1. Pray for China.
Operation World is focusing on prayer for China in the month of April.
China has been looked upon with fear as a global power and with suspicion since the pandemic because of its expansionist policies and economic domination. Yet, China is the largest nation in the world with over 1.4 Billion People and it is not the Lord’s will ‘that any should perish.’
Please join in Prayer for this powerful nation to experience revival bringing millions to God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ.
Please take time in the next few days to pray for China earnestly and read informative details and prayer points on the OPERATION WORLD website in the link given below.
Here are some Key Points for Prayer.
a. The Nation of China.
- Some call this the “Chinese Century” because of China’s rising role on the world stage.
- It has more people than any other country and a massive influence on world economics and politics.
- China invests billions of dollars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to develop trade, but also to gain influence.
- China remains officially atheist, and Communist Party members number well over 70 million.
But the Christian population has eclipsed this number (it is also far outstripped by Chinese Buddhists). Increasing numbers of Party members are believers. - Social and health needs in China overwhelm the available resources. Pray that Christians in the caring and social professions find many openings to serve the suffering and to show and speak to them about the love of Jesus.
- Millions suffer from tuberculosis, diabetes is on a rapid rise and hundreds of thousands are HIV positive.
- Drug-use rates are rapidly increasing – now over one million users, two-thirds of whom are under age 35.
- Smoking is a ticking time bomb – 350 million smokers consume over two trillion cigarettes a year.
- The disabled.
- Around 83 million disabled, or one-fifth of the world’s total, live in China.
- Yearly, over 1.2 million are born with defects, and the number is rising.
- The medical profession is ill-equipped to offer sufficient help to the 40 million affected by mental illness.
- China now has the highest number of suicides in the world at nearly 300,000 per year, a majority of whom are women.
- Divorce rates are skyrocketing (1.5 million/year).
b. The Church in China.
The Church in China needs your prayer as they face great challenges and persecution.
- The survival and growth of the Church in China are awesome events in our generation!
- The atheist government strictly controls religious groups and banned all religious activity during the Cultural Revolution.
- Christians then started underground house-church networks designed to survive the persecution. Through radio ministries, Christian workers, and believers devoted to outreach, the Church did more than survive; it grew!
- The government re-allowed registered churches in 1978 as a way to regain control over Christianity. But the unregistered churches just continued to grow. In fact, there is no growth story like it in all of church history. 2.7 million evangelicals in 1975 grew to over 75 million in just 35 years!
- Persecution remains a present reality.
This is a measure of the government’s fears of such a large movement they do not control and of the majority of the Church operating outside the government-sanctioned church bodies. - Since 1996, persecution has increased against house churches unwilling to register with the TSPM/CCC. Arrests, heavy fines, forced closures and destruction of church buildings are increasing in some key areas;
- The traditional house-church networks formed the core of the Chinese Church for many decades. Preachers travelled far and wide across China. The intense persecution isolated them from the global Church and forced them to adopt indigenous ways.
- They focus strongly on prayer, revival, simple living, and on Christ! Most house-church Christians love their country, but their first loyalty is to God.
- They do not want to register with the government. Their illegal status leads to persecution. The mass migration to the cities will force these networks and churches to adopt various methods.
- Some rural congregations get left without a leader, and some migrants struggle without a church group in the city.
- Other smaller, less-organized house-church networks still make up a significant part of the Chinese Church. Many formed through radio broadcasts and related ministries, often among minority groups.
- More recently, new networks form within the workplace, such as within factories or offices owned or managed by Christians.
- Pray that the strong commitment to God’s Word, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the boldness to spread the gospel will all continue to shape this growing, changing movement.
For more information on Prayer Resources for China – See Operation World Prayer.
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