Tuesday
Nearly 90% of the global Christmas-related gift or products are manufactured in China. Since the world financial crisis in 2008, although the amount of products exported from China continued to grow, the profit margin thinned to only 5% due to the rising cost of raw materials, labor, and the appreciation of the renminbi and many factories have been barely able to stay profitable. Many churches will be hosting special Christmas programs in the coming weeks and we pray for their efforts to bring new people to church. May this be a special opportunity to share and introduce Jesus to people who live in their neighborhoods.
Wednesday
In recent years Christmas has become a special holiday celebrated by many families in China. It is common for Chinese parents to worry about what Christmas gift to give to their only child and where to eat the big Christmas meal. Should they host a Christmas party? Should they tell their child the story of Santa Claus or not? Chinese children and young people are very much into celebrating Christmas but the true meaning of Jesus' birth is totally lost in China. We pray for believers that they would at least boldly share the true meaning of Christmas with someone this season and not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thursday
The higher standard of medical services in recent times has increased the need for donated blood which is estimated to be about 70,000 donations daily and it is predicted to rise to 120,000 daily in four years. However, in spite of the government's repeated efforts to promote blood donations, Chinese people in general are unwilling to donate. Only 8.7% of the population have ever given blood versus 45.5% in other high-income countries. Giving without public recognition or expressed appreciation is not common in China. In the Buddhist temples the names of donors are usually carved and displayed in stone. Many believers prefer to serve in prominent and visible positions or ministries rather than hidden ones. We pray for the spirit of selfless giving and serving in the church, not seeking praise from people but doing it to please our Lord.
Friday
Chinese people are afraid to donate blood because in the 1980's many people in Henan sold blood to earn money and through that due to the use of contaminated equipment contacted AIDS and the fear still lingers. Another reason for a shortage of blood is that there has been a great migration of the population to the cities and thus the cities find themselves in short supply of the blood needed for medical use. Many Chinese believers are not willing to give what they should to the church because there is a lingering doubt concerning the misuse of church offerings. We know it will take a lot to change this feeling of mistrust as well as the lack of transparency regarding church finances in general but we ask the Lord to evolve this way of thinking into one where believers are generous and rich in all kinds of good deeds.
Saturday
The new edition of the “Xinhua Zidian” takes into account that Taiwan and Hong Kong have retained more traditional forms of writing Chinese than China where it was radically simplified in 1939. The new dictionary contains 13,000 terms but 1,500 characters also written in the old way have been included in this edition. More and more events are being held and attended by believers from the mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. We thank the Lord for the vastly increased exchange of believers of different regional backgrounds. We remember in prayer all the training in the church conducted inside China by believers from Taiwan and Hong Kong which seems to be better tolerated by the government than that by overseas Chinese.
Sunday
Terms that are no longer applicable to modern life like “meiyou” (kerosene) or “hezuoshe” (agricultural co-operative) have been removed from the 2011 edition of the dictionary. New terms include harmony, media, good of the people, and migrant worker. Many young people have difficulty understanding some of the terms in the Bible simply because the current favorite Chinese Bible was translated a century ago. We pray for the use of several new Chinese versions of the Bible but even more importantly that the churches in China can speak the same language as the young people on the street and those who grew up with the internet.
Monday
When they say, “Good bye” in China people often say, “Bye bye”. But until now there was no Chinese way of writing that. There is now. Beijing’s guardians of the language have deemed “Bai bai” the correct written form and it has been included in the new edition of China’s best-known dictionary. Honestly speaking, the majority of the churches in China have difficulty attracting young people to come there. One reason is that the churches do not address the issues that teens and youth face. We thank the Lord for the young Christians and ask the Lord to bless them with not only the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus but boldness to share their faith with their unbelieving and even resistant parents rather than being a secret follower of Jesus.
" Building Church Leaders Training Tools" Building Church Leaders is a ministry intended to provide Chinese churches a wide variety of leadership Training Tools in Chinese via downloads through BCL website.
星期二
全球近90%的聖誕節禮品產自中國，自08年金融危機後，出口雖繼續保持增長，但由於物價上漲、原料和人工成本上升及人民幣升值等因素影響，許多廠商的利潤率僅5%左右，甚至處於虧損邊緣。許多教會正籌備聖誕特別聚會，藉此邀請未信朋友來認識救主的降生，我們為這個寶貴機會向神禱告，求主預備人心來就近祂；又為信徒們有熱誠、有信心和勇氣發出邀請，與鄰舍和親友分享這個大好的信息。
星期三
中國興起慶祝聖誕節的潮流，家長們都費心如何給寶貝一個繽紛的聖誕 —去餐廳吃大餐？購買聖誕禮物？在家辦個聖誕聯歡會？還是給孩子講講聖誕老人的故事？這是眾多家長近期最為關心的話題。中國的孩子和年輕人特別喜歡慶祝聖誕，但大部份人其實對聖誕的真義毫不知情。求主賜給中國信徒大有膽量，並在生活中有美好見證，能與朋友分享神子耶穌降生的意義，也能將基督救恩清楚講明白。
星期四
按現時醫療服務量的增長測算，中國每天需有約7萬人捐血，而四年之後將增至12萬人。然而中國人對無償捐血的觀念十分薄弱，儘管政府積極鼓勵捐血，但效果不彰，人口捐血率只有8.7%，遠遠低於世界高收入國家的45.4%。在中國寺廟中，捐贈者大名是以金字刻在石柱為記，沒有掌聲及讚賞的事少有人做。在神的兒女中，很多人捨默默的服事，而選擇突出和顯眼的事工。求主幫助我們學習捨己，賜給我們不求掌聲而是單單要討主歡喜的心志。
星期五
中國人害怕捐血是因上世紀河南地區許多人賣血賺錢時，在沒有衛生保護情況下染上艾滋病，以致現今對捐血仍有陰影。此外，大量患者流向醫療資源相對集中的大城市和中心城市，導致用血量大增，都市血液缺口明顯。好些中國信徒不願盡自己本份奉獻，最大原因是對教會的財政運作沒信心。這跟教會的財政不透明是相關聯的，求主改變信徒這種心態，賜給我們一顆單純作在主身上的心，也在各樣善事上成為富足。
星期六
新版《新華字典》考慮到台灣和香港仍保留的中國傳統正體字，新版字典中有13000條款，1500正體字被納入。自從1949年後，大陸開始使用簡體字。這兩年來，大陸與台灣和香港的信徒有更多一起相聚的特會及聚會的機會，我們要為此感謝神，讓來自不同背景的弟兄姐妹能彼此學習勉勵。我們特別記念台灣、香港教會在各地的培訓。許多事工近年來比較穩定，少受干擾，我們為他們所作的感恩。
星期日
新版《新華字典》新增若干與國計民生相關的詞語，譬如在「民」字的解釋中添加「民生」，「關注民生」；「和」字中新增「和諧」一詞；「工」字的例證中新增「農民工」。也取消了「煤油」或「合作社」等舊名詞。教會使用最普遍的和合本聖經，是一百年前翻譯的白話文，但是對80後的年輕人，許多詞句都很陌生甚至難以理解。現有幾種不同的中文聖經版本，我們為它們能被使用，幫助信徒明白神的話來禱告。更重要的是，中國教會能跟在大街上行走的年輕人和那些在互聯網長大的一代，有共同的語言來溝通。
星期一
《新華字典》第11版根據時代的變化，本次修訂包括增補字音。比如中國人道別時常說的「拜拜」，也成為正式的中文字，而「拜」加入新的讀音bái。絕大多數的中國教會在吸引年輕人踏進教會有相當的難度，其中一大原因就是教會不能從年輕人的角度來溝通。我們要為教會中的年輕信徒感恩，願神祝福他們，不單有聖經的知識，也有膽量能公開他們的信仰，告訴不信主的父母神的救恩。
《建造教會領袖》事工所推出的訓練材料，是一套全面性和實用性的領袖訓練指南，幫助你培養領袖，使他們能同時兼顧聖經原則和從策略性的角度來思考教會的事工。
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