Recently I had the privilege to teach a modular course at the Our Generation Training Center in Georgia. The OGTC provides the best missionary training that I know of in the States. I personally have benefited immeasurably from the teaching and challenge of the missionary team associated with the OGTC. Whenever I meet a student […]
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The Li Bo Perspective #3
Last bit about the Chinese Three-Self Church and whether or not it is wise for missionaries to work in coordination with them. The question that remains to be considered is: is there anything that a missionary is compelled to do that is prohibited by the Three-Self Church? Of course ‘compelled‘ is a tricky word. But […]
The Li Bo Perspective #2
In review, we’re talking about the case for the Three-Self Church, the Chinese government-sponsored Christian congregations. Li Bo is just one of many voices in China that denounce the work of missionaries who plant unregistered churches and maintain that the rightful avenue for ministry is via the government church. But I am just one of […]
The Li Bo Perspective #1
A couple months ago, Li Bo gave some feedback to a post about Chinese churches that represents a certain perspective that I am still learning about. While I ultimately disagree with this view as a missions philosophy in China, it does offer a stronger challenge than I used to think and ought to be carefully […]
What Kind of House Church?
One of modern missions’ most romanticized concepts is the house church. But to talk about ‘the Chinese house church’ is somewhat akin to talking about ‘the American house’. It’s a useful concept in some very general ways, but practically useless if you’re trying to tell your realtor what kind of house you want to buy. […]
Bible Smuggling in China
I recommend you go read a few short posts my teammate has written about smuggling Bibles in China. They are a worthy read, as he talks frankly about some of the overlooked aspects of this issue. POST 1 POST 2 POST 3 And, for your consideration, here’s some of the stuff that’s been […]
Trends and Traditions
There’s some clear trends among modern missions efforts in China. Missionaries and their organizations are, in general, moving… AWAY from urban centers, TOWARDS rural areas… AWAY from church-planting, TOWARDS supporting roles… AWAY from language-learning, TOWARDS English-based ministry… AWAY from bold witnessing, TOWARDS secretive witnessing… These trends are… discouraging. But over the past couple weeks, I […]
Church Buildings: the Neighbors
Why rent on the bottom floor? It seems most house church problems are neighbor problems. So when renting a house (residential space), it is important to pick a place where you think you can minimize disrupting neighbors with your services. The easiest way to do this is to minimize the number of neighbors. If you […]
Church Buildings: Commercial or Residential
When looking for a house for your church in China to meet in, the first big choice you’ve got to wrestle with is what kind of a house you want to meet in. While it is still common for unregistered churches to meet in houses, more and more seem to be moving toward commercial spaces. […]
Church Buildings: the Real Estate Agent
Our church has had to look for houses several times during our time here. We’ve rented all kinds – commercial, residential, high-rise, ground-floor, fixer-uppers, and like-new – and we’ve learned a little bit about what is conducive for church services. We’ve looked at dozens and dozens of houses during our long quests to find the […]
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