China shutters churches, demands recant of faith

….to pray for these, and keep our own troubles in perspective. Worth noting is that while the end of the article differentiates between the status of Han (majority) and minorities of China (there are a TON in southern and western China), the churches that were “busted up” were in regions that would be predominantly Han. So in a manner of speaking, the government is persecuting the group that ought to be its power base—a communist government allows no rivals.

I would also suggest that as we pray for our brothers, we take steps to learn how 70 million or so Chinese citizens have managed to, in contradiction to their government, create churches. It’s knowledge we may need at some point.

I would also add to pray for some I know personally (myself included) who have opportunity to minister to those (both believers and unbelievers) outside of China who will eventually return to situations like this. I hesitate to share details publicly to err on the side of caution, but prayers for wisdom and for the power of God to change hearts would be appreciated.

I do wonder how long this can go on. Xi might be playing Mao, but he doesn’t have Mao’s following or charisma. And coincidentally or not, economic trends for China are not so good at the moment—for the first time in over a decade.