Pray for the Church in China

Friends, as we pray for our own church and ministry this month, let’s also make sure to call upon the Lord on behalf of our brothers and sisters in China.

In recent months the Chinese government has been intensifying its crackdown on churches, detaining pastors and demolishing buildings.  There is an aggressive campaign to rein in and domesticate Christianity, and believers in Jesus who are not willing to revise their faith to exalt communist, secular state ideals are suffering greatly.

Take time to read a leading Chinese pastor’s reflections on how he would act (and then did act) if the government-based persecution reached his church.  In addition, Christianity Today has a summary article, and just the other day the UK newspaper, The Guardian, came out with a major article on this humanitarian and religious freedom crisis.  See also the recent articles at The Gospel Coalition—here and here.  And note the wider picture of persecution of Christians in today's world.

“Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).

“The least you can do is the most you can do:  pray” (International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church).