Chinese Ministry

Three years is a long time in the Internet world! And in the three years since Back to God Ministries Chinese outreach team first launched its Chinese Today website, much has happened—with the way people communicate, with policies made in mainland China, and through the responses we’ve received to our daily Chinese devotional. To more effectively reach the current Internet audience, the Chinese ministry team revised and re-launched the Chinese Today website in late March 2012. “On this new site people can read the devotional in Chinese or in a bilingual/English format, listen to the Today in Mandarin, or download a one-year volume called Walking with Jesus,” says Chinese ministry leader Rev. Jimmy Lin. They can also easily link to Today on Facebook, Sinablog–the most popular blog site in China, Renren.com [China-based social media similar to Facebook] and Weibo (Chinese version of Twitter).” “Through these various methods of Internet delivery,…[Read More]

More than 5,000 Christians from mainland China attended the 2011 Gospel For China conference. Pastors, church leaders, and new believers gathered at the Asia World-Expo in Hong Kong from November 24 to 27. Rev. Jimmy Lin, Chinese media outreach leader for Back to God Ministries International, met people from house church backgrounds, but also several from the Three Self churches. “Some of them came from as far west as Yunan, while others came from the northern province of Inner Mongolia,” reports Rev. Lin. “Like the last conference we attended four years ago in 2007, our products were in hot demand with long queues at our booth at each session. All in all we handed out a total of 10,000 booklets, CDs and DVDs.” At the 2007 conference four years ago, when it was more difficult to get Christian materials into China, attendees picked up “anything and everything they could get…[Read More]

The Ministry of Civil Affairs in China reported that the divorce rate in 2010 was up 14.5% from that of 2009, leading to a total of 1.71 million (one out of every six marriages) ending in divorce—triple the number of divorces in China since 2001. Most would attribute this increase to several factors: more relaxed restrictions on divorce, economic boom, and moral decline in society. Still, that statistic is very alarming to the Chinese government—and to the church. “It is no surprise that we hear more about discussions and actual cases of marriage issues, spousal abuse and extramarital affairs from our audience on forums, blogs and weibo [something like Twitter in China],” notes Chinese ministry leader Rev. Jimmy Lin. “When our Chinese media ministry started venturing into the world of forums and social media, we knew that our ministry would take on a new direction. But the direction is not…[Read More]

Every day close to 100,000 Chinese people receive spiritual nourishment from God’s Word through Chinese Today devotionals. That’s nearly four times the number of people who had access to the devotionals a little over a year ago, and fifty times the readership from when Back to God Ministries International first started publishing the Chinese Today in 1991. What’s the reason for this phenomenal growth? “When we first started publishing the Chinese Today about twenty years ago, it was only in printed form,” explains Chinese ministry leader Rev. Jimmy Lin. “Then we only printed 2,000 copies.” Now, every other month 30,000 Chinese Today booklets are distributed from North America and Hong Kong, and an additional 4,000 are printed and distributed by ministry partners in Indonesia.  More than 20,000 people visit our Chinese Today website each month. In addition, our facebook page has more than 11,000 followers. What’s especially exciting is the…[Read More]

More and more people in China are asking each other this question: “Do you Weibo?” or “Do you play bo?” One might think it’s a new video game, but what people are really asking is, “Do you participate in online blogs?” Blogging, or online journaling, is growing in popularity throughout Mainland China as a way for people to share reflections, comments, and conversation with others online. And Back to God Ministries International Chinese media team is taking advantage of this communication tool to share the Gospel with bloggers in China. “In January 2011 we initiated two blogs on the most popular blog site in China,” announced Rev. Jimmy Lin, Chinese ministry leader for Back to God Ministries International. “Within the first two weeks we received more than 1,000 visits, and by the end of the month more than 7,000 visits and many comments!” According to CNNIC (the official network information…[Read More]

The darkest hour of Waiyee’s life came in March 2007. “My dad had just been diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. I was trying to encourage him when I saw his sufferings, but I was so weak.” Waiyee, who was born with a disabilities that cause her to use a wheelchair, was facing her own health issues when she received the devastating news about her father. “I was seeing eight specialists. Life seemed so meaningless and I really thought about ending my life right then.” “It was at that moment in time that Waiyee heard our program Listen to My Heart,” notes Rev, Jimmy Lin, Chinese ministry leader for Back to God Ministries International. “She contacted our producer, Laisin Cheung.” Laisin carried on several email conversations with Waiyee, offering hope and encouragement from God’s Word. “She helped to pull me out of that deep valley of the shadow of death,” says Waiyee.…[Read More]

Back to God Ministries International marked 36 years of media ministry to Chinese-speaking people with a “Listeners Open House” on October 29, 2010 in Hong Kong. More than 100 people—long time listeners/readers, new believers, staff members, volunteers and supporters from Hong Kong—gathered for the first ever such event outside of North America. One listener who attended commented to BTGMI Chinese producer Cheung Yun, “I have been waiting so long to meet you face to face.” A local pastor thanked Rev. Jimmy Lin, Chinese ministry leader, “We have been well-fed spiritually by your Chinese Today [devotional booklets] for many years.” “They came from every age and every background, and most of them had not met each other until that evening,” Rev. Lin reported. “However, it felt like a family reunion, like seeing old friends. We were drawn together by God; we were bonded into the Back to God family by His…[Read More]

“I am very troubled. I don’t know why. I feel sad all the time.” “My husband is a non-believer. He expects me to follow whatever he says and whenever I don’t, he will blame it on my faith and blaspheme. What should I do?” These are questions and comments coming from people in China who are responding to Back to God Ministries International Chinese media outreach. In many ways these brothers and sisters face the same life issues as people in North America or anywhere in the world. The Ministry of Public Health in China estimates the number of people dealing with severe mental illness is 16 million, with even higher numbers experiencing psychological problems and functional disability. “There is an escalating need for counseling, but the unwillingness in the Chinese culture to disclose personal information to counselors has made it difficult to get help,” explains Rev. Jimmy Lin, Chinese…[Read More]

Back to God Ministries International began broadcasting the gospel through radio into mainland China in 1975. For the first three years there was no indication that the Gospel message was reaching listeners. But late in 1978, following the death of Communist Party leader Mao Tse-Tung, the wall of silence cracked and letters came pouring out. Today, with the addition of the Internet and with your faithful support, Back to God Ministries International Chinese ministry has been touching the lives of literally millions in China. Consider this email we received from a father in China: "I thank God for your ministry to our family throughout the years. I still remember the days when I was very young and my grandmother used to listen to your programs with her little old radio. She had to do it secretly, late at night then. During the day, she would take time to share some…[Read More]