Dear Praying Friends:
Jesus said, “Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
In all our work, we seek these two things: To help Chinese come to a saving knowledge of the Triune God through faith in Christ, and to help them mature into faithful disciples.
We know that this is a huge undertaking, and that only the combined efforts of many people will begin to make an impact. We just want to do our part, and that includes the production of Christian literature.
Equipping the Saints for Ministry
Books
Reaching Chinese Worldwide is a general introduction to ministry among Chinese. It includes principles and practices for effective evangelism and discipleship, as well as information about resources of all sorts.
China: Ancient Culture, Modern Society, co-authored with Dr. Peter Yu, contains brief chapters on many facets of both traditional Chinese culture and contemporary society. It’s a summary of what we need to know in order to understand our Chinese friends.
We are standing on the shoulders of faithful missionaries and Chinese Christians. Builders of the Chinese Church presents the stories of nine pioneers in the 19th century. Wise Man from the East: Lit-sen Chang, contains two previously un-translated works on the interaction of Christianity with Chinese religions by a very learned Chinese theologian.
These two books are part of a series, Studies in Chinese Christianity, edited by Dr. Carol Lee Hamrin and me. Six other volumes have come out already: Salt & Light: Lives of Faith that Changed China, in three volumes, tells the stories of Chinese who, influenced by the Christian message, made major contributions to Chinese society.
Other titles in this series narrate the lives of China’s first Protestant evangelist, Liang Afa, and of Timothy Richard, one of the most famous missionaries. After Imperialism includes essays discussing crucial issues in Chinese Christian identity today.
Three other historical studies and a comprehensive description of today’s urban Chinese churches should come out within the year. I am working on a book comparing Confucius and Christ, and hope to edit another collection of short biographies of Chinese Christian leaders and missionaries.
All these books seek to help both Western and Chinese understand the background and current shape of today’s Chinese church, and thus to serve more effectively.
Web Sites
Our three web sites share the same purpose. Globalchinacenter.org features mostly reviews of major books about the history and present state of Christianity in China, crucial issues of contextualization of the gospel among Chinese, and “best practices” for work among Chinese.
Short companion articles to these reviews on reachingchineseworldwide.org offer some thoughts on practical implications for ministry.
The online Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity (bdcconline.net) comprises hundreds of stories of Chinese Christians and Western missionaries, in Chinese and in English.
Ministry to Chinese
You might ask, Why produce so much literature in English? Don’t you want to reach Chinese?
First, Chinese are reading our English writings. We know that Chinese scholars find our web sites and books valuable, for they have told us so. “Ordinary” people do, too. One physician in China is going through Christ the King: Meditations on Matthew, a page a day, for example.
Second, we make every effort to have our work available in Chinese. The BDCC has more than 250 entries in Chinese. Several of my books, including The Lord’s Healing Words, Confucius and Christ, my autobiography, a commentary on Ephesians, and the first four volumes of my abridgment of Carl Henry’s God, Revelation, & Authority, have already been published in Chinese. My lectures on The Way Home: A Faith for the 20th Century and on Lit-sen Chang, some book reviews and articles, and parts of Christ the King can be read on the Chinese page of ReachingChineseworldwide.org. Two volumes of the Salt & Light series have been translated and published in China.
Please pray for us. Ask God to
- Enable translators to complete the last two volumes of God, Revelation & Authority.
- Provide a publisher for my Carl Henry: Theologian for All Seasons, which my assistant has just finished translating.
- Give me and other writers wisdom, discipline, and energy to work diligently.
- Raise up more writers for our web sites.
- Use all our publications to advance his kingdom among the Chinese.
Your brother,
Wright