ZGBriefs by 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 | December 15, 2022
Facing Challenges, Chinese Churches in Europe Look to the Future (December 9, 2022, Christianity Today) The lack of churches to worship at isn’t the only problem that Chinese Christians are facing. Many Chinese churches in Europe are also trying to overcome challenges such as a “hometown association” mentality, a commercialist attitude toward church life, and difficulties in transmitting the faith to the younger generation.
ZGBriefs | December 8, 2022
China abandons key parts of zero-Covid strategy after protests (December 7, 2022, BBC) China is lifting its most severe Covid policies - including forcing people into quarantine camps - just a week after landmark protests against the strict controls. People with Covid can now isolate at home rather than in state facilities if they have mild or no symptoms.
ZGBriefs | December 1, 2022
Amid China’s Rare Protests, Christians Wrestle With Their Role (November 30, 2022, Christianity Today) Two areas all these Chinese Christians agreed on: The importance of prayer for the country, the government, and its people, as well as the urgency of evangelism in a time of crisis.
ZGBriefs | November 17, 2022
‘This job is urgent’: Chinese team hopes AI can save Manchu language from extinction (November 14, 2022, South China Morning Post) A research team in northeastern China say they are using artificial intelligence to save the language of the Manchu people, an ethnic minority group that ruled China for more than 200 years until the early 20th century. […] But fewer than 100 people – all of them elderly residents of remote villages – can speak and write Manchu with native fluency today, according to government data.
ZGBriefs | November 10, 2022
Hong Kong relaxes COVID rules for inbound tour groups (November 7, 2022, Reuters) Hong Kong's government said on Monday it was relaxing COVID-19 restrictions on inbound tour groups including allowing them to enter theme parks and museums after arriving in the financial hub. Hong Kong has relaxed many of its stringent coronavirus policies in recent months, including hotel quarantine for international arrivals as of Sept. 26.
ZGBriefs | November 3, 2022
I lasted three years in China without taking a COVID test (November 2, 2022, The China Project) Yes, dear reader, I have broken my streak. After three years (well, shy three months of it), in the last three weeks I have taken 15 throat-swab tests. Some were stabbers, some ticklers; some explorers, others gorers; some dabbed, some jabbed, a few stayed in there till I gagged. One kept me aah-ing till I drooled like a dog onto the pavement.
ZGBriefs | October 27, 2022
Teaching English as a Second Language (October 6, Field Partner) Seek to be the best teacher in the department. Your teaching role is not something you put up with just so that you can ‘evangelise’. Be the best and earn the right to witness to Jesus.
ZGBriefs | October 20, 2022
How Xi Jinping is reshaping China, in five charts (October 17, 2022, Christian Science Monitor) Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to win a rare third term in this week’s 20th Communist Party Congress. Understanding how Mr. Xi has transformed China over the past decade can offer clues for what comes next.
ZGBriefs | October 13, 2022
How Xi Will Consolidate Power at China’s Twentieth Party Congress (October 5, October 5, 2022, Council on Foreign Relations) At the Chinese Communist Party meeting, leader Xi Jinping will likely receive a third term. Here’s what that could mean for his control of China and the party.
ZGBriefs | October 6, 2022
Church-State Relations: Lessons from China (August, 2022, Themelios) This article delineates various biblical principles that circumscribe the church’s relationship to the state. In addition to more general principles, these include the recognition that the mission of the organized church is distinct from that of individual Christians, that political institutions tend to become anti-Christ and oppressive, and that our context will determine the extent to which the church can exercise its prophetic voice.