![\"Hudson](\"https:\/\/cases.som.yale.edu\/china\/files\/HudsonTaylor.jpg\")
What is fascinating about Hudson Taylor\u2019s story is that the most important advance<\/strong> in his mission came when he was forced to retreat<\/strong>, when all might have seemed lost.\u00a0 In 1861, having been in China for roughly 8 years, Taylor was forced to return to England when he grew desperately ill.\u00a0 As he recovered he continued translating the Bible, and developed a vision to reach the whole of China through 24 missionaries (2 for each province and for Mongolia).\u00a0 Thus Taylor founded the China Inland Mission and returned to China, where his missionaries were required to adapt to local customs and dress.\u00a0 This ministry (now called the Overseas Missionary Fellowship) is still at work today.\u00a0 While Taylor may not be a model in every respect (his family suffered greatly from his radical devotion to his calling), he inspired thousands of missionaries to go to China and elsewhere.\u00a0 As someone who has gone to China on missions trips, I can attest that his impact is still felt.\u00a0 (Apparently this and other such profiles can be found in this book<\/a>.)<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 Speaking of missionaries, Ri Hyon Ok, a 33-year-old mother of three, was executed in North Korea for her evangelistic activities there.\u00a0 North Korea, of course, is one of the most dangerous places to minister today.\u00a0 The conditions in North Koreas labor camps were described<\/a> in a Morning Report earlier this week, and we also spoke<\/a> of the persecution of Christians and people of other faiths in China.\u00a0 Today would be a good day to pray that once the economic crisis has passed (if not before), the Obama administration will see fit to press these nations for improvements in human rights, especially freedom of religion.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 I am coming to this rather late, but I want to address it now since I want to examine it in greater detail in later posts: the Episcopal Church voted<\/a> overwhelmingly to ordain more gay bishops, and N. T. Wright, world-renowned New Testament scholar and a bishop in the Anglican church (and a hero to many evangelicals), responds to the development here<\/a>.\u00a0 Popular evangelical writer Tony Jones, an emergent movement leader, upbraids<\/a> those more conservative Episcopal churches who will seek to realign themselves with different bishops in response (and refers to my rebuttal<\/a> of his argument<\/a> along the way).\u00a0 I seem to have touched a nerve, since he\u2019s referred to my response in two posts (and one comment underneath the first post<\/a>).\u00a0 As Wright comments, one has to wonder who exactly is being schismatic here?\u00a0 The conservative Episcopal churches and priests who are now interested (or, rather, some of them) in aligning themselves with different bishoprics, or the liberal churches and priests who are pressing forward on this point against the express wishes of the leaders of the Anglican communion, knowing full well that this will lead to schism?\u00a0 (A lengthy article on \u201cIs the Gay Marriage Debate Over?\u201d is at Christianity Today, here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 Evidence of the Fall, Items #5-7: \u201cPolice said about 150 dead dogs were found packed in freezers in the basement of a Michigan home where more than 110 live dogs, mostly Chihuahuas, were rescued this week.\u00a0 Investigators in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn said the two-story house\u00a0was littered with feces and trash. The 54-year-old man who lives there was taken to a hospital for observation. Police said the man appeared confused and disoriented.\u201d\u00a0 Good grief<\/a>.\u00a0 And<\/a>: a 77-year-old man underwent a surgery to become a 77-year-old woman.\u00a0 And finally<\/a>: apparently Michael Jackson\u2019s prosthetic nose went missing from the morgue where his autopsy was performed.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0 We have followed the story of an 8-year-old girl who was raped in Phoenix by four boys 9-13.\u00a0 The reaction of the parents, who are Liberian refugees and seemed to blame the girl and exonerate the boys, has sparked<\/a> an outcry.\u00a0 Liberan President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, condemned the family\u2019s response.<\/p>\n Sirleaf has tried to combat rape in recent years, seeking to dispel stigmas by publicly acknowledging that she was herself the victim of attempted rape during the country\u2019s civil war.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But experts who study the developing world say the parents\u2019 reaction highlights the struggles of many women around the globe.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re always being blamed for everything,\u201d said Monica Westin, founder of World of Hope International, which promotes human rights. \u201cIt\u2019s always the girl\u2019s fault. There\u2019s no gender equality.\u201d<\/p>\n Westin said West African refugees often keep in touch with friends and relatives back home and try to maintain their culture. Many have grown up uneducated and find it hard to change their customs.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n If it is true, as I argued, that different cultures have different besetting sins, then perhaps assimilation is not always a bad idea\u2013or, at least, maintaining what is best in one\u2019s native culture and yet inheriting also what is best in the culture in America.<\/p>\n #6: The United States of Vinland?\u00a0 Perhaps<\/a>.<\/p>\n #7.\u00a0 Finally, Today\u2019s Two-Sides: A fine article<\/a> from a liberal perspective on the Skip Gates profiling case, and a detailed response <\/a>from a conservative position.\u00a0 Also, Mark Steyn is always hilarious<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have a great weekend!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1.\u00a0 ChristianHistory.net has offered a series of stories on missionaries to the east.\u00a0 Today they profile another one of the greats: Hudson Taylor.\u00a0 Taylor left England in 1853 at the tender age of 21; he set himself apart from other missionaries by disdaining their worldliness and choosing to adopt the clothing and styles of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n