C H I N A

‘A huge provision of God’s kindness’An SPCKA grant has made possible the distribution of a personal theological reference library to 228 final-year students in five seminaries and 92 graduates in two Bible training centres in China.

These personal libraries will help address the dire need for resources in China’s rapidly growing and under-resourced churches. The gift of a personal library is a practical encouragement to our brothers and sisters working in a sensitive environment. ‘This a huge provision of God’s kindness to us.’

Extensive research was undertaken by college staff and book specialists to identify the best theological resources for leaders in ministry in simplified Chinese. (This standardized written script was introduced in Mainland China during the 1950s to facilitate printing and increase literacy.)

A short list of 150 titles was compiled and ten books were chosen for the students’ personal libraries. These quality resources will be vital aids to informed

A 24-year-old graduate receives his personal library from Australian missionary Paul Douglas. After receiving one year of training he will minister to a congregation of 1500 people in the south of Shanxi.

You can make Christian literature available where it is most needed.

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G ’ D A Y F R O M S P C K A W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

SaltyWhat does salt taste like? If it were a colour, which hue would it be? If it were a precious stone, which gem would it be? If it were a sound? If it were a feeling?

If salt were a person, who would it be?

The Pharisees thought that Jesus was salty: raw, rough, sharp, stinging, astringent.

The lame and the blind thought that Jesus was salty: strong, healing, wholesome, pure. The lost thought that Jesus was salty: flavoursome, unambig-uous, satisfying.

Even your non-Christian neighbour knows that Jesus is salty. Wait until your neighbour hits his thumb with a hammer. You will see his entire being conjure up the saltiest word he can think of. It will most likely be the name of the Salty One. When was the last time you heard someone in pain exclaim: ‘Argh, Gandhi!’

If you call yourself a Christian even your neighbour (you know, the one who keeps hammering his thumb) is going to expect some salty behaviour. The world expects us to be salty and will be disappointed if we are not.

Being salty is costly. But we can afford it. Because we have received boundless mercy and grace from our Father in Heaven. And there’s more where that came from.

If a book were salty, where would it bite? What thirst would it create? How would it heal? Who will write it?

Michael Collie National Director

michael.collie@spcka.org.au

SPCKASociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia Incorporated ARBN 119 800 645 and the Australian Christian Literature Society. PO Box 198, Forest Hill, Victoria 3131, Australia. Telephone 1300 13 7725 | admin@spcka.org.au | www.spcka.org.auIgniting Christian writing

Michael Collie with Mongolian writer Timothy Byambatogtokh.

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SPCKASociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia and the Australian Christian Literature Society PO Box 198, Forest Hill, Victoria 3131, Australia Telephone 1300 13 7725 admin@spcka.org.au | www.spcka.org.au Igniting Christian writing

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C H I N A

‘A huge provision of God’s kindness’An SPCKA grant has made possible the distribution of a personal theological reference library to 228 final-year students in five seminaries and 92 graduates in two Bible training centres in China.

These personal libraries will help address the dire need for resources in China’s rapidly growing and under-resourced churches. The gift of a personal library is a practical encouragement to our brothers and sisters working in a sensitive environment. ‘This a huge provision of God’s kindness to us.’

Extensive research was undertaken by college staff and book specialists to identify the best theological resources for leaders in ministry in simplified Chinese. (This standardized written script was introduced in Mainland China during the 1950s to facilitate printing and increase literacy.)

A short list of 150 titles was compiled and ten books were chosen for the students’ personal libraries. These quality resources will be vital aids to informed

A 24-year-old graduate receives his personal library from Australian missionary Paul Douglas. After receiving one year of training he will minister to a congregation of 1500 people in the south of Shanxi.

preaching and teaching, personal growth and the exercising of pastoral responsibilities over many years of ministry. The books incorporated into this year’s personal resource libraries are:

Spiritual Restoration Bible Topical Analysis of the Bible by Francis FoulkesOld Testament Bible Commentary (2 volumes) edited by John GibsonJohn Commentary (2 volumes) by Zhong Zhibang.Romans (Tyndale New Testament Commentary)

by John StottHope for the Heart: Harmony by June HuntHope for the Heart: Integrity by June HuntHope for the Heart: Love by June HuntHope for the Heart: Victory by June HuntSpiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders

In addition to the gifts to individual students, each seminary and

training centre receives a library made up of books they choose from the list of 150 titles, to the equivalent value of five personal libraries.

The first presentation of books took place at the Shanxi Christian Training Centre. Despite being the centre of China’s coal-mining, chemical and heavy engineering industries, Shanxi is one of China’s poorest provinces. The vast majority of these gradu-ates will receive no income when they commence work in a church.

The provision of theological and pastoral references is a strategic invest-ment that will foster the growth and maturity of Chinese Christians and edify the church.

Please pray that this project will continue to bring blessings to pastors, preachers, evangelists, congregations and families long into the future.

$85will buy a library of essential reference works for young Bible college graduates as they take up pastoral duties.

Shanxi Christian Training Centre, Shizhao, serves the entire province of Shanxi. The centre has seventeen teachers and offers a one-year curriculum. Fifty-two students graduated this year.

T A N Z A N I A

Fertile soilTypically, students coming to the Kowak Christian Training Centre (KCTC) in Rorya have never owned a book. They have only heard the Bible read in church each Sunday.

The Anglican Diocese of Rorya was created last year and the KCTC has been established to provide theo-logical training to church elders, Bible study leaders, evangelists and priests. However without books it is difficult to stimulate learning and adequately equip students for ministry.

The Principal, the Revd George Otieno, has asked SPCKA to supply the college with a library and pastors and evangelists with a copy of the Africa Bible Commentary. For graduating students this text will be both a familiar and valued reference. For under-resourced senior clergy it will be a refreshing and long-awaited stimulus.

Please pray for the KCTC staff and their Bishop, John Adiema, as they train and encourage lay and ordained church leaders.

$30will provide a theological graduate or pastor with a copy of the Kiswahili edition of the Africa Bible Commentary.

Principal of Kowak Christian Training Centre, the Revd George Otieno, tells Australian missionary, Neville Carr, of his plans to equip men and women for ministry.

L A T I N A M E R I C A

Passing it onSPCKA is sponsoring carefully tailored on-the-job training for publishers and booksellers working in strategic literature ministries. Early next year Mexicans Ana and René Menchaca will train with Certeza Argentina in Buenos Aires. We asked René to outline his expectations.

‘Our training with Certeza in Argentina will mark the beginning of a new era in the work of Compañerismo Estudiantil, the student ministry in Mexico. www.compa.org.mx

‘In Compa we have always emphasised the promo-tion of good literature. At camps and training events we make books accessible and affordable. At our last camp we had 350 students and sold a thousand books.

‘For several years we have partnered with various publishers to distribute books through local student groups. This grass-roots bookselling enterprise has helped to finance the salaries of staff workers, sponsor regional and national training camps and even pioneer new ministries in unreached states.

‘We have the responsibility of providing each generation of students with the best possible litera-ture. They in turn have the potential to be a means of distributing helpful literature through their churches and local bookshops. We are aware that we lack the administrative skills necessary to achieve this. The primary purpose of our experience with Certeza Argentina will be to receive training in management, finance and distribution.

‘A new cohort of student leaders is trained each semester. We would like to consolidate their curric-ulum with published texts. Each year student groups produce their own Bible study guides. We would like to extend their use to other regions and make them available to small groups in churches. We want mate-rial published by Compa to be recognised and used nationally for Bible study, evangelism and discipling. Too much good written material never leaves our filling cabinets or computer disks because we don’t know how to publish it. With Certeza staff we will learn how to develop, edit and correct manuscripts.

‘Our third objective is long-term and even more ambitious. Within the student ministry there are many people with an extraordinary ability to think and communicate. We would like to be in a position to harness these restless minds and make their theolog-ical insights accessible to Christians everywhere.

‘As you can see we have great expectations of our time in Argentina. But even greater is our desire to put into practice everything we will have learned back at home in Mexico. God bless you.’

Please pray for Ana, René, Andrés and Lucas as they prepare for their Argentine adventure. Pray that they will be equipped to make vital literature accessible to those who most need to read it.

SPCKA’s partnership with Certeza Argentina spans three decades. Thank God for Certeza’s progress in a volatile economy, growing influence in the Spanish-speaking world and mentoring role among developing publishers and booksellers. Pray that Certeza Director, Beatriz Buono, will continue to lead her team with vision, creativity and courage. www.certezaargentina.com.ar

$7000will cover half the cost of the air fares, training and accommodation. This three-month internship will be jointly funded by SPCKA, COMPA Mexico and Certeza Argentina.

Mexican publishers and booksellers Ana and René Menchaca together with Lucas and Andrés are preparing to spend three months in 2012 working with the Certeza Argentina team in Buenos Aires.

C H I N A

Chinese whispers‘Where I come from, birds are for eating.’ I lowered my binoculars and stared at my young companion. His confession explained why my early-morning excursions in rural Shanxi province had yielded nothing more than the ubiquitous sparrow and Eurasian magpie. Yet, despite its futility, my obsession

continues to fascinate him.Fascination with Western enterprise has led

generations of Chinese students to study the world’s economic giants. A retired scholar told me that while teaching at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences he had directed consecutive student cohorts to system-atically analyse prosperous economies and deter-mine how their success might be emulated. Which were the world’s most successful economies? Japan, Germany and the USA. What did these economies have in common? Popular education and the rule of law. Which has been the most successful of them all? The USA. What distinguishes the USA from the rest? The public role of Christianity.

Christian ‘knowledge’ and virtues are being cultivated in order that they might, in the words of President Hu Jintao in 2007, be ‘harnessed to build a prosperous society’. To control what it could not erase, the Chinese Communist Party reinstated the Three Self Patriotic Movement (self-governing, self-supporting, self-propagating) and formed the China Christian Council as the registered bodies of Chinese Protestants as well as the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

Since Deng Xiaoping’s relaxation of the Chinese Communist Party’s suppression of religious practice in the late 1970s Christianity has flourished in China; initially amongst the rural poor and more recently amongst the affluent and educated urban popula-tions. Always an obstacle to evangelism in China, Christianity’s Western heritage has now also become part of its appeal.

In addition to funding academic studies into the role of religion in China, state sponsorship of Christianity includes building Protestant and Catholic seminaries and churches such as the Haidian Christian Church; a show case completed in time to be seen by spectators commuting to and from the Beijing Olympic Games.

Religious tolerance is no longer an ideological issue but a question of control. In a rapidly changing socio-economic landscape Christianity has been found to be a stabilising belief system. However, while Christian virtue is respected, there is official discomfort with church growth. Influence is a government monopoly.

The church in China is emerging from persecution only to confront the perils of prosperity: individualism, indifference and apathy. And it does so without the written resources Western Christians take for granted. There are less than one thousand Christian titles in legal circulation in China. Only a handful are locally written. The overwhelming majority have been trans-lated from best-selling books originally written and published in Europe and the USA. Christianity will only cease to be a foreign religion when it is articulated with a local accent.

Independent Christian publishing in China is still a tentative and risky enterprise. Potential authors are reluctant to attract attention to themselves and publishers are still exploring the boundaries of what will be permitted. An editorial miscalculation becomes a costly business liability. ‘Everything is possible. Everything is difficult’, was a refrain I heard on numerous occasions.

Pastoral themes are safe territory. More politically sensitive and controversial subjects both for the state and among Christians, such as the history of the persecuted church, can still only be tackled by the Chinese diaspora.

In addition to the millions of Chinese Bibles printed each year, what written resources do China’s estimated 40 to over 100 million Christians need? And what will be their unique contribution to our understanding of what it means to faithfully follow Jesus?

Michael Collie

The complete article can be found in the Autumn 2011 issue of Zadok Perspectives, Nº 110. www.zadok.org.au

A U S T R A L I A N C H R I S T I A N L I T E R A T U R E A W A R D S

2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year Short ListThe following books have been short-listed for the 2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year Award:Bible bites: 365 devotions for Aussie families, Ladeane Lindsay, Anglican Youthworks.Christianity alongside Islam, John Wilson, Acorn Press.Economics for life: An economist reflects on the meaning of life, money and what really matters, Ian Harper, Acorn Press.Hot rock dreaming: A Johnny Ravine Mystery, Martin Roth, Ark House Press.Isaiah: Surprising salvation, Kirk Patston, Aquila.Judgment day: The struggle for life on earth, Paul Collins, UNSW Press.The rag doll, Stephanie Carmichael & Jessica Green, Matthias Media.

This year’s judges

Libbey Byrne is a member of the Religious Sisters of Charity of Australia and currently serves on their congregational leadership team. Libbey has degrees in theology and education and a master’s degree in spirituality. She has been a secondary school teacher, has trained religious education teachers for NSW state schools and now works in adult faith formation and spirituality. Libbey enjoys reading, movies, body surfing and the company of friends.Alex Crawford holds degrees in arts, law and theology. He is a practising barrister in Brisbane. Outside the law, he is interested in books, music and

A U S T R A L I A N C H R I S T I A N L I T E R A T U R E A W A R D S

2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year Short Listseeing the Brisbane Lions win. Alex is married to Penny. They have three adult children and attend St Mark’s Anglican Church, Clayfield. He is the secretary of the Mathew Hale Public Library based in Brisbane.Allan Demond is Senior Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Melbourne. He holds degrees in philosophy and theology and a PhD in education and homiletics. Allan teaches at Whitley College, Victoria, and the Australian College of Ministry. He enjoys good books, beautiful music and rare Aussie stamps. Allan is married to Janet, an artist. They have three adult children.

Join us at the award presentations

Off the Page with Joel McKerrow Celebrate the power of words

with writer, activist and performer, Joel McKerrow. Joel lectures at Tabor College Victoria and is the founder and co-director of The Centre for Poetics and Justice. www.cpj.org.au

The 2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year will be announced and prizes awarded at St Alfred’s Anglican Church, Blackburn North, Victoria, corner of Springfield Road and Koonung Road (Melways 48 A7), on Thursday 18 August at 6.30 pm (for a 7.00 pm start). Tickets cost $20. To book seats, grab your credit card and call 1300 13 7725 or write to: awards@spcka.org.au

G ’ D A Y F R O M S P C K A W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

SaltyWhat does salt taste like? If it were a colour, which hue would it be? If it were a precious stone, which gem would it be? If it were a sound? If it were a feeling?

If salt were a person, who would it be?

The Pharisees thought that Jesus was salty: raw, rough, sharp, stinging, astringent.

The lame and the blind thought that Jesus was salty: strong, healing, wholesome, pure. The lost thought that Jesus was salty: flavoursome, unambig-uous, satisfying.

Even your non-Christian neighbour knows that Jesus is salty. Wait until your neighbour hits his thumb with a hammer. You will see his entire being conjure up the saltiest word he can think of. It will most likely be the name of the Salty One. When was the last time you heard someone in pain exclaim: ‘Argh, Gandhi!’

If you call yourself a Christian even your neighbour (you know, the one who keeps hammering his thumb) is going to expect some salty behaviour. The world expects us to be salty and will be disappointed if we are not.

Being salty is costly. But we can afford it. Because we have received boundless mercy and grace from our Father in Heaven. And there’s more where that came from.

If a book were salty, where would it bite? What thirst would it create? How would it heal? Who will write it?

Michael Collie National Director

michael.collie@spcka.org.au

SPCKASociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia Incorporated ARBN 119 800 645 and the Australian Christian Literature Society. PO Box 198, Forest Hill, Victoria 3131, Australia. Telephone 1300 13 7725 | admin@spcka.org.au | www.spcka.org.auIgniting Christian writing

Michael Collie with Mongolian writer Timothy Byambatogtokh.