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JULY 2014
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JULY 2014
BOOKS
Daring the ordinary
Literacy first and Bible later
When fruit grower Han Xiao-Lang (right) finally learnt to read, she was 34 years old. Living in a rural part of China, Han hadn’t had much of an education. “Life was tough for our family,” she says, “so I couldn’t finish school.” She left at age fifteen, still not fully confident in her ability to read or write. In fact, nearly half the people in her village of Meng Zhung were illiterate, until Bible Society started literacy classes there. As a Christian, Han longed to know God through the Bible. She was one of the first to sign up to the Bible-based literacy classes. Along with 120 others, she soon learnt to read the Scriptures for herself. Since Han learnt to read the Bible, her family, her husband’s family and three of her friends have become Christians. Proselytising is illegal in China, but just the change in Han’s life spoke volumes, resulting from a deeper understanding of her faith. “When I tried to read the Bible before, it was pretty ‘dim’ to me, but it’s brighter now. I feel real joy in the Spirit to be able to read the Bible,” she says confidently. Literacy in Meng Zhung village has improved dramatically since classes started. Eighty per cent of the village can now read, and the local church has also grown by 20 per cent. “It would have been very challenging to see growth without literacy,” says village elder Lei Geng Teng. “No matter how we taught people, they couldn’t fully understand. They didn’t remember what they heard in church, and they
weren’t able to read the Bible during the week. Through literacy, people’s faith definitely takes deeper root. They understand the Word now. It’s no longer just something that they hear.”
It’s pointless to have a Bible if you don’t know how to read. Through literacy, people’s faith takes deeper root
Han’s understanding of the Bible was “dim” before she learned to read
Since 1987, United Bible Societies China Partnership has legally distributed 61 million Bibles in China, produced by the Amity Printing Company in Nanjing. But countless Christians - including the ever growing number of new believers - cannot get into God’s word yet, while illiteracy remains a hindrance. Faced with need, they aren’t able, for instance, to read for themselves God’s promise in Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” They aren’t able to read it, meditate on it and let its truth sink deep into their being. “Literacy comes first and then the Bible comes later,” says elder Lei. “It’s pointless to have a Bible. if you don’t know how to read. I think the literacy class is going to double the speed of church growth,” he concludes.
Undaunted by Christine Caine
The growth of the Meng Zhung church is just one of many similar reports reaching Bible Society. The literacy project has been an agent of change for individuals and whole communities, especially in China’s rural areas where an estimated three-quarters of Christians live. While community growth is a plus, it’s words like those of Wang Lian that really propel the literacy programme. “My heart was thirsting for the righteousness of God, and now it can be satisfied,” was Wang Lian’s joyful cry after learning to read. “It was very difficult for me to read the Bible, because I could not recognise many Chinese characters. I used to complain about my poor education, and eventually I gave up reading and studying the Bible. Through the literacy class, I’ve learned many complicated Chinese characters. Now we have more interest in the Bible study. I not only like reading the Bible, but also reciting it. I can share the truth of the Bible with my family members.” Working with the Provincial China Christian Councils, Bible Society Australia and sister societies are aiming to reach 55,000 Chinese Christians with Bible-based literacy classes this year. You can be part of this big mission. Please donate today and give rural Chinese Christians the chance to read the Bible for themselves. To share in this cause visit biblesociety.org.au/china or call 1300 BIBLES (1300 242 537). Donations to this literacy project are tax-deductible.
$272 can teach
eight Pakistani women to read the Bible Samira* grew up in rural Pakistan and never had the opportunity to go to school. She never learned to read – and said it was like “being blind”. But, since starting a Bible Society literacy class, Samira has been learning to read Scripture for herself. She said, “I feel I came into light from darkness. By the grace of God, I myself will be able to read the Bible.” *name changed to protect those involved
Your tax deductible gift today can teach Pakistani women to read and bring the light of God’s Word to their families. Tel: 1300 BIBLES – 1300 242 537 or visit: biblesociety.org.au/beacon BSA080-Pakistan Half Page Ad-ART.indd 1
Will you bring light into darkness? 22/05/2014 11:19 am
Published by Zondervan Available at shop. biblesociety.org.au $18.95
Reviewed by Kelsey Wilson I sat on the big sofa in the communal living area of the safe house, surrounded by young women from multiple countries, wishing I spoke three or four languages. I was visiting the overcrowded shelter for several days to help with staffing and manage culture and personality clashes. Three Muslim girls from Uzbekistan had arrived the previous day, adding to the mix of Eastern Europeans and Africans, and one of them sat opposite me now, retelling their journey of sex trafficking, exploitation and rescue. Three days earlier, she and her sisters had been locked away in an apartment in another part of the city. When the steady stream of “clients” lulled, they cried out in desperation. “We had asked Allah to help us, but he did not,” she recalled. “So we said, ‘If there is a Jesus, let him free us!’” Not two days later, they were rescued in a police raid and brought to this shelter where I now sat. This is one of my own clearest memories from several years of ministry to victims of human trafficking in Greece, and one that is retold in Christine Caine’s book, Undaunted: Daring To Do What God Calls You To Do. As the founder of The A21 Campaign, the organisation
behind the safe house I occasionally assisted in, Caine has written a book about overcoming obstacles and surrendering to God’s will. She has done this by retelling much of her own story, culminating in the establishment of A21. Having close ties to this field of ministry, I was looking forward to hearing more of how God worked to bring about the rescue and restoration of many women through Caine’s organisation. The first and last chapters of Undaunted share dramatic, powerful, often heartbreaking stories about some of the women she’s met, and of the seemingly insurmountable conditions that God overcame in the founding of A21. I’ve met some of these women, and their stories are equally harrowing and inspiring. Throughout the obstacles and hardships, Caine demonstrates an unwavering faith underscored by biblical truths that have enabled her to be used by God to accomplish remarkable things. But in the chapters sandwiched in between, making up the majority of the book, you’ll find that this is not a book about sex trafficking; the establishment of A21 isn’t mentioned until the final chapters. This is largely a book about Christine Caine. This isn’t a bad thing. Caine is an inspiring example of what a life submitted to God looks like. She shares stories from her own life, including discovering that she is adopted, becoming lost in a jungle, experiencing a miscarriage, and alluding to childhood sexual abuse. These experiences give her credibility as she continually exhorts us to find God in his Word, to spend consistent time with him, and to find fullness, contentment and joy in him. The book is a testament to her decision to
Loving life surrender to God and his will, allowing him to interrupt her plans and use the good and the difficult things for his good purposes. Caine’s personal stories are heartfelt; she has overcome some incredibly difficult things, and she seeks to encourage readers of the goodness and faithfulness of God through sharing these portions of her life. However, I found the message and impact of her stories to be somewhat diminished by both a choppy structure and somewhat moralistic conclusions. Each chapter relates a different hurdle or hardship through which Caine undoubtedly connects with many readers. But though she expresses the pain and confusion she experienced, she often glosses over these feelings a bit too quickly in order to neatly wrap up each section with pre-packaged messages of God’s hope and healing, inspirational quotes and Bible verses, and prescriptive how-to’s to effectively “get over” your troubles. On the whole, these tips and instructions are biblical and sound, and many may find them to be helpful. However, some may be left feeling discouraged when the simple path to recovery and healing doesn’t happen as she prescribes. The lack of cohesion in these chapters means that the impact of Caine’s message and stories suffers. There are really two different books here; one on the founding of The A21 Campaign, and another a memoir or biography of the hardships and triumphs that Caine has experienced in her life. Full review can be found at: biblesociety.org.au/undaunted Kelsey Wilson is the women’s pastor at St Matthew’s Church, in Manly, Sydney.
A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships by Paul E Miller Published by Crossway Available wherever good books are sold Reviewed by Guan Un There are two areas that it’s difficult for a Christian book to talk about. One is when a topic is so esoteric that it’s difficult to understand why anybody would want to write about it, much less want to read it. The second is when a topic is so commonplace that it’s hard to see how you could add something different. For example, A Loving Life, by Paul E. Miller, is about love. If there’s anything Christians have heard about, it’s love: we’ve had it defined, redefined, in sermons, Bible studies, the biblical text. Most of us would be pretty sure we know what love is by now. But here’s where Miller’s approach is both gentle and wonderful. It’s not a book where love is abstracted and put on an examining table to be poked and prodded as a theoretical example, but a book where love is shown where it should be: in the context of relationships, as a story. Miller examines the nature of love as it is experienced - in life. He does this through a close reading of the book of Ruth. As he points out early on: “The book of Ruth is an ideal narrative for our post-Christian world, where breaking covenants - not enduring in love - is the new norm.” Full review can be found at biblesociety.org.au/love-life