Church-Planting in China: Scary But Necessary
August 18, 2009 – 3:02 pmA few days ago I stumbled across a gold mine missions blog. Thousands of new blogs pop up on the internet every day; few are worth the electricity required to run their server. “The Gospel in China” blog is an exception. The weekly blog posts are authored by a real, yet unnamed, missionary church-planter in China.
His face-the-facts approach to church planting in the restrictive access context is refreshing in a day when code words (e.g. “C5” - no relation to the explosive) attempt to hide the true identity of many church groups. He acknowledges the risk, but points back to the worth of our Savior and the primacy of the local church in His plan.
An excerpt:
The heavy-lifting of the Great Commission will always be done by the church. It is the church that has been called and equipped for this mission, and the job will not be done without it. If para-church ministries were all China needed, China would have all it needed.
If our city is any pattern at all, there is a huge imbalance in the numbers. There are only a few church-planting efforts in our city. There are dozens and dozens in the ‘other’ category. Teaching English and whatnot. And (please don’t get upset) those efforts aren’t very effective in proclaiming the Gospel. And there’s absolutely no comparison in the long-term effects of these ministries.
If you want to gain an understanding of how God is using church planters in China read “The Gospel in China” blog or receive their email updates. This is definitely one to add to your RSS reader.
