Of Coffee Shops, Indigenous Worship Leaders, English Classes, and Boy’s Homes
Here is a great article from a missionary friend who was just in our city. He and his family are missionaries serving in a creative access country and reaching Muslims with the Gospel. I wholeheartedly agree with his perspective in the article below. I too, with the one life I am given, want to preach Christ, disciple men, and plant churches. May there be more laborers raised up to do the same!
Of Coffee Shops, Indigenous Worship Leaders, English Classes, and Boy’s Homes
I am in Northern China right now and in a city with over 300 missionaries among 10 million people. I spoke with one of these missionaries at a house church on Sunday. He is attending the church after being in the country for three years he has no disciples and no real results from his specific efforts. I asked him what his goal is in being in the country and he said, “I would like to develop indigenous worship leaders in the country.” This missionary’s goal is to ignite church planting movements among college students whom they have identified as the future influencers of society.
Another missionary in the same city has been here even longer with similar results, measurably speaking. He has started a coffee shop in the downtown area where I ate breakfast this morning to the sound of Casting Crowns and Third Day. Their goal in being here is also to assist in and ignite church planting. I sat in their shop for over an hour and the only Christian influence being exerted were the subliminal messages you could get from the music. The owners have a strict rule to not use words in their shop like Jesus, God, church, missionary, etc so as not to cause their front problems with the police.
I was speaking with a local pastor named Stephen who was reached by my friend Jake here four years ago when Jake first arrived. I asked him if he had ever met a Christian before Jake. He said, “Yeah, sure! I had many teachers at the university who are all here to spread Christianity but I never knew it. They never told me about the Gospel or invited me to church. I learned English from them but not Jesus.” Jake and his wife shared Christ with Stephen and many others. This week I worshipped Christ together with almost 80 Chinese in the church they started. They are one of maybe 5 missionaries in this city of 300+ missionaries who have started a church.
Several months ago I was speaking on a Bible college campus about missions to Muslims. A student approached me and shared with me his plan to start a boy’s home in the West of the U.S. He wanted to know what I thought about this. I told him in so many words, and would still tell him: Mathew 4:19.
Jesus called his disciples here to be fishers of men. He spent two to three years with them teaching them to be bold preachers of the Kingdom of God. He modeled for them everything they were to do. He sent them forth to replicate what he was teaching them. He continued to instruct, mold, and build their faith and skills. After his time of training by fire he sent them out, equipped with the Holy Spirit to fish in all the world for men. He taught them to start churches and make disciples.
Would the disciples have started a boy’s home? Would the disciples, having learned at the feet of Jesus, have made it their goal to train indigenous worship leaders? Would the disciples have started businesses and café’s in every city where they would enter? NO!
While there are still cities in the world by the thousands without churches, while there are still billions who have not heard of Christ, while there are still young lives ready to be trained, how can we “disciples of Christ” do anything but focus our efforts on the preaching of the Gospel, the discipling of men, and the planting of churches? Can we not trust the methods of Christ to be more effective than all our plans? With the one life I am given, I want to preach Christ, disciple men, and plant churches.
Source: projcectna.com
06.10.11
Uncomfortable (1 of 2)
Recently, we were invited over to a Chinese families house for a meal. This family has been over our house before and now they wanted us to come to their house and see how they “Chinese” live. The thing that is different about this family, is that the husband is a police officer.
When I first met this man, I met him at the police station. He spoke a little English and I spoke little Chinese. I was trying to be polite as I waited for those working on our paperwork, so I told this man that maybe he could help me practice Chinese and I could help him practice English. He thought it was a great idea and wanted to exchange numbers and so we did. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into!
After that, he called often and wanted to get together. At first I thought it was good and then after awhile I thought it was annoying. Since He was a police officer, I didn’t want to always be hanging around him. I know that that attitude was bad, but I just didn’t like the stress of having someone always wanting to be around and asking questions.
He wanted to come over and help me speak Chinese, so we studied in my office. He looked through all my books (mostly Christian), asked about the quote on the sword in my office (given to my at my ordination), and asked many other questions. We studied and I kinda tried to make it boring so he wouldn’t want to do this everyday.
None-the-less, the Lord was teaching me to be bold and compassionate. It was like He was saying “So you think you’re bold?” This man was sincere and wanted to be friends.
So I decided that if we are going to get together then we should do two things, Study Chinese or try to be a witness to Him. (A missionary in West China told me of a story how he had been challenged about the least reach people group in China: Policeman! This too was convicting.) There needed to be reason to get together, more then just consuming time.
Next Post: Uncomfortable (2 of 2) – “The next time he would come over…”
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Creative Access Countries (3 of 3)
Creative Access Countries Series Continued… (Read Part 1 or Part 2)
Student – This option is also a popular option, especially in China. You can apply at a university or approved school to take classes. Most apply to study the Language of that country. This is a great option for first-termers who already need to learn the language and can get a visa for the purpose. Usually your visa is approved for the length of time that you pay for and the school helps you in the visa process. Depending on the school you choose, there could be a lot of time required, but that isn’t always the case. I have obtained a visa through this route and I am only required to have class six hours a week.
pros of this option is that you get a long-term visa and your time is used studying the language, something that you should already desire to do in your ministry. Your whole family doesn’t have to attend, just one person to receive visas for the whole family.
cons is that you have to pay for your tuition plus the visa cost for your family. There is a chance that the classes and homework can be very time consuming.
result of this method have been good in both evangelism and church-planting efforts. Church planters have been able to use this visa during their process of language acquisition and then through the process of planting a church. Others have used this option to make themselves available on college campuses so that they might reach out the university students and start small bible studies.
So is all of this legit?
I think so, and here are two reasons why:
1) Human government shouldn’t make laws that precede God’s commands. Of course they can choose to create such laws and enforce them but the Christian’s first and foremost authority is God and obedience to His commands. This should precede all human laws which would mean these laws are invalid.
“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:27-29
So the choice is left to the Christian: obey God and suffer persecution because of it or disobey.
2) We have an old testament example of God telling His prophet to go into a land with a hostile government. He gave him a specific duty to do (sacrifice) for his protection against the government (undercover) in order to carry out his ultimate mission (anointing). Read 1 Samuel 16 for the whole story.
“And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.” 1 Samuel 16:2-3
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Creative Access Countries (2 of 3)
Creative Access Countries Series Continued… (Read Part 1)
Tourist – This option usually is easy and most people sometime during their entry obtain this type of visa. This is also easy and popular with many short term missions groups. Many countries consider this a “general visa” meaning if they don’t have a visa for your purpose, then this is the default option. We used this visa on short term trips to China as well as long term. We were on this type of visa for about a year (one year, multi-entry, ninety-day-stay).
pros to this option is that you virtually have all the time that you need. All of your time can be used for ministry and to accomplish your mission. You can feel free to travel without regulation. It is great when you are first starting to see what location is best for you to start your ministry.
cons to this option is that that is usually is hard to obtain a long-stay tourist visa. This means that you would have to exit and enter the country more frequently, which can be expensive if you don’t live on a boarder town. No salary or benefits, you must raise your own support, some privileges might be restricted since you are on a temporary visa (housing permit or driving licensee, but I was able to obtain both of these on a tourist visa).
Also, some worry that suspicion can arise do to the fact that you are a perpetual tourist. I have been asked questions like, “what are you doing here?,” “where does your money come from?” At first, some of these questions caught me of guard, but now I have learned how to answer properly.
result of this option have been good in the realm of church-planting and evangelism. Many short-termers are easily able to obtain this visa and accomplish short-term evangelism trips. Also, church-planters have been able to use this option occasionally to free up their time and work in their mission.
Businessman – This option is the hardest. You can look for job options and apply or you can start a business. If you start a business, first you need to have a business plan, money to invest, and go through all of the legal process and paperwork. This option is more necessary in countries that are more hostile against the Gospel. Some popular examples of this are coffey shops, cafes, language schools, or an import-export business.
pros to this option is that you have a long-term visa, you have the possibility of making a good salary, and you can use your business space as part of your mission.
cons to this option is that is takes a lot of time and money up front to get things going. Longterm, running a business and making a profit can me extremely time consuming. Also, you have the problem of mixing business and ministry together, which can cause conflicts.
result of this option is that many people who start a business are able to use their business space as a location to hold bible studies on off work hours. Also, several who have been able to work in a company have been able to be a witness to those higher in society.
Next Post: Creative Access Countries (3 of 3) – Student & Legit?
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Creative Access Countries (1 of 3)
“Creative Access Countries” …yeah, what’s that?
Definition
“Creative access countries” is a missions term to describe a country in which a missionary is not able to obtain a missionary visa to enter a specific country, generally, because the government or people of that country are hostile against the spreading of the Gospel. These countries, usually, have laws against any type of Christian proselytism or church-planting efforts.
Therefore, a missionary must find a creative way to access that country. Since his primary reason on paper can not be that of anything missions related, he must create a new reason as his primary reason to enter the country. Once a missionary chooses an approve way to enter the country, he genuinely enters the country under that reason, carrying out it’s purpose, but also having a second agenda of which is missions related.
Such countries in which this process must be done is deemed a “Creative Access Country.”
Creative Ways to Enter
Creative ways to enter a “Creative Access Country” have been boiled down to a few categories, but with several options within. I will present a few general ways below that I have noticed here in China and in other countries. Keep in mind that when considering which to do, you not only need to consider “how do I get in” but also “why does this fit my goals,” …meaning this option might sound good but will it conflict with your ultimate mission. With each option below I will present pros, cons, and results as I see them.
Teacher – In many of these countries there are job opportunities for teachers to enter the country and teach on a specific subject. These opportunities include kindergarden to college level positions. One of the more populars options, especially in China, is that of Teaching English as a Second Language.
pros to this option is that you get a long-term visa, salary, housing (sometimes), and are contracted for a certain period of time.
cons to this is that is it generally requires a lot of your time, you are not your own boss, and the importance of the position can precede the importance of the mission.
result of this has been good because of the large amount of people who choose this route, collectively there has been a good amount of fruit. The downside is that most who choose this option on are involved in Christian proselytism and not in a church-planting effort.
Next Post: Creative Access Countries (2 of 3) – Tourist & Businessman
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First Bible Study
Last Saturday I was able to have my first attempt at a Bible study with two Chinese guys in their 20’s. They came to church on Wednesday and I was talking with them after the service. I ask them if they were Christian and one said that he was and the other said he wasn’t, he was just this guys friend. Great! I told them if they want that I could teach them the Bible and they could help me practice speaking Chinese. They agreed and we choose to meet on Saturday afternoon.
I have already been reading through Galatians, translating and understanding it in Chinese. I read through it completely once in Chinese and figured it would be a good place to start.
We studied the first five verse, commentary style, and then we read the whole book together each taking turns verse-by-verse.
I know it was kinda rough, but they said they understood me. I hope to meet again and continue to study the Bible with them. They said they will be at church again this Wednesday, since they had a test on Sunday.
Please pray for these two men!
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Resurrection Festival, Balloons, & Piñatas!
In Chinese the the name for Easter is “fùhuójié” or “Resurrection Festival.” It was exciting to me to realize the name was translated this way, but I was quickly saddened when I realize not many people know what it means nor do many people celebrate it.
On Sunday night I asked a few people about that day being the “Resurrection Festival.” One couple checked the calendar to see if it was on there and then they said it wasn’t. Then they ask me if it was an American holiday or Chinese holiday. I told them it was a Christian holiday. He then look at me and said “Jesus resurrected,” I agreed, “Yes, that’s right!” I then asked him if he understand it and he said “No.”
To a lady at the next store I said “Happy Easter!” She just looked at me confused and said she didn’t know anything about it. But there was one lady whom I said “Happy Easter” to and she smiled and greeted me back.
That all took place on Sunday night, but Sunday morning we had a great time celebrating the Resurrected Saviour! During the Sunday school hour we had a time of outreach, trying to gather a crowd and invite them to our main service at 11 Am. Here is what took place:
- From about 10:00 -10:40 am we had a time of activities which included piñatas full of candy and then tossing dozens of balloons out of the second story window each containing a piece of candy. Needless to say, this drew a crowd of children and adults.
- At 10:40 they invited every to come to the service and a good majority of the crowd migrated over to our building.
- We had two big signs hanging up in the commons area promoting our event the previous day.
At 11:00 am our service started and the place was packed! We made changes to our auditorium layout and everything was going smoothly. We had nearly 130 people show up! Here are a few things that happened in the service:
- The children’s church worked hard having a craft time, puppet show, and a message from one of the preachers!
- We enjoyed the Lord’s supper and then had baptism at the end of the service, two people were baptized!
- There was one person saved at the end of the service in response to the gospel being preached!
- There were tons of first time visitors who were all given a gift and visitor card.
It is exciting to see the Lord work! He is using the church and missionaries here! Come and join us!
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Undercover or Under-the-Covers (3 of 5)
The Problem With Being Undercover: Big Organizations.
There are many organizations that were created to bring the Gospel to China. Some organizations were already in place and expanded their efforts to include China. The problem with being undercover and being with a big organization is that many times they have rules in place to protect the organization, which in turns, slows down the spreading of the gospel. They ask their workers to comply with rules that go against the grain of boldness in order to “not get every one else in trouble.”
Here is a proposed downward spiral of undercover organizations:
It starts with a group of good hearted, passionate young people desiring to see God’s fame lifted high in a foreign and restricted land. They come together for this purpose and a vision is born. They realize the task before them is huge and know they must recruit others to join in their vision. Others are recruited and they create an organization that is in line with their vision. They start sending missionaries into these creative access countries.
Language studies and culture shock start to take toll on the organization’s missionaries even though they might not realize it. Their desire stays the same but their lack of training (only being “discipled” through the organizations basic lessons and buzz words) keeps them from making leaps and bounds in their vision.
As time passes, there always seems to be a “problem” in their area, so they move around to different parts of the country, not really digging into one spot. Their goal is to reach the country anyways, so this seems wise.
Fear starts to set in as they hear stories from other Christian workers in the country and realize for the safety of the organization they must put rules in place. They wouldn’t want their own “ministry” to be hindered because of the newest recruit being to bold nor would they want their own ministry to hinder others. “We have to be willing to look out for each other and protect the organization!” they start to think.
STOP HERE!
This is where the problem comes in, the focus and shift to what the missionaries are doing in the country is now being based on what is the best for the health of the organization in that country. The misconception of “it’s better to be here than sitting back home” is rallied around and soon becomes the underlying theme of the ministry. The Gospel is casually shared and there is some fruit but the reality of really reaching the country is filed in the “you can’t do that here” folder.
Now, all big organizations are not like this, but it is a downward spiral that we need to be aware of and watch out for when going “undercover.”
Next Post: The Problem With Being Undercover: Supporting Missionaries.
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Undercover or Under-the-Covers (1 of 5)
The Problem With Being Undercover: Introduction.
Since we are working in a creative access country there are a few topics that seem to constantly be on our minds. We think about these things because they are an everyday reality for us. Fear, being undercover, boldness, they are things that we are constantly wrestling over as we seek to make an impact in China. The thoughts in this series are from some notes and observations that I wrote down awhile back. I am just now getting around to developing them into something that is readable.
Creative access countries are those countries that do not give out visas for missionaries and are intolerant of proselytizing. Therefore, a missionary must enter that country through a different means than that of a missionary visa. He is “undercover.”
The theme in the following post have to do with the problems in being undercover. Though this process is necessary for many missionaries to be able to enter different countries there are many bad side effects that come with it. Missionaries should have some basic accountability to encourage him to keep boldly living out the gospel. It is easily to fall into the trap of living the undercover life and our Christians witness is therefore not obvious to those around us. Here is a simple illustration:
My daughter and I play a game called “ tent time.” It basically consist of us running in our bed, grabbing the covers and throwing them over our heads. We hold the covers up with our hands or feet which creates a tent. We are now “under-the-covers.” Nobody can see us and we can’t see anyone else, so we feel safe. My daughter thinks we are safe from the monsters. Now where this comes into an illustration is that if my wife wanted to find us, she wouldn’t have that hard of a time. She could walk into the room and it would be very obvious that we are hiding in our makeshift tent, under-the-covers. Our ministries should have such an impact that it is obvious what we are really there for even though we are “undercover.”
As missionaries we must used different means to get a visa but we should never be lost in that process. It should be very evident to those around us that we are just “under-the-covers” and not lost in our “undercoverness”.
We are the salt of the earth! We are the light of the word! Don’t let your candle be hid under the the bushel of being undercover but boldly placed on a candlestick to give light to all those around you. Light it obvious when it penetrates darkness.
Our Christian witness in creative access countries should be obvious and intentional. This doesn’t mean that we are preaching through a blow horn on the street, giving a prayer card to the local police station, or tract bombing the closest village. But it does mean that we should have a bold plan in place and accountability to accomplish it.
The next four post will consider this problem in the following areas: Personal Ministry, Big Organizations, Supporting Missionaries, and National Workers.
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Short-term(ers)
This past month there was a team of about 7 that came to work in the ministry here for about 3 weeks. The put in a lot of hard work, didn’t complain, had great attitudes, and were a blessing to have. There were able be to really involved and use their talents during their short stay here. They served under the guidance of my colleague (over at the Gospel in China blog) and he wrote a great post about them. So for the sake of not repeating what was already said or just really making my life easier, I will just quote the rest from his blog! 
A Model Short-term Trip
We were privileged to have a group of seven Westerners (whatever you call Canadians and Americans mixed together – besides the NHL – does that even exist anymore?) here with us for most of the month of March. They were coming off of about a year of beautiful weather and landed in the final throes of winter in DongBei. But they kept a great attitude and were a tremendous blessing to the church while they were here. Here’s some of the things they did while they were here…
- Passed out church invitations and tracts to hundreds and hundreds of households
- Attended weekly English corners at five different local universities
- Taught an English Sunday School class every week
- Gave testimonies and sang in just about every service during their time here
- Organized parties at their house for dozens of their friends and contacts they made
- Shared the Gospel with their new friends and saw several professions of faith!
- Held a children’s activity in the church’s neighborhood for well over 100 kids
- Helped track down some rural churches (more about that in a later post…)
So, yeah, busy three weeks! For what it’s worth, I think the most valuable contribution a short-term trip can make to the field they’re ministering in is to plug into an existing church-planting ministry, identify their long-term goals, and help make a push in that direction… with a good attitude! And this group certainly did that! A-Team: we love you guys and are thankful the Lord brought you our way – He knew what he was doing as always! (I’m still praying that one of you will end up in DongBei…)
If you or your church would like to do a short-term trip to China in the future, please let us know (admin@gospelinchina.com). We try to keep expenses DOWN and ministry opportunities UP! If you’re willing to work, we’re got lots of places for you to plug in.
Source: gospelinchina.com
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