Overseas Campus Magazine is an evangelistic periodical targeting overseas Chinese students and scholars. Its purpose is to make its reader aware of the Bible, to answer their search for truth, and to encourage them to respond in faith to Jesus Christ. This will be a step toward the reality of evangelizing China.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective is to publish regularly Overseas Campus Magazine in North America and to distribute also in other places overseas, including Mainland China.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES

1. To upgrade the writing and editing skills of overseas Chinese students and scholars that they in turn may be able to carry on a literary ministry to (in) Mainland China.
2. To support current ministries among Chinese scholars.
3. To research mission strategies and apologetic topics.
4. To recommend to its readers materials for evangelism, basic doctrine, spiritual growth, and training.

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

We hold to the Evangelical Faith, believing in the absolute authority of the Bible and proclaiming the fundamentals of the Gospel. We uphold the Biblical view on democracy, freedom, and righteousness. We have no political bias.

FREQUENCY OF PUBLICATION

Overseas Campus Magazine is published bimonthly, 6 Issues a year. Special Issue for New Believers is published twice a year.

CONTENTS

Contents will be arranged in progressive level of depth leading from hearing the Gospel which brings awareness of personal need, then on to searching the truth, and finally responding the faith - three important steps.

1. Awareness - About 30 percent of the articles will give glimpses of personal life, student life, current affairs, life style, etc.
2. Searching - Around 50 percent will be given to this. Each issue will be centered around a special theme. There will be questions and answers on faith, quotations, parables, cartoons, and testimonies.
3. Response of (in) Faith - About 20 percent will be given to initial steps of faith, explanation of fundamental doctrines, testimonies of new believer, etc.

In 1978 mainland China instituted its "visiting scholars" policy. From that time, over 300,000 students and scholars have gone abroad. They have left China with liberated and open hearts, to fulfil the catchcry, "As China goes out to the world, the world goes out to China". These students and scholars are the cream of China's intellectuals, and it is literature which is the ideal medium for reaching them. The written word knows no barriers of time or place and it can penetrate people's hearts. By making use of the written word, church groups and individual believers can work together "in all wisdom" to bring about "As China goes out to the Gospel, the Gospel goes out to China". An evangelistic magazine produced especially for intellectuals from China and using their own thought patterns should be of immense help to the churches in their evangelistic ministry. It was to make this vision a reality that in November 1992 the first issue of "Overseas Campus" magazine was published in U.S.A.

"Overseas Campus" is a 48-page bi-monthly. Its contents range from the everyday to the more profound, covering three levels of readership:

• for readers who have had no previous contact with the Gospel - chats about ordinary daily life, impressions of living abroad, review of current events, the arts ...

• for inquirers - life's pathways (testimonies), discussions of cultural issues, perspectives on faith...

• for those on the point of decision and for new believers - the Christian walk, Scriptural truths and principles...

In 1997 two additional issues were published. "Special Issues for New Believers" is addressed to new believers who have already made their decisions to follow Christ. The theme of the March issue is "Sin", of the November issue "Faith". In coming days "Overseas Campus" intends to expand its training and teaching ministry using the three tracks of literature, conferences and personal discipleship.

"Overseas Campus" in its ministry aims not only to produce a periodical to meet immediate evangelistic needs, but also to look ahead to the more distant goal of the evangelization of China; to view China's history, culture, life issues and daily life from the standpoint of Christian faith and in the light of Jesus' teaching, to reach out to as yet unreached people, places and domains that the truth of the Gospel make take root right across China and bear fruit in the lives of her people.

Currently we print just on 20,000 copies of each issue of the magazine. About half of these are for distribution within the United States while the rest go to more than forty different countries. Many churches and fellowship groups are using the magazines in their visitation, counseling and small group programmers. For them "Overseas Campus" has become an indispensable tool for their ministry to scholars from China. Many western mission organizations, too, are beginning to value and use it. Overseas students in many different parts of the world are now using the Internet to read the best of the articles in "Overseas Campus" magazine since its foundation. Overall, we estimate that more than 60,000 scholars from China are regularly reading this publication.

We invite you to join in this vital ministry by your prayers, your written contributions, your suggestions and your gifts.

History about the Publication of MCTEE

Many Chinese intellectuals have accepted Christ after the 1989 Incident, but most of them have difficulties dedicating themselves to Christ completely and living a Christ-centered life. Since many Chinese intellectuals and students will return to China after their study overseas, it is a golden opportunity to offer them sound Biblical training while they are still in a more liberated environment. Thus, it will equip them to become the leaders of the church when they go back to China.

With such a need in mind, four evangelical organizations were inspired to co-sponsor a camp with the goal of equipping and nourishing newly-believing and dedicated overseas Chinese intellectual Christians. Since December of 1996, four camps of "Overseas Chinese School of Servanthood" were organized in California and Texas.

Because it is not possible to have training camps like these worldwide, the ministerial coworkers of these training camps were asked to publish training materials in book formats. Early in 1998, at the urge of Rev. S. Glaw of the Chinese Lending Library in Germany (who was also a missionary of OMF), and after lengthy and extensive discussions, more than ten pastors and ministers finally decided on the content and format of "Theological Extension Education for Mainland Chinese Intellectuals" (MCTEE). Rev. Edwin Su of Overseas Campus Magazine (OCM) would be the editor-in-chief for this publication.

In March 1998, Rev. Su attended a "Mainland Chinese Diaspora Ministry Retreat" in Hong Kong, and there the proposal of publishing MCTEE was greatly confirmed by the attending missionaries who were directly with overseas Chinese intellectuals all over the world. They felt especially excited that MCTEE would be written mostly by authors from China and ministers who were deeply involved in Mainland Chinese ministry. It should be more pinpoint the needs and the thinking patterns of Mainland Chinese intellectuals.

From December of 1998 to October of 2000, four series on "Faith", "Bible", "Theology", and "Ministry" were published. Each series contained seven books. For the purpose of compactness, the content of each book were condensed into a course consisting of eight lessons and discussion sessions. These 28 books of training materials were written by 20 distinguished Christian writers, speakers and seminary teachers with their teaching notes incorporated along with students' responses, and then assembled and edited by OCM coworkers.

Currently, MCTEE is printed in 5"x8" book format in traditional Chinese characters, and is also published into 3"x5" small booklets (by OMF in Hong Kong) and CD-ROM both with simplified Chinese characters. Also, Chinese Christians Internet Mission has setup a pilot web site (www.chinapeixun.org) for a MCTEE correspondence course.

From 2003 to 2005, OCM will expand the MCTEE to seven series, adding three series on "Christian Living", "Leadership", and "Mission".