“I don’t know where my husband is right now, but I believe that God still uses him in prisons or camps.”
Imagine being in the middle of worship service when a group of armed government agents burst through the doors and begin arresting several of your fellow worshippers, and even your own family members, to have them sent off to “re-education” internment camps.
Would you have the kind of faith to trust that God would use this for His glory?
These stats prove that this kind of faith is giving Christians in China the hope to carry on.
Although there is great persecution in China, the number of new baptisms is keeping pace at a steady rate of 4-8 million per year.
And though Christianity is heavily regulated there and Christians are required to register and attend government sanctioned churches, it is thought that only about 20 percent of Chinese Christians actually adhere to these regulations.
In fact, it’s estimated that there are anywhere from 80-160 million Christians in China—and this number has been growing steadily by about 10 percent every year since 1980.
This means that by the year 2030, China could become the largest Christian nation in the world!
Right now, many congregate in underground home churches. This is similar to the early days of the Christian church when Roman persecution was at its peak.
But there are some who are confident that the situation in China can be turned around so long as the number of Christians continues to increase.
In the meantime, Christians around the globe continue to support their Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ in many different ways.
One front in this battle is getting real bibles into the country.
Many organizations have taken on the fight to get the Word of God to the bible-hungry people of China.
You see, while the Bible isn’t banned, it must be purchased from government approved or government run publishers. These bibles include pro-Communist propaganda and explains away parts of scripture that goes against the Communist party.
There are even plans to slowly change the wording in these bibles to actually support their communist agenda!
There is also another reason why buying bibles from these official publishers is risky.
After a Chinese citizen buys one of these bibles, they are likely to be tracked back to their underground home church, which is then raided by government officials.
Maybe you can see now how bad the situation is looking in China. There is even talk of China having around 600,000,000 CCTV cameras installed by the year 2020. This would result in the government being able to track Christians more easily than ever before.
Yet there is still hope.
With all of the strict regulations on Christianity in China, one might think that you wouldn’t be able to find a real bible to guide you anywhere, but that is wrong. There are individual Christians and organizations dedicated to smuggling quality bibles into China.
If you are a Christian traveling to China, you are usually allowed to keep a bible or two when crossing a border checkpoint. This means that if you can cross the border multiple times within several weeks, you can potentially smuggle in quite a few bibles. This is great news for China’s underground churches who are in desperate need of genuine bibles.
Not only that, but printing operations have begun in some of the underground churches to try and get as many real bibles to the people as possible. In some rural areas, people who have waited many years just to read the Word of God are finally receiving bibles!
So, while the persecution and regulation of Christianity in China is an outrage and is something that demands the prayer and attention of Christians all over the world, there is good news.
Jesus warned us that we would be hated among all men for His name’s sake, but that we must stand strong until the end.
So, has government persecution in China stopped Christians from following the Word, worshiping God, and getting their hands on true bibles by any means necessary? Not even close.
God is making sure that His Word is not squelched by the adversary. He has sent many of His dedicated followers to make sure that China’s Christian population continues to grow.
We hold onto our faith because we know Who will win.
Don’t forget, one of the best weapons against evil is prayer. So please remember to pray for our brothers and sisters who live in China and are experiencing so much turmoil in the name of Jesus Christ.
