I’ve asked God during these days if he really is completely sovereign and he has answered clearly that he is. I’ve asked him if my identity is truly secure in him and not the work and life I suddenly lost. It is. I’ve asked him if all of this could really be for my good. It is. And I’ve prayed that he would help me say blessed be the name of the Lord. He has.
China has offered me the most experiences for worshiping outside of my culture and this morning my mind wandered back to my first Sunday morning there.
Our teachers were absolute heroes. . . . They kept us learning as much as we could in the middle of strict quarantine for them and exile for us.
A look at where they’ve landed, how they’re continuing their work from a distance, and what God’s been teaching them.
The presenter for our upcoming webinar, "How Relevant is the Gospel for the Chinese."
Among Cultural Chinese everywhere, the Christian faith is often perceived as a foreign or Western religion. Hence, many do not see how it is relevant for them. I’Ching Thomas talks about how to articulate the gospel in terms that are attractive and significant to our Cultural Chinese friends.
In Asian culture, often anyone who is born in a Buddhist country is considered a Buddhist. It’s not uncommon for people with a strong family identity to consider their family and religion together.
In Chinese culture the concept of face is a very important part of social interaction and is specific to the group or family to which the person belongs.
Building relationships through sharing resources.
When we lived in Asia, I was constantly asked for things and especially for money. Being a typical American, I was offended with their constant asking. I discovered later that asking for favors was a means of developing relationships.
Our friends in Asia suspected that we did not want to take care of our family members, our parents in particular, and so we came to their country. They couldn’t understand that we had come for any other reason.
I didn’t understand that by disagreeing with my parents and older people that I was not showing them respect and returning the care they had given me.