Adventist Heritage Center From: Bob & Audrey Folkenberg <KingdomGrowth=chumadventist.org@mail210.suw12.mcsv.net> on behalf of Bob & Audrey Folkenberg <KingdomGrowth@chumadventist.org> Sent: Friday, December 23, 2016 8:49 AM To: Adventist Heritage Center Subject: Wise Men from the East (News From the Chinese Union Mission, Issue #21) You are receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in news from the Chinese Union Mission. Add KingdomGrowth@chumadventist.org to your address book, so the Kingdom Growth newsletter will be sure to land in your inbox! Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. You may unsubscribe here. Wise Men from the East 1
Have you ever considered that one or more of the wise men from the East who came to worship the baby Jesus might have been from China? At the time of Christ's birth, the Great Wall of China had already begun to take shape. The Silk Road had a 200 year history as the main trade and transportation route between China and the rest of the world to its west. It was a sophisticated country ruled by the Han Dynasty. Scientists in the court of the Han were prolific students of the heavens and were adept at predicting eclipses two hundred years before the birth of Christ. It is interesting to consider the possibility that the wise men were from China, though there is no way of proving this. However, it is sure that the gospel of the Christ of Bethlehem traveled that dusty Silk Road and made an eternal impact on millions of Chinese. Conservatively speaking, today, at least 60 million Chinese call Jesus their Lord. This number has even been postulated to be close to 100 million. Whatever the number, during this Christmas season, all across China, millions will worship Jesus as their King and Lord. 2
At this time of year when we think of Jesus and the beginning of His earthly journey that ultimately took Him to the cross, please continue to pray for the people of the East. Pray that they too will come looking for Jesus and bow down and worship Him as their Lord and soon coming King. (Chinese characters in picture above say, "Wishing you a Merry Christmas.") "Thank You" As we near the end of the year 2016, a year when we have seen God work in many marvelous ways here in China, we want to take this opportunity to say "thank you" to each of you for being a part of this important work. Your prayers and financial contributions have made a huge difference for Kingdom growth across the "Middle Kingdom." 3
Prayer Again, thank you for your support. As we enter into yet another year, join us Request One: in praying that this will be the year when His message will be preached with power here and in every corner around the world so that we Pray will that finally new have the joy of seeing Jesus face to face. governmental policies defining religious expression will not hinder *This Kingdom Growth e-newsletter was distributed on December the preaching 23, 2016. of Christ's end-time message. Request Two: Pray for churches all across China who use Christmas as a time for evangelism by conducting special Christmas evangelistic meetings. Pray that many will come to know the Christ of Christmas because of these events. Request Three: Pray for greater trust and unity among various church groups in China during the coming year. Largest Church? Most of the churches in China are small, with the majority of them meeting 4
in what we would call an apartment or house. However, the Adventist Church also has many large church buildings - one which is considered the largest Adventist church building in the world. It can hold up to 3,500 worshippers at one time. Nestorians The earliest recorded missionaries to China were from the Nestorian community of Persia. By the seventh century, history notes that over 100 Christian churches had been started by the Nestorians in the Chinese capital city of Chang'an. The ancient city of Chang'an is now called Xian. This is the city of the famous Terracotta Army, a collection of terracota sculptures buried with Emperor Qin in 209-210 BC. 5
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