Hello to all! This blog post is a continuation of the discussion about the question I’m often asked if China will someday have a political system that resembles a Western-style Democracy, with the resulting purpose in the question being whether more ministry opportunities may happen once political change in China takes place. In volume 1 of this blog topic, I ended up stating my belief that Western-style democracy is not coming to China any time soon. With this current reality, what’s an organization to do that wants to effectively impact China for Christ?

There are several main areas that I can cover to help you understand China and constructively engage with China:

First, you must internalize within your organization that the Chinese Government is not against Christianity. They don’t hate Christians and they’re not trying to eliminate Christianity. According to the research for my book, The Chinese Puzzle, 1/1,000,000 of 1% of all Christian activity in a given year is subject to government intervention. That means that well over 99% of all Christian activity in the last year suffered no Government interference. Helping yourself and your organization to really believe this may seem easy enough to do, but once you get into discussions with those in your organization, just wait and see what happens. There will be doubt. There will be those who cannot believe it, based on what they think they know about China. Give each member of the team a copy of my book and allow discussions to flow from there.

Second, understand that setting up a situation for your organization to have lasting and meaningful impact in China takes time. Most likely, there will be meetings both with those who are already in your desired sphere of influence and with the government leaders who oversee the implementation of the laws in your area. When I started the China Resource Center, the first two years of our work was mainly getting the donor income side set up in the U.S., and going to China every 3 months to have meetings with those responsible for Bible Distribution and Church building. Chinese government leaders can be the biggest asset to your work, which leads us to….

Thirdly, don’t be afraid of Chinese governmental officials at all levels. They’re not the enemy! It is becoming clear that the Chinese government is seeing Christians, both Western and Chinese, as a benefit to society. Through multiple conversations with many different people who are engaging at different levels, it is clear to us that Chinese leaders are exploring topics like volunteerism and non-profit work to see how China could benefit by expanding the capabilities in China. We as Westerners, with a long history in both these areas, have the opportunity to be a benefit to the Chinese as they explore these areas. figure out how the system works in China.

The fourth point would be to understand that being a good learner and having a learners’ attitude is key in your engagement. Especially in an environment that we may not be familiar with it is important to go into China as a learner and be willing to take suggestions from Chinese friends. Andrew Kaiser, with Evergreen China in Taiyuan jokes that his full-time job is to have lunch with Governmental officials. Of course there are many additional things that he does, but he has a priority to be the guy who is meeting with Taiyuan officials, both to see how their operations work and to then continually ask how Evergreen can serve them and meet the needs in Taiyuan and in Shanxi province.

Finally, be careful not to bring your own agenda before we learn of the agenda of the local Chinese agencies. As Westerners, we are often stereotyped as one’s who come into a ‘missions’ situation thinking we know all the answers. Although we often have vast ministry experience and training, we should always recognize that the Chinese always know best what is happening in their local areas. Being willing to set our agendas aside allows for greater cooperation as this allows our Chinese partners to ask us for help as needed. Then we can bring in our expertise, but it is on their terms. This type of attitude speaks volumes to our Chinese friends, and shows we are not just looking to be ‘in charge.’

As you can now see, with the proper attitude, patience and position with Chinese, it is possible to have a deep and meaningful impact in one-party Communist China today!