As we have seen before, one low-cost, high-impact way to communicate Bible-based truth to Chinese (and others) worldwide is the use of Christian literature. In addition to the Studies in Chinese Christianity series that I described last month, I have, over the years, been working on other literary projects.

About fifteen years ago, Dr. Carol Hamrin, with whom I had just formed the Global China Center, conceived the idea of launching a series of books about Christianity in China. At the time, very few Western scholars paid attention to the great works God has been doing through his people in China. We decided that it was time for us to encourage both Chinese and Western scholars to study and write about the significant part that missionaries and Chinese Christians have played in the history of modern China.

God has made us to love stories. The Chinese, in particular, delight in reading, hearing, and seeing (on television and in movies) tales of the heroes and villains of their long and colorful history. Sadly, they do not know the true stories of the Bible, and even Christians are mostly ignorant of their own “sacred history.” They haven’t had the opportunity to learn about Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries who labored and often suffered to bring the saving knowledge of Christ to their forebears.

At the beginning of a new calendar year, we do well to set definite prayer goals for the rest of 2021. As you may remember, we seek to glorify God by declaring “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) to Christians and non-Christians alike. We focus on ethnic Chinese, but are expanding our outreach to include others, including, recently, people in India.

For many, 2020 was nothing but the “worst of times.” The unfolding catastrophe of COVID-19 has wreaked havoc with economies, separated families, killed more than 1.5 million, and sickened many more. For me, the main journey has been inward, as God has led me into a deeper understanding of his loving purposes for all that comes my way (see Romans 8:28).

This Thanksgiving season, I want to thank God for some of the ways that he has used your prayers for us over the past year or so.

Do we spend our time and our money in ways that glorify God, or gratify our desires? When things get tough, do we “buck up” and seek God’s strength, or do we buckle under? How many of us are known for our calmness, peace, and joy amidst trials? How many of us hunger for the Word of God, seek first his kingdom, and make the proclamation of his gospel the compelling purpose of our life?

Since 1975 Dori and I have devoted ourselves to sharing the unsearchable riches of Christ with Chinese people. Recently, however, I have sensed that God wants me to enlarge the scope of my ministry to include other peoples in addition to the Chinese.

Now, more than ever, I believe that Christians should focus prayer on Taiwan. Why?

By loving our enemies, we reflect God’s kindness to us, thus bringing glory to him and showing the world the heart of Jesus, who died for sinners like us. But what does it mean to “love” our enemies?