Grace Alum’s Book on China Reviewed in CT
Posted by Terry White on September 23, 2006
The October, 2006, special 50th anniversary edition of Christianity Today magazine carries a review of Jesus Never Left China, a recent book by Grace College alumnus Werner Burklin.
Burklin, who earned a B.A. degree in history at Grace in 1960, is a missionary, evangelist, teacher, and reporter. He was born in China to German missionaries, and has made more than 75 trips to China.
Burklin has ministered in 125 countries, was an executive with Youth For Christ, directed Billy Graham conferences for itinerant evangelists, and is the founder of China Partner.
An article in the Brethren Missionary Herald magazine in May of 1960 says that Grace Seminary alumnus Rev. Robert Munn and Rev. and Mrs. Florent Toirac taught at the European Bible Institute in Paris. As a result of that ministry, Frederick Burklin came to Grace for schooling, and two years later his brother, Werner, followed him to Winona Lake.
The CT review says that Burklin’s book “castigates overseas evangelicals that he says are perpetuating the gulf between state-approved churches and illegal house churches.”
Returning to the land of his birth in 1981, Burklin was surprised at the warm reception he received from China’s state-controlled church, contrary to warnings that he had received from underground Chinese house church leaders.
The review says, “Burklin is well placed to advise the state to open up the religious market—much like the nation’s fast-growing and diverse economy—to attain true reconciliation, rather than forcing churches to work with Communist Party ideologues, propagandists, and police.”
The 300-page hardbound book retails for $30.98 and is available through pleasantword.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com. It is subtitled “The Rest of the Story: The Untold Story of the Church in China Now Exposed.”
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