EMQ » April–June 2019 » Volume 55 Issue 2
By Debbie D. Philip
William Carey Publishing, 2018
Pasadena, CA
176 pages
ISBN: 978-0878080724
USD $14.99
Reviewed by Richard Cook, PhD, Associate Professor of Church History and Missions at Logos Evangelical Seminary in El Monte, California and former missionary in Taiwan.
Heading Home with Jesus, by Debbie Philip, provides insights for preparing Chinese scholars who convert to Christianity in the West to return home to China. Philip is concerned that not all Chinese Christian converts maintain their faith when they return home. She provides data and suggestions for United States Christians to help Chinese Christians re-acclimate to their home country in light of their new-found faith.
The book is based on over one hundred interviews with Chinese scholars who became Christians in the West. As part of Philip’s PhD research, these interviews were possible due to her more than twenty years of ministry experience among Chinese students. The book includes suggested readings, but there is no bibliography. The footnotes show that Philip has interacted with major scholars such as Fenggang Yang, Gordon T. Smith, Lewis Rambo, Christopher J.H. Wright, and Carolyn Chen. She does not reference Chinese language sources but occasionally includes Chinese terms.
The book contains five parts. Part 1 provides an innovative diagram to help readers visualize the process of a Chinese person crossing from their home culture into Western culture, coming to faith, and then returning home to China. As they travel, they carry a “Personal Framework” consisting of values, master stories, power concepts, self-concepts, and social bonds (categories developed by Charles Taylor). Philp’s study focuses on the factors that influence whether Chinese converts are transformed in these fundamental areas of their life.
Part 2 offers a summary of modern Chinese history, politics, and religion. Part 3 tells the story of seven of her interviewees. These diverse stories will especially broaden the knowledge of readers who may only have one or two Chinese friends.
Part 4 gets to the heart of the research. Philip focuses on nineteen interviewees and examines their core values. Before their conversion, their values perhaps focused on academic and professional achievement or a desire to feel loved. After conversion, their values typically include caring for family, desiring to be close to God, and caring for others in general.
Of these nineteen interviewees, only twelve are attending a church. The seven who are not attending church express fewer Christian values. “They lacked a community of people who shared a Christian story, identity, and values” (130). Those who returned and have remained the most faithful are those who were able to develop a “new story,” a “new boss,” and a “new identity.” And maybe most importantly, they are part of a new family, a Christian community.
Part 5 concludes with practical ideas of how Christians in the West can help. Most powerfully, Philip suggests that new Chinese Christians must understand they are “disciples and disciple makers—not consumers.”
This book will be of most value to Western Christians doing evangelism and discipleship with Chinese scholars. Chinese pastors and churches in the West will also benefit from the book. It provides insightful case studies and significant material for deeper reflection and discussion.
For Further Reading
Bays, Daniel H. A New History Christianity in China. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. Third Edition. New York: Norton, 2012.
