Back To Jerusalem
Encyclopedia
The Back To Jerusalem movement (Chinese:传回耶路撒冷运动) is a Christian
evangelistic
campaign begun in China
by Chinese believers to send missionaries
to all of the Buddhist, Hindu
, and Muslim
peoples who live "between" China and Jerusalem. They believe that the Back to Jerusalem Movement is a call from God for the Chinese church to preach the gospel and establish fellowships of believers in all countries, cities, towns, and ethnic groups between China and Jerusalem. The BTJ vision was first conceived during the 1920s by Chinese students at the Northwest Bible Institute, however government restrictions and persecution forced the movement to go underground for decades, and its leader Simon Zhao spent 40 years in prison in Kashgar.
Since 2003, the most vocal international proponent of "Back to Jerusalem" has been the exiled Chinese house church
leader Liu Zhenying a.k.a. "Brother Yun". But many Christian leaders in China, such as Samuel Lamb
have distanced themselves from Yun and his foreign-funded organisation. Yun intended for "Back to Jerusalem" to evangelize fifty-one countries by sending a minimum of 100,000 missionaries along the Silk Road
, an ancient trade route that winds from China to the Mediterranean Sea
. Tony Lambert
doubts the numbers claimed by outsiders such as Yun are not substantiated, but the ongoing work of evangelism, both within China and beyond its borders, is being done anonymously by Chinese church members, who make no appeals for money.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
evangelistic
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
campaign begun in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
by Chinese believers to send missionaries
Mission (Christian)
Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
to all of the Buddhist, Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
, and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
peoples who live "between" China and Jerusalem. They believe that the Back to Jerusalem Movement is a call from God for the Chinese church to preach the gospel and establish fellowships of believers in all countries, cities, towns, and ethnic groups between China and Jerusalem. The BTJ vision was first conceived during the 1920s by Chinese students at the Northwest Bible Institute, however government restrictions and persecution forced the movement to go underground for decades, and its leader Simon Zhao spent 40 years in prison in Kashgar.
Since 2003, the most vocal international proponent of "Back to Jerusalem" has been the exiled Chinese house church
Chinese house church
Chinese house churches are a religious movement of unregistered assemblies of Christians in the People's Republic of China, which operate independently of the government-run Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council for Protestant groups and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic...
leader Liu Zhenying a.k.a. "Brother Yun". But many Christian leaders in China, such as Samuel Lamb
Samuel Lamb
Samuel Lamb or Lin Xiangao is a Christian pastor in Guangzhou, China. He is a leader in the Chinese house church movement, and known for his resistance against participation in the churches of the state-controlled "Three-Self Patriotic Movement"....
have distanced themselves from Yun and his foreign-funded organisation. Yun intended for "Back to Jerusalem" to evangelize fifty-one countries by sending a minimum of 100,000 missionaries along the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
, an ancient trade route that winds from China to the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. Tony Lambert
Tony Lambert
Tony Lambert is a former British diplomat to Beijing, China and Tokyo, Japan and author of several significant books regarding Christianity in China.-Works authored:* China's Christian Millions ...
doubts the numbers claimed by outsiders such as Yun are not substantiated, but the ongoing work of evangelism, both within China and beyond its borders, is being done anonymously by Chinese church members, who make no appeals for money.