What’s Happening in China Now
Church Persecution
Since the President of China has announced his plans to clamp down on religion, massive persecution has broken out against God’s people, in ways that have not been seen since Mao’s campaigns to destroy Christianity from the 1950s to the 1970s.
We believe the main reason behind the President's current campaign to control and destroy religion, especially Christianity, is because of the massive growth of the Church in recent decades.
The government knows very well that millions of people each year have been turning to Christ, despite all their efforts to persecute God’s people and stomp out the revival brought by the Holy Spirit over the last 50 years.
The typical Communist strategy whenever they plan to persecute God’s people is to first remove foreign believers. This cuts the Chinese Church off from outside help, and hides them from the glare of international publicity. This happened in the 1950s before massive persecution erupted, and for the
past several years, this same strategy has been implemented again.
The leaders of several missions organizations have told us they are struggling to make contact with their Chinese co-workers. Many believers have been arrested or have gone into hiding, turning off all their electronic devices so they can’t be tracked by the authorities.
Meanwhile, thousands of foreign Christians who have given their lives to serve the Lord in China are feeling devastated. They’ve been kicked out of China and banned from returning for five years or more.
In a single week in 2019, at least 300 foreign believers—who were living legally in China as students, teachers, business owners and in a host of other roles—were expelled from China from all across the vast nation.
Overall, Christian leaders in China seem to be sobered but not alarmed, willing to pay the price.
As the Chinese President tightens his power, he has made many enemies as a result, and now requires heavy personal security around him at all times.
It is important to note that persecution varies from place to place, and from time to time. It is not unusual in China for rules to be literally stricter one side of a street and looser on the other, but this current wave is becoming more universal.
However, while everything in China is enforced by local edicts under the rule of local authorities, law has increasingly moved to a level of national enforcement and the implementation of persecution of Christians has become increasingly pervasive in all regions.
Pray for God’s Spirit to be with Chinese Christians who are persecuted for Christ’s sake.
Pray for God to be an ever-present help to those who are suffering, and for God to comfort foreign Christians who have been kicked out of China.
Pray for God to humble the authorities and bring gospel revival all across China.
Pray for God to raise up spiritual leaders, especially males, across China to make and multiply disciples.
Strategy of Chinese Government: Children
Leaders in China understand the power of education to shape the future of a society, especially through the education of children in their early, formative years.
This is why new religious laws, gone into effect in February 2018, are directed against young people’s rights to access the gospel. The current strategy is two-fold—to introduce school curriculum that Christianity is bad; and to encourage children to attack their parents’ faith as dangerous and to report them to the authorities.
According to Chinese law, children under 18 are not allowed to attend church or religious worship services, yet in many places, schools have held special meetings to teach children how to oppose religion.
Pray that children in China would hear the gospel in spite of legal mandates, be brought to a knowledge of their Savior, and through God’s power, be able to withstand the power of the Enemy against them.
Pray that children’s Bibles would be distributed across China so that countless children and their families would hear the story of Christ and come to know Him.
Persecution in Northwest China
The worst of persecution is in Northwest China where the majority of the population is Muslim Uyghurs (in Xinjiang Province). The Chinese government has cast a wide net to demolish the threat of separatism, with hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs being thrown into re-education camps and work factories over the past few years.
Church leaders have reported to us that times are "even worse than the Cultural Revolution" under Mao (1966-76).
Attitude of the Church
Ethnic discrimination is a big factor in why even some of the best educated Uyghurs migrating to other provinces struggle to find work. Prejudice and outright hatred extend both ways, and widespread Uyghur insistence on independence from the Chinese government in Beijing is understandably seen as subversive.
This deep-rooted, cultural prejudice against Uyghurs has badly maimed the efforts of the church to show love and to evangelize their Muslim neighbors. With this understanding, ministry partners of China Links are working with Christian leaders, who were former Muslims themselves, to bridge communication for the gospel.
Approach to Evangelism
Ancestral worship and passing on the family name are foundational beliefs to peasants in southern Xinjiang, and deeply engrained in Uyghur culture is a great respect for the elderly.
Because of this, one effective approach to evangelism is to reach the older generation in villages first. Older generations then pass on the hope of the gospel to their children and grandchildren who are willing and eager to listen to their wisdom. In fact, often times when the matriarch of a village is converted, much of the village follows suit.
Pray for God to makes streams in the desert for evangelism in this physically and spiritually closed-off region of China. Pray for God to soften the hearts of Muslim Uyghur , especially through the witness of older generations in the villages.
“Uyghur” is pronounced, wee-ger
China Muscles Neighboring Countries
In the past few years, a disturbing new trend has emerged, as the Chinese Communist Party has exported their philosophies across its borders into surrounding countries. First, seminaries and Bible schools in countries like the Philippines, Myanmar and Malaysia came under pressure to not allow any students from Mainland China to attend. School attendance plummeted as hundreds of Chinese Christians were forced to return to China.
Numerous other incidents in diverse locations, with Christians living in border regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam have been warned to stop all ministry or face dire consequences from their giant neighbor.
For example, in 2018 China bullied the authorities in northern Myanmar (formerly Burma) to shut down over 100 churches among the Wa tribe, who were experiencing the early stages of a revival from God. One Sunday morning, thousands of Wa Christians went to their churches to discover the doors had been chained shut and padlocked. Undeterred, believers met in the open air and continued to worship God.
One Wa Bible school inside Myanmar was closed, and 41 of its students were arrested and forced to render hard labor for the Wa rebel army, which is backed by the Chinese Communist Party.
Only recently have many of the Wa churches in Myanmar been allowed to reopen. Many of these persecuted fellowships are not located close to the Chinese border, but China is increasingly flexing its muscles deep inside other countries.
Pray for God to continue to strengthen believers in the neighboring countries of China and bring many sons to glory. Pray for believers to stand fast against the schemes of the Enemy and serve each other in the fear of the Lord, loving their neighbor as themselves.
Response of Chinese Christians
Many Chinese leaders are prepared for harsh suffering and believe it will distinguish the genuine bride. They ask God for grace while counting the cost, determined in their heart to go to the cross if needed.
Reflecting back on the church in China, they see this once again as an opportunity for God to purify His church. At the same time, while there have been reports of growth among churches in some areas since the persecution began in earnest in 2018, many believers have struggled, and some have fallen away from the faith.
Pray for God to lift up the suffering and strengthen the faith of the weak. Pray for God to make the Chinese church pure of heart and cause their souls to pant for Him as a deer pants for streams of water (Ps. 42:1).
