International mission agencies can offer guidance. We need guides. I don’t mean a simplistic, short-term orientation course. But neither do we need a boss who only gives commands and does not truly walk with us. I mean each missionary needs a genuine guide.
Questions of money—supporting Chinese Christian workers, paying local assistants, giving gifts to “needy” Chinese—return like revolving doors as often as new expat Christians arrive in China.
How will we react to attempts to divide us along socio-economic, racial, ideological, or nationalistic lines? Will we quietly acquiesce and accept a church that is not really whole?
The statement declares, “Christian churches in China are eager and determined to walk the path of the cross of Christ and are more than willing to imitate the older generation of saints who suffered and were martyred for their faith.”
While creating awareness for the need of member care for Chinese missionaries, I have struggled to find solid, culturally correct resources. This Quarterly is truly a gift with so much to discover, so much more than a wrapping and big ribbon.
It is our prayer that the articles in this issue will raise the profile of this vital service to God’s servants, prompting deeper discussion and sparking new practical efforts to prepare and to come alongside those being sent.
For missions to be successful, cross-cultural workers need to be equipped to understand the new culture. Churches need training on how best to support their workers. FieldPartner is creating online content in English and Chinese to support both workers and sending churches.
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.
The Lord is building this eternal dwelling and the stones he is using to construct this beautiful “holy temple” include dedicated young men and women from various parts of China like the two martyrs in Pakistan and like the Bernheims.
A PhD dissertation analyzing the experiences of cross-cultural workers sent from China is now available in Chinese.
China’s Ambassadors of Christ to the Nations by Tabor Laughlin was published in 2020 by Pickwick Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock, as part of their Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph series.
The book is based on Laughlin’s PhD dissertation analyzing the experiences of missionaries sent out from mainland China and delves into the cross-cultural challenges they face and other issues affecting their ability to remain on the mission field.
A Chinese translation of the original dissertation is now available.
A paper considering several Chinese honor-shame cultural constructs that could potentially encourage retention and avoid premature and preventable missionary attrition of Chinese cross-cultural workers.