Pray for China on Sunday, January 13, 2013
Lectionary Selection: Luke 3:15 – 21, 22
Prayer for China
Gracious God, we give our thanks for the wonderful work you did through Bishop K.H. Ting. His life touched many people in China through his work to establish the Amity Foundation’s Bible printing press and bringing countless believers to Chinese churches. We thank you for the continued success of the Amity Printing Press which celebrated printing its 100 millionth Bible. We also praise you for the incredible joy of Chinese students being baptized in their home congregations where they will receive the loving support of fellow believers. For all this we lift our praise and continue praying for the wholeness of the Christian church and it’s congregations everywhere. Amen
Mission Stewardship Moment from China:
Two Baptisms
During my first year in China, I had the wonderful opportunity of seeing two students baptized by the local church. They had been interested in Christianity before meeting us, but hadn’t been able to find the local church on their own. After hearing that we were Christians as well, they started participating in the small congregation. The day of their baptism was a morning full of joyous praise and incredible warmth. With the exception of these two young women, the congregation was over 75 years old, and it had been quite some time since a person this young had made their confession of faith in this church. At the end of the service the girls were presented with new Chinese/English Bibles by the pastor (these were printed by our partner, the Amity Foundation), and were welcomed as part of Christ’s family.
A year later, I heard of a very different baptism. One of my students had been invited by an American missionary to a hotel room to discuss the Bible. There the student was told that he should avoid the recognized church, and participate only in online Bible studies approved by his denomination. At the end of the evening, he was secretly baptized in the bathtub. There was no community, no new sense of family, only a new found fear that he had done something dangerous.
In supporting local Chinese churches, we had the opportunity to welcome new Christians into the life of these Christian communities and see them grow openly in their faith. And now even though we are no longer in China with them, we know that their brothers and sisters (and grandparents) in Christ are helping them to understand Christianity in their context better than we ever could.
(Prayer and Mission Moment by Tom and Lynnea Morse)
Mission Partners in China:
Video Resources about China:
http://globalministries.org/resources/multimedia-resources/videos/video-mission-moments/china-morse.html
More information on China:
http://globalministries.org/eap/countries/china/
Global Ministries Missionary(ies) in China:
Tom and Lynnea Morse served as English teachers in China. Tom served with the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. He worked on the hospital’s English communications. Lynnea served the Amity Foundation of China through Church World Service as an English teacher.