Watching the Spirit Move in China | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Free Newsletters:

RSS Feeds |

Audio |

Twitter

Home > 2008 > May

Christianity Today, May, 2008 |

Watching the Spirit Move in China

Some extraordinary moments in ordinary settings.

Gary Gnidovic | posted 5/19/2008 09:03AM

2 of 2

On the afternoon of my last Sunday, I was invited to the 28th floor of a high rise in the heart of Beijing. Here, in the offices of an advertising agency, young professionals, all Christians, meet for worship every week. I watched the changes on a young woman's face (a visitor) as the Holy Spirit touched her for perhaps the first time.

Going Forward

To be sure, challenges exist in the Chinese church. There are too few seasoned teachers. Cults draw many away from the truth. There are tensions among Christian leaders. Unregistered churches are still at risk.

So how can Christians in the West help? In Shanxi Province, I discovered the work of Shanxi Evergreen Service. During World War II, Norwegian missionary Peter Torjesen, whom the Chinese named "Leaf Evergreen," was killed in a Japanese attack. Local officials honor him as a martyr. In 1990, officials invited the Torjesen family to visit Shanxi to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Peter's death. Afterward, Finn Torjesen asked officials if his family could carry on his grandfather's mission. The officials agreed. Since 1993, Evergreen Service has accomplished the near impossible: They are an official Chinese entity; and in the U.S., Evergreen is a fully incorporated charitable (and evangelical) organization.

Evergreen comes alongside the church. In addition to teaching rural families farming techniques, it provides resources for community development, education, and family counseling. Committed to the idea that Christians can best serve China by being open about faith, it is making significant inroads. Evergreen sums up its mission in four simple words: "Serving Shanxi, Reflecting Christ." Evergreen is but one of many promising examples.

Related elsewhere:

Our recent China coverage also includes:

Audio Slideshow: Changing China | The Chinese church is growing in size and influence (May 19, 2008)

Great Leap Forward | China is changing and so is its church. How new urban believers are shaping society in untold ways. (May 9, 2008)

Hungry for Jesus | A Chinese pastor on how he was 'called out of Egypt' to a thriving urban ministry. (May 9, 2008)

Inside CT: The China Paradox | 'Embattled and thriving' Christianity in China. (May 9, 2008)

From Mao to Moses | Artist He Qi, born again in China's Cultural Revolution, is painting a new peaceful identity for the Chinese church. (April 25, 2008)

The Dragon in the Belly: Patriarchs, Judges, and Kings | The Old Testament meets Beijing Opera in He Qi's art. (April 25, 2008)

first page |

2 of 2

share this page

May 2008, Vol. 52, No. 5

E-mail this page

Write CT

Print this article

Post a comment

Reader Reviews are below

Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required.

Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only.

If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

Click here for international orders

2-for-1 Gifts!

[Reader Reviews]

Average User Rating:

Gary MacDonald

Posted: May 21, 2008 1:12 PM

I regret to see that someone who identifies himself as a bishop as one of your readers has so done would be so arrogant as to say that the Chinese Christian church cannot provide adequate training for its own pastors. Has this bishop ever been to a Christian theological school in China? And if so, did he actually take the time to find out what was being taught? And if the training is so poor than why have I found so many Christians in China living their faith in ways much stronger than in my own country of Canada? I have been living in China for sixteen years during which time I have worshipped in many Christian churches in China. However, it is news to me and indeed, I am sure, to the Chinese Christian church that pastors are appointed by the Communist Party. If that same church takes its doctrines from the Communist Party, then goodness me, surely that Communist Party must also be Christian.

Barbara

Posted: May 21, 2008 9:40 AM

The Lord is preparing his people to listen to his voice. Much of the listening is to traditional and cultural symbolism, man made teachings, and idol worship. In order to get people to hear "His Voice", he must first create the capacity, which is done through people humbling themselves in the presence of God. Without humility, there is no listening. God is turning a whole nation to humility through their trials and tribulations that has affected a large portion of their society. God will uproot the old "society" and will prepare the "soil" for "new seed" (new teachings). This process, although appearing to be very troubling, in fact, makes me cry when I see the suffering, I know God's purpose is to move a nation towards Him, and it seems the only way people will listen is when they are deeply toubled and seek to find God in their tribulation. The book of Daniel 12 talks about the "time of trouble as there has never been before". The Lord is preparing people for the kingdom.

Bishop Raymond A Johnson, Destiny Fellowship: China

Posted: May 21, 2008 4:44 AM

The articles you have written about China, this month, are very troubling. To be sure the Church is China is experiencing phenomenal growth; but outright jubilation may be premature. In MANY places - MOST places, here - house churches are still suppressed and persecuted. Furthermore, to equate the "Three Self Church" - whose pastors are appointed by the Communist Party, and whose doctrines are clearly dictated by the same - is a GROSS misrepresentation of the truth ... for reasons this space will not permit. There is also no way whatsoever that an UNREGISTERED house church could have 800 members, or meet publicly: if you believe that, you were badly duped during your very short stay here. Any group larger that 15 or 20 is fodder for a visit from the friendly local PSB. Further still, strict legal sanctions against preaching by foreigners mean that the dedicated brothers and sisters who serve here are unable to get adequate training. Pray for change in China, for sure.

The allotted time for commenting has ended.