Chinese Underground Church Leader Br Yun in Melbourne only for 1 day
Dear family and friends in Christ, Br Yun, the Chinese Underground Church Leader is coming to Melbourne for only one day on 13th November and will be ministering at CTFM 9.30am…
China’s House Churches Begin to Roar
by Rachel Sparkman : May 10, 2011 : China Aid
In an historic move, Chinese house church leaders petition legislature to guarantee freedom of religion.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For dozens of years the world has witnessed the miraculous growth of the underground and house church movement throughout China in the face of grave persecution. Now house church leaders have gained an even stronger boldness as they petition their communist government. For Christians; these are our brothers and sisters-in-the-Lord, let’s remember to be supporting them in prayer. Just maybe we’ll see Chinese governmental leaders’ hearts be softened, not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit. –Aimee Herd, BCN.
(Beijing, China)—In a historic move, clergy from dozens of mainland Chinese house churches are petitioning China’s legislature to guarantee freedom of religion and to peacefully resolve the recent church-state conflict involving one of the largest house churches in the capital, ChinaAid learned on Sunday.
This is the first such move in 60 years of Communist rule of China and represents a further emboldening of the house church movement, which for decades was active only in the countryside, meeting in small groups in private homes and careful to maintain a low profile to avoid attracting government attention to the illegal gatherings.
Will China ultimately be a Christian-led Nation?
By Lauren Green – Published January 20, 2011
According to China Aid, a Texas-based human rights group, the number of Christians in China has increased 100-fold since 1949. Current estimates range from 80 million to 130 million active members. And one startling estimate from a Chinese Christian businessman has that number doubling or even tripling in the next generation.
Christianity could become one of the macro forces shaping Chinese culture, say experts like Dr. David Aikman, author of “Jesus in Beijing.”‬‪
“If the Chinese become Christianized … which doesn’t mean you have a majority of people who are Christians, but it means about 25 to 30 percent of people in positions of influence, in politics, in culture, in the media. If you have that component of a major power that accepts Christianity enthusiastically as a guide to life, that is going to change the world view of the leaders of China.”‬‪
Others argue that even if the more generous estimate of 130 Christians is true, it’s still a drop in the bucket in a population of more than a billion people.
“They all preach the same gospel. There are no liberals or conservative branches … they all believe the same.”
Explosive Growth of Christianity is Changing China
by Teresa Neumann : Sep 15, 2010 : Christopher Landau – BBC
“There is no small irony in the party’s new-found enthusiasm for supporting the development of religion in China, given Communism’s commitment to atheism.”
Founder’s Note: We can barely explain how much growth in eastern countries there is for Christ. Who knew? My dad was born in China to non-Chinese missionary parents. My parents adopted a Chinese boy. He became a great surgeon in the United States. My niece goes to China on business. Someday my wife and I will visit too. –Steve and Derene Shultz
(China) – The BBC reports that communist rulers in China have radically altered their views about religion and as a result, Christianity is growing in China as never before. The caveat is that the closely limited new freedoms are only granted to those Christians willing to worship in government-sanctioned churches.
The director general of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Wang Zuo An, was quoted as saying there are now at least 20 million Christians in China worshipping in the state-sanctioned church.
“Such growth is unprecedented in the history of Christianity in China. Christianity is enjoying its best period of growth in China,” he said, adding that, “On the question of whether there is God, the Chinese Communist Party believes there is no God in the world.”
Rev. John Zhang, a Catholic priest, said: “Some officials say, ‘You have done for Chinese society what we cannot do. Without any political involvement, the Church is doing a good job, and we from government appreciate it.'”
The report noted that house – or underground – churches remain a “significant part of the Chinese Christian landscape,” but “both the Catholic and Protestant churches sanctioned by the state are now also seeing levels of growth that few predicted in the 1980s.”
Said one young Chinese Christian student, “I think this nation will change, and I think God is doing great things in China.”