When Deities Promise Answers to Dating and Money Woes (November 11, 2024, Christianity Today)
“Through interviews with 25 people in the streets and temples of Taipei on their thoughts on religiosity, I began to see two key questions that Christianity needed to answer for Taiwanese people enmeshed in the world of folk religion, whether they believe it deeply or not. How does Christianity engage with the spiritual realm? And how does it help the everyday life of the Taiwanese?”
‘Failure motivated me to keep going’, says only Christian girl to pass Pakistan special federal exam (December 23, 2024, Christian Daily International)
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) held a special CSS examination for members of minority communities and women candidates to fill the seats reserved for them that had remained vacant for years.
Zahra has witnessed God move amidst persecution – and it’s made her bolder (December 27, 2024, Open Doors UK)
For Zahra, threats were nothing new, and that’s why she brushed off the messages. Yemen is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian. Despite this, she bravely discipled other believers, even when extremists took over their town and the threats began.
The Christians Disappearing from Biblical Lands (January 10, 2025, Persecution.org - International Christian Concern)
With multifront conflict involving Israel and neighboring countries hosting Islamist terrorists, the Middle East’s Christian minorities likely experienced the brunt of the hardships in the last Christmas season. This article reflects on how the Christian presence has diminished in geographical areas referenced in the Bible, places where Christianity was birthed and the church was first established.
Living to Be Forgotten (January 14, 2025, ChinaSource)
These radical disciples were basically refugees on the run, yet they carried the gospel wherever they went. Here is a gospel movement by God’s people, the unknown, unnamed, uncelebrated, ordinary disciples of Christ. A mission movement without borders was started by these unknown people of the early church. They lived to be forgotten so that Christ will be remembered.
Governing the City Through Prayer: Part 2 (January 13, 2025, China Partnership)
God has given believers authority to govern. From one perspective, prayer is governance. When you pray for a city from God’s perspective – when you pray for God’s righteousness, mercy, and truth to be applied – you are actually governing that city. Non-believers can’t see this, but believers know. Every time we pray for a city like this, God is using his children to govern that city with his truth. This is something I feel very deeply.
Listening to the Bible in One’s Heart Language Is Like Hearing Parents Speak’: Yunnan’s Ethnic Bible Translation Journey (January 13, 2025, China Christian Daily)
Yunnan Province, accommodating 25 ethnic groups, has the most ethnic diversity in China. The ethnic groups of Yi, Lisu, Jingpo, Lahu, Wa, Miao, Hani, Dai, Zhuang, Tibetan, and Nu, are Christian believers. Being able to listen to sermons, read the Bible, and sing hymns in their ethnic languages is a special expression of God’s love towards ethnic minority believers.
Extending Blessings (January 10, 2025, ChinaSource)
In the social system in China, if you have a community service program which supports certain governing policies, your organization will be put in an advantageous position to reach out to a wide variety of target groups because of the endorsement of the officials. As a result, people will feel free to gather around and listen to you.
Governing the City Through Prayer: Part 1 (January 9, 2025, China Partnership)
For the Chinese church to have faith and depend on God in prayer. God doesn’t necessarily need a lot of people. Maybe he can use 300 or 7,000 – that might be enough. But each person needs to be very strong and rely on God’s power. We should pray for the strengthening of the Chinese church’s faith, and for them to believe in God’s great power.
Meeting Gen Z where They Are—An Insider’s Perspective (January 7, 2025, Chinese Church Voices)
As a member of Gen Z, I understand the pressures and challenges facing young people today. As a Christian, I also experience the struggles of living a Christian life and recognize the difficulties the church faces in attracting and retaining young believers. This article will discuss young people’s views on church life and explore how the church can better draw and keep them.
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Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio
Blessing Asia
In October-2022 more than 500 Christian leaders from across Asia gathered in Thailand for the Asia 2022 Congress, sponsored by the Lausanne Movement and various partnering organizations. I had the opportunity to participate in the Congress virtually and was mightily blessed. From Bible exposition to K-pop worship, and through seminars and workshops, the participants were encouraged by the stories of what God is doing in countries all over Asia. Clearly, God is on the move.
A beautiful vision was portrayed in a video of the popular worship song The Blessing, featuring singers from all over Asia. Here it is:
Many of the sessions have already been posted on their website and to their YouTube channel.
One that I found particularly helpful considering all that is going on in China was a presentation titled Church and State Relationship in Asia Today. You can see the video here.
I encourage you to spend some time on their website; there are fantastic resources for understanding God’s work in Asia today.
Original link: https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/blessing-asia/
Image credit: Andrea Brucker, via Unsplash
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