An Emerging Leader in China: An Interview with Rev. Ambroise
“We called the soldiers uncles…” said John Stott Ministries scholar, Ambroise Wang, as he described his childhood growing up in a non-Christian family in Jiangsu Province, China. Born in 1963, Ambroise grew up during the heart of China’s ten-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). At age six, he began talking with a Catholic priest. Ambroise had little knowledge of Christianity, and it was this man who shared the Gospel with him for the first time.
Upon accepting Christ, Ambroise continued in dialogue with this priest, learning more about the Gospel and of the state of Christianity and the church in China. Over the years, Ambroise continued to strengthen his faith, and to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. However, in 1989, upon completing his studies in Western literature, he decided to be baptized in St Paul’s Church, an Anglican Church in Nanjing. After his baptism, he felt a call to become a pastor and teacher.
In 1993, Ambroise began his M.A. in Religious Hermeneutics at Universite de Neuchatel in Switzerland. During and upon completion of his masters, Ambroise was provided with several key opportunities to share his vision for the church in China. In 1995, he was invited as a guest to the Vatican on Christmas Eve. In the spring of 2000, he was ordained in Nanjing’s Saint Paul’s Church by Bishop K.H. Ting. In 2001, he was invited by the U.S. State Department to visit Washington DC as a consultant concerning human rights and religious freedom in China.
Now a doctoral student of Theological Ethics of Systematic Theology at the University of Basel, Ambroise is studying and envisioning ways to build the church in China on biblically and theologically sound principles. He notes that twenty years ago theological education in China was nearly non-existent. Although great strides have been made, Ambroise observes that “there have always been Christians in China, but there is not a unified doctrinal church based on the Bible.”
In 2008, Ambroise will receive his Ph.D. and return with his wife, Penny, and son, Albert, to Nanjing Union Theological Seminary as Dean and Vice President. He attributes the fulfillment of his call to the church in China to God’s work through John Stott Ministries, and wishes to express his gratitude to the entire JSM family. Ambroise asks for continued prayer for Christians in China, for the rebuilding of the church on biblical doctrine and for awareness of the difficult issues facing the people of China. Pray for Ambroise that his doctoral studies may deepen his own biblical faith and his passion to unleash the next generation of Bible-preaching pastors.
To conclude, Ambroise states with hope and confidence, “The Chinese Christian will soon discover that when the church becomes the social conscience of the Chinese society, she will have grown out of childhood and into a flourishing youth.”