Under the invitation from Baptist World Alliance, Rev. Xu Xiaohong, Secretary General of National Committee of TSPM, Rev. Wen Ge, Faculty of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary attended the 20^th Baptist World Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA from July 28 to Aug. 1, 2010. The theme of this congress is “Hear the Spirit”.

BWA has started the friendship with the Protestant Church in China since 1980s. CCC/TSPM sent representatives to attend several Baptist World Congresses before. Rev. David Coffey, President of BWA, sent the invitation to CCC/TSPM during his visit to China last January. Rev. David Coffey showed positive attitude to the space for the development of religious freedom and the great accomplishment the Protestant Church has gained within nearly 30 years after visiting churches in China. CCC/TSPM delegation’s presence at this congress not only strengthened the friendly communication between the Protestant Church in China and ecumenical churches and enhance the mutual understanding and cooperation.

More than 1,000 representatives from 105 countries and regions attended the congress. Besides the representatives from Baptist Churches, some representatives from ecumenical church organizations were also invited to attend the congress. There were 8 celebrations around the theme of “Hear the Spirit” being held during the congress. The speakers from Europe, North America, Latin America and Africa illustrated the necessity of hearing the Spirit. They also explained how to redefine the mission and responsibility for the Baptist Churches through learning Bible and preaching, how to face the post-modern challenge through strengthening proclamation; meanwhile, the speakers declared the liberty and freedom brought by Holy Spirit and the importance to promote the unity of church and start the inter-faith dialogues.

During the theme gathering hosted by Rev. David Coffey at the night of July 31, Rev. Xu Xiaohong introduced the rapid development of the Protestant Church in China to over 1,000 attendees, including the Bible and devotional books’ publication ministry, the church unity during the post-denominational period, the necessity of insisting on the Three-Self Principle, and the Chinese characteristic way of spreading the gospel. With accurate figures, biblical understanding and humorous words, his speech was applauded by the audience for several times. All the attendees thanked to God for the great accomplishment that the Protestant Church in China achieved. After Rev. Xu finished his speech, some people even said “Thank you” in Chinese to him. Some Chinese pastors also expressed their pride on the representative from Chinese Church being able to deliver a speech at Baptist World Congress on behalf of global Chinese believers.