August 2005

CHINA’S TURN

In the June issue of US NEWS and World Report, Richard J. Newman introduced us to an amazing spectacle- the awakening of a great giant. He wrote: “During most of the 20^th century, China staggered backward, beset by 40 years of war and political turmoil and, after the Communists seized power in 1949, another 40 years of calamitous government policies and crushing brutality.

“Yet for centuries, China was the world’s most advanced civilization. China had paper currency and an efficient postal service before Europe even envisioned such things. Beijing’s Forbidden City, completed in 1422, remains the largest palace complex in the world. The Great Wall, which stretched farther than the distance from New York to Los Angeles, is still staggering in its scope.

“Today, China aims to reclaim the grandeur of the past. China has become a juggernaut that is the world’s second-largest purchaser of oil, and it will soon buy more cars, computers, and appliances than any other place on earth.”

THE VISION OF A GREAT MISSIONARY ARMY

It is not surprising then that the Chinese church is also caught up with a great vision of an army of missionaries going out in all directions- within the country and cross-culturally to other lands. The amazing thing is that already in hundreds of places, young Chinese students are seriously engrossed in study and preparation to do something unheard of- reach the peoples of the lands in the 10/40 window.

• PRAY for hundreds of students in preparation.

WHAT IS THE 10/40 WINDOW?

Several people have written to ask what is the 10/40 Window. Here are some facts to use for prayer. Take a flat map of the world and draw a rectangular-shaped area from northwest Africa on the Atlantic Ocean all the way across Asia to the Pacific Ocean between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north of the equator. That is the location of  what is called the 10/40 Window. For those interested in greater details and maps, go to www.Google.com and write in the words “10/40 Window”. The wealth of information and maps will astound you and provide much challenge for prayer.

APPROXIMATELY 60 COUNTRIES ARE IN THE WINDOW

This vast area includes approximately 60 countries, and in them are over 300 mega cities with more than one million people in each. This area includes 50 of the world’s least evangelized countries and 37% of them are populated by the world’s poorest people. 71% of the population is Muslim, 98% is Hindu and 68% are Buddhists. 34% of the countries are Muslim, 7 Buddhist, 3 Communist and 2 Hindu. There are 1.3 billion people in this area, but only 2% are Christian. Many of these countries are the areas where the most severe persecution of Christians takes place.

• PRAY over a map with the 10/40 Window and the countries bound in darkness.
• PRAY earnestly for the few struggling churches that already exist, and for our persecuted and imprisoned brothers and sisters in Christ
• PRAY for the courageous people who are immigrating to these closed lands and for the difficult task of planting a church in hostile territory.

BUT THE PICTURE IS CHANGING

It is a fact known to all mission agencies and Christian organizations. The greatest spiritual awakening and revival ever to take place on earth is taking place in the Asian countries of the 10/40 Window in spite of the persecution. Thousands of people are turning to Christ every day in China and India. In the country of Nepal that had less than 15,000 known Christians in the early eighties, today there are over 200,000 followers of Jesus Christ.

·        PRAISE GOD for revealing Himself to people in these closed lands and for transforming thousands of lives every day.

THE CHINESE CHURCH VISION

The Chinese church is on the move westward through these very lands where persecution is rife. Trainees are committing vast amounts of Scripture to memory in preparation for the time they may be in prison and deprived of their Bibles. They are preparing in many unusual ways to live in these lands and few have any hope that they will ever return to China. These trainees have counted the high cost of discipleship, and they gladly offer themselves to plant churches wherever they go.

• Can we do anything less than earnestly pray for them and give of our resources to make this possible?
• Give to your church’s missionary projects for China and designate your gifts for “training Chinese missionaries,” Chinese Bibles and literature, and for those who are interested for “Chinese church and Bible School construction.” 

CHINESE INGENUITY SPREADS THE GOSPEL

The Orlando Sentinel ran a very long article on a Ms. Su Xueling, who owns a noodle factory that has been churning out instant noodles labeled “Gospel Noodles.” With her modest profits, as well as some government connections, she started a seminary that has trained hundreds of evangelical preachers spreading the gospel in China. Ms. Su says she doesn’t know anything about running a seminary, but the Lord led her to two pastors with a struggling seminary. The 30 students meeting in a room behind the noodle factory grew to about 200. The unusual thing about these students is that they studied Arabic in preparation for service in the Middle East. Then suddenly the school was closed by the government when it was discovered that she was accepting support from some Malaysian believers for the school as her noodle business did not generate enough funds. Last February she was finally granted government permission to open a private school. One of her former teachers reports that they have not been idle during this period, but have been busy preaching in house churches all across the country. He reports that the demand is just too great to be idle.”

·        PRAY for thousands of believers who are using their businesses and enterprises to share their faith even though they risk everything for Christ.

CHALLENGING NEWS BRIEFS FOR PRAYER

Currently, there are more than 10,000 Chinese workers in Israel under construction contracts. With little to do after working hours, hundreds have been attending Bible classes that have resulted in two Chinese churches in Israel.

Chinese internet users have now surpassed 100 million! An interesting opportunity has opened up for the editor of this news sheet to develop an internet pen pal relationship with a professor of law. The relationship is just beginning to develop as both parties correspond freely. It is reported that to a large extent Christian internet remains unblocked in the country.

·        PRAY that the Internet will become a great evangelistic tool for outreach.

·        PRAY that the editor’s pen pal correspondent will continue and that eventually a witness can be given to this man.

The tragic baby-selling business continues unabated as poor country families sell their children for 200 yuan to people who then sell them for 10,000 yuan in Beijing and other major cities.

·        PRAY for these impoverished areas to be reached with the gospel and this tragic business stopped. (Read a thrilling story of the rescue of a baby girl who was put up for sale by her poor father in Exiles of Hope)

In the past 10 years, the population of elderly people has increased by 30%. Many churches are seeking ways to reach the elderly who have joined their children in the cities where they have found work in the growing factories of the country. The problem is that these elderly are often in desperate straits in unfamiliar cities with their children who are too busy to help them.

·        PRAY that God will raise up willing workers who have a heart for the conversion of the elderly.

Last year it was reported that 2.42 million people joined the Communist Party including 195,000 college students.

·        PRAY for the growing number of Bible classes being held on college campuses that they will not be forbidden and closed.

·        PRAY for the thousands of spiritually hungry students who are seeking answers to life and eternity.

There are thousands of American business people living in China and they also need the Savior.

• PRAY for these expatriates. It is reported that some church fellowships of expatriates, (“foreign nationals”), living in major cities of China number into the hundreds, and in some cases a thousand or more.
• PRAY for a web site dedicated to reaching expatriates not only in China, but around the world. Log on to www.expatsalive.com  for helpful Bible studies and information supplied by a Campus Crusade couple working to reach business people living outside of the States.

EXILES OF HOPE WILL BE RELEASED IN AUGUST

After many exasperating delays in the printing process, EXILES OF HOPE is expected to be released in August.  Every home ought to have a copy of this incredible book to be read and discussed.

·        Dr. Tom White, Director of The Voice of the Martyrs, USA says of this book, “

 Exiles of Hope expresses the bold and resolved witness of China’s house-church Christians. The characters in this story challenge the reader to exchange temporal, earthly comforts for eternal, heavenly glory as they risk imprisonment and torture to tell others about the greatest story ever told- the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,

·        Order your copy now from the author at $12.97 per copy plus $3.50 postage.

·        A copy of Red Runs The River and Exiles of Hope for $29.44 (save $3.50)

·        5 copies to the same address for $65 postage paid. (save $17.20)

·        10 copies to the same address for $120 postage paid. (save $44.40)

Dan Eriksen, retired lawyer and volunteer with Joni Erickson Tada's Wheels for the World, said of Red Runs The River, “It is one of the best [historical] fiction books I have ever read!”

Volume 2 will keep you on the edge of your seat, close to tears as you read of courageous Christians enduring awful persecution, and hoping against all odds that two separated young people can find each other again. 

Anthony Bollback