CHINA NEWS UPDATE September 1992.docx

1、CHINA NEWS UPDATE September 1992CHINA NEWS UPDATE September 1992A Worker With No Need To Be Ashamed - Fan YongTake Root Downward, Bear Fruit Upward - Li LanchengREFLECTION - On Being A Teacher - Ting Yen-renOne Way - Denise DosterNCCCUSA-related Amity teachers serving in China:News in BriefStatistic

2、s of the Catholic Church in ChinaBook Review - Franklin J. WooChina In Our Time: The Epic Saga of the Peoples Republic from the Communist Victory to Tiananmen Square and BeyondHarry Harding Address to the Clarence T.C. Ching Lecture Series In the last two issues of China News Update we reported on t

3、he Fifth National Christian Conference held in Beijing and translated sermons preached at the ordination service of January 5, 1992. In this issue we include a meditation given at the conference by Fan Yong, one of the 45 new ordinands. The hymn Learning to be a Good Shepherd printed here is a free

4、translation from Pastor Peter Tsais beautiful lyrics set to the simple but moving melody composed by Mrs. Eleanor Tsai. Popular specially among rural Christians, this hymn brought many to tears during the January ordination service in Beijings Chongwenmen Church. The hymn also brings to mind these o

5、ften quoted words of Peter Tsai: Before, we had shepherds looking for sheep. Now sheep are looking for shepherds. The historic ordination of 45, though profoundly significant in itself, was also meant to be a promotion and encouragement for more local church councils to ordain young and qualified pa

6、stors, according to Bishop Shen Yifan who gave the charge to the new ordinands. Since then a number of provinces ordained more pastors in the spring. They included: Hebei (ordaining 6 in January), Zhejiang (5 in February), Sichuan (9 in April), Jiangsu (9 during provincial Christian conference) and

7、Shandong (2), while Hainan (the new island province), Guizhou and Sichuan each had two new pastors ordained at the end of last year. When the Fujian Christian Conference met in March this year, they received 60 applicants for ordination. Of these, 90 percent were young people. In China, the effort o

8、f providing shepherds for the sheep depends not only on the 4-year, 2-year or even one-year theological education in seminaries, important though that may be. Many lay training programs are being sponsored by local churches and councils. Li Lanchengs descriptive account on the Liuhe Church training

9、program is a fine example, and gives us a window into hundreds of other similar training programs all over China. Bishop K. H. Ting told the NCC China Program Committee on May 18th this year: Evangelism is much broader and greater than just telling people about Jesus Christ. In the last few years we

10、 have found the presence of Christian teachers from abroad an effective form of Christian witness. At first some people were worried: How can we invite foreign Christians to come and ask them not to preach? But such worries were not necessary. By their serving as good teachers these foreign Christia

11、ns have set an example for Chinese Christians, that they can witness in whatever job they take - teaching, working in the factory, or being a sales person. Amity teachers are bridge-builders. They have been great help in China. On July 21st, 18 new Amity teachers sponsored by denominations related t

12、o the NCCCUSA left for language school in Dalian, Liaoning Province (formerly known as Manchuria). Since 1985, this is the eighth group of Amity teachers, and the first to begin their two-year assignments with an intensive course of Chinese language together. The decision for this required enriching

13、 experience came as the result of recommendations from former Amity teachers. Our prayers are with them, and with the people and church in China. - J. Woo A Worker With No Need To Be Ashamed - Fan Yong Tian Feng March 1992 Everyone of us dedicating ourselves totally to be servants of Jesus Christ sh

14、ould strive to be pleasing in Gods sight, to be a worker who has no need to be ashamed. The Lord has set us a good example. He said, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. I lay down my life for my sheep. The Lord Jesus has told us that to be workers who need not be ashamed, w

15、e are first required to know our flock: to understand their characteristic, their particular needs, difficulties they face, and problems that exist in their midst. Only by so doing can we begin to minister to them. Four years ago the Guangxi Regional Council and Three-Self recommended me for ordinat

16、ion. At that time I did not feel such a calling. Ever since graduating from the seminary, I had been on the staff of the council. I thought that to be a pastor with responsibilities of nurturing, one needed to be working in a local church. As my work was in the council office, I did not know who my

17、sheep were. At a time when the harvest was full and laborers were few, a time when flocks everywhere were crying out for shepherds, I did not know whether I could be considered a shepherd when I had no sheep. Then the scripture in the tenth chapter of John pointed out the direction for me. The Lord

18、Jesus said that he had come so that the sheep could have life, and to have it abundantly. He had set an example for us by coming to our midst, to be close to us, so that we can have abundant life. We who work in the council offices should not lose touch with our people. If we are committed to learn

19、from Jesus, we should follow his footsteps to go where the flock is. The Lord did not call me to sit in an isolated office all day to be an organization cadre. He has called me to walk in the wide-open field, joining all those who have been sent by the Lord of the Harvest, to labor shoulder to shoul

20、der with colleagues on the grassroots level and bring in the sheaves. Thanks be to God that through my senior colleagues I was given opportunities to come to know Christians in many local churches. The beautiful testimonies our multi-ethnic brothers and sisters reaffirmed my faith. Their fervent lov

21、e for God inspired me and urged me not to take for granted any opportunity to be in Gods ministry. Experiences of the last few years have taught me that it takes hard work to know my sheep. It requires even more effort to be known by the flock. When I first came to Guangxi I was pained to see the si

22、tuation here. There were some self-styled evangelists who claimed to be shepherds but they were actually thieves, driving the sheep astray. Those who trusted them had regarded me as stranger and were reluctant to be associated with me. They were prejudiced, saying: What good can come out of anyone r

23、elated to the Three-Self organization? They claimed that people who graduated from seminaries had become non-believers from whom no living water could flow. Even some who were supportive of Three-Self looked down on me because of my black hair. They were only accustomed to taking spiritual nurture f

24、rom older people with gray hair. The Lord Jesus tells us that the shepherd calls out to his sheep who would recognize him by his voice but would avoid strangers. There was no way for me to be recognized and accepted. All I could do was to place myself in the hands of the Lord, asking him to use me a

25、nd to let my words be those of a shepherd. My work includes occasions where I had the opportunities to explain to local Christians about national policies and regulations. I often encourage Christians to be law-abiding, faithful to the church and loyal to our country. I also help Christians to take

26、advantage of government policies to protect our legal rights. By doing so I am only doing my duty. Yet I constantly remind myself not to let my voice lead Christians to think that I am a cadre of government bureau of religious affairs. My flock has the right to hear Gods words through me because I a

27、m Gods servant. I pray all the time that God would keep me and make me an ambassador of the Gospel, through whom the message of God can be channeled at all times and in all places. It is difficult to know the sheep and to be known by them, unless the shepherd is committed to lay down his/her life fo

28、r the sheep. If we allow the life-giving love of the shepherd to burn in us, and if we are really willing to die for our sheep, there is nothing in this world that we cannot give up to follow Christ. In the past few years I have made mistakes in my work. With my failures and in my moment of weakness

29、 I had thought that perhaps I should reduce my work in order to avoid more mistakes. But when the love of God inspired me and restored my strength I would tell myself to take note of all the lessons from failure that God had taught me, and forget about my own personal sorrow and remorse. Otherwise I

30、 would not deserve to take up the cross to follow Christ. This afternoon I will be ordained as a pastor. I want to concentrate once again on the example that Jesus has set for me, and, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. Rev. Fan Yong graduated from Nanjing Theologi

31、cal Seminary and is now serving as General Secretary of the Christian Council of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a multi-ethnic territory near Chinas border to Vietnam. Leaning to be a Good ShepherdPeter Tsai 1982 Eleanor Tsai 1982 Take Root Downward, Bear Fruit Upward - Li Lancheng Excerpted from

32、 Tian Feng, June 1992 Liuhe County of Jiangsu Province is located north of the Yangtze River, with Nanjing to its south and the border of Anhui Province to its north. On quiet, ancient Front Street stands the spacious and towering Liuhe County Church. It was here that the Third Lay Training Class for church leaders took place from February 17 to March 7th this year. The decision to have such a training class is inevitable due to the urgent needs of the church in Liuhe County. With great rejoicing and thanksgiving, Liuhe Church was reopened on New Years Day of 1984 u