Many people inside and outside of China have stated
that what is happening in China is like the Book of
Acts all over again! There is unusual and
spectacular growth, the planting of new churches
every day, thousands of baptisms, and a good share
of persecution as well.
BIBLE PUBLICATION IN
CHINA
Since 1987, the Amity Printing Company
in Nanjing, China has printed more than 28 million
copies of the Bible in Chinese. This is the officially
recognized printing press of the Chinese Christian
Council. It works in conjunction with the United Bible
Societies which provide all the paper without charge
through their worldwide contributions for Bible
printing. These Bibles are available to any Chinese
for the price of US$1.42 per copy in 70 distribution
centers and in all churches. Generally, the Bible is
sold through churches, but in recent times it has
begun to appear in public book stores making the
distribution even more accessible to the general
public. Amity Press prints about 3-4 million
copies every year. However, compared to the population
of over 1 billion people, there is still a tremendous
need for more Bibles. The fact is, however, that
people can purchase Bibles inside China without
restrictions and anyone who wants one can get a copy.
One of the great problems is geography. Rural
communities have less opportunity to purchase a Bible
because of the great distances required for
transportation that adds to the cost. In rural
areas, these same Bibles are heavily subsidized and
can be purchased for as little as US$.08 per copy, yet
many people are too poor to own their own Bible. But
again, as it was in the Book of Acts, the Word is
spreading by mouth everywhere and people are being
converted.
CATHOLIC BISHOP OF
UNDERGROUND CHURCH ARRESTED
Likewise, persecution among "house church"
groups continues unabated. On March 20, Catholic
Bishop Julius Jia Zhengding who heads the
underground Catholic Church that recognizes the Pope
as head, was re-arrested. At the age of 67, he
has already spent 20 years in prison along with many
other Protestant leaders and believers who continue
to worship in what the government calls
unauthorized, illegal "house churches." It
is estimated that there are at least 50,000 house
churches throughout China. Many of these "house
churches" are connected with registered
churches and therefore seem to have the
protection of the mother church. Many others refuse
registration of any kind and therefore suffer
intense persecution. As in the Book of Acts, as the
church is persecuted, so growth continues
in spectacular fashion. It is estimated that
anywhere from 3-5 new churches begin each day!
100,000 PEOPLE IN HONG
KONG, CHINA JOIN CHRISTMAS WORSHIP
The economy of Hong Kong has slumped as in many
other parts of the world in recent times. The
government came up with the slogan "Move Hong
Kong." Christians, however, were inspired by
the theme and took it and used it to rally
believers to join a unique concert with the
title, Christ Has Risen, A Thousand Peoples Sing
With Joy." On Christmas Eve, 100,000 people
joined together in praise and worship at the Hong
Kong Cultural Center and sang Christ's praises. The
Book of Acts also records such gatherings as
multitudes of people became followers of Jesus
Christ.
CHINA'S PRESIDENT,
JIANG ZEMIN, MAKES AN UNUSUAL SPEECH
A most unusual event took place on
December 10-12, 2001 at the Communist Party's Central
Committee and the State Council's joint meeting on
religion. President Jiang Zemin gave a speech with
far-reaching implications for all religious groups in
China. Some of this may be double talk, and to be
sure, there are hidden concepts in it, nevertheless, it
is significant that it was addressed to the Communist
Party by the president.. He said in part, "the
main tasks for religious work in the new century
include the following: implementing Party policies on
religious freedom thoroughly, handling religious
issues according to the law, encouraging religion and
socialist society to adapt to each other, upholding
the principles of autonomy and interdependence of
religious affairs, and strengthening the united
patriotic front of all religious circles."
He also stated that religion in China should not
threaten national stability or unity or run counter to
socialist modernization, national reunification and
development, or global peace. He elaborated on
the need to properly implement normal religious
activities in line with the law as well as protecting
religious organizations who abide by the law.
Premier Zhu Rongji stated that cults are not
religions and efforts should be made to fight
against any illegal religions as well as prevent the
emergence of any new illegal religion.
These are unusual words from the leadership of the
Communist Party which sounds the warning that
religion must be conducted within the framework of
the law. This also sounds like the Book of Acts as
government attempts to hold the church in check, but
as we know, the gates of hell cannot prevail against
it! Pray that church leaders will be given wisdom to
know how to lead their congregations, and how to
live within the law without compromise.
The story of Paul and Ina Bartel,
pioneer missionaries to China has just been released
as part of the Jaffray Series of Missionary
Portraits. It was a thrilling experience for me to
relive many of the incidents in the book as I wrote
the story of these two outstanding missionaries of
the Alliance. The book is available from Christian
Publications at $9.99 plus postage or from me at
$9.50 plus $2.00 postage.
Here is part of the description from the back cover
of the book "The lot of pioneer missionaries in
early 20th-century China was grim. … Sickness
and hostility plagued the Bartel family as they
settled in to the town of Lungtan. The harvest was
anything but plenteous-- until their baby daughter
succumbed to amoebic dysentery. It seemed that when
the lid of the tiny casket closed, the door to the
hearts of the people opened. Within weeks a powerful
bandit chief and his extended family committed
themselves to Christ.
Marked by incredible commitment, relentless vision
and godly grace, the influence of Paul and Ina
Bartel continues to reach the worldwide
community of their beloved Chinese."
CHINESE ALLIANCE IN
HONOLULU
The Honolulu Advertiser ran
a long article with pictures of the Chinese Alliance
Church of Honolulu in their February 16, 2002 issue.
Rev. Aaron Yeung, present pastor of the church which
started with a few overseas Chinese students of the University
of Hawaii as an extension church of Kapahulu Bible
Church while I was the pastor there in 1975, stated
that they were not excited about lions and dragons
for Chinese New Year in February, but they were
excited about Jesus. "We want to bring people
to Him, to have a personal relationship with
Jesus," he said.. At present they hold two
services on Sunday: one in Chinese and the other in
English. They plan to begin a third service
especially geared to the new immigrants arriving in
Honolulu because they have special needs as new
immigrants including the language. The church has
purchased land and will get started on their
building soon they hope.
CHINESE CHURCH FOR
MADRID
Rev. John Tsang, who worked 11 years
in Hong Kong at the Alliance Youth Camp (Suen Douh
Camp), and 11 years in Gaithersburg, Maryland at the
Chinese Alliance Church, is presently in Madrid with
his wife Rebecca, exploring the possibilities of
opening a new Chinese Alliance Church there in
August. Chinese Christians are on the move all over
the world and are earnestly seeking to reach their
own people in every country of the world as well as
working cross-culturally in several places. They
have really caught the vision of making disciples
wherever they go. Pray for open doors and all the
needed funds to fulfill this vision.
PASS ON THE GOOD NEWS
IN CHINA CLIPPINGS and introduce it
to as many others as possible. These reports
are intended to challenge people to pray for this
great land and the Chinese people scattered around
the word.
Anyone wishing to be deleted from the mailing list
may request to be removed. God bless you all, and
expect great things from a great God.
Yours Because He IS Lord,
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