China News

by Tony Lambert

INFECTIOUS DISEASES
The Chinese government and the World Health Organization are seriously alarmed by the spread of infectious diseases in China, according to an article in Time (8 December 2003). There are believed to be 130 million carriers of hepatitis B and 250,000 deaths from this disease every year. There may be 1 million sufferers of schistosomiasis which is carried by water-born snails in rice paddies. There are 1.3 million new cases reported every year of tuberculosis. HIV sufferers may number between 1 and 1.5 million people and the number is soaring. Only 15% of the population have any kind of health insurance. China has made great strides in health care over the last 50 years and the average life expectancy, especially for city dwellers, is far higher than in the days when plague and cholera swept the country. However, there is still a long way to go. Christians overseas with medical qualifications should seriously pray about the possibilities of serving God on short-term and long-term assignments in China. There are many openings and OMF is able to facilitate in many cases.

NEEDY GANSU
Dry and dusty Gansu province in northwest China is one of China’s poorest regions and one of the most needy spiritually. With a population of 25.6 million (2001), there are only about 100,000 registered adult believers although there are also many house-church Christians. A letter from a poor believer to Christian Communications Ltd. in Hong Kong in December reveals the desperate need for the gospel in Gansu: “I live in a small, poor and remote city in the mountains of Gansu. Although large in area most of the land is barren. Our city has a population of 230,000 but the people are unreached by the gospel. There are a lot of cults. Temples are everywhere but there are no Christian churches. It’s a discouraging picture which saddens the Lord. So far there are only seven or eight sisters meeting in my home. If I include those brothers and sisters who leave town for work or school our numbers do not reach twenty. We all belong to the poorest class of society. Please pray for our gospel ministry. As I am learning to serve God I need your help. We hope you can send us some gospel and devotional materials to equip us to serve the Lord.’

A NEW SURVEY OF THE OVERSEAS CHINESE CHURCH
CCCOWE has announced that from 2002-2005 a new comprehensive survey of the overseas Chinese churches worldwide will be undertaken. The survey team will be lead by Rev. James Shia from Taiwan. The last full survey was published in 1981. The overseas Chinese churches have seen great expansion over the last 25 years, so we await this survey with excitement!

A PARTY MEMBER BURNS HIS BRIDGES
“I joined the Party when I was in college, but recently I withdrew. All Party members, especially those who join while at college, are highly regarded in all the State enterprises. Now my withdrawal is on file. I have burned all my bridges. I’ve even given up applying for a research position, though my academic standing certainly qualifies me. Now I just want to study the Bible more and equip myself better so that I can save more souls.” This letter came to FEBC recently from Mr. Su in Heilongjiang. No Communist Party member is allowed to be a Christian. However, many Party members have secretly become believers. Others, like Mr. Su, openly confess Christ and suffer the consequences. Pray for them!

A MUSLIM FINDS CHRIST
“I was born into a Muslim family. My family are all Muslims. I often share the gospel with them and urge them to believe in Christ. However, they have not believed yet. My parents criticize me and say I am superstitious and wasting my life. I live at home, am unemployed without an income and am totally dependent on my father’s pension. I often feel very weak.” Pray that Mr. Yu in Heilongjiang will find work so that his witness will be more consistent. Few Muslims in China are won to Christ.

BISHOP TING UNDERMINES THE BIBLE
In a major article published last September Bishop Ting of the Nanjing Jinling Theological Seminary has openly attacked the evangelical view of the Bible’s unique authority and inspiration. “We know that in the church there are many false viewpoints, such as when people confuse the Bible with God’s Word. Most believers and pastors [in China] will immediately think of the Bible if you mention God’s Word. Today I wish to take a little time to show that this is mistaken.” Ting then proceeded to attack the biblical and evangelical view of the Bible’s inspiration: “Many Christians believe that every paragraph and every word of the Bible are God’s Word and absolutely correct. Thus we place the Bible in the supreme position. It becomes a fourth part of the Trinity…. The Bible contains God’s revelation but also man’s gropings for God. Groping is good but as man is weak, in his gropings it is unavoidable there are misunderstandings of God’s Word. Because the Bible is not completely the Word of God, it also contains the words of man. Man is weak and lacking, even mistaken, in his understanding of God. Thus errors have come into the Bible.” (Tianfeng, September 2003)
Ting’s views, which are a mixture of old-style liberalism, process theology and marxism, are being vigorously pushed in China’s seminaries through his “theological construction” campaign. However, they are being resisted by the overwhelming majority of Christians in the Three-Self churches who love God’s Word and remain convinced evangelicals. Faithful pastors, and teachers and students in the twenty Three-Self seminaries need much prayer support during this ongoing campaign whose aim is to “transform” the entire Chinese church.

NEW OUTREACH CENTER FOR THE MIEN
The Mien number up to 1.5 million people in South China, Vietnam, Laos and North Thailand. Most live in hill villages. Less than 1% are Christians and 97% live in “closed” countries. In China, the Mien are classified by the government under the “Yao” national minority and number over 1 million in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Hunan. At most a few thousand have turned to Christ in China (about 1,000 in Yunnan, through listening to FEBC gospel radio in their own language).

The whole Bible was translated into Mien in May 2003 and will be published in 2005. Mien church leaders have expressed a need for a new outreach center in northern Thailand. OMF is cooperating with the Mien Church Association of Thailand to build the center which will cost US$600,000. A beautiful three-acre site near the Lao border has already been purchased and some work started. The complex will house a Bible school and a building for gospel radio and literature production as well as hostel accommodation for Mien children to attend local schools. (Contact OMF for more information and a brochure.)

Copyright OMF International 2004