Articles for tag: China

March 2, 2020

Christian Standard

China Institute at LCU and Mission Groups Forge Ahead as Coronavirus Spreads

By Chris Moon The coronavirus outbreak has shaken things up for mission organizations and other Restoration Movement groups that do work internationally. The China Institute at Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University—which assists the 20 Chinese students and their families who live on campus—had a student arrive at Lincoln in January after the outbreak of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. The student came from Wuhan, China, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, said Weilun Lee, director of LCU’s China Institute. The student was checked out by local health officials and given the all clear. “We have done all the things we

December 25, 2019

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

From ‘Never’ to All-In: Let’s Start Talking Trip Leads to Missions Career

By Laura McKillip Wood Melvina’s hands shook as she dialed 911. “I found my dad on the floor! I can’t wake him up!” She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself as the operator instructed her to begin CPR. Within a few minutes, paramedics arrived, but it was too late. The heart attack was fatal. They pronounced Melvina’s father dead at the scene. In many ways, this event marked the end of Melvina Brown’s childhood: “I was 17, but his death turned me into a 30-year-old.” She made decisions about the funeral and bought a casket. She began

August 22, 2019

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

Jesse Yangmi: A Lifetime of Service in Southeast Asia

By Laura McKillip Wood “We knew your father,” the old man said, “and we have heard about you for many years. We’ve been waiting for you.” Jesse’s lifelong dream had been to return to his father’s remote village, where he too had lived as a child. He had thought about his father’s people, the Jerwang, many times through the years, wondering when he would get a chance to return. But the Jerwang live in a very remote area where China, Myanmar, and Tibet share an ill-defined border area, and visiting them is difficult. To reach the villages, Jesse traveled from

May 22, 2019

Christian Standard

Five Areas to Help Your Intern Succeed

By Emily Drayne People who serve mission organizations or other ministries that utilize interns should consider five important matters to ensure the experience is enlightening, enriching, and enjoyable. Be a Mentor Come alongside the intern. Work with them. Take time to explain what you do and why you do it a particular way. Encourage workers—whether in an office or in the field—to do the same. During my internship in China, I taught English. Even though I loved my internship, I quickly learned that teaching was not my strong suit—or something I wanted to do my entire life. But it didn’t

December 20, 2018

Christian Standard

‘Glory to God’ Must Come First

– Dec. 22, 1945 – As promised last week, here’s another Christmas editorial—this one from Dec. 22, 1945, just a few months after the end of World War II. The tone of this editorial by Burris Butler is revealing. There is relief that the war is over, but a high degree of unsettledness that is predictive of the decades to come. _ _ _ ‘GLORY TO GOD’ MUST COME FIRST We all need to pause a little while to listen with the shepherds of long ago to the song of the angels which rang out across the Judean hills and

October 22, 2018

Christian Standard

Prayer, Power, Purpose

J. Russell & Gertrude Morse and Four Generations of Ministry to Southeast Asia and Beyond By Russell Johnson Starting from humble beginnings, the Morse family has made an eternal impact in lands few others had ever tried to reach. The Morses’ journey has taken them through some of the highest mountain passes in the world, where they discovered dozens of tribes who had never heard the name of Jesus. The early years were often devastating and discouraging. Several of the Morses’ friends were buried on unnamed mountainsides halfway around the world from their families. In time, some of these missionaries

August 27, 2018

Christian Standard

How to Help Students Prepare for a Missions Trip

By Emily Drayne Many people mistakenly think an internship or short-term trip with a missions organization will require that they stand on a soapbox and talk to passersby about Jesus. That is not true. Vocational degrees such as business, agriculture, engineering, and cosmetology are among the fastest-growing ways to get into some of the more closed-off places on earth to spread the Word of God. In 2011, during my senior year of college, advisers started to ask me what I planned to do once I left campus. I quickly realized I had no plans. Fast-forward two months, I was talking

July 19, 2017

Christian Standard

Man of Sorrows

By Jackina Stark She stood at a fourth-floor window overlooking the city of Phnom Pehn. She had spent a week in Battambang, Cambodia, at Rapha House, working with those who minister to the girls rescued from sex slavery, and in Phnom Pehn, visiting hundreds of poor children who attend the Kids Club, a prevention ministry. Her fellow workers had gone to the street market, letting her beg off. In the room, utterly quiet now, her gaze fell on the area of the city where at that very moment she knew girls, some children, were being sexually used and abused. Her

March 25, 2016

Christian Standard

Social Service

By Bill Belew The Christian”s mission in life is to make disciples of the nations. Social networks are an asset the Christian should use. On LinkedIn, I have more than 4,000 1st-degree connections. My reach on LinkedIn exceeds 30 million people (that is, somebody knows somebody I want to know). On Twitter, I have more than 50,000 followers. Each of them, on average, has 500 followers. That means I can potentially reach 25 million people (50,000 x 500).  I run a private forum that includes more than 1,200 people from more than 50 countries. I can accurately predict1 that 1

November 21, 2014

Christian Standard

Freedom From Fear

By Jinghong Cai “We, therefore, believe in the inherent dignity of every human being””dignity that no earthly power can take away. And central to that dignity is freedom of religion””the right of every person to practice their faith how they choose, to change their faith if they choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do this free from persecution and fear.”   “”President Obama On February 6, 2014, President Obama made a remarkable speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. He highlighted freedom of religion as the right of every person to practice their faith free from persecution and fear. It is only

August 9, 2014

Christian Standard

The Elder Serves the Younger

By Teresa Schantz Williams Robert Stanfill is a slight, unassuming man with a weak heart that doctors thought would have failed him years ago. So he was as surprised as anyone to find himself launching a ministry to international college students.  Robert Stanfill and his wife, Linda, both in their 60s, had no special aptitude for work with college students from distant lands. No cross-cultural experience. And though Avila University”s campus was just a mile from their south Kansas City home, college students weren”t exactly their “crowd.” They were veteran Christians, faithful members of the Red Bridge Church of Christ,

March 18, 2013

Christian Standard

An Angel Sent to China

By Gary Weedman In the summer of 1999, Mary Lou Martin, a Johnson alumna, veteran elementary school teacher, and wife of Professor Bob Martin, led a group of 10 students to China to teach in the English Language Institute of China (ELIC). Little could that intrepid band know what would ensue from their pioneering work. The following year Martin and nine students returned to China, this time to the city of Zhengzhou, Henan Province. This former ancient capital, one of 13 emerging megacities in China, has a population of 8.6 million. These Americans worked with Zhengzhou No. 47 Middle and

March 16, 2013

Christian Standard

A China Institute in the Midwest

By Gordon D. Venturella Lincoln, Illinois, is both culturally and geographically distant from China”s megacities. But Lincoln Christian University”s historic commitment to global mission connects these disparate parts of the world. LCU currently has alumni in more than 160 countries, so it came naturally for LCU President Keith H. Ray to think missionally about the world”s largest country.   The Introduction The China Institute story began when LCU alumnus (and former U.S. Representative from New Mexico) Bill Redmond introduced Ray to Jian Zhu, executive director of the American China Civic Exchange (ACCE). The three began to dream about how to

April 16, 2012

Christian Standard

Trends, Turns, and Trailblazing

By Brian Mavis CHRISTIAN STANDARD asked me to write a column about “what”s next,” and I said, “OK.” When will I learn? I”m not a futurologist. I don”t know anything about horoscopes. I brewed my tea leaves, and my Magic 8 Ball is stuck on “Reply hazy, try again.” When I look into the future, the only thing I see are people confronting me with, “Hey Mavis! Where are those flying cars with onboard waffle makers you said we would have by now?” Let me clarify the purpose of this column. It”s not about predictions or prophecies; it”s about looking

October 21, 2011

Christian Standard

Abba, Father

By Chris Blair I love how God uses our relationships with others to teach us about our relationship with him. There are many examples of this truth in Scripture, but few ring louder to me than Romans 8:14, 15: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” God has privileged our family to model this truth through the adoption

June 28, 2011

Christian Standard

The Church Is Alive in China

By Name Withheld When we arrived in China, we had no idea what to expect. Was it OK to bring a Bible into the country? Were there any churches? What if authorities found out we were Christians? My husband and I moved to China a few years ago so he could take a new job in his company. Since that time we have been blessed to meet many people and have some amazing opportunities. Although we are not part of any missionary organization, we have been privileged to work alongside some people who are. Let me tell you what we

December 22, 2010

Christian Standard

We Wonder Too

By Mark A. Taylor Schoolchildren in a Nairobi slum sing with gusto: Jesus, what a wonder you are! Their boisterous voices reverberate inside the corrugated tin walls of their tiny classroom: Oh my Jesus, what a wonder you are! And any visitor is struck by the wonder that Jesus has moved men and women to serve in this difficult place. A host of smiling teachers stands before thousands of children in classrooms like this one, rising above a sea of 12-by-12 lean-to huts these kids call home. Meanwhile, the school”s well-dressed social workers step over running streams of raw sewage

November 18, 2010

Christian Standard

These Seniors Served Overseas

By Doug Priest A few years ago men from Eastside Christian Church in Fullerton, California, made a two-week trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to work with Joni and Nangsar Morse at their rural training center called Eden Center. People from near and far go there for periodic training and to work on its rice farm. A dormitory was needed where people could stay when they came to Thailand from Burma, Tibet, and China, so the Men on a Mission group, as they were called, worked with the Morses to determine the materials needed for such a project. The items were

December 6, 2009

Christian Standard

Has Christianity Declined and Fallen (and Can”t Get Up)?

  by David A. Fiensy For its Easter edition in 1966, Time magazine”s cover asked, “Is God Dead?”1 We might wonder if similar motivations prompted Newsweek“s attention-grabbing Easter cover this year (April 13). It featured these words forming the shape of a cross: “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.” The occasion for this dire prophecy was the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey that found the number of Americans unaffiliated with any religious group rose from 8 percent to 15 percent since 1990.2 These figures even convinced some Christian leaders the sky was falling. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the

October 12, 2008

Christian Standard

FROM MY BOOKSHELF: China: Refreshing, Intriguing, Confusing, Unsettling

By LeRoy Lawson Rob Gifford, China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power (New York: Random House, 2007). Rob Gifford, National Public Radio”s China correspondent, closed out his six-year tour of duty there by sending his family off to London ahead of him, stuffing his backpack, and setting out to explore Route 312 (the old Silk Road, treasured today like America”s Route 66) from Shanghai in the east to Korgaz at the Kazakhstan border in the west, a trek of more than 3,000 miles. Along the way he took in the contrasts and conundrums that define contemporary

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