Writing, editing and working with the designers on newsletters was one of my monthly duties at World Compassion Terry Law Ministries. This is a sample of one such newsletter.
I have some wonderful news to share with you. My son, Scot, his wife Kathy and my granddaughter Arianna just returned from an incredible trip to China and brought with them some amazing stories you won’t believe. In this letter, they’ll tell you about their trip and how God is leading our ministry in China this year. It’s a story you don’t want to miss:
Every time we go to China we are amazed by the growth happening at lightning speed. This was our 10th trip to this vast country, and we departed from our normal routine by stopping over for the first few days in Shanghai. Initially, one might be tempted to think Shanghai is a western city—with its sharply dressed business men and women, Times Square Shanghai, beautiful art galleries, all types of cuisine imaginable, and of course, Starbucks (we never thought the Chinese would enjoy anything but chrysanthemum tea!)
It only takes a few days and a few minutes drive outside of this bustling city, however, to quickly realize that initial impressions aren’t always completely accurate. China is a very big country and the lack of privileges such as the opportunity to gather together in communities for worship (apart from the government sanctioned Church) or to print non-government approved books, is often easy to hide from visiting eyes. For Christians living here, however, this is a reality they endure daily.
As you may well know, WCTLM has been involved with the Underground House Church Movements (HCM) in China for more than a decade now. Our goals have remained consistent throughout all of these years—to get God’s Word and other Christian literature into the hands of believers. We began in the early years by smuggling Bibles into the country. This led to many open doors with the HCM’s, particularly its leaders.
They told us of their struggle to disciple the masses of people coming to Christ, many of whom are illiterate, and also their desperate need to train local pastors. They asked us to prayerfully consider helping them locate foundational training materials that simply did not exist for people of the HCM (80% of all believers in China are part of the HCM). They needed our help, and we had to respond.
But, it was no easy task.
This project was unlike any we had ever undertaken as a ministry. However, we knew we had made a promise to these church leaders, and we fully intended on fulfilling it.
It has taken more than ten years to complete our promise, but what we now have to offer the Chinese HCM is a 300-hour discipleship program in Mandarin called ABC (the Audio Bible Curriculum). Over the past several years we have distributed sections of ABC as they were finished; however, it was only this past year that we completed the entire curriculum. Hallelujah!
One dear friend of WCTLM who for the sake of this letter we will call Joel, has lived in China for the past six years and has a passion to see ABC used in all 31 provinces of the nation. He and his staff are responsible for taking ABC to the finish line, and are now creating a tremendous network of distribution channels for us.
In 2006, Joel duplicated 363 complete sets of ABC and registered a total of 300 ABC students in 15 provinces in China. A complete kit of ABC consists of the following:
19 CDs, a CD case, an mp3 player, 16 study books and one instruction manual.
Joel reported to us that our registered ABC students come from many different backgrounds, including future ABC teachers currently living in cities, illiterate minority unreached people groups, university students, farmers, business people, church leaders from all over China, and even newly converted Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. Politicians represent the only facet of Chinese society not studying ABC today. But, according to Joel, that will also change soon.
Never before have we been so excited about the potential of ABC in China. When Joel told us that newly converted Tibetan Buddhists were studying ABC, we couldn’t believe our ears! He explained that not long ago, he asked for volunteers among a group of ABC Bible school graduates to take the Gospel to Lhasa, Tibet. To his surprise, three young girls boldly raised their hands and offered to go. Later, they made the journey to Tibet, led three Buddhists to Jesus Christ, and are now using ABC materials to disciple them.
ABC has undergone several formatting changes through the years. At first, all of the lessons were recorded onto cassette tape. Then, with the popularity and convenience of CDs, we converted ABC from tape to CD. Now, the most recent format is mp3. As recently as two years ago, one complete ABC curriculum consisted of 300 CDs. Now, all 300 hours of teaching can fit onto 19 CDs in the mp3 format. We imagine our next format will be something similar to an iPod, where the entire audio program is stored on a device smaller than a cell phone. It’s amazing what technology can do!
In Shanghai, a pastor working with young professionals has requested 1,500 sets of ABC. He said that most of his people spend two or more hours a day commuting to and from work, so listening to ABC on their iPod or mp3 player is exactly what they need. He also said that his people are hungry to learn foundational teachings and taking advantage of their commuting time will fit well into their busy schedules. ABC seems to be the perfect way for believers living in cities to grow in their Christian walk.
We have also seen a tremendous increase of Bible schools all over China, which is a fairly recent development (within the past five years or so). Such schools are completely underground and flexible enough to change locations at a moment’s notice, whenever local officials become suspicious of “illegal” activity and come knocking. Because getting effective teaching material is a constant challenge for these types of schools, we have transcribed all of ABC this past year and made this curriculum available to them, not only in audio format, but also in 16 study books.
Joel and his staff are taking quite a risk to distribute ABC. While we were with them, we were unable to visit the office where ABC is duplicated and stored, due to sudden and frequent inspections by local PSB officials. On the first day the officials visited, Joel’s staff had just shipped 240 ABC kits to several provinces while 60 additional kits remained in an upstairs room ready to be shipped the next day. Once the officials left, the staff quickly moved all of the kits to a new storage location and waited several more days before shipping. This is risky business!
Our goal for 2007 is to register an additional 700 students and to provide them complete ABC kits for their study. Each ABC kit costs $84 not including related costs, such as shipping and travel expenses for teachers to follow-up with our registered students.
The following budget represents our 2007 ABC ministry goals and opportunities in China:
700 ABC kits ($84/kit) $58,800
10 full-time teachers to oversee students ($300/month) $36,000
Travel expenses for 10 full-time teachers ($120/month/teacher) $14,400
Rental of one secure storage location for ABC materials $2,760
Monthly support for Joel’s staff ($1200/month) $14,400
Total ABC Budget for ministry expansion in 2007 $126,360
This month, would you consider partnering with us to bring life-changing discipleship materials to the nation of China? The Audio Bible Curriculum is a tremendous tool that has taken years to create and now holds the potential for changing lives all over China. Your gift of $84 today can train and equip a Chinese evangelist for effective ministry for many years to come. What a tremendous life-long investment.
Joel told us that if he had 5,000 copies today, he would have no trouble getting them to believers. Our goal is to distribute 700 sets this year, and with your continued partnership, we can do it! Thank you for standing with us as we change the heart of a nation.
Together we are transforming China with the loving touch of Jesus Christ.
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