In the 2022 Chinese Missionary Mobilization Conference to commemorate Lottie Moon, a ministry leader proposed that in the face of the loss of youth in the North American Chinese churches, the family should repent first, rather than the church.
The "2022 Chinese Missionary Mobilization Conference - Commemorating the 110th Anniversary of Lottie Moon's Martyrdom in China'' was held online on September 22-24. The conference was co-hosted by the BRC American Bethel Center, the Chicago Chinese Servant Leadership Center, and the Global Servant Leadership Renewal Platform, and co-organized by the Dubai Chinese Business Fellowship and the Led Road Luoshang Platform.
Mr. Dr. Yeou-cherng Bor, executive director of Ambassadors for Christ, an American Chinese Christian Ministry to reach Chinese intellectuals, was invited to give a lecture to share how Chinese churches should conduct intergenerational inheritance and missionary activities under COVID-19 on the third day of the conference. Renowned Baptist missionary Lottie Moon was an early member of the First Baptist Church of the Southern Baptist Convention, in which Bor gathers and is a deacon now.
Other well-known overseas Chinese scholars and pastors were invited as speakers, including Dr. Joshua Ting, former general secretary of the Chinese Coordination Centre of World Evangelism (CCCOWE), Professor Lin Zhiping, former dean of the College of Humanities and Education at Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan, and Dr. Evan Liu, pastor of Chicago Golden Light Chinese Church and doctor of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School at Chicago.
Quoting the saying "the church exists by mission just as fire exists by burning” by Emil Brunner, Bor pointed out that it was Christians’ duty to be sent to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on Christians, greatly hindering missions. As well as focusing on the 10/40 window (a challenging region in which predominant religions are Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism), Mr. Bor highlighted that the Chinese church should pay attention to immigrants who moved to the United Kingdom, Australia, and other places due to the epidemic and famine.
He also talked about the development of Chinese churches in the United States from a brief history of Chinese immigrants in the United States.
In 1850, Chinese laborers came to the United States to participate in the construction of railways and farms. Then 100 years later, a large number of students from Hong Kong and Taiwan came to study in the United States. In 1960, there were many Bible study groups and fellowships on American campuses. As Chinese students settled and worked in the United States, many Bible study classes were transformed into Chinese churches after ten years.
According to statistics, from the 1980s to 2018, the number of first-generation Chinese people in the United States increased from 384,000 to 2.455 million. From 2014 to 2018, mainland Chinese immigrants were mainly distributed in Boston, New York, Southern California, San Francisco, and Chicago. Chinese churches should care for the Chinese diaspora around them and share the gospel with them, he added.
The leader of Ambassadors of Christ also mentioned a big problem which was the loss of the young generation in the Chinese churches in North America. Facing an increasingly secularized American society, some predicted that the number of Christians in the country was expected to decrease to 35 percent in 50 years. So, some people raised the question: will Christianity be wiped out after the next generation?
But Bor stated, “God has never lost any generation, as the authority of hell can not overcome him if we are willing to build a true church."
In order to illustrate his point of view, he also gave a specific example to illustrate.
He explained, "To grow stem cells, we need to put in feeder cells which can secrete growth hormones and nutrients to cause stem cells to differentiate slowly. Our next generation is like a heavenly stem cell, which will slowly differentiate and form the body of the Lord, attaining the measure of the fullness of Christ."
Mr. Bor said that many people might feel as if the next generation must become greater than them during their communication with them, but they seldom thought about what kind of "growth hormone" and "nutrient" they should give to help their children to grow into the fullness of Christ.
He concluded that in the face of the loss of youth in the North American Chinese churches, the family should repent first, rather than the church, as they were the first person responsible for their children’s faith.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
在慕拉第宣教动员大会上，一个学者提出面对北美华人教会青年时代的流失，比起教会，家庭首先应该要悔改，“父母是首席的悔改者”。
2022年9月22-24日，“2022华人宣教动员大会——纪念慕拉第对华宣教殉道110周年”在线上举行。
大会的第三天，邀请了柏有成老师以“华人教会代际承传与宣教”为主题，分享了华人教会在面对疫情等挑战时，应该如何进行代际传承和宣教的。柏老师本人是属于美南浸信会第一浸信会的，而慕拉第就是第一浸信会的早期会友。柏有成老师还在后来有幸成为了第一浸信会的执事。
此次大会由BRC美国伯特利中心、芝加哥华仆领导力中心、全球仆人领导力复兴平台共同主办，由迪拜华人商道团契、带路骆商平台协办。大会邀请了著名的学者、牧师作为讲员，包括柏有成老师、陈世钦牧师、林治平教授、刘主生博士等来自世界各地的讲员。
华人教会的宣教新视角
在谈到宣教时，柏有成借着“教会借着宣教而存在就如火焰借着燃烧而存在”这一名言来指出“被差派宣讲耶稣基督的福音是我们责无旁贷的责任” 。
疫情对我们有很大的冲击，这使得宣教受到了很大的阻碍。但是柏老师提出了一个不一样的观点。他指出以往10/40之窗（在北纬10度至40度之间，包括北非，中东及亚洲，被称为“抗拒带”。这里拥有世界上大多数的穆斯林、印度教徒及佛教徒）一直是我们的宣教重点，但是却很少有人注意到因为疫情、饥荒等，很多人移民到其他国家的，其中包括英国、澳大利亚等。有很多散居的群体来到新的国家移民。当然也有数据显示，因为移民的关系，有很多人散居在都市当中。因此，柏老师提出华人教会应该要注意到这些人群。
柏老师还从美国华人移民简史，来浅谈美国华人教会的发展。
1850年，华工来到美国参与修铁路和农场的工作。1950年，大批港台学生到美国留学。1960年，美国校园出现许多查经班和团契。1970年，随着华人留学生在美国定居、工作，许多查经班转型成为华人教会。
据统计，从1980年代到2018年在美第一代华人群体由38.4万增长到245.5万。2014-2018年中国大陆移民主要分布在波士顿、纽约、南加州、三藩、芝加哥等地。2018年中国人申请移民的以亲属移民和投资移民居多。华人教会应当注意周围散居的中国人，并向他们见证福音。
华人教会的代际承传
柏老师还提到了北美华人教会的一个问题，那就是青年世代的流失。面对逐渐世俗化的美国社会，有人预测美国的基督徒预计在50年以后将会降低至35%。面对一个世代的流失，有的人提出：是不是差一个世代我们基督教就会灭绝了？
柏老师认为答案是“不是”，他觉得“上帝从来没有失去任何一个世代，祂也不会失去一个世代因为阴间的权柄不能胜过祂，如果我们愿意成为一个真实的教会。”
为阐述自己的观点，柏老师还举了一个具体的例子来进行说明。
“当我们培养干细胞的时候，我们需要放入一个特殊的细胞称为喂养细胞。喂养细胞会分泌出生长激素和养分来让干细胞能够慢慢的分化。我们的下一代就像一个天国的干细胞，他们会慢慢分化出主的身体，长出耶稣基督的身量。”
因此，柏老师认为“当我们与下一代沟通时”，很多人都会有这样的感受“他必兴旺，我必衰微”。但是我们却很少思考一下，我们到底要给出什么样的“生长激素”和“养分”来帮助下一代的成长出基督的身体。
慕拉第华人宣教大会 关注华人教会信仰的代际传承与宣教
In the 2022 Chinese Missionary Mobilization Conference to commemorate Lottie Moon, a ministry leader proposed that in the face of the loss of youth in the North American Chinese churches, the family should repent first, rather than the church.
The "2022 Chinese Missionary Mobilization Conference - Commemorating the 110th Anniversary of Lottie Moon's Martyrdom in China'' was held online on September 22-24. The conference was co-hosted by the BRC American Bethel Center, the Chicago Chinese Servant Leadership Center, and the Global Servant Leadership Renewal Platform, and co-organized by the Dubai Chinese Business Fellowship and the Led Road Luoshang Platform.
Mr. Dr. Yeou-cherng Bor, executive director of Ambassadors for Christ, an American Chinese Christian Ministry to reach Chinese intellectuals, was invited to give a lecture to share how Chinese churches should conduct intergenerational inheritance and missionary activities under COVID-19 on the third day of the conference. Renowned Baptist missionary Lottie Moon was an early member of the First Baptist Church of the Southern Baptist Convention, in which Bor gathers and is a deacon now.
Other well-known overseas Chinese scholars and pastors were invited as speakers, including Dr. Joshua Ting, former general secretary of the Chinese Coordination Centre of World Evangelism (CCCOWE), Professor Lin Zhiping, former dean of the College of Humanities and Education at Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan, and Dr. Evan Liu, pastor of Chicago Golden Light Chinese Church and doctor of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School at Chicago.
Quoting the saying "the church exists by mission just as fire exists by burning” by Emil Brunner, Bor pointed out that it was Christians’ duty to be sent to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on Christians, greatly hindering missions. As well as focusing on the 10/40 window (a challenging region in which predominant religions are Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism), Mr. Bor highlighted that the Chinese church should pay attention to immigrants who moved to the United Kingdom, Australia, and other places due to the epidemic and famine.
He also talked about the development of Chinese churches in the United States from a brief history of Chinese immigrants in the United States.
In 1850, Chinese laborers came to the United States to participate in the construction of railways and farms. Then 100 years later, a large number of students from Hong Kong and Taiwan came to study in the United States. In 1960, there were many Bible study groups and fellowships on American campuses. As Chinese students settled and worked in the United States, many Bible study classes were transformed into Chinese churches after ten years.
According to statistics, from the 1980s to 2018, the number of first-generation Chinese people in the United States increased from 384,000 to 2.455 million. From 2014 to 2018, mainland Chinese immigrants were mainly distributed in Boston, New York, Southern California, San Francisco, and Chicago. Chinese churches should care for the Chinese diaspora around them and share the gospel with them, he added.
The leader of Ambassadors of Christ also mentioned a big problem which was the loss of the young generation in the Chinese churches in North America. Facing an increasingly secularized American society, some predicted that the number of Christians in the country was expected to decrease to 35 percent in 50 years. So, some people raised the question: will Christianity be wiped out after the next generation?
But Bor stated, “God has never lost any generation, as the authority of hell can not overcome him if we are willing to build a true church."
In order to illustrate his point of view, he also gave a specific example to illustrate.
He explained, "To grow stem cells, we need to put in feeder cells which can secrete growth hormones and nutrients to cause stem cells to differentiate slowly. Our next generation is like a heavenly stem cell, which will slowly differentiate and form the body of the Lord, attaining the measure of the fullness of Christ."
Mr. Bor said that many people might feel as if the next generation must become greater than them during their communication with them, but they seldom thought about what kind of "growth hormone" and "nutrient" they should give to help their children to grow into the fullness of Christ.
He concluded that in the face of the loss of youth in the North American Chinese churches, the family should repent first, rather than the church, as they were the first person responsible for their children’s faith.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
American Chinese Ministry Leader Urges Chinese Churches to Pass on Faith to the Next Generation
