By Ross Paterson
Sovereign World. 238 pages. £14.99
ISBN 1 85240 268 7
This is a completely revised edition of the best-seller first published ten years ago. China accounts for one-fifth of the world's population, and over the last ten years she has been through massive changes and continues to do so. Paterson sets out to inform all Christians of the current situation as accurately as possible, and does this well.
The first section addresses the conflicting information from China and pleads for people to hear all of it. China is a vast country and conditions vary. There is still a desperate need for Bibles, literature and books in a country where the church is expanding at a phenomenal rate. But the writer also describes the 55 minority groups in China who make up only 8.1% of her population, but represent no less than 102 million people, including millions of Muslims to whom the gospel has never been taken. He also explains and evaluates the contribution of 'short-term teams' and the longer-term work of Christian professionals within China, and in both cases there is wise advice and practical examples.
