Marvelous patchwork of paradoxes

China is a land full of a marvelous patchwork of paradoxes that appear very baffling to the outsider. While some Chinese Christian leaders languish in jail, others travel the world talking of religious freedom. Some smuggle the Bible, yet the Bible is also legally printed and sold. Great acrimony surrounds the questions of how many Christians actually exist in China and how Christian organizations should assist the Chinese Church.

China is currently undergoing massive transformation. Everywhere you go cities are changing – new buildings are popping up, whole streets are torn up, and parks planted instead. And these surface changes are just the tip of the iceberg. Like an iceberg, the bulk of what’s happening lies deeper beneath the surface. Societal changes – such as massive urban migration, changing moral values and changing family structure – have the potential to dramatically alter the fabric of Chinese society.

In addition, events such as the Games in 2008 are catapulting China onto the world stage. Will these changes have a positive effect on China and the Church in China? The challenge to reach the Chinese with the gospel of Jesus Christ is great and will require sacrificial and committed prayers from the body of Christ.

Satan has China in his grip, and he wants us to believe it, too. We will naively believe that as long as we see winning China for Christ as impossible. But China’s millions are individuals who go about their lives just like us. And just like us, they look more and more like Jesus as they are reached for Him. China needs you to pray for the unreached, give to support your workers in the fields of harvest and go tell the Chinese about Jesus.

Despite the dramatic growth of the church in China, there are still more than 1 billion lost Chinese people. How tragic to think that many of these loving, giving people might be locked out of heaven simply because they have not heard of Christ! Pray today that as God calls workers into the ripe fields of harvest, they will respond with joyful obedience.

Until everyone has heard in the land…

Washing Feet…

The story below may sound unbelievable to us in the West, but it mirrors events described in the New Testament. These are not legends from unknown sources. They are first-person testimonials taken directly from the people involved in widely varying locations across China.

Sixteen Chinese Christians went into one rural area to start churches, but saw no response. They had little money to support them, so they lived in a forest and gathered what food they could find. Soon they faced starvation. They decided to fast for a week and ask God if they should return home or stay to evangelize. On the last day all 16 received word from the Lord that they should “wash feet.”

The evangelists found buckets and positioned themselves along a road where 1,500 farmers passed to and from their fields each day. As they passed, the evangelists offered to wash the farmers’ feet. Twice a day the farmers responded by beating the men and dumping the buckets of water on them. Convinced their instructions were of God, for three years the evangelists continued to stand on the roadside twice a day, every day, offering to wash feet! And for three years the evangelists were beaten and shoved aside.

Finally, a farmer let one of the evangelists wash his dirty, mud-crusted feet. Soon they were washing the feet of all 1,500 farmers—twice every day. This pattern went on for months as the evangelists struggled to support themselves. Then one day a farmer asked why the men were washing feet. The evangelists answered by sharing their faith and the farmer became a believer in Christ.

Within weeks, all 1,500 farmers became Christians. And within two years, there were 50,000 Christians in that country. Maybe washing feet isn’t such a strange idea…

Until everyone has heard in the land…

China’s Christian Martyrs

A martyr is a Christian who chooses to suffer death rather than deny Christ or His work. One who sacrifices something very important to further the Kingdom of God and endures great suffering for Christian witness. In China today, many house church Christians are still beaten and persecuted because of their faith. Over the years, many have been tortured and some have even died because they love Jesus. House church leaders in China have provided details of more than 1,000 Christian leaders who have been disabled or are faced with long-term illness or injury as a result of persecution and imprisonment.

An estimated 250,000 Christians have died in China for their faith since the Gospel was first introduced in the seventh century. Since 1900, more Christians have been killed in China than in all countries of the world combined. They include some well-known names, such as John & Betty Stam, Eric Liddell and Watchman Nee. But the great majority of China’s martyrs have been unsung heroes of the faith: simple men and women, boys and girls who when tested: “did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (Revelation 12:10-11)

During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, in which more than 40,000 Christians were slaughtered, missionary Frank Simcox wrote, “When the history of the Martyr Church of China is written, it will be a beautiful record of suffering for His Name!” A short time later Simcox was himself martyred.

Paul Hattaway’s recent release of the book “China’s Christian Martyrs” is packed with inspirational testimonies of how God’s people chose the eternal rewards of the kingdom of God over this world. From the Tibetan Christian who was bound and sewn into a wet yak skin and left in the sun to be squeezed to death as the skin tightened; to the Uygur Christians in northwest China who were told by the Muslim Emir, “It is my duty, according to our law, to put you to death because by your preaching you have destroyed our faith,” this book contains thousands of accounts of both the best and worst of human nature.

Those who have read the book have reported being move to tears and greatly encouraged in their own walk with Jesus Christ. Our desire is that the book will glorify God, inspire those who read it, and challenge believers to a deeper and more radical walk with Jesus Christ. We hope you will read this book and prayerfully consider how you, your family, or your church group might be involved in blessing our brothers and sisters in China who have been without God’s Word for so long.

Until everyone has heard in the land…