Forbidden From Church

Jane was uncertain what to do, she had become a Christian since coming to the UK to study but now her parents were angry. Grandmother was a Christian too and Jane’s mother remembered all too well the horrors their family lived through during the Cultural revolution. She didn’t want another believer in the family in case it brought more trouble.

Having been forbidden to attend church Jane took that literally and went instead to a mid-week home group and met with other Christians informally. It helped, and they were behind her in prayer when she returned home for a visit, thinking she might be forbidden to return to the UK. A month later she was back and thrilled with the answers to prayer as the visit had been much less difficult than anticipated. Her Christian friends stood by her as she battled with low times and doubts and shared her joy as she became more sure in her faith. Then she announced she was going to study at a different university...”It’s quite small...I don’t think I will find other Chinese there, I am worried I will be lonely” A week later her friends were amazed to receive the news that out of 104 students in Jane’s new class only 3 were not from China! Even better news was that she had already met up with local Christians!

There are many students like Jane in the UK. Again and again we are told “I’m not a Christian but my grandmother is/was”. Is God answering the prayers of those grandmothers by sending their grandchildren to study in a place where they will more easily hear and respond to the gospel? All over the UK local churches find themselves with Chinese students eager to study the Bible and learn about Christianity.

OMF has a team working among these students and we can help you get started and provide ongoing assistance through literature, CDs, etc. and through Church Training Days which we run in various parts of the UK to help local churches reach out to Chinese and other East Asians in their area. Someone who had been working among students for many years attended a training day recently and said afterwards “I wish I’d had this training 20 years ago!”

Don’t wait 20 years! Ask us to come and do a Training Day in your area. Contact us here .