Oct 14, 2015
Adventists Get Rare Glimpse of Church’s Work in China
Some 100 church leaders and scholars gather for a first-of-its-kind conference in Hong Kong.
Posted October 31, 2014
| COMMENT: This land has also become the object of Pope Francis’ desire to embrace. Within the entire of China, the church has been a controlled entity. It will be interesting to see what the immediate future holds for this land. |
China may not be identified in the Bible as a missionary destination as some Adventists once believed, but the Seventh-day Adventist faith is flourishing there today in a fractured community that is largely homegrown and unknown to the outside world.
That is what a group of about 100 Adventist leaders and scholars heard at a first-of-its-kind conference in Hong Kong this week as they sought to gain a better understanding of the Adventist Church in China.
Estimates vary on how many Adventists live in the world’s most populous country of 1.35 billion, but conference presenters put the figure at about 500,000.
The Adventist Church does not have an officially recognized presence in China, and five major branches of Adventism have emerged since the 1949 Communist Revolution. All five have to deal with the Three Self Patriotic Movement, or TSPM, which together with the China Christian Council form the only state-sanctioned Protestant church in mainland China.
China’s first Adventist missionary, Abram LaRue, arrived on May 3, 1888, on his own funds after the General Conference declined an offer to serve, citing his old age. Little is known about LaRue’s life and work other than he inspired other missionaries to follow his lead. Several conference participants visited his grave in Hong Kong.
Click on Link:
http://www.adventistreview.org/church-news/adventists-get-rare-glimpse-of-church%E2%80%99s-work-in-china
