Global Chinese Ministries Newsletter - June 2008

The Gospel Among the Jingpo

The Jingpo people live in Yunnan province which lies in southwest China on the border with Myanmar (Burma). They number more than 130,000 people. They belong to the Tibeto-Burman group and are divided into five major sub-groups, each with their own language. The Jingpo themselves believe they originally migrated south from the Tibetan plateau. Many headed even further south and today live in Myanmar.

The Jingpo traditionally lived in bamboo huts in the forest; the people lived above the chickens, pigs and other livestock. Every seven or eight years the houses would be rebuilt, with everyone in the village giving a hand.

The Jingpo are animists and have more than one hundred different gods, divided into three categories: gods of the sky, of the earth and of the home. They are extremely superstitious and have many taboos. Every aspect of life—sowing, harvest, illness, marriage, etc.—is controlled by spirits who need to be placated by shamans. The greatest god is called “Mudai,” and every year a great ceremony is held at which hundreds of people perform ritual dances. The cost of placating the spirits by sacrificing animals, such as water buffalo, is very high, and is one of the reasons for the backwardness of Jingpo society.

The first missionary to bring the light of the gospel to the Jingpo (also known as the Kachin) in Burma was Josiah Cushing in 1876. Many other Baptist missionaries followed. The Bible and hymnbooks were translated into the new Jingpo script they devised, and the church made rapid progress. By 1940 there were nearly 50,000 baptized Jingpo in Burma. While most of their beliefs held them in bondage, one traditional legend proved a bridge for the gospel. In 1897 a missionary reported that the Jingpo had a tale that the “Great Spirit” gave writing to one of their ancestors. It was written on leaves. One day the leaves got wet and were spread out to dry in the sun. When the man was not looking, a buffalo came and ate it up. Ever since, the Jingpo have been longing to know what the lost message was.

In 1907 a Kachin evangelist finally brought the gospel to the Jingpo in Ruili in Yunnan. He worked there for 30 years. By 1930 about 24% of Ruili County (or 2,000 Jingpo) had become Christian. Since then the gospel has spread among three of the five groupings. By about 1940 nearly 2,000 Jingpo had been converted by the Baptists in neighboring Longchuan County. In Yingjiang County 32 churches were built, and Jingpo Christians numbered some 3,500 people. The church was active in education, setting up 10 primary schools in the Dehong Prefecture for the Jingpo.

According to Chinese sources, even after 1949 the Baptist churches continued to flourish well into the mid-fifties, seeing rapid growth and the establishment of youth work and women’s work as late as 1957. After 1958 the church suffered persecution due to “Leftist” political policies, and between 1958 and 1960 some 20-30,000 mainly tribal Christians fled from Yunnan into Burma. (See History of Religion in Yunnan, Yunnan People’s Publishing House, 1999, [editor’s translation].) The same book claims that in 1990 there were about 10,000 Jingpo Christians in Yunnan. However, a leading TSPM (Three-Self state-church) pastor in Yunnan has said the real figure may be 40,000. At least 10,000 copies of the Bible in Jingpo have been published in China officially since 1995, along with 15,000 copies of the Jingpo hymnbook.

A Jingpo believer recently wrote a letter to Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) in Hong Kong which gives a vivid picture of the Christian faith today among this group:

“Our church is primarily for Jingpo people. The preachers use Jingpo in their sermons. They have been holding annual Bible training in their native language for more than 10 years. After receiving basic Bible training, students are sent to seminary. But their educational environment and living conditions are very difficult. Some of the young people can’t even afford to pay the basic living expenses but still participate in the Bible courses. The couple in charge of the church are wholeheartedly devoted to evangelism and don’t have time to farm their land. As they can’t afford seminary education for their three children, the children had to work after graduating from high school to support the family financially.”

This shows that in this church, at least, the income from freewill offerings is too small to support a pastor and his wife. This is not uncommon in many tribal churches in poor areas. Despite this, the gospel has not only survived, but there are many more Jingpo believers now than in the days of the missionaries. Yet the largest group among the Jingpo (the Zaiwa people who number 70,000), remain highly resistant to the gospel (see Hattaway, Operation China). Gospel broadcasts were started in Zaiwa in 1996. Much still remains to be done.

PUBLISHING BREAKTHROUGH

Many Christians overseas have a rather out-of-date view of what is happening in the arena of Christian publishing in China. Although restrictions and censorship still exist, the fact is that the whole scene has gradually been transformed from the days when only a very small range of titles with limited print-runs could be published by the China Christian Council for internal sale in churches.

There may be more than 200 small Christian bookshops legally open now in China.

Some cities have several. These are quite separate from the distribution centers and church bookstalls run by the Three Self (TSPM) churches; they are usually run by private Christians, often with house-church connections. Some of the smaller shops are more like gift-shops selling scripture calendars and texts and only a few books. But many of the larger ones stock several hundred Christian titles ranging from works by Augustine, Calvin, Luther and Spurgeon to books instructing people on dating, marriage and raising their children according to the teaching of the Bible.

Christian publishing is making quiet but steady progress. CCL Publishing House has been the publishing arm of Christian Communications Ltd. in Hong Kong since 1971. OMF co-operates with CCL, which has nearly 40 years experience of serving the church in China. So it is exciting to report that CCL has now published 34 Christian titles legally in the Mainland and distributed over one million copies!

CCL has been co-operating for more than 10 years with partners inside Mainland China, who include the China Christian Council, Religious Culture Publishers and secular publishing houses. Some of the key titles which have been published inside China include:

• Study Bible. Hong Kong, China Graduate School of Theology, 2000 edition. 30Y
• New Bible Commentary. Inter-Varsity Press, 1998. 40Y.
• Baker Encyclopaedia of the Bible. Baker, 1999. 145Y.
• Commentary on the Gospels by F.C.H. Dreyer. CIM, 1999. 16Y.
• New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. Nelson, 2006. Y80.
• Pictorial Bible Stories. Cook Communication Ministries, 2003. 29Y
• Joni, by Joni Eareckson Tada. Zondervan, 1999. Y12.
• J. Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ by Roger Steer. OMF, 2006. 29.80Y
• Jesus Driven Ministry by Ajith Fernando. Crossway.
• Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson. Tyndale House, 2004. 25Y
• The Five Love Languages of Teenagers by Gary Chapman. Moody Bible Institute, 2004. 22Y
• Practical Hermeneutics by Lai Ruohan. CCL, 2004. 28.80Y
• My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. Discovery House.
• What the Bible is All About by Dr Henrietta Mears. Gospel Light, 1999. 16Y.

(Our list gives the original publisher of the English edition and the price in RMB where known; all books are in simplified characters, except the Study Bible, which has been published in both simplified and traditional character editions.) The prices are low and competitive. A book costing 24 yuan (or about $3 U.S. dollars) is well within the range of many city-dwellers.

This is a strategic and ongoing project. It is vital to put into the hands of Chinese Christians the wide range of Christian books we take so much for granted in the West.

Will you pray that more books with strong biblical content can be published in the near future to meet the hunger of believers and leaders alike?

(For more information please see the CCL website: www.ccl.org.hk or e-mail: publish@ccl.org.hk .)