Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs.
Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and Chinese Culture and Communication at Wheaton College (IL) and Taylor University (IN).
Joann has a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and an MA in teaching from the University of St. Thomas (MN).
She is the author of Survival Chinese Lessons and The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China.
Her personal blog, Outside-In can be found at joannpittman.com, where she writes on China, Minnesota, traveling, and issues related to "living well where you don't belong."
You can find her on Twitter @jkpittman.com and on Facebook at @authorjoannpittman.
She makes her home in New Brighton, Minnesota.
ZGBriefs | April 3, 2025
Young, Tired, and Still Trying: China’s Next Generation Rethinks Success (March 31, 2025, Sixth Tone) Writer Peter Hessler and anthropologist Xiang Biao on the changing lives of young Chinese, the meaning of hard work, and why parents should cut their kids some slack.
Prayer Resources—China Partnership
China Partnership is a US-based organization that supports “an indigenous gospel movement in China.” They serve a network of urban churches that are able to provide timely and firsthand requests for prayer.
Nestorian? Or Not?
But the question is: should we still use the term "Nestorian" to refer to this early Chinese Christian movement?
Pray for China: A Guided Prayer Resource
B.F. Weston has recently started a website called PrayforChina.us, with the goal of “promote[ing] prayer from every US state for every Chinese province (and county).”
Praying for China | Prayercast
We are starting a series designed to introduce various resources that can be used by individuals and churches. One such resource is a site called Prayercast, a ministry of OneWay Ministries.
Living to Be Forgotten
In a society and culture that values platforms and celebrity, may we be like the ordinary disciples of the early church—living to be forgotten so that Christ will be remembered.
Pray for China in 2025
Prayer is and has long been a hallmark of churches in China. As we enter a new year, we at ChinaSource are committing to a renewed emphasis on praying for China. What are some of the things that we want to see happen in China, in the lives of those we serve there, and in our own hearts and minds?
ChinaSource Perspective
Returning from a Sojourn
May we welcome [Chinese international students], love them, teach them about Jesus, and disciple those who believe. May we prepare them well to return and may the churches in China prepare well to receive them.
Insights into the Sojourn of Chinese Returnees
May we welcome [Chinese international students], love them, teach them about Jesus, and disciple those who believe. May we prepare them well to return and may the churches in China prepare well to receive them.
Gratitude
As we prepare for Thanksgiving Day celebrations here in the United States, I’ve been thinking about expressions of thanks in Chinese culture and language. The most common way of expressing thanks in Chinese is xie xie (谢谢). But there is another word: gan’en (感恩). I love that en means “grace.”