PrayerFeed International

The following article was sent to us by a brother in China. For security reasons, we are not going to use his name.

Up until even just a decade ago, Christians in China really had to count the cost as they faced arrests, beatings, long imprisonments and even death. Within the past few years, however, the Communist Party has begun to show more toleration towards Christianity, especially as its leaders have come to realize that Christianity is not going away.

"I am going to church this Sunday," a young Chinese lady of about 20 states in a matter-of-fact manner. "I've been going to church for a long time now".

Denise is a Sophomore student at a public university in China. As she talks about her religious experience, a small silver cross dangles from her neck. "I always went to church with my parents and now that I am at university, I have found a local one to attend."

Some of Denise's classmates expressed surprised when they heard her talk about attending church. Denise didn't seem to mind the puzzled looks on their faces. For her, talking about going to church seemed to be as easy as talking about the weather.

Yet most Christians in Denise's generation are probably not even aware of what Christians from previous decades have had to suffer through in China. Persecution in China has been widely reported around the world but the Communist Party has done a magnificent job of hiding such information from its own people.

When one hears a young Chinese lady like Denise boldly talking about going to church, it is easy to assume that religious freedom has finally found a safe landing in China.

Not so fast.

Beijing may not be so zealous anymore in going after Christians, but persecution is still taking place at a local level especially in the areas of China where the Party has not caught up with the 21st century. In fact these days, except in high profile cases, it is the local governments that generally set and enforce religious policies.

In some localities, for example, just reading a Bible in public may result in a warning or even an arrest. These are the places where Christians really feel the heat. Yet in other localities, unregistered religious gatherings (house churches) are tolerated unless complaints are received from people in the area.

No matter how much the situation has improved recently, there are hundreds if not thousands of Christians who are currently imprisoned in China. Unfortunately, we rarely hear about them because the Chinese government does such a good job of containing this information.

Please pray for the tens of millions of Christians in China. Pray that God will help them to be strong in the face of persecution. And for those who do not face persecution, pray that they will help spread the gospel throughout a land that is still so dark. And pray for the Communist party leaders around China. Pray that their eyes will be opened and that they will come to see the incredible love, peace, and joy that Christ's power can bring to their nation.