Ablaze! Fans
the Spirit’s Fire in China
By
David S. Luecke
Christian
demographers claim that Christianity is growing faster now
than at any time in its 2000 year history. Tremendous growth
is certainly true in China.
Visits
with Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) leaders in Hong
Kong revealed encouraging evidence that the LCMS is working
hard to address the almost unlimited mission opportunity in
China.
I
was privileged to make these visits while in Hong Kong in
November 2005 as part of a China tour group comprised of
members of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas under
the leadership of Rev. John Kieschnick.
Partnering
Churches
LCMS
Board for Mission Services staff member Rev. Carl Hanson is
the Ablaze! point person for mission in China. Ablaze!
is the LCMS initiative to reach 100 million people with the
saving Gospel of Jesus Christ by the 500th
Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. Just before our visit
Hanson, along with several other LCMS leaders, had returned
from a lengthy exploration of churches in China.
Hanson’s
team was looking for and found newly established congregations
they could partner with. As Lutherans, they found it necessary
to work with legal churches, those registered with the Chinese
government. Registered churches are growing rapidly. Most do
not have a denominational background. Rev. Hanson found
several that would welcome teaching resources, including Luther’s
Small Catechism, as well as pastoral training events for
their emerging leaders.
A
Church in Wanxian
Our
tour group visited a church in Wanxian that had been led by a
recently deceased elderly Chinese pastor trained by Lutherans
in pre-Communist days. He was highly respected for surviving
long imprisonment during Communist persecution. The current
pastors wanted to consider themselves Lutheran, although there
were no official ties. This church consists of four sites with
a total of 35,000 participants. Five years ago they were just
10,000 strong. The building we visited was newly constructed
by the government as part of the massive relocation going on
to accommodate the rising waters of the Three River Dam
project.
China’s
Underground Churches
One
hears much about the underground churches in China, which are
undoubtedly large and fast growing. They resist officially
registering with the government for fear of possible later
persecution. The official Three-Self Church does not impose
doctrinal constraints. What
persecution that now exists is against unregistered pastors
and churches, which are thus illegal.
Some
estimates place the current number Christians in China at 75
million, mostly unregistered. The Rev. Dr. Allan Yung,
President of the LCMS-affiliated Hong Kong Synod of the
Lutheran Church, thinks such an estimate is much inflated and
doubts Christian churches could ever grow that rapidly.
The Hong Kong Synod is comprised of 37 congregations with
8,700 baptized members and 30 active pastors. Much of their
extensive ministry is done with social services and schools
that are directly supported by the Hong Kong government.
Mission
through Lutheran Schools
Educator
Allan Schmidt is in Hong Kong to oversee the new Ablaze!
effort to extend mission through Lutheran schools. Currently
there are more than 180 of them throughout Asia.
Building
outreach on the strength of Lutheran schools makes a lot of
sense as a mission strategy at this time. Chinese people in
particular are eager to learn English and Western ways.
Teaching English as a Second Language is an especially
attractive way to participate in short-term efforts in China.
Sharon Owens in Macau is willing to arrange such opportunities
for American teams able to spend as little as two weeks. Her
email address is smomacau@yahoo.com
Those
interested in the growth of Christianity in China will
appreciate the recent reporting by Time Magazine
correspondent David Aikman in his book, Jesus in Beijing:
How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global
Balance of Power (2003). Aikman traveled China and met
many of the underground church leaders.
Aikman
estimates that at the current rate of growth Christianity
might have 300 million adherents in China in the next three
decades. That could more than double the number of practicing
Christians in the United States.
