Rev. Erik Burklin

Erik Burklin leads China Partner, whose mission is to serve the church in China as it fulfills the Great Commission. Under his leadership the ministry trains current and future Chinese Christian leaders with needed ministry insights and methods, provides Christian literature to Chinese leaders, churches and ministry training centers, and links ministries and individuals outside China with churches inside China by teaching about China's culture and its church. China Partner commits to being transparent in its ministry and to complying with Chinese law.

Church leaders in Hubei Province describe what the training has changed — starting small groups so believers connect and grow, strengthening marriages, and discipling others who will train others in turn. Short-term teaching teams conduct Pastoral Training Seminars in seminaries, Bible schools and training centers, and pastors and theological schools receive free workbooks and mini-libraries of study Bibles, concordances, dictionaries and commentaries.

In May 2026 Erik traveled to Taipei, Shanghai, Nanchang, Guangzhou and Hong Kong to reconnect with pastors, church leaders and longtime friends — strengthening key relationships and encouraging Christian leaders during an important season for the church in China.

Erik joined China Partner in 1993 and has been its president since 2001, when the board appointed him to succeed his father, founder Werner Bürklin, who was born in Wuhu, China, and went home to be with his Savior in June 2020. In 2025 the ministry marked 100 years since Erik's grandparents, Gustav and Lina Bürklin, began serving in Jiangxi province with Hudson Taylor's China Inland Mission. Before China Partner, Erik served with Youth for Christ in South Florida and at its national office in Denver, and he received his M.Div. from Denver Theological Seminary in 2010. He and his wife, Tammy, live in Colorado.