Global Chinese Ministries Newsletter - February 2008

Edited by Tony Lambert, OMF Director for China Research

CAUGHT IN A DILEMMA

Most house-church Christians in China still refuse to register or to attend the government-controlled Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church. Some Three Self pastors label house churches as “cults,” although others quietly assist them. The divisions can still be very sharp, and older believers have not forgotten how the church was persecuted and politicized in the Mao era.

However, it seems for many younger believers in both Three Self churches and the house churches that the strong animosities apparent in their parents’ generation are lessening. For these young people, the persecutions of the Cultural Revolution and of the 1950s are history rather than personal experience. The following letter written by Brother Yan in Shandong and received recently by FEBC reflects something of the dilemma facing those younger believers who refuse to be pigeon-holed.

“I was born into a Christian family. I like both the Three Self church and the house church. Each of these two different forms, resulting from the national religious policy and having different historical backgrounds, has its strengths, and the Lord allows them to co-exist in our country.”

“When my Three Self church found out my standpoint towards the house churches, their attitude changed. The church started to reject me. I face attacks from my own church—rumors, gossip, insults and lies. The same situation has happened in the house church and they have rejected me as being a member of the Three Self church.”

IFES AND OMF

The following short article appeared in the Praise and Prayer bulletin of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) last October.

“As IFES celebrates its 60th anniversary, we look back in thankfulness and praise God for his many faithful servants who have served student ministry—those heroes of the faith of whom the world was not worthy (Hebrews 11:38).

“In 1934 a young graduate from Cambridge, England went to China with the China Inland Mission (now OMF International). David Adeney had been a student missionary secretary during his time in Cambridge and then worked for the national IFES movement (then IVF or InterVarsity Fellowship) in Great Britain. As an OMF missionary he served student ministry faithfully in China, remaining there with his wife, Ruth, until after the revolution, before finally leaving in 1950.”

“The Adeneys are just one example of the excellent relationship between IFES East Asia and OMF. There are too many stories to tell them all: Mike and Valerie Griffiths, Koichi Ohtawa, Liew Tong Ngan, Rosanne Jones, So Yan Kok, Makino, and the list goes on.”

Gideon Yung, the IFES regional secretary, writes: “I can say with great thankfulness that many of the IFES student movements in our region were started by—or with the help of—OMF missionaries, in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam—not to mention IVCF in Mainland China, of course. These movements had direct links with OMF missionaries in the pioneering stages of the ministry, and the results of their work can be seen today.”

We would add that the early history of the Christian student movement in China is a glorious chapter generally unknown today. Few know that in the period 1946-49, on the very eve of the Communist victory, Mainland China had the largest Christian student movement in terms of numbers of any country in the world, eclipsing even the US and the UK. This exciting story was chronicled by David Adeney in his book Chinese Christian Students Face the Revolution (sadly long out of print so please do not ask OMF for copies! They sometimes turn up second-hand in the UK and North America.) In Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and other major cities there was a touch of revival as many students turned to Christ in repentance and faith.

After the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) those professors and teachers who had remained faithful to the Lord and survived decades of persecution, quietly re-emerged to evangelize and mentor today’s generation of Mainland Chinese students. Today there are small Christian students meetings flourishing on and off campus in many Chinese universities, but they are officially prohibited. China remains the only major nation in the world which is unable to openly send delegates to international student Christian conferences.

The work of God continues and IFES and OMF continue to work together in East Asia as well as in many countries such as the U.S., U.K., Japan and Australia to evangelize the hundreds of thousands of Chinese studying overseas. Many are turning to Christ and some are returning to China eager to share the gospel. Pray that they will be “salt and light” and have a powerful impact.

SMOKING KILLS!

There are about 360 million cigarette smokers in China—a quarter of the total world smoking population and one-third of the total world tobacco consumption. According to surveys, 28.5% of the population aged 18 or over in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan are smokers. Half of male smokers are habitual smokers. About 30% of female smokers have smoked for five years or less, and 70% of them have been smoking for under 10 years. This shows there is a new class of female smokers (Ming Pao, 24 September 2007).

This spells catastrophe for China’s hard-pressed medical services as well as for the millions of people concerned. Huge numbers will be suffering from cancer, strokes and all the other diseases associated with smoking for decades to come. Chinese Christians are largely non-smokers and can set a good example, as can Christians working in the medical services in China. Much more needs to be done by the government to educate ordinary people about the devastating effects of smoking. Pray that the government, together with the example of Christians, will be able to create a climate of opinion, as has happened in the West (in the teeth of opposition from the powerful tobacco companies), which disapproves of smoking and bans it in public places. Sadly, this still seems years in the future in China.

FROM BUDDHISM TO CHRIST

“I was a devout Buddhist for more than ten years. I regularly practiced Buddhism in my daily life, listened to their teaching and led many friends to Buddhism. However, I could hardly eat or sleep under the huge burden of work and pressure. I began to hate myself and blame my husband. I prayed to Buddha but my anxiety continued and my temper got worse. Finally, I had a heart-to-heart chat with a preacher and believed in Jesus Christ. I now pray in every situation and feel my life has been renewed. My family, friends and neighbors cannot understand why I changed my faith. But after sharing with them in some depth, they began to view my newfound faith in a different way.” —Miss Chen in Guangdong in a letter to FEBC in Hong Kong.

There are hundreds of millions of people in China influenced to a greater or lesser extent by Buddhism—China’s majority religion. Temples are always packed out during Buddhist festivals and have become hugely wealthy. Pray for gospel outreach to Buddhists!

Copyright 2008 OMF International