Infanticide & Abortions in China
“Worldwide abortion is rather prevalent and is quite frequently seen as an appropriate method of birth control. In Red China—approximately one out of every four persons in the world today lives in China—the government felt that population control was a necessity. As a result, in 1979 it introduced a policy that no family is allowed to have more than one child. This policy has led to infanticide (usually of female babies) and massive numbers of abortions. Abortions can range as high as 800,000 a year in a single province of China. Those who refuse face significant pressures to comply one way or another, as the government can impose severe financial penalties for failure to comply.”
Feinberg, J. S., Feinberg, P. D., & Huxley, A. (1996). Ethics for a Brave new world (47–48). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.
08.31.11
“…approached the cross, knelt down, prayed for strength…”
“During the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1900), extreme nationalist Chinese fomented a campaign of terror against officials of foreign governments, Christian missionaries, and even Chinese Christians. After they surrounded a certain mission station, they sealed all exits except one. They placed a cross in the dirt in front of the opened gate and told the missionaries and students that anyone who walked out and trampled the cross would be spared. According to reports, the first seven students who departed trampled the cross and were sent on their way. The eighth student, a young girl, approached the cross, knelt down, prayed for strength, carefully walked around the cross, and was immediately shot to death. The remaining 92 students, strengthened by that girl’s courageous example, also walked around the cross to their deaths.”
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1995). 2 Timothy. MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press.
| Posted in Chinese Christianity, Chinese History, Persecution, Quotes | 1 Comment »
Psalm 5:11-12
“But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.” Psalm 5:11-12 (KJV)
07.18.11
Funny Quotes from the Birthday Girl
Today is my little girl’s birthday. She turns 3 (or 4 depends what culture we are counting by). When asking her a few days ago what she wanted for her birthday, she replies with “chocolate cake, candy, and a cat toy!” She is a blessing and we thank God for her!
Here are some other funny quotes from the birthday girl!
-My wife: “Finish eating your green beans!” My Daughter: “I can’t reach my fork.”
-On a Sunday morning I was expplaing to my daughter that momy was my wife and also the thing I was tying around my neck was a tie. That didn’t fully compute and now my wife is my tie!
-After she got in trouble for not listening I said “Why don’t you want to listen?” Kinda of a rhetorical question but she sincerely answered “Because I don’t want to.” Simple enough, problem found.
-Me: “Do you want to ride a boat? “ My daughter: “A dragon boat?” — Yea, it is obvious we live in China if she knows what a dragon boat is.
-During family devotions we use a kids picture bible along with what we read to illustrate the story. When we showed her the picture of the manger scene she inquired if it was “old macdonald had a farm?!”
-I asked my daughter what this character was “ 冷 “ and she said “it is a tent, see, and it is raining.” (It just means “cold.”)
-I was practicing memorizing some Chinese characters and my daughter informed my that “chinese words look like buildings.”
-“Daddy is big and mommy and me are little.”
Past Post about Funny Quotes from the Birthday Girl:
- Once Again, Funny Quotes From A Funny Kid
- More Quotes from Our Two/Four-Year-Old
- Quoting a Two-Year-Old
07.14.11
Roosevelt, Missionaries, China & Willingness
If you haven’t already noticed by now, I have a thing about putting out quotes that reference China and missions. A friend recently wrote an article on his blog and included a quote about missionaries and in specific missionaries in China. Thus, not only a repost of the quote but the whole post was great and I thought that I would share it with you. Enjoy!
All they which dwelt in Asia heard…
Acts 19:8, “And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.”
President Roosevelt said:
“Since becoming President, I have come to know that the finest of Americans we have abroad today are the missionaries of the Cross. I am humiliated that I am not finding out until this late day the worth of foreign missions and the nobility of the missionaries. Their testimony in China, for instance, during the war there, is beyond praise. Their courage is thrilling and their fortitude heroic.”[1]
Our desire is that the whole earth would know Who the true and living God is! The only Way to the God is through Jesus Christ. In this passage (Acts 19:10) all of Asia hears the truth of God’s Word. In other parts of Scripture (Colossians 1) every creature is said to have the Gospel preached to them. May God help us to see that HE is able to do this through us in OUR GENERATION. Here is one of four thoughts that will be coming out:
BE WILLING AND OBEDIENT (Acts 19:8)
Boldness comes from our prayer life (Acts 4), but here this boldness is seen in the fact that “…he went“! I personally cannot speak as the the specific location that God would have you to be in this world. There is much to be done in America to train leaders and much that needs to be done to encourage the cause of Christ worldwide; but I must be willing to go where the Lord would have me to go, and so do you! For the world to be reached, we must have a generation that is willing to go unto the ends of the earth! Do not simply ask God a generic request, but ask Him to help you to be made willing.
[1] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.
If you enjoyed that article I encourage you to check out Max Fernandez’s blog. Max is the Associate and Youth Pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Middletown, Ohio. We enjoyed getting to know him and his family a little while we were on deputation and we are excited to see how the Lord is blessing their ministry. Also, we are looking forward to seeing him and a few others when they visit China this fall.
| Posted in Articles, Devotionals, Missions, Mobilization, Quotes | No Comments »
I wrote China across the entire verse.
I just read the quote below and understand exactly where he is coming from. I am not one to be gifted with learning languages but at the beginning of this year I claimed Psalms 11:1 “In the LORD put I my trust” knowing that no matter the circumstance or difficulties in front of me, I will trust the Lord. Chinese is a giant standing in front of me and on my prayer sheet I wrote “LORD, GIVE ME THIS LANGUAGE!” I trust as the Lord worked in this man’s life, He will also work in mine.
“One of my problems was difficulty with language. I felt that God had made a mistake in laying China on my heart, because I would never master the language. One morning while I was praying — arguing — with the Lord about Asia, and reading the Scriptures, I came to Exodus 4:12, “Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say.” Immediately I wrote China across the entire verse.
When I went to China and found the language study tough, I turned to that verse and claimed it. God gave me the language so that I could speak it fluently enough to teach in Chinese.” - Dr. Dick Hillis
| Posted in China, Language Learning, Missions, Quotes | 2 Comments »
Purpose and Momentum
I thought the following quote was a good reminder of our calling. Though we have assuredly gathered that the Lord directed our family to China for such a time as this, we ultimately realize that we are called to serve, worship, and glorify Him in spite of our geographical location. The doors for China could be closed at any moment but our ministry would still be to glorify Christ and preach the Gospel!
Purpose and Momentum
Before I was ordained, I volunteered to go to China after college to do relief work. That was in the late 1940s, and I didn’t know the Communists were about to take over and close the doors to missionaries. I received a letter from the secretary of missions for my denomination, who knew the situation, telling me I couldn’t go, and that surely the Lord would have something for me later in life.
He enclosed in his letter an article by Dick Hillis entitled, “I Was Never Called to China.” But Dick had, in fact, been in China for eighteen years. Curious, I read it. He believed he was called to a certain kind of ministry; the location of that ministry, however, was open. If the door closed in one place, he would practice his ministry elsewhere. His ministry wouldn’t change, only the locale.
From that day, I’ve practiced that philosophy. By remembering the purpose of my ministry is to glorify Christ and enhance his kingdom, I stay motivated whatever the place, program, or position. Through disappointments and discouragements, I have yet to lose the wonder.
Source: Ratz, C. C., Ratz, C. C., & Tillapaugh, F. R. (1990). Mastering outreach & evangelism. Mastering ministry (95–96). Portland, Or.: Multnomah; Christianity Today.
Question:
How have you seen this play out in your life or ministry?
| Posted in China, Missions, Mobilization, Quotes, Training | No Comments »
Gladys Aylward (1902–1970) Missionary to China
Key points to think on:
- She was willingly and determined (read this quote by her).
- She gave up many comforts just to get to the field.
- She became a naturalized Chinese citizen.
About:
“AYLWARD, GLADYS (1902–1970)
Missionary to ChinaBorn near London, daughter of a postman, Aylward was converted at eighteen while in domestic service. She determined to be a missionary in China, but lack of educational qualifications led to her rejection by the China Inland Mission. Nothing daunted, she saved money from her small salary and in 1832 embarked on an incredible journey by train through Siberia. Further hampered by the Russian–Chinese war, she finally went through Japan to join missionary Jeannie Lawson in isolated Yangcheng. They opened an inn and attracted listeners by telling Bible stories. Not only did Aylward adopt a Chinese life–style, but she also became a naturalized Chinese citizen in 1936. After Miss Lawson’s death Aylward continued and extended the work. When the Japanese invaded China in 1940 she led nearly a hundred Chinese children on a historic and hazardous journey to safety, a feat that inspired the film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. After a serious illness she returned to England in 1947, then went back to the Orient to open an orphanage in 1955, serving there until her death. Biographies of her were written by Alan Burgess (The Small Woman, 1957) and Phyllis Thompson (London Sparrow, 1971). J. D. DOUGLAS”
Douglas, J. D., Comfort, P. W., & Mitchell, D. (1992). Who’s Who in Christian history (52–53). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
05.13.11
Roland Allen (1868–1947) Missionary Strategist
Key Points To Think On:
- Plant self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating Churches.
- National Churches must take root and grow in it’s own cultural soil.
- Don’t see the nationals as being in a lower rank or position.
About Roland Allen (1868–1947) Missionary Strategist:
“ALLEN, ROLAND (1868–1947) Modern missionary strategist Allen’s books published in the early part of the twentieth century continue to have great impact and to be reprinted along with the most current missionary works. As an Anglican clergyman, Allen served as a missionary in China from 1895 to 1903 with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Thereafter he served as a voluntary clergyman in England and from time to time abroad.
Allen’s main thesis was that national churches should be self–supporting, self–governing, and self–propagating. He believed that lengthy dependence on foreign missionaries was counterproductive, stifling the people’s own genius. If the world were ever to be reached with the gospel, he believed, it would be done through a multiplying national church that had taken root and grown in its own cultural soil. Allen perceived that foreign missionaries and subordinate national workers could never complete the evangelistic task.
Allen’s most significant writings included Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? (1912, 1927), The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes which Hinder It (1927), and The Case for Voluntary Clergy (1930).”
W. J. KORNFIELD
Douglas, J. D., Comfort, P. W., & Mitchell, D. (1992). Who’s Who in Christian history (20). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
| Posted in China Profiles, Church Planting, Cultural Adaptation, Quotes, Resources, Training | 2 Comments »
“First and Foremost”
” Ominously, the Chinese government has spoken its mind through official state-owned newspapers. One of these papers, the Global Times, ran an editorial last week that stated: “All Christians, as well as those of other faiths, are Chinese citizens first and foremost. It is their obligation to observe discipline and abide by the law.”
“But our citizenship is in heaven,” Paul reminds us, “and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” [Phil. 3:20]
While the New Testament commands Christians to obey the righteous laws of a nation, believers cannot bend the knee to the regime as their primary allegiance. No Christian is “first and foremost” a citizen of any earthy kingdom or nation. This is a despotic demand for the idolatrous worship of the state. ”
Source: AlbertMohler.com
| Posted in Boldness, China, Chinese Christianity, Persecution, Politics, Quotes | No Comments »
| Posted in China Stats, Chinese Culture, Chinese History, Quotes | 6 Comments »