Christianity in Tibet - 2000s

2000s

Ü-Tsang དབུས་གཙང་

Tibetan nuns reading a gospel booklet. [Julian Hawken]

In the new millennium, the Spirit of God continued to move in the hearts and minds of Tibetan people, and the Chinese Church made more progress in its vision to reach Tibet. In 2003, several key house church leaders summarized their efforts to reach Tibet for Christ:

"The Tibetans and other strong Buddhist groups are in a sense even more difficult to reach than Muslims because Buddhists have absolutely no concept of a Creator God or of personal sin. Yet we have many evangelists working among Tibetans. Just in Lhasa City alone, we have almost 100 house church evangelists. While it is true that not many Tibetans have believed, a few small Tibetan fellowships have been established, and God is teaching our workers how to pray and work more effectively. They have learned that strategies used in other parts of China will not necessarily work in Tibet, so they are seeking God for revelation about how to win the Tibetans. When God gives the key, the door will open!"

Many of the Han Chinese missionaries sent to Tibet struggled because their sending churches had little or no structures in place to take care of their needs. Some were sent to Tibet on one-way tickets and a promise to pray for them when the Holy Spirit brought them to mind. Not surprisingly, without adequate care and support, many did not last long. A 2006 article shared the experiences of a Han missionary from Henan Province, and how he ultimately found a way to engage in effective ministry among Tibetans:

"This young man was sent by his church network as a missionary to Tibet with only a one-way ticket in his pocket and a heart full of passion and love towards the people. He spent almost a year there without prior training or support of any sort, and very soon he found himself begging for food on the streets of Lhasa in order to stay alive.... A situation like this is definitely not intentional; rather, it is a painful reality when facing the lack of resources and expertise for cross-cultural missionary training. In spite of all the problems, the story of this young missionary to Tibet has a happy ending; the experience did not crush his spirit nor alter his calling. He was more committed to cross-cultural missions than ever before. When I met with him again about a year later in Henan (he went back home after the ordeal in Tibet), he had brought with him a young lady who is also committed to missions. They want to get married and receive training together before heading to the mission field again!

When I prayed with this couple in that little hotel room, I felt I had a glimpse of the spirit of resilience and steadfastness that carried the house churches through all those years of persecutions and hardships. At that moment, the room became a sanctuary and prayer turned to worship!"