So I know that a lot of us are disappointed in the fact that Jimmer never found his place in the nba. I know a lot of us thought he was good enough or that he wasn’t getting a fair chance or whatever… but I’m confident that in the big picture of things it doesn’t really matter if he did or didn’t. In fact, it is probably better that he didn’t because the nba, in my opinion, doesn’t represent a whole lot that is good or wholesome or worth emulating.
My personal opinion has always been that it doesn’t matter because ultimately our Heavenly Father is running this show and he does what he needs to to get us where he wants us to be. He does that for all of his children, whether we are here in the US or any other part of the world.
There are reasons Jimmer ended up in China and they are more important than a silly game. I saw a post on cougarboard and there was a comment about him being in China -
So my BIL is Jimmer’s Branch President. He just did a fireside for the youth in Shanghai and I got the rundown. Jimmer is an impressive dude and both the organization he plays for, coaches, and fans are SERIOUSLY impressed with Jimmer (and not just because of what he does on the court).
He is doing some impressive stuff and I wouldn’t be surprised if he helps the missionary cause there.
I think this is the real reason he ended up in China…
The LDS church does not let foreigners meet with the Chinese except under special circumstances.
Congregations of Chinese nationals in many of the major cities. Some have foreign member branches as well.
Well over a million Chinese people studying and working abroad have led many to find Christianity and Mormonism in particular. Mission work in China, for the church as for any religious organization, is highly restricted. But membership is freely available to any Chinese person unless one wants to be a Communist Party member which is carries its own restrictions and privileges as well.
Other Christian churches are growing too.
Christianity was well established in China before the Civil War and did not disappear after it. China was never as anti-religion as the Soviet Union was and the worst periods lasted much less than under the Soviets in Russia as well.
Temples in Hong Kong and Korea for temple trips are reasonably accessible, depending on where you live.
I’ve visited fully functioning centuries old Taoist and Buddhist temples. And of course the full panoply of Protestant and Catholic and Orthodox churches as well. Not what they were or as many as before the Communist won the Civil War but still surviving and now many are growing.
Before Mao we had missionaries in China. It could be said that we have gone to all 4 corners of the earth except for the heathen Muslim countries. And they won’t receive the missionaries until after the battle of Armageddon. It’s just a matter of when the Lord wants to return.
The church has volunteers doing good work in China right now–not missionary work, per se, but laying a good foundation for the future.
Niall Ferguson has done some calculations that, however suspect, and not completely unassailable, indicate that there are actually more practicing Christians in China today than there are in Europe.
I’ve had church meetings in more than one of those “heathen” Muslim countries. I do not share your optimism about the possibilities of Church membership in majority Muslim countries.