Dear Praying Friends:
In the fall of 1975, Dori and I were sent out as missionaries by the Chapel Hill Bible Church. After six months in Singapore, we settled in Taiwan, first for two years of language study and then for seven years of ministry in Taipei. We served in a Chinese church, and I taught Greek and New Testament in the China Evangelical Seminary. I also sometimes taught the staff of Campus Evangelical Fellowship.
We returned to the United States permanently in 1988, mostly to care for our aged mothers. From 1989 to 2015, we lived in Charlottesville, Virginia, where, working in and through Trinity Presbyterian Church, we reached out to Chinese students, scholars, and their families. During those years I also made about thirty trips to Taiwan and Mainland China. We relocated to Texas in 2015 to be closer to our daughter and her family.
Throughout these five decades, our faithful God has protected us, provided for us, and given us the immense privilege and joy of being a small part of his global mission to make Christ known among the Gentiles, especially ethnic Chinese.
Like all Christians, of course – indeed, all people! – we have had our share of difficulties, some of them quite severe. Never, however, has our faithful Father forsaken us, nor has our loving Lord Jesus abandoned us or taken his Holy Spirit from us. Always, God has strengthened us and showered us with his grace, usually through the ministry of our loyal prayer partners – you!
2025 – A Year of Blessing
How can we adequately describe God’s kindnesses to us so far in 2025? Next month, we will make note of some of his blessings to us personally and in our church. In the rest of this letter, let me note a few ministry highlights.
(For more about our ministry and our ministry partners, go to www.reachingchineseworldwide.org.)
TAIWAN
After twelve years’ absence, I was able to return to Taiwan for the month of April, accompanied by my great-nephew Edward Doyle, the grandson of my late brother Peter. What an eventful and happy time that was!
With immense pleasure, I saw about 20 former students from the China Evangelical Seminary and almost as many members of the church in which we had served. I was thrilled to hear how God had been with them and used them to bless many others over the years. He had been faithful to them as well as to us.
CHINESE SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS
For the first time since we arrived in Texas, the Lord has provided us with the blessing of taking part in a Mandarin-speaking group, the Chinese Sunday school class in our church. Started early in the year by a couple from China, the class opens with two or three songs in Chinese. Then I lead-teach a study on John’s Gospel. In the past ten months or so, we have grown in our knowledge of each other and of God’s Word.
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF CHINESE CHRISTIANITY (BDCConline.net)
This growing online repository of brief biographies of Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries stands at the top of my writing priorities. I love doing the research on these people, who were all outstanding in their time. Their lives demonstrate the faithfulness of God, provide examples of faithful followers of Christ, and refute the lies and slanders of critics. Dr. Yading Li, my co-editor, has contributed more than 250 stories to the Chinese page. The BDCC now has about 480,000 visits a year. Soli Deo Gloria!
FAITHFUL FRIENDS
Thank you for your faithful support over all these years, including 2025. May God richly reward you.
Yours in his faithful love,
Wright and Dori
PS If you would like to contribute to our ministry you can go to reachingchineseworldwide.org/give or https://www.bdcconline.net/en/donate, or send a check to China Institute, PO Box 7312, Charlottesville, VA 22906.