A friend forwarded me a fantastic article this morning by David Briggs. There are two extreme (and incorrect) common views of Christianity in China. 1. Everyone in China is an atheist. 2. A large percentage of people in China are Christians. Both of these ideas (for different reasons) are hindrances to missions in China. But […]
Author Archives | Jake
One and Only
A common question people ask about ministry in China is how willing most people are to receive Christ. The truth is, there’s a sense in which people are very ready to receive Christ, but it is unfortunately not in the only sense that the Gospel calls for. There’s a lot of Chinese people that are […]
The User’s Guide to a Mentor
Okay, last bit on mentors for a minute. Once you’ve got a mentor, or realize that you have a suitable mentor-figure in your life already, what’s next? What should you do to be a good disciple? This question is just as important as the ones that lead you to the mentor. A good mentor can […]
Hong Kong the Populous
Just got back from Hong Kong. Our first time going down south, and it was a welcome relief from the frigid weather where we live. Hong Kong is an incredible city – here’s some lessons learned this week: 1. Cantonese is not just a fancy word for bad Mandarin. Hong Kong’s predominant language is Cantonese. […]
Mentors: An Endangered Species
All this talk about mentors leads to a frustrating question: ‘So where do ya get one?’ Mentors, like most things worth having, are tough to find and costly to obtain. If you embark on a search for this kind of life-changing relationship, you better be in it for the long haul. Here’s some hints for […]
Mentor Benefit: Pacesetting
A mentor is a missionary’s pacesetter… Not a pacemaker. He’s not a life-support system. But he’s there to help you stay in it for the long haul. Young guys in ministry have chronic speed problems. Either we take off in a flurry of action and burn out quickly, or we shuffle along without any real […]
Mentor Benefit: Accountability
A mentor provides accountability to an isolated missionary… There aren’t many people who are willing or able to check up on a missionary and his ministry. Even many great men simply feel unqualified to interject their opinion on missionary matters. Why? Here’s a few reasons that may partially explain it: 1) Unfamiliarity: they’re not sure […]
Mentor Benefit: Bypass
A mentor allows a missionary to bypass a lot of painful errors… When I was a kid, my friends and I were into video games. And I for one was not very good. It was a pre-internet (i.e. lame) age, so if we wanted to have any kind of help in our gaming endeavors, we […]
How to Make Believer Popsicles
Last night we celebrated our church’s three year anniversary. And we celebrated as only the Body of Christ can: with baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It was awesome. One of the Chinese guys preached and supervised the Supper, and another one of them baptized a couple guys from the Bible study that he runs on […]
The Missionary and the Mentor
‘Who is your mentor?’ This is the question that I would ask every young man in the Gospel ministry if I could. Please don’t think I would or could ask it from any position of superiority. It would be a challenge from one who stands in common need, and has graciously been allowed to benefit […]
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