ALL THE WAY BACK TO JERUSALEM

 

China is no longer just on the receiving end of missions! Fanning out through the western provinces and across Central Asia are messengers burning with a passion to plant vibrant churches that will penetrate the darkness of the region. Graduating classes brim with excitement as well as apprehension as they anticipate the daunting task God has called them to do. But all of these committed messengers to foreign cross-cultural ministry have already been exposed to great danger and risks. As China tightens up on the religious activity of thousands upon thousands of house churches, just studying subjects on spiritual warfare, cross-cultural training, ministry to Muslims and language study is extremely risky. It could lead to possible imprisonment with long sentences in horrible prison settings. It could lead to beatings, various forms of torture and lack of food and other privations. Yet the number of Chinese volunteers continues to grow and the burning passion to go where westerners cannot go is becoming a powerful force for the spread of the Gospel to lands considered to be limited access countries where creative ways of spreading the Gospel must be employed. 

 

Thank God, the burning vision of planting churches all the way back to Jerusalem is not just a dream; it is actually underway as more and more Chinese Christians from the rural areas as well as urban areas catch the vision of reaching lost nations for Christ. Communist China has unwittingly provided a greenhouse that has made possible the present phenomenon of growth and revival in the Church in China. House churches that have existed underground for decades, and survived under the most difficult circumstances, are prepared to enter lands that cannot invent greater methods of torture than the Communists employed on the Chinese nation. These messengers know how to survive under the most difficult conditions and they are prepared to do so.

 

An article in a Pioneers publication lists a number of urgent prayer requests for the emerging Chinese sending church.

·        Pray for the messengers from a simple rural background who will thrive on hardship, but will have difficulty coping with the nuances of a strange culture.

·        Pray for those from urban areas where life has been easier but will now face difficult physical circumstances.

·        Pray for house church organizations that are highly centralized where new ideas take a long time to rise through the bureaucratic system.

·        Pray for the finances needed by house churches and others who themselves are poor and who find it difficult to support their own pastor.

·        Pray that the poor relationship between registered churches and the house church leadership will improve as they will be forced to work together in strange and dangerous lands.

·        Pray that this emerging missionary church will quickly understand the process of sending missionaries and how to provide for those on the front lines.

 

BTJ (Back To Jerusalem) WORKERS SEEING FRUIT

 

As more Chinese workers (missionaries) continue to leave China for other countries with a passion for Christ and lost peoples, encouraging reports of progress are being sent back to their churches. One worker reported striking up a casual conversation with a Muslim woman who operates an Internet Café. As a result of that first conversation, she wanted to learn more but she was fearful of the consequences. The worker encouraged her to “just take the first step toward Jesus.” “Now I am ministering the gospel to her almost every day,” reports the worker, “and I believe soon she will take the step and give her life to Jesus.”

 

Another writes: During Ramadan my co-worker and I fasted for the 40 days just like our Muslim friends. I met a woman who was suffering from breast cancer who was fearful of dying. I prayed for her, and the next day, her doctor could find no signs of the cancer. She has now begun to follow Jesus.

 

ALLIANCE RADIO IN HONG KONG REPORTS A MIRACLE  

 

A very successful businessman in Hubei Province has turned his beauty salon into an active means of spreading the gospel, reports the Alliance Radio Voice.  Although his business was booming, he himself sensed emptiness in his life that nothing could satisfy. After he became a Christian, he enrolled in theological training through the radio station programming and now he has caught the vision of establishing hundreds of salons across the country and using them as mini-gospel stations for spreading the gospel. Many believers are giving him moral support and praying for him as he plans to fulfill his vision all the way to Jerusalem though the Muslim lands. Christian radio has been credited with enabling believers to survive during the terrible years of the Cultural Revolution, and now of assisting many thousands of believers with their training to be effective witnesses for Christ. Prayer and financial support are urgently needed for this vital ministry.    

 

CRACKDOWN ALONG SIDE OF OPPORTUNITIES.    

 

Strange as it may sound, but existing side by side with the thrilling advance of the church planting activities all the way back to Jerusalem, is the constant threat of arrest faced by many house church leaders. Voice of the Martyrs in a special February 2008 report describes the plight of 45 year-old Pastor Hua Huiqi who has been arrested several times a year during the past 10 years and spent 6 months in jail in 2007. His 60 member church is ten minutes away from the Olympic Village under construction in Beijing. The government has cracked down on these churches in preparation for the Olympics opening in August to prevent any embarrassing situations that might arise from protest groups, mainly from abroad. Pastor Hua was placed under house arrest, and to make certain that he could not leave, they have welded shut the door of his home. Last October, a conflict erupted between two police districts and in the scuffle he was cruelly beaten by the angry police and mob that entered the fray. He regained consciousness after three days. His first words were, “It doesn’t matter whether I live or die, as long as Christ shines in me and the gospel increases.”  Pastor Hua remains under house arrest with his door welded shut. China is still in the top ten nations where persecution of Christians persists although it dropped from eight to tenth place according to the World Watch list.

 

PRAYER COUNTDOWN TO THE OLYMPICS  

 

With the Olympic Games less than 6 months away, a world-wide prayer effort is underway. This prayer effort is urging people to pray for at least one minute every day for Christians in prison and for the continuation of the revival that is sweeping thousands into the Kingdom every day. Christians are urged to pray every day at 8 pm Beijing time. Pray that freedom of religion will be granted to all, that pastors and thousands of believers held in prison will be set free, that the church will continue to stand for obedience to the Bible rather than the government and that the many open doors and growing freedom will increase. These requests become more important as the Olympic Games begin and China puts on a spectacular front for the thousands of visitors expected to flood Beijing. 

 

BRIGHT SPOT IN TIBET

 

For centuries, age-old traditions of witchcraft, reincarnation and Buddhism have kept millions of Tibetans in spiritual darkness. Today, a small Christian community is breaking through the darkness, but new believers face the risk of intense persecution and imprisonment. Recently a Christian worker from Nepal crossed over the border into the small town of Zhangmu, Tibet, and risked his life as he distributed Bibles to the villagers. Although many feared severe repercussions if they accepted literature or even stopped to listen, there was great interest among the people to hear more about the Gospel and even to read the gospel portions he was distributing. Pray for this nation that is awakening to the claims of Christ and for the believers who are fearlessly following Jesus.  

 

PENETRATING THE MUSLIM WORLD

 

A check on the Cluster Map on my website indicates that substantial numbers of people in more than 50 countries have been reading China Clippings! The part that is exciting is that people in the Muslim world are logging on regularly in Indonesia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Egypt, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, western China and Mongolia. Pray for wisdom as we anticipate adding a page to the site that will clearly present the gospel since many people in these limited access countries are reading this report.