Guest Series: A Visit to China (Part 3)
Recently, my friend Scott had a chance to visit China on a mission trip. This is part three in his three part series on the insights and inspiration of his visit:
EVANGELISM
The most powerful moment of the trip was watching a young woman pray to receive Christ. A friend of mine was talking with her and a national over coffee who had apparently been witnessing to her for some time. At some point, the discussion drifted to the topic of God and she had many questions. You could feel the Holy Spirit being part of their conversation with her making the decision to accept Jesus. Months later she sent my friend an incredible email of her first several weeks of learning to walk with the Lord. It was filled with such great insights, challenges and especially her overwhelming joy of living in faith for the first time.
And what amazes me most is the purpose and mission of evangelism in China is already moving far beyond the Chinese. They take very seriously the Great Commission and Jesus’ last words before ascending into heaven. Envision a map of the world with China in the center and arrows reaching out around the globe. That’s the vision for evangelism. This is really humbling when you think of all the western missionaries going into China and other parts of the world. I can easily imagine it won’t be long before Asian missionaries far outnumber westerners in the world.
And why is this important? For one Asians are already bringing the gospel to other parts of the world such as eastern Europe, the middle east and Africa where it is harder for westerners to be accepted because of the geopolitical climate. Doors are more easily open for them than westerners in many regions. You can learn more about this vision and what some call the “Back to Jerusalem” movement here: .
So in summary, we experienced and learned about:
- A culture that has no recent historical concept of religion where children are taught to rely on solely on themselves
- Real government persecution and costs to publicly standing up for Christ, but at the same time increasing pragmatism and higher levels of openness in a “don’t ask don’t tell” kind of way
- Worship in small group and home church settings that grow and replicate rapidly.
- The Bible as the primary way to teach, learn and live – very limited access to other resources.
- Amazing commitment to world evangelism
- Real battles within the church movement itself over doctrine and interpretations, but also a commitment to the overarching mission and accountability
I look forward to learning more about this region and hopefully returning again soon. I would love to hear about other people’s experiences and whether what we saw and learned is consistent. If you have an experience to share, please post a comment or contact me via the Agile Ministry contact form.
Thanks for letting me share my experience with you!
Popularity: 1% []