Current reports on Chinese churches in the UK often focus on their significant growth in numbers. To be sure, while the interviewees were all grateful for the growth, they also faced unprecedented pressures. This reminds us that when discussing the British Chinese Christian community, we should avoid falling into the trap of moralizing numbers.
Pastor Li…shared his reflections on…Christianity in China…as well as his outlook and predictions for the next decade. He believes that Chinese Christianity is transitioning from a growth period to a bottleneck period …the next long phase will be one of consolidation, with the cultivation and nurturing of excellent church talent being a key priority.
As with many Christian China narratives, the questions we ask shape the storyline. If “Who’s in charge?” is not the right question, attempts to answer it will undoubtedly prove unsatisfactory. Perhaps a better starting point would be, “How shall we lead together?”
Today, faced with the opportunities and challenges of diaspora missions brought about by globalization, the church should actively participate. We hope that God will give the church the spiritual vision and kingdom-mindedness to take part in diaspora missions, and that we will see opportunities for encouraging lay missions.
As with Abram, so with us: we are the beneficiaries of that promise and blessing. We are invited to leave, to go, to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with Jesus Christ, the living image of our living God. Going includes learning to minister cross-culturally. That is our blessing, our calling, our mission.
![A young boy in a blue and orange shirt with a blue backpack, carries some food on the way home from school. Ours is just one story among millions in China facing similar challenges. Due to the rigorous demands of the college entrance exams and pervasive competitive pressures in education, many Christian families here opt to send their children to unregistered Christian schools… [Our son], however, is among the few who remain within the Chinese educational system, compelled more by financial necessity than choice.](https://media.chinasource.org/uploads/2024/05/BL240521-header-ChinaSource-Chinese-Christianity-Chinese-Education-Private-Education-Christian-Education-Chinese-Families-Chinese-Christians-Isaiah-55-8-9-300x150.jpg)
Ours is just one story among millions in China facing similar challenges. Due to the rigorous demands of the college entrance exams and pervasive competitive pressures in education, many Christian families here opt to send their children to unregistered Christian schools… [Our son], however, is among the few who remain within the Chinese educational system, compelled more by financial necessity than choice.
I am not Chinese, and yet I was so helped by this exploration of the Year of the Dragon. And I realize that for my Chinese Christian brothers and sisters this series of articles may have produced a much deeper sense of relief than mine. For this I am grateful and looking forward to an eternity in which I can know them better.
I have learned through shared faith and life experiences with my Chinese sisters and brothers to view the Chinese Union Version of the Bible as a faithful, elegant, and eminently readable translation (信、雅、达)—one that consistently draws me closer to my Lord.
For all those who are of mixed-race descent and are looking to find threads of meaning in this conflictual experience, this account not only demonstrates what can be possible at the edges of luck, community, and political agency—but also the horrors of what can take place when monocultural and supremacist ideologies are enacted thus preventing the co-creation of communities of belonging for all.
We should not erect an artificial barrier to sharing the gospel of Jesus by insisting on a Western language that non-Christians in Asia are not familiar with. Jesus is the answer, yes, but to what questions? East Asian people have a rich tradition of spiritual formation in the general sense of renovating the heart.
Every day I pray for God to give me wisdom to eliminate any barriers between my daughter and me. I pray for ways to be able to speak to her and for her to have an open heart. I found that like me, there are many other Chinese Christian parents that share the same struggles.
Enjoy the recording of I’Ching Thomas’ lecture, “Human Flourishing in Chinese Thought: A Christian Response.” Drawing on themes from her book Jesus the Path to Human Flourishing, I’Ching explored the notion of human flourishing in Chinese thought, focusing especially on Confucius’ teaching on self-cultivation and benevolence as keys to achieving the ideal of the Noble Man.