07.
- Invisible China: A Book Review, ChinaSource Blog, March 04.
- More Questions than Answers, ChinaSource Blog, March 2.
- A Love Story from China, ChinaSource Blog (CCV), March 1.
- Chinese Muslim Mystics, ChinaSource Blog, February 28.
- When Nixon Went to China, ChinaSource Blog, February 25.
- Serving China’s Missionary Church, ChinaSource Blog, February 23.
- A Mother Grows in Faith, ChinaSource Blog (CCV), February 22.
- The Seed of the Church and the Modern Missions Movement, ChinaSource Blog, February 21.
- Public Lecture: “The Rise of China and What It Means for the Church”, ChinaSource Blog, February 18.
- Breaking the Ice for Gospel Conversations, ChinaSource Blog, February 16.
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