Religion in China

There’s so much to learn and understand about the Chinese culture!  We’re learning about the religious aspects of China this week.  Did you know that approximately 80% of Chinese have no religion at all?!   Religion was banned completely as recently as 1976, and is still closely, and suspiciously, monitored by the government.  The remaining 20% are split between Buddhism, Muslim, Hinduism, and Christianity, with the vast majority of young believers in their 20s and 30s following Christianity. 

There are 3 major types of Christian churches in China.  First, the approved, government-registered church is the 3 Self church (which stands for self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation).  It started as a way for the government to control the protestant religions.  Second, is the unregistered, underground house churches.  They meet in secret and are in danger of harassment and imprisonment.  Third, is the Urban Professionals, who sometimes register with the government, but meet in smaller, house churches.   It is mostly made up of young, successful business professionals who have permission to work with foreign business partners.  This third group is largely who we will be working with.

Leslie Campos and Linda Martin

We are also learning about safety.  Most likely our rooms and cabs will be bugged and we may be monitored and followed.  We are not in a great amount of danger, but we could put those to whom we are ministering in danger.  We need to be on guard with what we do and say at all times.  Please pray that the Lord would set a guard on our tongues when we are there and that all we do would glorify Him!

We’re close to having enough support to secure our airline tickets, and, hopefully soon, our visas.  We leave in 8 weeks!  Yikes!! 

By His Grace, Leslie for the Team

Team Talks are Finished!

How time is quickly passing! All of the team’s talks are finished and this week our team will be meeting for the fifth time. We will begin practicing our talks by giving them in front of the team. This will help us sharpen our skills and refine our talks as we practice giving them to the group.
 

Last Friday the team meet at Mary's for a time of yummy food and fellowship followed by watching and discussing a traveling security video.  

Loraine Doud making gifts for China

Please keep the team in your prayers as we prepare for our time of departure in October.  Specifically please pray:

·       God will be pleased with our efforts

·       The hard working China team who guide us

·       All our preparation details be completed efficiently

·       Team unity will continue as beautifully as it started

Loraine for the team

 

 

Quickly Moving Forward!

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this:  He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn.”  Psalm 37:5-6

Our training is going along quickly and well.  The team is working beautifully together.    There is quite a bit of reading to do during this training and, fortunately, it is all very interesting and informative.  While we would not presume to completely understand the Chinese culture, we have some excellent materials that will help us to connect better with our Chinese sisters and brothers.

 

The talks are progressing and they promise to be excellent and helpful.  Some of the topics include “Parenting with a Purpose,” “The Lies We Believe,” “You Are Not Alone,” and “God Transforms Us Through Loss and Grief.”  Several other talks are being planned.

 

The team is busy raising funds for this mission.  The funding has been slow coming in but we are confident that our Lord will provide all that we need! 

 

Our beautiful prayer cards are ready to be dispersed.  The Chinese bookmarks and Scripture Blessings pamphlet are ready to pack to take to our friends in China.  EFCC’s Bill Fredrick has designed gorgeous materials for the Connecting with China ministry!

God has been faithful and close as we courageously step forward to serve Him in Beijing.  It is always a joy to see how God transforms each team member from the beginning of training and through the end of the mission. 

 

Serving our Lord in China is a life changing experience!

Mary Waring

  

Mary for the Team

 

 

 

 

Prayer and Scripture are Essential Training Tools!

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
Philippians 4:13 NLT

A couple of surprising aspects of being on a short term mission is there is no lag time in team preparation and unexpected lessons are learned!  For example, once the team is formed, the calendar is set for meetings and deadlines are set for topics, study preparations, personal preparations, team building, support letters and travel.  The next four months are packed with responsibilities, studies, writing, team building and prayer, prayer, prayer!

After our second meeting, I calendared my commitments for blogging, teaching on One World Two Minds, the Cultural Revolution and my talk for the Chinese Women.  The next morning I woke up at 4am with great anxiety about not being adequate for the tasks ahead and desperate feelings of being overwhelmed.  God revealed to me that this was not from Him and I was under attack by Satan to slow me down and prevent me from doing effective work for Him.  He then reminded me of Philippians 4:13 and my true responsibility was to rely on Him for the infilling of all that I am committed to teach and write about!  Whew! This was an intense lesson which God turned into a rich blessing.  Now, when a whisper of inadequacy comes, I turn in prayer to Philippians 4:13 as my truth and am able to dismiss the lie.  Praise God!

Another lesson I am learning is about the blessings involved in asking and receiving support for our mission.  I am gaining a deeper understanding that there are many of you who care about the Chinese women and since you can’t go in person, you truly want to support us in prayer and when possible with financial support.  You want to be a blessing by being our team “on the ground” here at home.  You are important in making this mission a reality that glorifies God!  Thank you and it is my joy and the team’s joy to be able to share our mission with you.

God bless you richly,

Linda for the team

 

Third Meeting Update

On July 23^rd the women's china November 2013 team met for our second training session. We opened in prayer and a devotional on sanctification. Team assignments and our team verse were decided upon.  

The team verse is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The Lord is leading each one of us in choosing the topic He wants us to share with our Chinese sisters. There is still much planning and work ahead, so keep us in your prayers as we prepare the subject of our talks.

Each time we meet as a team The Lord is uniting our hearts and deepening our friendships. We are all looking forward in seeing how God will use each one of us for his glory. As support letters went out this last week, we are faithfully trusting the Lord to meet our financial needs as a team. As with any short term mission trip there will be many opportunities to trust The Lord.

Loraine for the Team

Learning About West Meets East

This week we’re writing our support letters, getting initial paperwork done, checking that our vaccines are up to date, and turning our eyes and hearts towards China.  To understand the culture so we can better minister, we’re reading 3 books (plus a lot more!)  The first, One World Two Minds, talks about the differences between us and the Chinese, especially how the way we think affects the way we see the world.  It is a short book – only 76 pages – but it is not a short “read”.  After each section I need to put down the book and think, “How can I effectively minister to the Chinese people?  What do I need to do to teach in a way that reaches them?” 

Our basic way of thinking is based on Greek philosophy and starts from the viewpoint of the individual human being and how the world relates to him. Individual achievement is valued.  We know one person can change the world.   Our thinking process is linear.  We think in terms of cause and effect, logical progression of thought – the scientific method.  Not so with Eastern thought, which is more holistic.  They start with the whole, because they know that the individual is too insignificant to have an effect on it.  Their thinking is circular.  They consider every point and how it fits into the whole.  They must be in harmony with the whole.

 We see ourselves as the central figure, looking at the universe and trying to make sense of it.  They see the universe as the reality, and we are insignificant dots on it, whose role is not so much to explain and understand it as to relate to it.  The question that leaves me is, “How do I teach in an effective way to bridge the gap?”  We choose teaching topics next week, and I must admit, I’m not comfortable with anything right now. 

So the prayer request this week is that we choose topics and teach in a way that reaches their hearts.  (And that we can get funds together for the plane tickets quickly because prices are rising so quickly.)

 

Leslie for the Team

Introducing China Team Six!

Barbara Pillsbury, Linda Martin, Loraine Doud, Leslie Campos, Mary Waring

July 9, 2013

 

Today was our first training session and we are excited about going to China!  Some of us have never been there before and some are looking forward to seeing dear friends we have made on previous trips.  All of us eagerly anticipate the adventures that God has in store for us. 

 

We received binders filled with much of the materials we will learn during the next four months of training.  It will be fascinating to explore more about our Chinese sisters and brothers and the intriguing cultures and history of China. 

 

O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.  Isaiah 25:1

 

Mary for the Team