You may be surprised to hear how your Christian family in China is doing. No doubt, you will be in awe at the grace of our God and Father.
Good news is spreading among those 1.35 billion souls, carried along by ordinary people who believe there is no wall great enough to contain Christ’s kingdom. Tim Keesee tells their story in “No Regrets, No Retreat” (Episode 8) in the Dispatches from the Front DVD series. Keesee’s dispatches are inscribed firsthand as he travels the world, writing down everything in order to remember the mighty work God is doing.
On the Beachhead of Faith
It’s fitting that this much-anticipated dispatch from China starts in Brighton, England, a city on the water just south of London. It is said that London was “the Antioch of the 19th century.” As Keesee, veteran missionary and director of Frontline Missions International, explains, “To see the past in the present is a reminder that God is at work in all times in all places.”
After serving for six years in China, Hudson Taylor and his family returned to England to recover their health and do translation work. On the beach at Brighton, Taylor renewed his commitment to reach the lost in China—but this time to take the gospel inland. While standing on the Brighton sand, Taylor clung to the rock-steady promises of God and founded China Inland Mission (now OMF International) in 1865 at the age of 33. Now 150 years later, conservative figures estimate there may be 60 million to 80 millions disciples of Jesus Christ in China.
Dispatches from the Front
Tim Keesee
How has light spread so expansively across this massive country? “No Regrets, No Retreat” shows us: one little light at a time. Back in 1865, Taylor recruited ordinary people to his mission—even physically broken ones like George Stott. When asked why he’d dare go to China since he only had one leg, Stott replied, “I don’t see those with two legs going.” At one point the camera pans to a photo collage published by China Inland Mission in 1888. The faces of these men and women—these new recruits—stare back, their gaze fixed on eternity. Many, if not most, gave their lives to reaching China. Keesee reminds us that these men and women were simply followers of Christ with a big view of the gospel, willing to go and lay down their lives to reach souls a half a world away.
Half a world away, Keesee introduces us to his old friends and the new ones he finds. And if you’re familiar with the Dispatches DVDs, you will be relieved to hear that Keesee also finds his coffee (lots of it).
Ordinary People
Chinese believers from all walks of life are carrying the good news into dark places. This gospel advance continues through struggles, though, according to one elderly pastor turned itinerant evangelist. “Uncle Zhou” explains that even though the Chinese church was birthed in suffering in the 1950s, it is susceptible to losing focus. He’s referring to the materialism exported from the West and injected into Chinese house churches. Uncle Zhou’s church planting model is simpler than the models we tend to employ: follow Christ and lift up the cross.
Mei Li, who lost everything when she began following Christ, gained her soul and maybe hundreds more. When she became a Christian, her husband left her for another woman. But Jesus has redeemed her life in ways she never expected. Mei Li now runs networks of creative outreach ministries like Christian bookstores, support groups for families affected by autism, and coffeeshops. She is discipling and leading, witnessing and praying. I was taken aback when I saw what she did after Keesee asked her to write the Chinese character for “bravery” in his journal. I’ll just leave you with that cliffhanger, because you’ll want to see it for yourself.
Obstacles of No Consequence
Fear is the most effective tool the enemy uses in his futile attempt to slow the advance of Christ’s kingdom. If the born-again heart is afraid, then the hands and feet won’t move, and the mouth will stay shut. But fear is no threat to the risen Christ. He gives his children bold assurance that he has conquered death and not a hair on our heads will perish.
The drumbeat of “No Regrets, No Retreat” is the faith of ordinary people in our competent and loving King. There are no experts in this montage of disciple-makers. They don’t have all the answers for the issues they face, but they have the answer. Even a veteran teacher named Mark testified, “Loving God means that I’m going to open my mouth. I’m not going to wait until I read another book to feel like I have all the answers.” Believers befriend outcasts in their community. They reject the culture of paranoia and faithfully plod along. Pastors contend for the gospel in the face of anti-Trinitarian doctrine and prosperity cults. Sorrowful, yet rejoicing, the body of Christ in China is shaking the gates of hell. As Keesee has said before, “It’s not that there are ‘greater Christians’ here or there, but that Christ is greatest.”
Growing Your Family’s Faith
I’m not exaggerating when I say that watching and discussing the Dispatches DVDs together has been invaluable to my family. We’re raising our four children in the Middle East, and though we do not live in a safety-obsessed culture, we are tempted to live focused on our restrictions. Hearing stories of the gospel’s advance in seemingly unlikely places teaches all of us to boast in the Lord, and to live by faith in the God who raises the dead.
If there are 60 million to 80 million Christians in China, then hundreds of thousands of local house churches are gathering every Sunday and scattering throughout the week. Light is indeed spreading “one by one, by the millions.” May the Lord quickly gather in more and more worshipers from the streets and lanes of China’s super-cities, highways, and hedges—the poor, the blind, the lame. And let us all leap for joy together with them!
Editors’ note: The Dispatches from the Front DVDs are available for purchase. You can also order Keesee’s excellent book, Dispatches from the Front: Stories of Gospel Advance in the World’s Difficult Places (Crossway, 2014) [review].
