2. The Governments & Policies:
China’s totalitarian rule gives little freedom for Churches and Christians to function. While only a smaller part of Christians and Churches are recognized by the Government, the majority of the underground church severely suffers restriction and persecution.
- Freedom of information. The government vainly tries to control the flow of and exposure to information while also promoting Internet use.
- Corruption and scandal. Embezzlement, graft, and widespread deception plague both government and business.
- China is the most willing country to pay bribes in business, and rampant cheating and fraud tarnish academia.
- Ethnic unrest. Internal strife remains at the forefront of both national and international attention as conflict within Tibet and Xianjiang persists. Ultimately, reconciliation and the hope of peace lie only in the power of the gospel.
In opposite to this, India is a secular democracy where freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Constitution. However, it is noted that authorities in India have adopted laws and policies that systematically discriminate against minorities
“India’s standing as a secular democracy is at serious risk unless the government rolls back discriminatory laws and policies and ensures justice for abuses against minorities.” Prejudices embedded in the government of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have infiltrated independent institutions, such as the police and the courts, empowering nationalist groups to threaten, harass, and attack religious minorities with impunity. (Human Rights Watch)
Moslems are badly affected by this, as well as Christians. We request you to continue to pray for the General Elections in India conducted in the months of April to June that freedom of religion and liberties will be guaranteed by those elected to rule. (See Note below on India Elections)
Pray that God’s Kingdom will rule over the leaders and rulers of these 2 nations:
3. The Religions:
Both nations represent major religious groups in the World.
Even though China is considered to be a non-religious nation, a large number of people follow traditional religions.
Religion in China:
- The 500 million-plus captives of hollow and deceptive philosophies found in ancient practices such as Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism and in the newer Falun Gong movement.
- These traditions are experiencing growth – with Confucian teachings especially being promoted and Buddhism rapidly growing.
- Many professionals and older generations seek such grounding and transcendent meaning.
- Pray that they might turn their hearts toward Truth and the freedom only the gospel can give.
- Islam is an officially recognized religion in China, but conflict with some ethnic minority groups makes it a sensitive matter.
- Almost all Muslims come from the indigenous Uyghur, Kazak, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Tatar, Salar, Dongxiang, and Hui groups.
- Recently, Muslim minorities have suffered terrible treatment, with the internment of over 1 million Uyghurs in “re-education camps.”
- Many have labelled the government’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide.
- Few Christians in China live and work among Muslim peoples, and work among them becomes increasingly difficult due to government policies.
- Ask God to call more workers to serve these often isolated and sometimes oppressed minorities.
Religion in India.
- Hinduism is the world’s third-largest religious system.
- Hinduism, most broadly understood, is a civilizational dynamic incorporating every aspect of life, embracing those who live in or identify with India and its culture.
- As a religion, it is a pluralistic network of religious beliefs and systems ranging from the philosophical (self-realization), to Vedic-influenced rituals, to popular expression (idols), to village Hinduism (animism, occultism).
- It absorbs elements of any religion it encounters and is widely regarded as an inclusive religion, one of tolerance and peace.
- Its global influence is significant through movements such as yoga, Hare Krishna/ISKCON, New Age, Art of Living and others.
- Many concepts of Hinduism have become part of 21st Century postmodern culture – yoga, gurus, karma, dharma, reincarnation and transcendental meditation.
- The caste system remains a major issue.
- The Dalits/Bahujans/Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes together are 25% of the population.
- Others oppressed these groups for thousands of years and used the caste system (and Hinduism) to justify their harmful actions.
- Churches work to establish human rights, education, health, and employment and also to save the Dalits. The Church has an opportunity to show that the love of Christ extends to all people, regardless of caste, race, language, gender, and economic status.
Pray for Christians to remove all caste discrimination from the Church, where it sadly does exist.
4. The Cities
Cities in both Nations are growing and drawing millions of people from rural centers. Cities can be strategic in reaching both the Unevangelized and the Unreached.
In China:
The Historical development of Chinese cities are seen as:
the walled city (770 BC‐AD 906), the open city (618–1840), the colonial city (1840–1949), and the socialist city (1949–1985) and modern mega cites of today.
Urbanization in China increased in speed following the initiation of the reform and opening policy. By the end of 2023, China had an urbanization rate of 66.2% and is expected to reach 75-80% by 2035.
In India:
- The great cities, with rapid growth and a mix of great wealth and abject poverty. Chennai, Mumbai and even Hyderabad with significant Christian populations exist in contrast to Kolkata, Delhi, Varanasi, Lucknow and others where Christian witness is very small.
- Increasing urbanization sees millions drawn from rural areas into urban areas annually, often with little by way of resources and connections.
- India’s slum-dwelling population now exceeds 225 million.
5. The People Groups:
If the Great Commission is to be accomplished, the People Groups in these two nations must be reached. Matthew 24:14.
People Groups in China:
Ethnic minorities – non-Chinese peoples comprise 10.1% of the population, 135 million people in 474 distinct ethno-linguistic groups. Pray for:
- Global concern for the evangelization of these numerous unreached peoples.
- Pray that a doorway to many peoples, still inaccessible to outsiders, might be opened or re-opened in cases where it has been closed in recent years.
- Greater involvement of Chinese Christians – both minorities and Han – in reaching them. In almost every case, great sensitivity and humility will be needed, especially by the dominant Han Chinese, in whatever missiological approach is taken.
- The planting and growth of indigenous churches and discipling of leaders.
People Groups in India:
India has more unreached individuals than any other nation.
- The world’s least-evangelized people are concentrated in India, with over 3000 Unreached People Groups.
- Of 159 people groups of over 1 million people, 133 are unreached.
- Hundreds more groups of fewer than 1 million are unreached. Also, 953 ethnic groups have populations greater than 10,000.
- Of these, 205 have no church and little to no outreach from Christians. They can be found in every state, although they tend to be more concentrated in the north.
- The Brahmin is the priestly caste, the highest caste in the Hindu world. They number over 50 million, but perhaps only 18,000 follow Jesus. They are the most influential group in India, but few focused efforts have been made to reach them.
- Christians in India are very unequally spread – the south and northeast have a much higher proportion of Christians than the more populated north and west.
- Thirteen states in North India are less than 1% Christian. Pray that the Church worldwide might rise to this task. Pray for:
- The North India Ganges plains, with their teeming millions, in the Hindi-speaking heartland.
- There is, however, more church growth than ever in the north, from megachurches of 7,000 to networks of tens of thousands of house churches.
- A vision exists for 1 million churches planted in the north in the next 10 years.
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