The China Partner teaching team was warmly welcomed by the leadership of the Sichuan Christian Council when it arrived at the Chengdu airport May 19 even though the flight had been delayed by over one and half hours due to mechanical problems.  The next morning the team attended a local church in downtown Chengdu during which Rev. Erik Burklin and Dr. Ed Gross were asked to give a brief greeting to the congregation.  “It never stops to amaze me how many people gather to worship God on a Sunday morning,” Burklin said.  “There is a genuine hunger for God’s word and a deep desire to grow spiritually.”

The following day, the teaching team was driven to the Sichuan Theological Seminary to conduct a two-day training sessions on the topic of discipleship.  Again, the team was warmly welcomed by both the dean of the seminary and 70 students who currently attend the school.  The team was made up of Dr. Ed Gross, founder and president of Vanguard Global Network, whose mission is to train pastors all over the world, Dr. Lauren Pfister, professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, Rev. Erik Burklin, president of China Partner and team leader and Dr. Daniel Hsu, a CP board member who served as the interpreter for the team.  This was Dr. Gross and Dr. Pfister’s first time to join a CP teaching team and Dr. Gross’s first time to visit China.  During the training the team had multiple opportunities to talk to the students one-on-one to answer further questions.  One student shared, “This training is very helpful for us.  It has given us good fundamental principles on how to disciple new believers and help our churches grow deeper in the knowledge of God’s word.”  CP was invited to bring another teaching team this October to give training at a Pastoral Leadership Conference where over 100 local pastors and lay pastors from Sichuan province are expected to attend.

After spending three days in Chengdu, the team traveled north to the city of Deyang.  CP had been invited by the local pastor of the only protestant church in the city to conduct a Pastoral Training Seminar for lay pastors at their Bible Training Center they built in 2001. The team arrive at noon, had lunch and right after that started their training.  What was exciting is that originally 100 church volunteers and lay pastors were expected to attend.  When the team arrived at the church, there were 200 in attendance.  They brought their Bibles and notebooks and were full of anticipation to learn all they could.  For six days the CP team taught on the important subjects of discipleship and Biblical leadership principles.  The Chinese church has so many new converts that the leadership can’t keep up with proper training.  In in Deyang Christian church alone, 80 new believers were baptized in 2006. Unfortunately, many new converts get swept away by false teaching and join the myriad cults that are on the rise in China today.  To combat this, more and more “Bible Training Centers” are opening up all across China.  They are run by local churches and their pastors.  This gives believers who are too poor to attend a regular Bible school or seminary a chance to still receive good Biblical training.  However these training centers don’t have enough teachers.  This is were China Partner wants to help in the future, connecting seminary professors, pastors and para-church leaders from the West with Christian leaders in China to provide necessary teachers. 

On Sunday, Dr. Gross preached at the Deyang Christian Church.  His sermon was entitled “What you have when you have Jesus” based on Romans 5:1-11.  The Gospel was clearly presented to an overcrowded church.  Over 700 people packed into the church which was built in 1995.  Many who could not find a seat inside were sitting outside the church on small wooden stools.  After the service, Dr. Gross had this to say, “I was overwhelmed by what I saw once I walked into the packed church.  I was filled with joy. I felt tears coming when the choir sang.  God is truly doing a mighty work in China.”  The church is led by a young couple in their thirties.  They love Jesus and desire to make Him known throughout the city of 2 million.  In addition to their church, there are 13 “meeting points” (smaller churches who have no full-time pastor).  Over 500 Christians attend these meeting points for weekly worship, Bible study and prayer. 

One of the greatest needs in the Chinese church is additional pastors and church leaders to shepherd all the new converts who are now overcrowding the churches.  China Partner’s mission is to help with this need. China Partner exists to serve the church in China by equipping more pastors and lay pastors to carry out the work of Christ.  Pray with us that God would raise up more Chinese Christian leaders who will faithfully proclaim the life-changing message of Jesus Christ and then disciple them into spiritual maturity.