Special October 2010

8/7/2019 Special October 2010

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I C P N E W SInternational Church of Prague October 2010

Reflect ionsKači Yanová and Helena Reid reflect

on their experience on the China Trip

p.4

GLIMPSES OF ACHANGING CHINAWhat does it mean to bemore flexible and sensitiveto God's voice.

p.3

CHINA MEDICAL

PROJECTI thank God for His willingness

to use me despite my manyinadequacies and

shortcomings.

p.2

UNDERGROUNDCHURCH

"Tell them to stop thinking of us asthe underground church. Tell them

that we meet openly in homes andoffice blocks."

p.5

LAUSANNE 2010Globalisation and

the Gospelp. 8

AGAPE MIGRANTCENTRE

Joann stopped me at one point aswe discussed ideas and problems:

“it’s God’s work” she said, with suchutter simplicity and conviction.

p.6

中国

CHINA



ICP NewsOctober 2010

I am blessed to have grown up in aChristian home and come to a

trusting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.Since I was a child, I have aspired toone day serve God as a missionary.

After moving here, my parentscommitted themselves to plantingand building up a small house club.On graduating from teacher training

college I helped my father to run hissmall family business. Those wereeight difficult years and we had to

work very hard to make ends meet.But time and again we experiencedthe Lordʼs boundless grace and rich

provision. In 2004, I began working

full time in student ministry.

Our region of China is ar a c i a l l y m i x e d a n d

religiously diverse provincewith a significant minority ofMus l ims and T ibe tanBuddhists. It is also an

economically backward andunder-developed area.M a n y i m p o v e r i s h e dfamilies struggle to eke out

a living in its hostileenvironment. Apart fromthe economic hardship and

low literacy rate, it is anarea plagued with a long

history of broken families, domesticviolence, gender discrimination,

religious superstitions and infectiousdiseases. Most of the minority tribeshere have adopted a passive and

resigned attitude to the condition thatthey are in, holding out little hope ofa better future.

My work seeks to alleviate some of

these hardships and to give them ahope and a future. We providepractical means of support for their

school-aged children. We havestarted a scholarship programme toencourage parents to keep theirchildren in school for a longer period.

Three years ago, we initiated a

project to supply medicine to anumber of schools in the Muslim-

dominated areas. It is a practicalmeans of providing basic healthcareto the students, who appreciated thisgreatly. We are grateful for thegenerous support from ICP to make

this possible.

Through my involvement in the life ofthe students, many of them and their

family members have had theopportunity to hear and respond tothe Gospel. In some villages, some of

the new believers have started tomeet in small groups. I try to jointhem when I am visiting those areas.However, without trained workers to

lead these groups, it will be hard forthem to grow in their faith. I pray theLord may send forth more labourers

into the field as partners in the Lord toprovide pastoral care for these newbelievers.

Serving the Lord Jesus Christ over

these past seven years has been atremendous joy and blessing to me. Ithank God for His willingness to use

me despite my many inadequaciesand shortcomings. To Him be theglory!

In Sep 2007, ICP began to

support a medical project ino n e o f C h i n a ʼ s m o s teconomi ca l l y backw ar dprovinces. This province is

home to a large number ofe t h n i c m i n o r i t i e s l i k eMus l i ms , T i be t ans and

Mongolians. Poor nutrition,severe winters, and congesteddorm rooms, have all contributedto a high incidence of respiratory

and gastro-intestinal diseasesamong the children. The projectenables basic medicine to be

made available to over 4,000students in four public schools.

This project seeks to empowerChinaʼs house clubs by letting them

take the lead in implementation, withme as an outsider taking a supportiverole by providing technical advice,

monetary and prayer support. Theproject leader, Florence, is a qualified

school teacher also trained in theWay. Together with the studentsponsorship programme, which she

also administers, the medical projectenables her and her co-workers toeffectively operate as tentmakers

and to facilitate their access into theregion's minority communities.

For the three years that I have beenassociated with the project, I have

seen Florence serving both faithfullyand diligently. She has establishedclose personal friendships with overa hundred students and many of

their family members. Through

regular visits to their school dormas well as to their home, she andher co-workers have had ampleopportunities to share the Good

News with them. There havebeen fruits to their labour.

During vacation times, Florencealso arranges for short-term

service teams from a number ofhouse clubs in Chinaʼs major cities tospend one to three weeks in thevillages. These teams stay in the

studentsʼ home and help them withpersonal tuition. The home-stayprogramme further consolidates

Florenceʼs ties with these families. Itis encouraging to see the activeparticipation of Chinaʼs urban houseclubs in this effort to reach out to the

minority communities – they not onlyprovide the volunteers, but also thefunding for the student sponsorship

programme.

CHINA MEDICAL PROJECT

For the past three years, ICP has supported a medical project in North-west China. The project leader, Florence, shares her testimony and Job Yan gives some of the history of the project



ICP News October 2010

The breathtaking Beijing Olympics, an explosive growth ofmega-cities, the development of high-speed commuter trains,mass rural migration – China is a rapidly changing country.We experienced these changes in dramatic and personal waysduring our visit to this country.

First glimpse : For two years we hadbeen planning an English camp inNorth-west China where ICPsupports a medical project.

Change : Unfortunately we again

learned that due to the lingeringpolitical tension we could notorganize an English camp there.

God ̓ s way is higher than ours : A

wonderful opportunity opened up forus to hold the English camp inBeijing; Job was unexpectedlyconnected to a young married couple

who had just opened a community

centre to reach out to the poor in avillage near Beijing.

Second glimpse : Our plan had been

to hold an English camp.

C h a n g e : Two weeks be fo redeparture the couple told us it wouldinstead be advertised as a ʻsummerʼ camp. Although puzzled at the time

by this subtle shift in emphasis welater discovered the reason why.Many migrant children go to badly

run schools, staffed by unqualified

teachers. Advertising it as anʻEnglishʼ camp would put off childrenwho have a negative experience of

ʻschoolʼ. While middle-class Chinese

children are enthused by English, itwas especially sad to see thehopelessness and lack of personal

aspiration within this migrant

community – they wonderedhow learning English couldbenefit their children.

God ̓ s way is higher than ours :It was a slow, hesitant start but

the children fast realized howmuch fun they could have at thecamp. They came every day,

arriving punctually with eagerlooks and bright smiles on theirfaces – indicative of how muchthey were enjoying it. It was

fantastic to hear them hummingthe songs they had learnt as

they strolled into the centre. Onthe final day, a gratefulgrandmother - who had notedthe positive changes in herbehav iou r a l l y - cha l l enged

grandson – approached us.She told us that her dream hadbeen for her grandson to break

free of the vicious circle of low self-esteem and self-rejection and toenroll in university. We were thrilledto hear this.

Third glimpse : We had planned for acamp of 50-70 children.

Change : Prior to our departure fromPrague we learned that only 20-25

children had signed up - we weresomewhat disappointed.

God ̓ s way is higher than ours :Twenty-five children turned up on the

first day but word of how fun it was

rapidly spread across the village. By

day 4 we had to stop taking morechildren when enrolment reached 45!We now understand the Lord had

started us small so that we couldmore easily iron out the varioushiccups and glitches expected in thisfirst camp. How tempting it was for

us to play the number game, toequate size with success! A taxidriver who took us back to the hotel

one evening refused to accept ourfare. He told us his son was at thecamp. His boy would come homeeach evening bubbling with report of

the fun things he did at camp thatday. The father had never seen his

son so fired up about school before.He kept repeating as he drove us tothe hotel, “You are doing such anoble thing.” We now realize that ifour act of compassion had only

touched the heart of this boy and hisfather, it would have been worth allour efforts.

Fourth glimpse : Our plan after the

camp had been to take the train tovisit a school involved in the medicalproject.

Job and Jana Yan

We now realize that if our act of compassion had onlytouched the heart of this boy and his father, it would

have been worth all our efforts.

Continued on page 8

Glimpses of a

Changing

China




One of my favourite memories of

the English Camp in Beijing is ofPing Yi.

Ping Yi, a four year old boy, was theyoungest participant of the Englishcamp. He would come to the centre

with his two older sisters and lovedjoining in with the various activities.Although initially he wouldnʼt speak, asthe days went by, he became more andmore talkative and excited by what wasgoing on. One day Ali taught him howto throw a ball and it seemed like hecould keep throwing it for hours on end!He was so proud of himself each timehe caught the ball.

One day we had a difficult craft to do.We were making puppets from a plasticsheet. It required a lot of patience from

the smallest children to wait their turnsas they all needed help to put the smallparts together. After a while Ping Yi gotfrustrated and went back to his homedownstairs, a grocery shop run by hisfamily. I didnʼt want him to miss outwhile the other children would be

playing with their puppets, so I finishedmaking the puppet for him. Then I tookit down to his home. When I gave thepuppet to him, his little eyes lit up andhe started running up and down thestreet, waving it around and showing itto every passerby.

These children have so little in life yetshow such joy at a simple puppet madeout of plastic sheets. It was a goodreminder to be grateful for everythingGod has given me.

REFLECTIONSHelena Reid

It was great to see that once again God had gone before usto China to set things in motion and prepare the way for us.It was awesome to know that he was also there every step ofthe way throughout the trip, strengthening and renewing us

to do his work.

It was a joy to work with the kids at the Agape Community Centreand to build relationships with them and the volunteers. To

witness the way they progressed in English, learnt more aboutlove and friendships and responded to us was really rewarding.

Throughout this trip God taught me to be patient and to see thepositive side of every situation, especially when things did notquite go to plan and I am really thankful for this. I also lovedworking as part of such an energetic and vibrant team of people. Ihave some very fond memories of this trip and the fun we had

and I know I will treasure them for a long time. It was a blessingto be able to be part of the English Camp and to visit such abeautiful country.

REFLECTIONSKa č i Yanová




I am standing in an undergroundbookshop in a major Chinese city,

and I am confused. I grew upreading Brother Andrew - ʻGodʼs

Smugglerʼ - thrilled as a young boyby the tales of holy derring do.Brother Andrew was a Dutch

Christian who became famous inevangelical circles for smugglingBibles to churches behind the ironcurtain, and later to China, the

Arab world and Cuba. As a churchyouth group we suppor tedfinancially, and read avidly of the

work of Underground Evangelism.

It was, therefore, with a confusingmixture of emotions that I embarked ona trip to China, with a group from ourchurch, to help out a Christiancompassion ministry. Twenty yearsafter the fall of the iron curtain it seems

that religious tolerance, if not freedom,has spread to all but a few immoderateIslamic states and China, but my visithas forced me to re-evaluate that listand re- examine that judgement. Therestill has to be caution, but the situationof the church in China is not how I hadimagined it.

While I was in the country I visited achurch known in the West as anunderground church: it was difficult toreconcile this moniker with the largeoffice building that is its base.Downstairs is a community centre,

upstairs a fairly conventional non-conformist evangelical meeting room,complete with lectern, PA system,data-projector and (the first time I haveseen this in a church) bubble machines- “oh, we use it for weddings”explained my friend.Other ʻundergroundʼ churches even have acrucifix visible from thestreet in their buildings.

That members of thechurch met freely wasintriguing enough: that

they felt free to wearChristian logos on their t-shirts, crucifixes aroundtheir necks, and to hangcrucifixes from their rear-view mirrors - even toattach the familiar fish logo to theircars, required a further re-adjustmentof my understanding. One pastor Ispoke to explained that, even whenthey met secretly, the authorities knewwhen and where they met: to meetopenly merely served to reduce thesuspicion of the authorities. Indeed,

when they moved their location fromnext door to the police station, thepolice contacted them later to say theymissed them.

I believe I was the only one feelingnervous when we prayed openly togive thanks for our food, even whenwe were eating in a restaurant salon,and the next door salon was full ofpolice officers. None of the ChineseChristians turned a hair.

It would be wrong to think that this isreligious freedom: there is stil l

evidence of the restrictions in place. Toevangelise is risky, and to do soamongst children especially so, asnon-believing parents could easilycomplain and this would bring probably

ser ious consequences for theChristians. Similarly, although we metwith the Chinese Christians on aweeknight, toured their premises, evenconducted training sessions for them,to meet with them to worship on a

Sunday would be too hazardous forthem - while for us the consequencewould merely be an ʻinvitationʼ to leaveChina early.

On the other hand, we were free toattend any of the lively, thrivinginternational churches in the majorcities: the only indication of stateinterference was that we had toproduce our passports to prove ourstatus as foreigners: but even here Iwas surprised that this is self-policed -the authorities allow the churches tocontrol this, and then leave them

alone. Otherwise, the service wasexactly as we might expect in anysimilar church in the west.

One pastor I met discussed a dilemmacurrently faced by the authorities: thisyear in South Africa the Lausanne

Movement will host their3rd congress on worldevangelisation. Thismovement was foundedat the instigation of BillyGraham, and this yearthey have invited, notthe official Chinese

churches, but the housechurch leaders. Thedilemma is this: thismovement is unofficialand not sanctioned, butto deny visas would

bring international criticism, whereas toallow them will give some sort ofofficial approval. At the time of our visitthe matter was undecided.

And so I stand in an undergroundChristian bookshop in China, but howdid we find this bookshop? Well,armed with the address in Mandarinwe stopped a pedestrian: we werelucky, she spoke English, and lookedover her shoulder and pointed at thelarge blue sign, declaring in Mandarinand English “Christian Bookshop”. Inmany ways, no different from similarestablishments the world over, witheverything from Bibles (£1 for a locally-printed Mandarin, £30 for a Mandarin/ NIV parallel printed in Hong Kong) tocommunion cups and all the majorChristian classics translated intoMandarin. There were some localtouches too - bamboo wall hangingswith Bible verses, beautiful calligraphyscrollwork printed on silk, leather-

UNDERGROUND CHURCH

Trevor Marshall

when [the church]moved... from nextdoor to the policestation, the police

contacted themlater to say they

missed them.

Continued on page 7




How can I condense 10 days ofpacked, joyful work in Beijinginto a short article? How can Ieven convey what Beijing was

like, let alone the work that wasdone, the people we met, thechildren, the smells, the heat -all in a few words?

First of all, God took an idea - or heplanted an idea, quite a long time ago -that ICP should send some people toChina. We took this idea and plannedto go to North-west China, in 2009.This, of course, became impossible: thepolitical tensions around Tibet stoppedus going, and in fact there were riotsand killings in the neighbouringprovince at exactly the time we were tohave been there. But God had a plan.

So we tried again this year, and Jobpersisted, even though the chanceslooked slim, until eventually he realisedthat the situation had not changed

sufficiently for us to run an Englishcamp in the North-west, but that wewould at least be able to visit, andperhaps work with some migrantchildren in Beijing. God was in thisplan.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, a young marriedChristian couple, Joshua and Joannare their western names, opened theAgape Migrant centre in Beijing. Theyhad secured funding, and premises fora year, and they started working withthese children and their families. Jobcame to hear of them via a mutual

contact, and it was arranged that wewould join with them and run a campfor the children of their migrant village.

And so the ICP -International Club ofPrague - EnglishCamp, Beijing 2010w a s b o r n .Remarkable. TheA g a p e M i g r a n tCentre did not existw h e n w e fi r s tplanned it, when Godfirs t p lanted the

seeds of interest inthe hearts of thosewho went, but Godknew.

He also knew that

the rather exceptional amount ofmoney needed would be faithfullyprovided by his people - speakingpersonally, this was the first time I had

set out on such an adventure with nosolid idea about where the money

would come from, but God provided.Faithfully. Thank you those of you whoresponded to the need.

The Agape Migrant centre is in amigrant village in the NE of Beijing. Onour first day, after checking in to thehotel, we walked there, and the walk tothe migrant village was a journey toanother land. 'Village' is misleading -both in terms of size, and in caseanything about the word conjures upquaint images. This is a seedy suburbof unmade roads, uncleared rubbishand questionable sewerage systems.

Joshua and Joann. God’s people,working in a place where few of uswould wish to be. The Migrant Centrewhere we were based has two roomswith AC - a real blessing in this heat,

Joann stopped me at onepoint as we discussed

ideas and problems: “it’sGod’s work” she said,

with such utter simplicityand conviction.

AGAPE MIGRANT CENTRETrevor Marshall




and Beijing has been letting us offlightly. But the shared toilet facilitiesliterally take the breath away fromtwenty paces. On some days duringour stay, there was no water - ithappens, apparently. No water to flushthe misdirected ordure away, nor towash hands. Joann stopped me at onepoint as we discussed ideas andproblems: “it’s God’s work” she said,

with such utter simplicity andconviction. Pray for them. Although thesituation is freer than I expected, thereis always the risk of harassment, arrestand trouble-making. They do not knowif their funding will continue next year,and there is talk of tearing down thewhole village in 2 years or so.

The days of camp are very busy - withlittle knowledge of the facilities orabilities of the kids before we came,we had to prepare things a day at atime, so although we had a long lunch-break, we generally filled it with

preparing the craft activity for theafternoon. With Ali in charge of craft,we never knew when the idea bubblewould spring up, nor what it wouldcontain, but one night saw us cuttingout over 600 pieces of thick plastic withcheap scissors, so the children couldmake puppets from them, andlunchtime next day saw us burningholes (sometimes 2, sometimes 5) withsoldering irons in these pieces so theycould be joined together, and thenattaching split rings. The hotel musthave wondered what on earth thesecrazy westerners were up to in theroom. So by the time the kids wenthome at six, and then we went for ameal, and purchased the things weneeded for the next day, it was oftenpast eight when we got back, and thenhad to start planning for the following

day.

All this in the kind ofheat and humidity thatmost of us are not usedto - humidity like I haveonly experienced in asauna or swimmingpool, where air seemsmore solid than gas,more H2O than O.

During the camp wespend the morningworking round a theme -who we are, where welive, the clothes wew e a r , a n d i n t h eafternoon we engage incraft activities and games: 45 Chinesechildren and a dozen Chinese adultssinging the Hokey-cokey, with no ideawhat’s going on, and a tremendousamount of fun.

And fun, I think, is one of the defining

words of this camp: fun for children,many of whom are lone childrenbecause of the official policy on onechild families, and for whom life mightnot contain many pleasures. A childwho we see defecating on the street(nothing unusual in that) as we walk inone morning, who comes to the centreand has fun, who comes to accept it asa place of enjoyment and safety.

A number of these children are quitetroubled - broken homes, absentparents, parents working hard and longhours. One of the joys of the time in

Beijing was to share with Joshua andJoann some tips and advice onworking with troubled children, and forHelena and Ali to lead a 2-hour trainingsession with Sunday school teachersfrom the i l legal house churchmovement, on how to make their timewith the kids fun and engaging, sincereand relevant.

So was it worth it? What did weachieve? Of the 45 children who came,about half were new to the centre. Allof them brought a parent or otherrelative to the day out to the Natural

History museum that we funded, and20 or so brought a parent to theparents’ evening which ended thecamp. Joshua and Joann have used

this to launch a parents’programme which has juststarted.

In addit ion, nearly 20university students, mainlynon-Christian, came andhelped with the camp,translating and working withus and the children. One inparticular talked with Aliabout her faith, and we wereable to give her a Bible ofher own to read. Pray forthe continued contact with

Sarah and with others - Joann wasable to explain to them all why we hadcome all the way from Prague to helpin the camp.

We all were convinced that it had beena worthwhile experience, and one that,God-willing, we would want to see

happen again, maybe even next year.Please pray: is this God’s will? Is this agood use of his resources? Whoshould go?

bound journals and chop-sticks printedwith verses of scripture.

What message would you like to sendto the church in the west, I asked oneof the pastors I met? Tell, them, hesaid, tell them to stop thinking of us asthe underground church. Tell them thatwe meet openly in homes and officeblocks. As I stand in the sous-terrain,and idly watch the feet of the passers-by, I think how apt this is as theʻundergroundʼ church in China movesfrom hiding into the full light ofrecognition.

UNDERGROUNDCHURCH

Continued from page 5




International Church of PraguePhone: (420) 296 392 338 Email: [email protected] www.icprague.cz

John Waldrop

Continued from page 3

Change : Job had tried to book thetrain tickets two months earlier, only

to be told that they would only be onsale ten days before the journey. But,ten days before the

trip when Job went tobuy tickets, he foundthey had all been sold.

God ̓ s way is higher than ours : We didnʼt know why God

had closed that door to us. Weprayed to know what we should do.For some time, we found it difficult to

accept that the Lord wouldstop us from getting to the

North-west when we werealready so close. God had

other plans! Our

extended stayi n B e i j i n genabled us toorganize Sundayschool teacher training

for a house church of about ICPʼssize. The pastor was so impressed

by what he saw at the camp that hewanted his Sunday schoolteachers to learn from us. Thisgave us a rare opportunity to

have extended fellowship with anestablished house church in

Beijing. We also found time nowto help the couple improve thecommunity centre by acquiringand insta l l ing some morefunctional office furniture.

A week later, we learned why we

had been prevented from goingto North-west China. Just before

our trip, the medical project workerFlorence and her entire family had

been called up for questioning by thepolice because of their Christianactivities. Our presence in her area

at such a sensitive time could havesignificantly complicated the situationand compromised Florence.

And we know that in all things Godworks for the good of those who love

him, who have been called accordingto his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

LAUSANNE CONFERENCE

As a church, ICP has a vision ofbeing “a radiating centre for thegospel, locally, regionally andglobally.”

Our connection with China throughthe Medical project and the recent

English Camp is just one example ofhow we are putting this vision intopractice and is symptomatic of theway that the face of modern missions

is changing in our increasinglyglobalised world.Many people have noted how forces

of globalisation (the world is flat),urbanisation (the world is moving to

the cities), and pluralism (the world isrepresented in cities—large, globalcities) have contributed to a seismic

shift in the way missions is done. Nolonger “from the west to the rest,”missions is now “from everywhere toeverywhere” - and

increasingly, frominternational city tointernational city.

I t ʼs amazing to

think of reachingChinese for Christin Prague - through the Bible study

group that Job and Jana lead - andmaking an eternal difference in thegreat city of Beijing from the capital

city of the Czech Republic! Thatʼs thenature of missions today, and goes tothe heart of the strategic potential ofinternational churches.

It is this strategic potential, I believe,that has, by Godʼs grace, given methe opportunity to participate in the

third Lausanne Congress on World

Evangelization in Cape Town thisOctober 16th-25th. It was a great

surprise and honour to receive aninvitation to this Congress which isthe third of its kind. The first was

convened in 1974 by Billy Grahamand John Stott and produced theinfluential Lausanne Covenant.

Lausanne II (in

M a n i l a , 1 9 8 9 )p r o d u c e d t h eManila Manifesto,

and it is hoped that

Cape Town 2010will also produce a

similar document designed to unite

and guide the Church in the comingyears. Of the six issues of vitalinterest to the church that will be

addressed at the congress, one is myarea of focus: "Globalization and theGospel". Please pray that God willuse Lausanne III to bring clarity and

impetus to the Church at large—andICP in particular—as we seek to helpfulfill Christʼs Great Commission in

our globalised world.

"a radiating centre for thegospel, locally, regionally

and globally"

GLIMPSES OF A CHANGING CHINA

...in all things Godworks for the good ofthose who love him...

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Special October 2010