Ren Ai Experience: An Approach for Urban China Ministry

Involvement of Christian ministry in Mainland China for outsiders has never been easy in last fifty years. Given the tight control of totalitarian regime on the religious activities in China, outsiders often have to choose either the officially monitored churches or the underground churches that are unwilling to be subjected to the government control. Yet, the vigorous political and economic changes which are now taking place in contemporary China are expected to provide choices beyond the two conventional ones.

Deng's open policy over ten years ago initiated the urbanization trend in China. The joining of WTO speeded up the process. Urbanization brings China into a new social reality. Mobility of people moving in and out China has been significantly increased. At the same time internal policies have not been developed adequately and social needs met effectively. Outsiders can make use of these opportunities to fulfill such needs. Eventually, this creates vast ministry opportunities.

This dissertation argues that one of the effective ministry models starts with building up trust and providing felt needs according to the partners' agenda, whether it be government's or house church leaders'. The argument is based on the writer's personal experience and as the CEO of International Ren Ai Foundation over the last decade. Someone has put it vividly, 'The law is on your side if you are friends, the law is against you otherwise.' Ways to gain trust from the government officials and build up a firm network that enables the ministry work in China will be explored. Subsequently effective ministry methods will be discussed.