Over a hundred years ago, Western missionaries came to China from far and wide to share the good news. In addition to building churches and preaching, they opened schools and established hospitals to plant the seeds of the Gospel.
A male believer C (pseudonym for safety reasons) is a leader of a medical ministry in southern China. Interviewed by the “Christian Times”, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, he shared the importance of medical services and the unique advantages of Chinese medicine.
Brother C said that the Chinese church has been slowly emerging over the past few decades, but in the process, it has made a serious mistake: The Chinese church has lost its most effective means of evangelism.
Brother C believes that the best way to evangelize is to show someone that you love them before you even say to them: "Jesus loves you.” When people see that you love them, they will ask: "Why do you love me so much?” But then you give them the message that it is not really me who is loving you - it is Jesus who is loving you.
C added that there were several ways to express love: The first one is to pay attention to their physical and mental health through medical care and education. This was why C and others were determined to do medical work.
Compared with direct evangelism, medical and educational missions have a great advantage, that is, a kind of prior love. It is an effective strategy of evangelism to serve people first with love, and then share the Gospel.
C found that for Western medicine, professionals are needed in each department with many examination instruments. "If you provide medical services with Chinese medicine, one doctor of traditional Chinese medicine is almost enough without needing to bring along too many instruments. He just takes along traditional Chinese medicines plus acupuncture equipment. The doctor is a general practitioner who manages many common diseases," he said.
But Western medicine is different, C continued. The division of labor in Western medicine is very detailed and many doctors can’t treat diseases outside of their specialty. Moreover, Western medicine needs professional equipment too expensive for a regular medical service. Moreover, it is inconvenient to take this equipment along on visits. Western medical services are too specialized or target a too-small group of patients.
Brother C urged that God has given a great mission and commission to the Chinese church and that Chinese believers need to make good use of the unique advantages of Chinese medicine. "We need to vigorously carry out medical services and give people first of all our love."
- Translated by Abigail Wu
