Table Of ContentPRAISE FOR
CHRISTIAN CHINA
AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
For more than four decades, David Wang has been a pioneer in telling the world
the inspiring yet sobering story of the Church in China. In his latest book,
Christian China and the Light of the World, he focuses on the lives of the leaders
of China’s fast-growing urban churches. We come to know doctors,
entrepreneurs, surgeons and sales executives who have given up lives of
prominence and prosperity to follow Christ as pastors, evangelists and even
missionaries abroad. Through his detailed, personal narratives of the lives of
Chinese who we only know by their Christian names, Wang offers insights into
the challenges and struggles of China’s urban Christians and suggests lessons
that their experiences may provide for the worldwide body of Christ. This book
is both informative and brilliantly relevant.
David Aikman
Author of Jesus in Beijing and former TIME magazine correspondent When you
talk with David Wang about the urban church in China, as I have many times,
you cannot help but be infected with his enthusiasm for this new expression of
Christ’s Body in China. I know of no greater apostle and mentor to China’s
urban church than David. He has challenged urban church leaders to work hand
in hand with China’s government to address the needs of Chinese society, and
through his efforts a much higher level of training in pastoral leadership has
been made available. As you read this book you will experience a firsthand
report of what God is doing in this new day of openness in the People’s Republic
of China. If you are wanting to understand how modern missions can best impact
the future of China’s church, you need to read this book.
Jon Davis
Lead Pastor, Beijing International Christian Fellowship We live in an exciting
new season. The center of gravity of world Christianity, which began in
Jerusalem and through the centuries reached North America, has now shifted to
the Asian Pacific Rim. China is the dominant nation there and China is destined
to assume leadership for the Christian movement for the foreseeable future. My
friend David Wang’s title reflects what I have just said: Christian China. This is
a book that will enlighten your mind and warm your heart. As you read it, you
will fall in love with China and you will begin to move into God’s new stream
for the future.
C. Peter Wagner Vice-President, Global Spheres, Inc.
One of the amazing happenings in the world’s history of church growth has to be
the so-called “Third Church” in China! Encouraged by the modernization
movement in the 1970s and 1980s, huge numbers of rural youth have rushed into
the cities for education, jobs and a new life. This avalanche of young and eager
hearts gathered in a new environment has created tremendous yearning and
spiritual hunger—hence the marvelous growth of the urban church in China. A
veteran missionary and researcher of church growth, Dr. David Wang has served
us with another well-written book in Christian China and the Light of the World.
His succinct descriptions provide us with inspiring pictures of the joy, glory,
pain and grief among the urban church members in China. It is indeed a book to
be read by anyone who is interested in China, her church and her people!
Rev. Thomas Wang Former General Secretary, Chinese
Coordination, Centre of World Evangelism Founder, Great
Commission Center International
© 2013 David Wang with Georgina Sam
Published by Chosen Books
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
chosenbooks.com
Chosen Books is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Chosen edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-6905-8
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the
prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief
quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the
Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from
the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004,
2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale
House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights
reserved.
Other version used is: NIV—Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan
Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Summary: “China...a Christian movement numbering in the tens of
millions. The rapidly expanding economic power of the most
populous nation on earth puts China front and center in any discussion
about the future of the globe. But is there more to China’s story than
money? Christians in North America have many questions about the
People’s Republic of China and what is rumored to be a Christian
movement numbering in the tens of millions. Christian China is the
essential guidebook for North American Christians to understand and
pray for their sisters and brothers in China’s cities. Readers will find
not only facts and data, but also true accounts of Chinese believers’
great exploits as they follow the Holy Spirit into the future.” —
Provided by publisher.
This work is dedicated to the memory of Wang Mingdao and Allen Yuan
Xiangchen. It is also dedicated to Samuel Lamb and Miao Zhitong, both of
whom passed away as this book was going to print. They are the original
inspirations and trailblazers for the urban house churches in China.
Contents
Foreword
Principal Characters
Prologue
1. The Colonel’s Daughter
2. “If You Build It, He Will Come”
3. To Immigrate or Not?
4. An NGO Pioneer
5. Persecution and Suffering
6. The Model Worshiper
Epilogue
Appendix: China Chronology
About the Authors
