Iantha Scheiwe | Mission of Christ Network, Hong Kong
Although other areas of China have curbed the virus, Hong Kong has not turned the corner. Gatherings cannot be more than 2 people and there are other restrictions, so they are still operating in a virtual environment, meaning church services and bible studies are still virtual. Iantha sees this as an opportunity to attend more seminars and studies. Normally, if a study was offered through the Concordia Mission Institute it would mean travel to other places; now that they are virtual, Iantha can choose to attend and learn new things.
The current study is “Culture Meets Scripture” which teaches mission workers to look at the cultural influences and try to adapt those aspects into their Christian outreach. She gave an example in her recent newsletter in that many people in Hong Kong pray to a spiritual gatekeeper before going to feed their ancestors during grave-sweeping festivals. She learned that God, too, assigns angels as gate keepers (i.e., Genesis 3, Numbers 22, Revelation 21). These angels are given assignments from God for the purpose of our protection - a very different role and power than the gatekeepers being prayed to at the Hong Kong temples. This chages her conversations with a person in this culture from one of saying simply that there is no reason to believe in this gate keeper to one that explores the trut of God’s power and relationships with other spiritual beings She plans to continue these conversations with people in the community and I look forward to being invited into the “underlying beliefs”-area of their daily living.
Iantha asks for prayers for her family: one daughter injured her finger badly and another is recovering from COVID.