Billions Jan-Apr 2015

Jan – April 2015

PLACESPEOPLE PARTICIPATE

Innovative, Indigenous & Inclusive

Retrospect and Prospect The Jerusalem of China

Rooted in Revival150 Years On

150 Years of Innovation

UK NATIONAL OFFICE OMF International (UK) Station Approach, Borough Green Kent TN15 8BG 01732 887299 [email protected] www.omf.org.uk

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Registered Charity England and Wales: 1123973 Scotland: SC039645 Company limited by guarantee England and Wales: 6541911 International Headquarters, 2 Cluny Road , Singapore 259570

There he prayed for a boatful of men and women to return with him to China.

Through God’s faithfulness Hudson Taylor left an incredible legacy. Around the world

people attribute their involvement in mission to his story, across China many recognise the pioneering work of Taylor and the China Inland Mission as crucial to their own knowledge of Christ. As we celebrate 150 years of CIM and OMF we are going to explore the rich history, which shapes our work today. In this first edition we will focus on the start of the CIM's journey and try to discern what God may want to teach us through it today.

We hope that you enjoy taking this journey with us.

Chris WattsEditor – [email protected]

On 25 June 1865 in Brighton, James Hudson Taylor’s desire to see China’s millions reached with the gospel became too much for him to bear. Running from the comfortable church service to the beach he called out to The Lord.

We serve the Church and seek to bring the gospel to all the peoples of East Asia. We help place Christians with professional skills in China and other Asian countries, and share the love of Christ with East Asians worldwide.

Through God’s grace we aim to see an indigenous, biblical church-planting movement in each people group of East Asia, evangelising their own people and reaching out in mission to other peoples.

Heart for Asia. Hope for billions.

From The Editor

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News 4Arrivals 7Departures 8

Innovative, Indigenous & Inclusive 10Hudson-Taylor

A Faithful Investment 14Wang Lae-djün

Retrospect and Prospect 16Nomads and Neighbours

The Jerusalem of China 18 Wenzhou, China

Terror and Glory 20The Boxer Rebellion

Rooted in Revival 22 The Second Evangelical Awakening

150 Years On 24Are we still needed?

Events 26Finance 27

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News

Selected snippets from OMF's work with East Asians around the world.

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Seeing God’s Love through life’s twists‘As a cross-cultural worker in East Asia I was in pole position to see the Father’s loving work. I watched him love a local young friend – “Stella” – into healing and hope, despite the agonising twists and turns of her life.

Stella was born in a remote, disadvantaged and dysfunctional family. Hurt and disillusioned, she still managed to escape into successful study. This led to her first experience of the Father’s love; being taught English at a College by a foreign believer. Stella was intrigued. Then an exciting opportunity for further study came her way but was quickly followed by disaster. Stella was ignominiously sent away for mental health treatment she didn’t want, to a strange city she didn’t know.

But the Father’s love did not leave her. A mutual friend put Stella and I in touch. We talked and Stella revealed her pain. She told me

of several unavailing attempts to become a Buddhist! So when Stella truly grasped the Father’s offer of love, her answer was

a definite “Yes!” It was in that strange city that Stella joined a church,

celebrated her first Christmas, was baptised and found another study opportunity. This time she

focused on Public Health Studies – and triumphed! Stella’s most recent email told me of the great

job she has been given in a bustling city. Now Stella aims to pass on the Father’s love to those around her. Just as it was passed to her.’R. B. Harrison

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A heart for the suffering Reports often paint a grim picture of mental health in post-conflict Cambodia. One article in the press described the situation as an 'appalling mental health crisis', citing a 2012 report from the Royal University of Phnom Penh. The report indicated that there are very high levels of both anxiety and depression among Cambodians, and the country suffers with the highest suicide rate in South East Asia. A government spokesman said that mental health would not be a priority for spending as malaria and maternal health are the primary concerns. Little work is being done, even though the situation is crying out for International support.

OMF International has a heart for those who suffer mental health problems. Three trained counsellors are part of a small team of healthcare professionals, who feel called by God to minister in the area of psychological illness. Shirley Sinclair will be joining this team in 2015, as a psychotherapist, working primarily with sexually exploited women. Shirley has an interest in the stories Cambodian people tell about themselves; often they are perceived as victims in a traumatic recent history, yet many want to live out new stories of their survival and transformation.

Iwate Relief ProjectThe tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011 took almost 16,000 lives. Governments around the world sent aid and OMF International played a part in the relief work by creating the Iwate Relief Project as a means to provide support. As of May 2014, OMF International’s official role ended, but the assistance given through the project continues. Hokuei Church has set up a new legal entity called Ippo Ippo Iwate to receive funds and administer the project. OMF Japan, while entirely separate to Ippo Ippo Iwate and not directly involved in its leadership, is still able to channel funds to this ministry.

Through the Iwate Relief Project, OMF International workers have built a drop-in community centre called Ippo Ippo Yamada, distributed tracts, given out thousands of bags of rice and other food and household necessities and put hundreds of volunteers to work. The Japanese are rebuilding, but complete physical recovery could take decades. Emotionally, some may never fully heal, but a hope deeper than building foundations is stirring.

‘Opportunities to sow the seeds of the gospel have been unprecedented in my 30 years of working in Japan,’ says Mike McGinty, former project manager for the Iwate Relief Project, ‘and we trust in due time this will reap a harvest.’ Prayer is a coveted resource as wounds heal and gospel seeds are planted. Ask the Lord of the harvest to build his Church in the Iwate Prefecture.

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The Spring – ‘Standing on our own feet’‘I grew up in a Christian home in the South Taiwan, and studied in China Evangelical Seminary and married Shu-Hua during my second year.

One day I saw a homeless man looking through a rubbish bin for food in front of a large church in Taipei and I wondered, "Are there any churches who welcome homeless people?" Not long after that I heard about The Spring, an OMF ministry to the homeless.

After completing an internship with The Spring, I was invited to return as a full-time worker. This was the wish of my heart, but at times it was hard work; seeing change amongst the homeless can often take a long time.

After 12 years, most of my fellow students from seminary are well-respected pastors of churches in Taiwan, but I am still in a struggling church with few workers. Many are surprised to hear that I am still in the same church. When the OMF workers left The Spring, they handed responsibility to me, which sometimes feels very heavy.

At the moment we have three Bible college students helping us. My goal is to train them to do the ministry, and to pass on the things I have learned. I have made many mistakes and want to prevent them from making the same mistakes.

Concerning the future of The Spring our goal is not “bigger and bigger”, but that churches all over Taiwan will learn to care for the homeless in their neighbourhood, in a sense that “The Spring will no

longer be needed”.OMF raised us: now we have to learn to stand

on our own feet. I hope we can pass on the good practices that we learned from OMF’s work.’ Wu De Li

Making Disciple MakersOver 80 OMF members and co-workers from around the globe converged on Colorado Springs, USA, for the third triennial OMF Diaspora Ministries conference from 19–26 October, for equipping, mutual encouragement and prayer.

Reflecting our nature as a global, borderless field, the OMF workers came from their places of ministry in 12 different countries across four continents, where they are reaching out to the Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Indonesian diasporas.

A major announcement at the conference was a name change to ‘Diaspora Returnee Ministries’, indicating a sharper focus on reaching East Asians who are temporarily living outside their homeland. The new name also shows a commitment to helping new Christians and seekers, as they pass through the difficult period of returning to countries where Christians face severe social or political pressures.

With such aims in mind, the weeklong conference featured the key words ‘Making Disciple-Makers’. Each day included a Bible reading from John 4 by author Tony Horsfall on ‘Working from a place of rest: Jesus and the key to sustaining ministry’ a theme he chose after observing that many Christian workers suffered from ‘weariness on the journey’.

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Steve & Debs Taylor

What is your current ministry?We serve at Faith Academy school, Manila. It is dedicated to supporting mission work throughout Asia by educating the children of missionary families.

Highlight of the term?Watching children change and grow. It is especially rewarding to be in a school where we can teach from a Biblical perspective and support students in their spiritual development.

What can we pray for in your field?That God would continue to call teachers to the mission field.

What can we pray for in your future?For great reconnections with family and supporters during this home assignment. That God would provide the necessary support for us to continue to serve where he has called us.

When are you returning and where to?Returning in July 2015 to Faith Academy, Manila.

Arrivals

Sarah

What is your current ministry? The church here is small but growing; our team focuses on partnering with, and equipping the local church. I am doing this through training local believers in holistic community health so they can bring the gospel to their communities. Highlight of the term?A group of 17 volunteers ‘graduating’ from the first training course and starting to provide care for patients. The most encouraging thing for me is how this has come about in response to people praying in the UK, and seeing God opening opportunities in Asia. It’s my privilege to see these answers to prayer first-hand.

What can we pray for your future and your field?I’ll be returning late in 2015. We hope to train three more groups, and plan to multiply many more groups in the next three to four years. Please pray the Lord would use these groups for his glory.

Estelle Lee

What is your current ministry?Teaching and evangelism in a church-planting situation.

Highlight of the term?A Japanese friend began to attend a church, in which I served for a year. We studied part of Luke’s gospel together and she began discipleship classes. After going through a period of doubt, she believed and was baptised. She is now a member of the church and growing in Christ. One of my English class students became interested in the Word through my Japanese Chapel Time studies and subsequently joined my English Bible study class. Through the work of the Holy Spirit she too became a believer. She is now living in Sendai and attends a local church. It is always a joy to see fruit from ministry.

What can we pray for in your field?The concept of sin and need of redemption is not easy for most Japanese people to understand; please pray for the Holy Spirit to break down spiritual and cultural barriers and bring spiritual understanding of unfelt needs. What can we pray for in your future?Pray for further possibilities to share the love of Christ with Japanese non-believers. Pray for me to encourage and challenge believers in their daily lives.

When are you returning and where to?Returning 4 April 2015 to Sapporo International Church, Hokkaido, Japan.

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Evie

Destination East AsiaDesignation Third Culture Kids ministryStarting October 2014Sending Church Hamilton Road

Presbyterian Church, Bangor, Northern Ireland

Mission JourneyMy journey to East Asia feels both like an adventure and being on a roller-coaster – lots of twists and turns. Now I’m ready to embark on the big adventure with God guiding me every step of the way. God has been faithful to me since becoming a Christian at 13. I’ve always had a keen interest in mission and have both learned from and served God in various ways over the years, in the UK, Ireland, Europe and East Asia.

In 2001 I went to Japan on a church team with OMF to serve missionary families at a conference, where I believe God planted the vision to work with third culture kids (TCKs). However, it wasn’t until my final year (2010/2011) studying for a theology degree that God clearly guided me to join the International TCK Team at Mekong Reunion and subsequently return the following year. God challenged me about the needs of TCK Ministry and I believe he has called me to serve this wonderful people group – third culture kids!

My role as TCK Support Assistant involves coming alongside families and TCKs, and supporting them in a variety of ways, e.g. Mekong Reunion (annual

event), home-schooling, volunteering in international schools, and administrative work. Flexibility

is key! Before I take up this role I will attend Orientation Course in Singapore

then begin full-time language study at Lopburi in Central Thailand. I am looking forward to being part of this ministry and being a small link in the chain with these TCKs in all God has

planned for their lives.

Departures

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Philip & Esther Meager

Destination East AsiaDesignation Field Medical AdvisorStarting 26 October 2014Sending Church St Luke's Church, Watford

Mission JourneyPhilip first felt a desire to serve on the mission field after graduating as a doctor but was told that Everton needed him! Esther, a nurse and midwife, felt the desire to serve God after the family had grown up and our parents had passed away and no longer needed our care.

As we became open to serving God with our skills overseas, his call and direction became clear. A colleague and friend, Dr Christine Singleton, who had worked in Thailand as Field Medical Advisor, invited us to a conference for Field Medical Advisors. We both enjoyed the conference and our time working at the Kwai River Christian Hospital and on return, felt the confirmed call of God to Thailand. In early 2014 we returned to Asia for nearly three months. We started in Singapore, then travelled to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Kwai River Christian Hospital, Cambodia and back to Bangkok, flying home from Singapore.

This was a very useful time; we met many people and learnt a lot on the job. After Orientation Course, we will be based in Chiang Mai from November for three years serving initially the Thai field and then the Mekong field. Our great desire is to be able to visit the different countries and support the missionaries in their various fields.

This part of the world is dominated by Buddhism which casts a great spiritual shadow, often affecting missionaries, hence our desire to support them and pray for their protection.

Phil, Rachel and Ben

Destination East AsiaDesignation Language Study

then teaching EnglishStarting 26 October 2014Sending Churches Emmanuel Evangelical

Church, Newport

Mission JourneyWe met in East Asia in 2004, but were just friends – honest! In 2010 we met up in the UK, along with others we’d worked with in Asia. We got talking – and decided to keep doing so ‘til death do us part’. Our marriage was in July 2012 and Ben was born in February 2014.

Going back to Asia was always a strong desire in both of us, and God confirmed that by providing all that is needed to do so at this point.

Since leaving Asia eight years ago, Phil has kept his interest and language by preaching in a Chinese church and doing some translation at the Job Centre where he worked. He is determined to do more serious study when we arrive. He’s also completed a masters in TESOL and has taught English to various ethnic groups in his hometown of Newport.

Rachel returned to Belfast in July 2010 for home assignment, followed by a year study leave. She had served in various ways during her seven years in Asia, particularly helping young church leaders prepare Bible studies; so Cornhill Bible training course in Belfast seemed a helpful way to build such skills. Also, the need to discern issues for local leaders pastorally led her to undertake a short counselling course. We look forward to seeing how God will shape and use us now as a family in the years ahead.

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At the age of just sixteen, Taylor prayed that the Lord would give him ‘some work to do for Him, however trying or however trivial’. It was to

be a few years later that Taylor discovered the work the Lord had prepared for him. We wanted to take this opportunity to look at three key traits that marked the work of Hudson Taylor and CIM and ask; are these part of OMF and its work today?

Hudson Taylor was innovative, changing the way mission was approached, attempting new and ambitious endeavours. We can see this in many ways; an early example is in Hudson Taylor’s preparation for leaving to China. In his autobiography, A Retrospect, Taylor recalls ‘My feather bed I had taken away, and sought to dispense with as many other home comforts as I could, in order prepare myself for rougher lines of life.’ This innovative and sacrificial form of preparation almost certainly helped prepare him for what God was calling him to do in the long term.

Innovation was also a trait of the CIM. Until Hudson Taylor’s indication that the CIM should have inland China as its ‘special object’ there were no known missions focusing on this area. In fact, according to the first CIM Occasional Paper, of the 18 provinces of China proper, missionaries were located in just seven; most of these were coastal. Taylor’s vision of Chinese men and women heading for a ‘Christless eternity’ drove the mission into pioneering towards new areas; innovation was in their DNA.

Inclusivity is a second trait of the CIM. In a recent interview, author Rose Dowsett commented that, ‘Taylor cared more that people were passionate for the Lord and for the gospel than their churchmanship…Taylor was happy to include people from all walks

Innovative, Indigenous and Inclusive

创新，本土，包容

Hudson Taylor’s story is an inspiring and well-documented one. As a young man he had become burdened for the lost souls in China.

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OMF sends workers to become part of the fabric of society

of life.’ Unlike most mission societies at the time, the CIM did not constrain itself by only considering ordained ministers for mission. Taylor’s insistence that unmarried women were to be missionaries in their own right was something mostly unheard of at the time. The Lammermuir, which famously carried many of the first CIM missionaries to China, had on board no ordained ministers, but nine unmarried women.

One of Taylor’s chief desires was that the CIM cultivate indigeneity. Its goal was not to build a western church in East Asia but the growth of a uniquely Chinese church. Taylor aimed to see ‘Christian Chinese – true Christians, but Chinese in every sense of the word’. The long-term goal of the CIM was that Chinese Christians would be discipled and built up to lead Chinese congregations.

It is well known that Taylor encouraged all the members of CIM to dress in a culturally appropriate way, himself donning Chinese garments and a pigtail, but he also insisted that any decisions regarding the mission should be made in China. It was for this reason he created the China Council. The CIM was never to be controlled by a foreign master from afar; instead decisions were made as close to the action as possible.

We hope never to lose these traits, and will always strive to maintain inclusivity, encourage innovation and support the growing indigenous churches in East Asia. These values are being demonstrated all over the OMF network.

OMF continues to be innovative, both in the ways we share the gospel and the ways we interact with the cultures we work among. In many places OMF sends workers to become part of the fabric of the society; they create businesses, employ locals, work in hospitals and schools, even start dance classes. These are not simply ways to obtain visas, they are the harvest fields of individuals passionately involved in holistic mission. Spreading the gospel innovatively in the workplaces of Asia is just as important as the traditional forms of evangelism.

Inclusivity remains a key part of OMF’s identity. Just as in the days of the CIM, OMF endeavours to send people from all walks of life. Church planters, teachers, publishers, even marine biologists all can

find their skills useful in God’s mission in East Asia. The relative ease of travel has now allowed OMF to become even more inclusive, allowing young men and women, who could not yet go out long term, to go on short-term trips, to pray with, encourage and support the church, both in Asia and at home.

Hudson Taylor’s desire for the mission to be as indigenous as possible still marks the organisation today. Just as in Hudson Taylor’s day, the headquarters of the mission is still in East Asia and all major decisions happen as close to the ‘action’ as possible, reflecting our aim to lead from the ministry context. Language, culture and worldview studies are still of prime importance, and most missionaries are continually fine-tuning their language skills. We are now seeing many more Asian missionaries joining the organisation. Patrick Fung, the General Director, is himself from Hong Kong.

In the modern world, the need to contextualize is not only important overseas. Homesides in the UK, USA, and other areas want to use their experience of adapting to culture over the past 150 years to teach local churches, who increasingly find Islam and Buddhism as being part of the changing western culture. Contextualization has always been a characteristic of gospel ministry for OMF, but now is growing in importance for many Christians within their communities.

For 150 years churches around the world have been sending missionaries to East Asia, and by God’s grace will continue to. These missionaries have learnt to be indigenous, inclusive and innovative. Now, as the different cultures and nationalities live side by side in western neighbourhoods, OMF hopes to pass on these traits to the local churches so they can reach out in the same way CIM and OMF missionaries have been since 1865.

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Taylor changed his hair and clothes in order to be more culturally acceptable to local chinese people.

Before leaving for China he ate only oatmeal and rice, saving 2/3 of his money for God’s purposes.

Taylor insisted on a policy of never asking for money – only praying for it. This policy still exists today.

Aboard the Lammermuir, through Taylor’s preaching most of the crew professed faith in Christ.

The amount of years Taylor spent travelling on a boat in his life.

The amount of years the average person spends commuting.

Between 1900–1910 the CIM saw an average of 2600 baptisms per year in China.

Taylor accepted women (married and single) as missionaries – one of the first missionary organisations to do this.

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A Faithful Investment

忠实的投资

A strange sight drew curious eyes in London’s fashionable Bayswater, one cold November morning in 1860.

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An Oriental gentleman, accompanied by what appeared to be his European wife, was walking slowly down the street, carrying a toddler. The pregnant wife and the toddler were in decidedly outmoded Western dress. Behind them came a shorter, sickly-looking man – a servant no doubt – in scruffy Chinese attire.

Wang Lae-djün had had the dubious privilege of leaving wife, family, country, everything he had ever known, to travel to the West with Hudson Taylor (the sickly-looking man!) and Maria. This had come about through the strong brotherly bond between the two men. Hudson Taylor knew the future of the church in China depended on local individuals – they would need nurturing and equipping, but eventually, he was in no doubt, they would take full responsibility. Chinese churches, under God, must be in their own hands.

Wang’s interest in the gospel had been first aroused when he overheard a conversation while working as a painter/decorator, back in his home town: the lady of the house was requesting incense containers, but the onetime supplier was explaining he no longer produced them,

as he was a Christian. Wang’s curiosity and spiritual hunger awakened, he

began to meet with Hudson Taylor; he was baptised on 8 May, 1859.

Not long after this the Taylors began to make plans to return home, as much as anything for

the sake of Hudson Taylor’s health. If Wang Lae-djün came too, Hudson Taylor surmised, he could continue to disciple him during the long journey, and while in London Wang would be the best possible language teacher for new recruits. But there was another plan.

Marion Osgood

Many of the Chinese (not including Wang) were illiterate; Hudson Taylor had begun to compose a written form of the Ningbo dialect in the Latin alphabet, which he (and in time Wang) could then comparatively easily teach others to read. The next stage was the mammoth task of translating the entire New Testament into this colloquial written form; Wang’s familiarity with the dialect would be invaluable.

But meanwhile, there was the long voyage home. Wang helped to care for little Grace Taylor, whose parents were far from well. He also had to take responsibility for the goats, the family’s source of fresh milk, throughout the voyage. When Grace slept, and the parents were well enough, Wang joined them in fervent prayer for the work in China, and the need for more workers. Sweet times of fellowship together confirmed to Hudson Taylor that Wang was indeed a man after his own heart.

After an initial stay with the Bayswater relatives, the Taylors rented a house in the East End of London; Wang, a willing worker, remained with them, turning his hand to cooking and laundry. He was treated as one of the family: at Christmas he accompanied them to Yorkshire to stay with Hudson Taylor’s parents; he was taken to see the Great Exhibition, now permanently erected at ‘Crystal Palace’, and joined others lining the streets of London when Alexandra of Denmark arrived to wed Edward, Prince of Wales.

In 1863 Wang’s planned return to China was imminent. Although remittances had faithfully been sent to support his wife and children, nevertheless they needed him – but so did Hudson Taylor! There was now no

time to lose, so Wang the future church leader, the missionary to his own people, responded diligently to the increasingly demanding time-table of Hudson Taylor – whose own capacity for work, even when tired and unwell, seemed almost boundless. With fresh urgency the translation work continued late into the night, and pharmacology, even anatomy dissections, were added to Wang’s educational repertoire. As the time for his departure drew even closer, the already full medical and theological training schedule grew ever more demanding.

There were final visits to Guy’s Hospital Museum, the Houses of Parliament, Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle, Westminster Abbey... and one last trip to George Müller in Bristol, before Wang finally departed via Gravesend on 2 June, 1864.

Back in Hangzhou and without Hudson Taylor, but now with his wife by his side, Wang shepherded the flock wisely; in time he was caring for a whole network of new churches within a hundred mile radius, continuing faithfully for forty years. Typical of Hudson Taylor’s principled desires for the indigenous church, Wang had no wish to depend on foreign aid: in time his churches were meeting financial needs elsewhere.

Hudson Taylor invested heavily in Wang Lae-djün, and he in turn was all that Hudson Taylor could have hoped for in his earliest converts. Throughout their close and loving brotherly friendship Hudson Taylor recognised that this investment by God’s grace would produce not only a strong and mature believer, it would yield heavenly returns in the lives of countless others.

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Retrospect and Prospect: Nomads and Neighbours

回顾与展望

From the very beginning, the China Inland Mission (now OMF International) has had a passion for unreached places, a passion to obey God and to be culturally relevant.

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Mongolia in the 1880s. Cameron travelled extensively, encountering many ‘drunkards’, but after some time came to have a ‘revulsion of feeling’ towards travel. When the only Christian in a distant village invited him, Cameron obeyed what he thought was the call of God, went and saw people voluntarily burn their idols after the local Christian preached.

The early 20th century saw the arrival of other travelling missionaries. Celebrated by evangelicals, adventure travellers and feminists are the ‘Gobi Trio’ of Mildred Cable and Evangeline

Remembering his prayer on Brighton Beach in 1865 Hudson Taylor wrote in A Retrospect, ‘I asked him for twenty-four fellow-workers, two for

each of eleven inland provinces which were without a missionary, and two for Mongolia.' Taylor prayed for China and for Mongolia to know Christ.

One answer to the prayer of Taylor was the exhausting travels of James Cameron around Inner

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Occupation OMF worker since 1994Special Skill Horse riding in country where temperatures can range from +40°C to –40°C

Kirk Matthews

and Francesca French. Books like Something Happened continue to

inspire the imagination today. Yet the story of George Hunter and Percy

Mather, and their travels into the Altai Mountains of Mongolia, are remembered

by very few today. Whereas the Trio were the best of friends,

Hunter and Mather, though they lived in Urumchi, China did not stay together. ‘Mr. Hunter’

and ‘Mr. Mather’, as they called each other, were very different from one another. The older, white-bearded Hunter was a stern and melancholy Scotsman with a calling to reach Uighur and Turkic people. Mather, a young playful Englishman with a streak of romanticism, had his heart ‘captured’ by the fun-loving, yurt-dwelling Mongolians in the open ranges.

Transcending their differences, Hunter and Mather travelled together up to Khovd, Western Mongolia and the Altai Mountains. Hunter spoke Kazakh and Uighur and Mather spoke Mongolian. They shared the gospel with Turkic and Mongolian peoples, sometimes bartering gospel booklets for food in desolate places.

On a rare home leave in Britain, having remembered many Mongolians with eye trouble, Mather studied ophthalmology. Out of love, Mather was now able to help Mongolians practically. This wish to help people practically was a forerunner to many other missionaries who travelled in Mongolia in later years.

Decades later in the early 1990s, Markus and Gertrud Dubach lived in Gobi-Altai Province in Mongolia. They cultivated potatoes. Sharing the gospel of Christ came naturally out of good relationships. Because of his remarkable agricultural work, Markus was awarded honorary citizenship of Gobi-Altai. This couple opened up doors for OMF and others later.

A few years ago there was a severe winter in Gobi-Altai. In one remote region of the Altai Mountains, 90 per cent of livestock died. In despair some men committed suicide. Local officials asked for help, and OMF workers, in partnership with other foreign and Mongolian Christians, responded. Nomadic herders received sheep and goats. Many herders said that if

they had not received these livestock, they would have become urban migrants. Due to high unemployment and alcoholism in urban centres, it is probable that many of these families would have fallen into the snares of joblessness and vodka addiction.

While much of our work is in cities with Mongolians who drive cars, have smart phones and use Facebook, there are times when our work seems of another century. Recently I was on a gospel horseback trip in the Altai Mountains, and one lonesome herdswoman was joyful to receive a Bible.

Recently two Mongolian Christians visited Altai nomads. One of these men had come to Christ through the witness of a business project in Altai City (see the video ‘Artis Altai’ omf.org/mongolia). Visiting remote nomads, they taught the Word of God. Twenty-eight men and women committed their lives to Christ. One nomad, who was regarded as a spiritual leader, threw away all his idols, fortune-telling stones and his shamanic drum; he wants to follow Christ whole-heartedly. Cameron would have been glad. The prayers of Hunter and Mather for the Altai people are being answered. The prospect of a bright golden day dawns in the mountains of Mongolia.

For more videos about work in Mongolia visit: http://vimeo.com/album/2675172

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The Jerusalem of China

中国的耶路撒冷

Today throughout China the city of Wenzhou has became known as the ‘Jerusalem of China’; it is home to well over a thousand churches, and continues to grow. Over a million of its eight million inhabitants are Christians and many are taking the gospel throughout China, and overseas to Europe and the Middle East.

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But how did all this start? Its origins can be traced back in God’s purposes to one Scottish missionary with the CIM 150 years ago….

George Stott would probably have been turned down by most missions today. He had a wooden leg; anyone playing on the safe side would have rejected him as a health and safety risk. China was not a safe place in those days. But Hudson Taylor looked beyond outward appearances. ‘You’re in!’, he told Stott after carefully interviewing him. In 1868 George arrived in Wenzhou, the first Protestant missionary in the bustling port city.

Wenzhou was recovering from the ravages of the great pseudo-Christian Taiping Rebellion, which had been savagely suppressed by the Qing emperor a few years previously. The city was filled with temples and idols. Local officials were often hostile towards outsiders. To provoke riots and attacks they would tell scare stories about foreigners who kidnapped and ate children. This was no safe place for missionaries.

It was in this unpromising environment that George Stott set out to preach the gospel. He rented a modest room, which he turned into a classroom for local boys. There he taught reading, writing and arithmetic along with the Bible. He dressed in Chinese gown and cotton slippers, and wore the queue or pigtail to identify in with the locals. This in itself was a revolutionary step introduced by Hudson Taylor. Plenty of British and American missionaries paraded around the treaty ports in frock coats, with no regard for local culture.

The years passed. Several Chinese turned to Christ and were baptised, and a small church was opened in Wenzhou. One of the young Chinese lads at the school was converted and was himself handicapped. He was paralysed down his left side and found walking very difficult. But this did not quench his thirst for God, nor dampen the clear call he felt to preach the gospel. He went on to become the first native evangelist in Wenzhou.

The gospel spread throughout the city and into the surrounding the villages. A decade or so after Stott arrived the CIM built a large church in the centre of the

city, capable of seating several hundred people. It

was built in Chinese style with a traditional, graceful Chinese roof. Again, this was in stark contrast to many cathedrals and big city churches, which were built in Gothic or classical style, dropped in to the centre of Chinese cities with complete insensitivity to China’s ancient culture. Western churches seemed almost a provocation to patriotic Chinese. As China entered the 20th Century, they seemed to be visible proof that Christianity was, indeed, a tool of Western cultural imperialism, as the Marxists were quick to claim.

Stott’s method of evangelism was humble and more suited to Chinese ways. Despite the incursions of Western powers and Japan in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and decades of warlordism, civil war, floods, famine and disease, the gospel spread at grass-roots level. Then, in 1966, came the Cultural Revolution. All the churches were closed and many believed that missionary endeavours in China had finally been wiped out.

I have visited Wenzhou several times over the last two decades. The CIM church is still there, but now caters to a congregation of many thousands. Local pastors told me at least 10 per cent of the population of this mega-city of eight million are Protestant evangelicals. The entire municipality, which includes large areas of countryside, large towns and many villages, now have over 2,000 registered churches and over 2,000 registered meeting-points. There are also thousands of unregistered house-churches. What Mao intended to be an ‘atheistic zone’ has become the ‘Jerusalem of China.’

Wenzhou Christians are often good at business and use their companies and factories to spread the gospel throughout China. It is likely that most cities in China have congregations planted by Wenzhou believers. They are also in the forefront of China’s new mission focus to take the gospel ‘Back to Jerusalem’; many have already left for Pakistan, Central Asia and the Middle East.

All this can be traced back to a one-legged Scotsman. The Bible reminds us that God often uses humble, weak and despised instruments to do great things.

Tony Lambert

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Terror and Glory – The Boxer Rebellion

恐怖与荣耀 — —义和团运动

One of the saddest cases was that of Chao-hsi-mao, aged 30, his mother, 59, sister 36 and wife, only 19 years old. In July 1900 all four were arrested by the Boxers for being Christian; their house and all their belongings burnt. The Boxer chief ordered that they be killed where they were arrested.

PLACESPLACES

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remained. That evening another crowd burst in on them. This time the house was surrounded so there was no chance of escape. Mr M’Kee and Mr I’Anson were killed first and then the women and children. Alice M’Kee hid in the cow house but was discovered and thrown into the flames of the burning houses. In all about 100 people, including Catholic and Protestant missionaries and Christian Chinese were killed in Tatung.’

The above accounts are just two of many hundreds describing the martyrdom of thousands of Chinese Christians and of 188 Protestant missionaries during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.

Who were the Boxers? And why did they resort to such savagery? At the end of the 19th century, the ruling Qing dynasty was in terminal decline. For over 50 years, since the infamous Opium Wars, China had endured humiliation and by 1900 the country teetered on the brink of being occupied and sliced up by Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan. Shanghai was entirely governed by foreigners and commercially and socially the country was in decay. Hatred of foreigners was on the rise and the Boxer movement provided a focus for long pent-up grievances to explode in a blood-bath.

Originally, the Boxers were a secret society, mixing their traditional folk religion with occult practices. They had aimed to overthrow the foreign Qing dynasty, but the wily Empress Dowager Ci Xi cleverly subverted the movement so that its main focus of hatred switched to the foreigners. Outside the Treaty Ports, the most visible foreigners were the missionaries and the ones who had penetrated to the most remote and

Tony Lambert

While on the way back they all joined in singing the hymn “He leadeth me”. Once outside the village they were taken down from the cart; Chao-hsi-mao was beheaded first. Still the mother would not recant, saying, “You have killed my son; you can now kill me.” And she, too, was beheaded. The other two remained steadfast and the sister said; “My brother and mother are dead. Kill me too.” After her death there was only the young wife left, “You have killed my husband, sister and mother-in-law. What have I to live for? Take my life as well.” Thus all four sealed their testimonies with their blood.’

‘On 14 June 1900 the Boxer movement made its first appearance in Tatungfu, North Shanxi. Here were stationed Mr and Mrs I’Anson and three children, Mr and Mrs Stewart M’Kee and two children, and Miss Aspden and Miss M.E. Smith; all of the China Inland Mission. On 24 June an angry crowd burst into the mission compound, the missionaries barely had time to escape. A number of the crowd rushed after them while throwing stones. They escaped and took refuge in the Yamen, (the mandarin’s office) where they were kindly received, sent home and given a guard of 50 soldiers. The guard of soldiers was

gradually withdrawn and by 12 July

only two

dangerous regions were often from the China Inland Mission.

The Boxers started to spread rumours that the foreigners kidnapped and ate children. By the spring of 1900 the first killings of foreigners and Chinese Christians had begun. Thousands of Chinese Roman Catholics, over 1,000 Protestants and 188 Western Protestant missionaries were killed. In total, the CIM lost 58 adults and 21 children. It was a stunning blow.

The reaction of the Great Powers was immediate. British, French, German, Japanese and Russian troops descended on Beijing. The Empress Dowager fled and her Summer Palace was burnt and looted. Punitive reparations were enforced on the Chinese government.

But what was the reaction of the CIM? In the spirit of Christ, the CIM refused to receive any reparations for the deaths of its members and the vast loss of property. In Taiyuan the CIM erected a plaque on the wall of the rebuilt mission premises stating that, although full compensation could be justly claimed, it would not be. This was so that the teaching of Jesus might be put into practice, and to make it plain that the missionaries were willing to abandon any personal rights for the good of the Chinese people. It was this attitude that impressed one local Chinese governor so much that he increased his voluntary gift for the relief of the Chinese Christians. All this was in stark contrast to the Western powers and it deeply affected both the people and government of China. In the first two decades of the 20th century the Church in China made significant gains. Truly, the blood of the martyrs was the seed of a renewed and growing Church.

You have killed my husband, sister and mother-in-law. What have I to live for?

Tony Lambert

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One million new members were added to largely evangelical, nonconformist churches, and a huge impulse given to missionary

activity. This can be seen in some of the famous names and organisations that came out of, or were heavily influenced by, the Revival movement: Tom Barnardo and the (Dr) Barnardo’s Homes; Evan Hopkins, a founder of the Keswick movement; William Booth and the Salvation Army; Josiah Spiers and the Children’s Special Service Mission (now Scripture Union); and the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Christian Unions (now UCCF) can all trace their origins to this incredible move of God in answer to united prayer that marked the UK-wide Revival of 1859.

When Hudson Taylor returned from his first seven years in China in 1860, he urged the existing, traditional mission agencies to expand their work into China’s inland provinces, now officially open to missionary activity since the Treaty of Tianjin in 1858 ended the Second Opium War. Increasingly he saw the need for a new agency, channelling a new type

Rooted in Revival

Gerard Charles

根深復興

The Second Evangelical Awakening (1859–1862) had a deep and lasting impact on the Church in the UK and Ireland, yet today it seems largely forgotten.

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of missionary to China, and that God was calling him to lead it. Eventually, on 25 June 1865, he prayed on Brighton beach for ‘24 willing, skilled workers for the inland provinces of China’ and the next day opened a bank account in the name of the China Inland Mission. He raised awareness through his influential pamphlet ‘China: Its Spiritual Needs and Claims’ – which ‘stirred the evangelical churches of Britain to their missionary duty as no document had done since William Carey’. He was introduced to the developing holiness movement, and invited to speak at the Perth and Mildmay Conferences. These revival meetings are seen as forerunners of the Keswick Convention Movement for the Deepening if the Spiritual Life (at which Hudson Taylor frequently spoke). The early history of the CIM is marked by its connection with the Revival movement not only of 1859, but also with the better-known Moody and Sankey revival of 1875.

Like the Revival movement, which found its roots in united, interdenominational prayer meetings, the CIM took an inter-denominational approach to mission. Some claim that Taylor was an ordained Baptist, despite this he had strong Brethren connections and was well known by all nonconformist denominations and by many key evangelicals within the Church of England.

Tracing the early missionaries’ church connections reveals a wide variety of churches, both Anglican and nonconformist, such as St Judes, Mildmay Park (minister Rev William Pennefather); Brook Street Chapel (Brethren chapel patronised by the Howard family); Regents Park Baptist Chapel (Rev William Landels – closed in 1922, now part of Middlesex Hospital); Westbourne Grove Chapel (Rev William Lewis); and of course Charles Spurgeon of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. When we examine the background of the early CIM missionaries we see that the influence of Revivalism resulted in a different

type of missionary – a real mix of working class men, blacksmiths, carpenters and drapers assistants, together with ladies’ maids and governesses. These men and women did not so much see themselves as being sent by their individual churches, they saw themselves as being united and part of the greater revival movement.

What relevance does this historical reflection have for today’s church? As we begin a year celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the China Inland

Mission it is helpful to reflect on the state of the UK Church today in comparison

with the UK of 1865. The impact of revival in converting close

to five per cent of the national population in 1859, and the consequent huge increase in churches being built, is a great challenge to us now. What role

does Revivalism have today? One key lesson to learn is that

it was united, interdenominational prayer in any given area that led to

revival. What good examples of church unity do we see in our towns and cities today? Where can we encourage a united prayer effort in crying out for the lost in our own land, let alone those in East Asia? What new examples do you see of inclusive and innovative mission in your area today? How can you advocate for innovative approaches to intercultural mission locally and globally? Whom do you see as being excluded from involvement in church and mission – are we too male, white and middle class? Do our structures and our intellectualism serve to exclude the working class from our churches and our church leadership? Most of our cities have excellent evangelical churches in the city centres, and yet there are vast housing schemes across the land with no evangelical witness among a people less mobile, and firmly tied to their estates. Where are the innovators, the great men and women of faith who both see what is needed with the eyes of faith, and get up and get on with it with the work of their hands? Perhaps we need a revival of the heart.

Perhaps we need a revival of the heart.

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一百五十年后的今天 , 我们是否还能派上用场？

OMF is an international community, which facilitates local church participation in God’s worldwide mission. In the words of the OMF Handbook, 'We are a church-centred mission. Partnership with sending and receiving churches is vital to the accomplishment of our ministry purpose.’

150 Years On – Are We Still Needed?According to Rollin Grams of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, ‘most mission agencies have lost the vision of mission.’ After 150 years of engagement in mission, is this true of OMF? Do we have a future? Here is my six-fold answer– which is a ‘yes… but…’ response as to why I believe there is still a role for OMF:

There is a role for OMF so long as we model cross-cultural servanthoodAs we move towards greater cooperation and partnership with the churches in East Asia, we need mission partners who serve, learn from and work under national church leadership. Duane Elmer, who asked Christians across the world how they perceived missionaries among them, was surprised by the answers: ‘Many said that they valued the missionary presence and the love they felt for them. But many said, with hesitation but conviction, “Missionaries could more effectively minister the gospel of Christ if they did not think they were so superior us”.’

OMF still has a role so long as we are prepared to change and adapt towards new paradigms for mission engagement.

OMF is a catalyst of the mission of God amongst East Asia’s peoples.With a population of 2.15 billion, there remains a need for the gospel to be seen and heard in many places across East Asia. OMF provides experience and expertise that enables UK Christians to live, work and serve in long-term mission among East Asia’s peoples.

OMF serves as a bridge between the UK and East Asia.Facilitating a greater understanding among UK churches about what it means to be a part of the worldwide Body of Christ, and what we can learn from the churches in Asia.

OMF has an increasing role in serving and equipping UK churches to engage in cross-cultural mission in their local communities.Cross-cultural witness and the insights of missiology are highly relevant and urgently required for many churches across the UK. OMF and other organisations with long histories of cross-cultural mission have much to share with local congregations who are opening their doors and their homes to people from across the world who are now living across the street.

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Peter Rowan

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Our 150 year anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on what kind of structures will facilitate effective and humble engagement in world mission today. William Carey’s An Enquiry (1792) contained the phrase ‘the obligation to use means’ – that is, the responsibility of Christians to bring together the right structures in order to carry out the Great Commission.

His ‘use of means’ gave birth to what became known as the ‘voluntary society’ – examples of which would be the Baptist Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society. Hudson Taylor developed this model further with the founding of the China Inland Mission, which became the pioneer and prototype for a new mission society – the ‘faith mission’.

But as Andrew Walls points out, ‘the conditions that produced the (missionary) movement have

changed, and they have been changed by the Lord of history. The Church has been changed out of all recognition by the agency of the missionary movement itself.’ We still have good news to share and a biblical mandate for engaging in world mission. In that sense the

task has not changed but the means and the mode certainly have. The tremendous growth of

the non-Western churches does not mean the end of cross-cultural mission. But the new realities raise

questions about who is doing the crossing.We sometimes joke in OMF that if Hudson Taylor

applied to join us today, he wouldn’t be accepted. But a prior question is – would he even consider joining in the first place? Something tells me that he’d be starting something radical and innovative. Walls describes how ‘The original organs of the missionary movement were designed for one-way traffic; for sending, for giving. Perhaps there is now an obligation of Christians to “use means” better fitted for two-way traffic, for sharing and for receiving’ Carey disturbed the existing structures of his day, Taylor did the same, and the changing contexts of today call for the same kind of innovation to be applied to the creation of new mission movements, both here and especially in East Asia. OMF has a role to play as a catalyst for such initiatives.

Returning to Grams’ question and the future of the mission agency. If an organisation is to have a vision of mission that is more than simply placing people overseas, ‘the mission agency’, says Grams, ‘needs to understand how it relates to the mission of God as it is laid out in Scripture and then ask itself how it is accomplishing this mission.’ If we did that, he says, we would probably end up with ‘a leaner, highly qualified, and focused mission.’

Faithful to Scripture, relevant to the context, with the wisdom and creativity to ‘use means’ in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in all its fullness with East Asia’s peoples: so long as that’s what we’re about in OMF, we’ve got a future!

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Events

www.omf.org.uk/events

3 January

OMF New Year Afternoon of Prayer2:30pm – 5:00pm Orangefield Presbyterian Church464 Castlereagh Road, Belfast, BT5 6BHContact Nathaniel JenningsPhone 02890 731 266 Email [email protected]

10 January Bristol Beginning of Year Day of Prayer10:30am – 3:00pm 174 Redland Road, Bristol, BS6 6YGLight lunch provided. Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Phone 01179 466 211 Email [email protected] 24 January Mission in a CAN? Bristol Morning Conference 9:00am – 13:00pmRedland Parish Church Hall, Redland Green Road, Bristol, BS6 7HE Bacon roll and drinks provided.Understanding the issues of going/sending/praying/mobilising/welcoming in a Creative Access Nation Free event, pre-registration required… Contact Charles & Liz ChalmersPhone 01179 466 211 Email [email protected]

31 January Overlooked? Is the Gospel relevant in Japan?11:00am – 4:00pmWinchmore Hill Baptist Church,Compton Road,Winchmore Hill,London, N21 3PAContact Tim Jenkins Email [email protected]

5 FebruarySlow Boat in the Fast Lane12:30pm – 4:30pmSt Andrews Street Baptist Church, Cambridge, CB2 3ARHear about China today.Contact Tim JenkinsEmail [email protected]

21 FebruaryGod’s Plan for Japan12:00pm – 3:30pmEden Baptist Chapel, 1 Fitzroy Street,Cambridge, CB1 1ERJapan – still the least evangelised nation on Earth? Why is this? Come and hear from those with experience working in Japan and with the Japanese in the UK.Contact Tim JenkinsEmail [email protected]

20 – 22 FebruaryWhat’s it got to do with me? – Ireland Under35s Weekend Conference Whitepark Bay Youth Hostel, Ballintoy, Co. Antrim £65 – workers£48 – student/unwaged/church workersBook by 11 February Contact Claire Harfitt Email [email protected]

3 March Bristol Day of Prayer 10:30am – 3:00pm 174 Redland Road, Bristol, BS6 6YG Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Phone 01179 466 211 Email [email protected]

6 – 8 MarchOMF National Conference – Mission Accomplished?The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire, DE55 1AUAs 2015 marks the 150th year since Hudson Taylor took the initial leap of faith and started the CIM, we ask is the mission accomplished? With an exciting line up of former General Directors, UK National Directors, and indigenous representatives from countries we work in, we hope to present accurate snapshots of the church in East Asia. Book online www.omf.org/uk/events Contact Alice Cross Email [email protected] Phone 01732 880 343

Tuesday 10 MarchBallymoney OMF Evening7.45pm–9.15pm, Trinity Presbyterian ChurchContact Nathaniel JenningsEmail [email protected] 02890 731 266

14 MarchChina Today – shaped by its past and forming to its future.10:00am – 4:00pm A Chinese lunch is included for those who let us know they are coming.Clapham Parish Church, BedfordshireCome and learn about China’s history, its present needs and how China may influence the future of our worldContact Tim JenkinsEmail [email protected]

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21 March Londonderry OMF Breakfast09:00am – 11:00amWhite Horse Hotel, 68 Clooney Rd, Londonderry, Derry, BT47 3PAContact Nathaniel JenningsEmail [email protected] 02890 731 266

28 MarchIndo-China? Where’s that then?10:00am – 4:00pmLife Church, ChelmsfordCome and explore how we can reach folk for Christ in Vietnam, Laos and Combodia as well as hear an introduction to the new Bridge Asia programme.Contact Tim JenkinsEmail [email protected]

25 AprilNeglected Unreached Unattainable – Bournemouth Day Conference10:30am – 3:30pmSt Lukes Church, Wellington Road, Parkstone, Poole, BH14 9LFWe have experts on Japan, Mongolia and the Tibetan world speaking. Come and learn from our experience in East Asia and how to work amongst the neglected and unreached in your own community.Contact Andy StevensEmail [email protected] 01865 600 024

1–3 May OMF Annual Scottish ConferenceWindmill Centre, ArbroathWith Bible readings from Lindsay Brown and speakers lined up from Japan, the Philippines, the UK and OMF’s Diaspora Team we’re looking forward to another great weekend.Contact [email protected]

We are grateful to the Lord for his provision of sufficient

funds during 2014 enabling all members to be fully supported; some legacy monies received in 2013 were added to those received in 2014 to allow this to happen. It is the testimony of OMF UK that the Lord leads many to give themselves first to him, and as a result faithfully give to the Fellowship in many different ways.

This is reflected in the account of Hudson Taylor taking a meeting at the house of Colonel Puget in 1866. After hearing about the needs of millions of Chinese bound for separation from the Lord, the colonel saw an opportunity to take an offering for CIM. Twice Hudson Taylor opposed doing this.

The next morning the colonel explained how he had been put out by Hudson Taylor’s actions preventing an offering being taken. However, during the night he had been troubled to the point of writing a cheque for £500 for the CIM; significantly greater than the £5 he would have put into the offering. Hudson Taylor explained that he hadn’t been looking for an immediate response from hearers to appease the stirrings of their hearts, but wanted the hearers to give themselves to the Lord and be moved by him to respond. Over 150 years, many have served OMF in this way, as indeed many reading this are currently doing.

The same morning that Hudson Taylor breakfasted with Colonel Puget, news came of 24 willing to sail on the Lammermuir to China, berths to be secured at the cost of £500. The first party of the CIM set out on resources provided by the Lord, through a man who gave himself first to the Lord. We praise God for many more who, over 150 years, have given themselves likewise, serving this Fellowship in so many faithful ways.

Actual income £4235KTarget income £4661K

Member Support Gifts £3153K 75% General Donations/Other Income £513K 12% Legacies £569K 13%

Finance‘They gave themselves first to the Lord’ 2 Cor 8:5

Darren WallDirector for Finance & Corporate Services

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God’s FaithfulnessOur 150th anniversary has provided us with a kairos moment to trace CIM/OMF’s story from a small seed of faith sown in 1865 right through to the present time. We remember God’s faithfulness and rejoice in him as our faithful God.

‘God’s Faithfulness, Stories from the China Inland Mission and OMF’ is a unique anthology of forty CIM and OMF missionary stories, which testify powerfully to the faithfulness of God throughout the 150 years of our history. The stories originate from workers in almost all of the countries where we have teams today. The book also includes a very clear and helpful four-part summary of our history.

We pray that God will use these stories to inspire readers of different generations, backgrounds and experience. We pray that they will encourage and bless those who are familiar with OMF, as well as those who are totally new to OMF. Perhaps, for some, these will be the first missionary stories they read. Wherever readers are in their journey towards understanding God’s heart for the nations, we know that he can use this book to give them courage and faith to take the next step.

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£8.00 Visit: https://ukshop.omf.org/ Call: 01732 887299

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