A rendition of a popular Adventist hymn by a 45-member choir of the Wuxi Seventh-day Adventist Church, "Lift up the Trumpet," welcomed Pastor Jan Paulsen on his first official visit to the People's Republic of China as the world president of the Adventist world church.

"I am often asked, 'How are our brothers and sisters in China?' Now, I will be able to say -- they are well and vibrant," Paulsen told the congregation of several hundred gathered in a 108-year-old city-center Protestant church, Wednesday, May 13. One of the Wuxi Adventist congregations packs this sanctuary every Sabbath.

The Adventist faith community throughout China is a growing body of believers, who are part of a larger Protestant Church in the country, whose activities are coordinated by the China Christian Council/Three-Self Patriotic Movement (CCC/TSPM). The Wuxi Adventist community, which makes up 10 percent of Protestant Christians in the metropolitan area, has 35 congregations.

Preaching on the meaning of the Christian gospel, Paulsen encouraged believers to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. "We are a witnessing community," he said.

Seventh-day Adventist believers are among the

three distinctive Christian groups in China, which includes the Little Flock and the True Jesus Church. Today, there are 20 million Protestant Christians in China, according to Council officials. There are nearly 400,000 Seventh-day Adventists in China worshiping in some 4,000 congregations, including house churches, throughout the country.

Some local congregations own their church buildings, like the newly-opened Dongting Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wuxi. But in other areas Adventist believers hold Sabbath services in Protestant churches. On Thursday morning, the

delegation visited the Dongting church, which opened last November. The new church complex can seat 1,200 and was designed to offer facilities to a variety of training programs and services.

"I cannot think of another church, even in the Western countries, built with such beauty and forethought to become a center that can respond to many needs," Paulsen said. "It underscores the importance of training lay people to play a greater role in responding to the community."

Paulsen commended church leaders and local authorities for their support in making this church project a reality. "We see growth and increase of

freedom. It is a testimony of progress that has been made," he said.

"When you protect religious freedom, the news spreads internationally," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday in Shanghai, Paulsen and leaders from the church's world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, and the Korea-based regional headquarters, were welcomed during a visit to Shanghai by Reverend Gao Feng, CCC/TSPM president.

In a symbolic act of the common Christian roots in the Holy Scriptures, Paulsen presented Reverend Gao with a copy of the Bible which Seventh-day Adventists are taking around the world in a "Follow the Bible" initiative. Launched in October, the initiative is taking a multi-language Bible to each of the church's world regions to emphasize Bible study. The initiative will culminate at the church's world business session in Atlanta in 2010.

"We brought this copy of the Bible with us to China as a symbolic act of our common commitment to the Scriptures," Paulsen said to the congregation in Wuxi, as together with Pastor Jairyong Lee, president of the church's Northern Asia-Pacific Division, they displayed the Bible.

Paulsen and Gao discussed challenges facing the Christian community in China and agreed to explore ways to provide more extensive training to ministers.

"We need to have more partnership and cooperation," Gao agreed. Such interest in exploring ways to further expand ministerial education, Paulsen said, would not only benefit the training of the current and future Adventist pastors, in particular, but could also meet the ministerial education needs of other Christian groups.

The Adventist delegation also met with the leaders of the Shanghai Christian Council, which coordinates the affairs of some 300,000 believers in the region. The delegation also discussed ministerial training for the region.

During a visit to the Shanghai city-center Protestant church headquarters, which is currently being renovated, Paulsen also said that the visit expressed a "special attachment to the international faith community ... as Adventist believers in China are a part of a larger faith family."

Chinese-born Pastor Eugene Hsu, a general vice president of the world church, is coordinating the week-long visit to China of Paulsen and the Adventist delegation. Following Shanghai and Wusi, the itinerary includes stops in Shenyang and Beijing with visits to the State Administration of Religious Affairs, the Northeast Seminary and Yanjing Seminary, the provincial and city Christian Councils, as well as meeting with three Adventist congregations.