PERSECUTED BROTHERS and SISTERS IN CHINA

I'm Praying to Pray:  "GOD give more grace to pray for my sisters, for my brothers in the persecuted church.  More grace to pray for those suffering for Jesus Sake in China."

You can read a great deal more about persecution of Christians in China on the Voice of the Martyrs Website:  http://www.persecution.com


Plus click here for VOM articles about China:

At Voice of the Martyrs you can also read the following telling us about China and how it is considered a Restricted Nation:
 

China was declared the People’s Republic of China in 1949 by Chairman Mao Zedong, who quickly sought to purge society of anything religious. In recent years, living standards have improved in urban areas while little has changed in the countryside, promoting discontent. Political controls remain tight. The human rights record in China is one of the worst in the world. Its system of “re-education through labor” detains hundreds of thousands of people each year in work camps without a court hearing. In Tibet, an autonomous region within China, Christians are trapped between the oppression of Buddhism and the oppression of communism. On May 8, 2009, after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended China remain on the U.S. Department of State’s list of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said the report was “an attempt to smear China.” Each year, China forcibly repatriates around 4,000 refugees to North Korea — where they face imprisonment, torture and even execution.

Category: Restricted Nation
Religion: Non-Religious/Other 49.58%, Chinese 28.50%, Christian 7.25%
Ideology: Communism
Head of State: President Hu Jintao

More Christians are in prison or under detention in China than in any other country. House churches (unregistered churches), which make up approximately 90 percent of China’s Christians, endure unimaginable persecution. But they stand by their commitment to preach the gospel, no matter the cost. In Tibet, most of the persecution against Christians comes from militant Tibetan Buddhists. On Feb. 11, 2009, Chinese authorities arrested 60 house church leaders, including two South Korean pastors who were attending a seminar in Wolong district, Henan province. Police
officers disrupted the meeting, arrested the Christians and confiscated phones, books and money. Authorities forced the believers to register with the government and pay a fine. Elderly believers were released, but the South Korean pastors were deported three days later for “engaging in illegal religious activities.” They have been banned from entering the country for five years. Other house church Christians remain in detention, and several churches have been forced to close or relocate.

THE PERSECUTED CHURCH of CHINA

 

Albert Mohler wrote about the Persecuted Church in China this week on His Blog.   Persecution that is taking place right in Beijing and right out in the open.   Read about here, and note the excerpt I include below:

Evicted yet again from its meeting place by the authorities, Shouwang announced this month that its congregants would worship outside rather than disband or go back underground. Its demands were straightforward but bold: allow the church to take possession of the space it had legally purchased. Officials responded with a clenched fist. On Sunday, for the second week in a row, the police rounded up scores of parishioners who tried to pray outdoors at a public plaza. Most of the church’s leadership is now in custody or under house arrest. Its Web site has been blocked.

......

Shouwang’s latest troubles began again three years ago, shortly after its application for official recognition was denied. Officers from the Beijing Public Security Bureau burst into Sunday services, pronounced the gathering illegal and wrote down the personal details of everyone in the room, one by one. In the days that followed, calls were made to congregants’ employers or college administrators. Many congregants say they were threatened with dismissal from jobs or school if they did not switch to an official church. Some left, but Shouwang’s ranks continued to grow.

Let's pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ - Let's remember them that are in Bonds.  Let's pray that their faith will remain steadfast in the midst of great adversity.  

Finally hear what this brother said, as quoted also by Albert Mohler:

One Shouwang member spoke with Christian courage. He told The New York Times, even as his doorway was blocked by police: “I am fully prepared to go to jail for my church. I belong to the Lord, and if this is what God intended, so be it.”