China: A Visit with Friends
July 20 - August 1, 2023
Led by Tom Boone, Associate Director for Mission and Rev. Chris Bin Wang
With the recent lifting of travel restrictions, The Outreach Foundation is glad to announce our 2023 visit to friends in China to bring greetings to leaders of the Church in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Beijing. We will hear stories from emerging young leaders and visit important outreach ministries they have developed in recent years.
Our team gathers in Hong Kong for orientation from Rev. Chris Bin Wang, our trip co-leader. From Hong Kong, we will fly to Shanghai to meet leaders of the China Christian Council (CCC) & Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). Our dialogues will highlight the challenging issues and resilient responses of the Church in China. Sunday worship will take place at the historic Hong-De Church built in a traditional Chinese architectural style with roots in the Presbyterian mission to China. We will hear about the church’s evangelism to a young generation in a secular and consumerist metropolis.
We will then travel by private bus to the neighboring city of Suzhou, which is Chris’ home city, where we will meet local church leaders who will show us the beauty and vitality of the city and the churches. Don Snow, a long-time friend of The Outreach Foundation and retired Presbyterian missionary, will meet us along with other Christian friends who will share their fascinating stories. Our visit continues westward to Nanjing (literally “the south capital”) after a brief exchange with Jiangyin church leaders. We will visit the Jiangsu Provincial Christian Council & TSPM and enjoy conversations with students and faculty of Jiangsu Theological Seminary. We will also touch freshly printed Bibles from the state-of-the-art Amity Bible Printing Company, while at the next moment, we will thumb through old, rugged copies of pew Bibles at the century-old St. Paul Church. In addition to marveling at the renowned cultural sites along main streets of Nanjing, we will visit the less obvious faith-related institutions hidden in alleys.
Our mainland journey concludes in China’s capital, Beijing. There we will meet with church leadership and attend Sunday worship at the 7000-member Haidian Church which neighbors Peking and Tsinghua Universities, both of which owed their inception and operation to missionary and national Christians. While in Beijing we will enjoy a meal of Peking Duck and visit historic sites. Our mainland visit will conclude with an official visit with CCC leadership before flying to Hong Kong.
From Hong Kong, team members may either return home or remain an additional two days for a meaningful visit with leadership of Christian Communications Limited. This ministry publishes support resources for pastors on mainland China and has become an important connection for us to know how God is moving in China. Also, we may listen to a series of presentations from a group of emerging church leaders covering topics such as evangelism and discipleship in the urban context, creative arts and Christian witness, advocacy for the marginalized, and folk religions and popular Christianity.
The trip cost is $4,200 (single occupancy). After much discussion, we are selecting a single-occupancy rate in order to minimize COVID exposure among the team. For couples traveling together and sharing a room, the cost is $3,800 per person. The Hong Kong add-on dates cost an additional $500 per person.
You can apply online or print the application and waiver. A non-refundable $150 deposit is required to secure your place. For more information contact Carol Dublin at carol@theoutreachfoundation.org or call (615) 778-8881.