Antioch Missions - Chinese Church Support Ministries : China Courier Intercession Mercy

ACT NOW! - AM/CCSM’s All-Chinese Teams
by Brother Bridge

INTRODUCING BROTHER BRIDGE

Bridge came from China to Australia in 1988 to study. Through a special encounter, Bridge was taken to a church the first day he arrived in Australia and became a believer soon afterwards. He studied computer science at university in Melbourne and worked for several years as an IT consultant. Bridge is married to Mae, who works as a lawyer. They live in Sydney and serve as elders in their church.

After Bridge and Mae returned from an AM/CCSM intercession trip in October 2001, Bridge was called to resign from his job and study in Bible College. He completed a Diploma in Bible and Ministry in December 2002.

Bridge started working with AM/CCSM in January 2003, specifically focusing on the All Chinese Team (ACT) ministry. As the name suggests, Bridge will be aiming to raise up Chinese-speaking teams to serve in China in the areas of mercy and prayer, teaching and training. It is Bridge's conviction that the Chinese Christian community around the world must respond to God's call to serve the brothers and sisters in Mainland China today.

If you have been to China recently, you will have found that the whole nation is in a mad rush to learn English. This rush has been triggered by big events like hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum in 2001, joining the World Trade Organisation, and being chosen to host the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 World Expo. However, the reality is that the Chinese will never be so good at English that they will all be able to understand when you share the Gospel with them in English. In fact, one report claims that by 2050 Mandarin Chinese will become the world language and that everyone will use it for business, trade and the Internet. That would mean that in 50 years time this article would have to be written in Chinese for it to be understood by the majority of people in the world!

Let us therefore not be misled by the fact that many in China are learning English very quickly. The reality is that the majority do not use it very often. Besides, in 50 years time, the world could go the other way, and be mainly learning and speaking Mandarin. Bible translators will tell you that in order to win anybody to Christ, you must speak their heart language. The Chinese are no exception. They love the white faces among them, but more often than not it is the yellow faces that can really get down to the heart issues.

So following on from the success of AM/CCSM’s regular bilingual teams, the Lord challenged us to also start regular All-Chinese Teams. The idea is simple – to let God’s yellow faces tell the Chinese that He loves them.

We know that God has a special calling for those folks who live outside China but have been born with a Chinese name, speak Mandarin, love the Lord and are passionate about China. Those who live in the West may often feel they are like square pegs in round holes. Maybe China is the square they have been looking for? Perhaps AM/CCSM’s All-Chinese Teams can help them to fulfil their calling and dreams for China?

Those who go on All-Chinese Teams (ACT) get to speak, pray and sing in Chinese 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The result is almost guaranteed – people will understand them and appreciate their presence. So what do these teams do?

ACT teams prayer walk. Because everyone on the team can read and understand what is written in the papers and on the signs on the streets, they can pray more effectively and watch for a change in the spiritual atmosphere.
ACT teams are involved in mercy work in the orphanages where AM/CCSM regularly serve Everyone gets to be a mom or dad, uncle or aunty to the children, and teaches them to sing nursery rhymes in their native tongue.
If their gifting is in the area of teaching and training, ACT team members conduct training sessions with the Chinese house church leaders and share with them the rich blessings in God’s Word.

So why are we doing this? We want to see the Diaspora Chinese Church (i.e. the Chinese Church outside China) take on the responsibility of praying, giving and going for the Mainland Chinese Church, so that the Body of Christ in China may fulfil its special mission, not only to win its own 1.3 billion people to Christ, but also to bring the Gospel from China back to Jerusalem!

The reality is that, through the hard work of several generations, the Lord has deposited much needed resources (both material and spiritual) for China in the Diaspora Chinese churches, and it is quite obvious how these precious resources are to be used. It is only reasonable for those who have been given much to give generously in return. The Lord does not want our money or our missionaries for Himself. The Lord wants our finance and people to be used to reach to the four corners of the “Middle Kingdom” - China. We need to ACT NOW!

To read testimonies from previous team members click here.

For anyone who is interested in joining an All-Chinese team, we are offering several teams in 2006. Please fill out our information request form making sure you tick the All-Chinese Teams option and we will send you full information.