Stories

Firsthand accounts of faith lived out in the context of Chinese Christianity.

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A man rides a horse in the Chinese countryside. I was weeping and mourning and having a hard time accepting where Grandpa is eternally, because I had thought, surely, I would have another chance to share the gospel with him, and had I done that, my grandpa would have had a chance to be saved and reconciled with God through faith in Jesus the Savior.

Grandpa—A Tale of Faith and Family in Rural China

I was weeping and mourning and having a hard time accepting where Grandpa is eternally, because I had thought, surely, I would have another chance to share the gospel with him, and had I done that, my grandpa would have had a chance to be saved and reconciled with God through faith in Jesus the Savior.

• July 19, 2024 •

A white home sits in a meadow of yellow flowers against a rosy sky. Home and family are very vital topics to a Chinese person, often providing bridges to their heart’s desires and offering a way to present Christ as the way to give a perfect home and family—the home and family found in knowing him.

Home Is the Bridge to Our Hearts

Home and family are very vital topics to a Chinese person, often providing bridges to their heart’s desires and offering a way to present Christ as the way to give a perfect home and family—the home and family found in knowing him.

• July 5, 2024 •

A young boy is holding a candle and looking at the camera. Hearing the incredible stories from both the children and their parents, I feel I understand why the Chinese church is once again facing severe oppression… This implicit self-exodus happening in China seems to embody God’s mercy and unfailing love. Without this persecution and oppression, we would undoubtedly lose our children forever; under the communist schemes, our children would be brainwashed and become poorly educated rebels against the truth.

Lighting the Future: A Candle in the Dark, Part 2

Hearing the incredible stories from both the children and their parents, I feel I understand why the Chinese church is once again facing severe oppression… This implicit self-exodus happening in China seems to embody God’s mercy and unfailing love. Without this persecution and oppression, we would undoubtedly lose our children forever; under the communist schemes, our children would be brainwashed and become poorly educated rebels against the truth.

• July 3, 2024 •

An Evangelical Christian church in China has red bricks. A truly “Christian” Chinese church will not only be thoroughly enculturated, but it will also retain the entire “rule of faith” shared by the rest of the universal church. Finally, Chinese Christians, knowing they are part of the universal church, will continue to seek to share the joys and trials of the indigenous churches of all other cultures. Such a church would be biblical, God-pleasing, and truly Chinese.

Creating a Truly Chinese Church

A truly “Christian” Chinese church will not only be thoroughly enculturated, but it will also retain the entire “rule of faith” shared by the rest of the universal church. Finally, Chinese Christians, knowing they are part of the universal church, will continue to seek to share the joys and trials of the indigenous churches of all other cultures. Such a church would be biblical, God-pleasing, and truly Chinese.

• June 28, 2024 •

A person holds a pair of glasses up and out, showing a blurry streetscape. Worldviews are extraordinarily resistant to change, and archetypical cultural and gospel metaphors shape how missionaries convey the gospel across cultural boundaries. That is why it is so important for Chinese missiologists to “understand and critically integrate” imported cultural and metaphor worldview presuppositions lest what they “staunchly affirmed as biblical may have had more to do with nurturing cultural mores…than with God’s eternal truth,” as Brent Fulton writes.

Crossing Cultures: Conveying the Gospel

Worldviews are extraordinarily resistant to change, and archetypical cultural and gospel metaphors shape how missionaries convey the gospel across cultural boundaries. That is why it is so important for Chinese missiologists to “understand and critically integrate” imported cultural and metaphor worldview presuppositions lest what they “staunchly affirmed as biblical may have had more to do with nurturing cultural mores…than with God’s eternal truth,” as Brent Fulton writes.

• June 24, 2024 •