thinkin'

YOU CANNOT HIDE ANYMORE

2012-02-13T13:47:00.002-06:00

Want to know you lives around you? Use this link and provide your physical address in the blocks proved. Just remember, WE CANNOT HIDE ANYMORE!

http://neighbors.whitepages.com/

Chinese church

2012-02-11T15:14:00.002-06:00

China's new face of Christianity

2012-02-11T14:59:00.002-06:00

BEIJING - Christianity in China began decades ago in the countryside, but today, a dramatic shift is happening.

Young professionals in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are changing the face of Chinese Christianity, as faith moves from rural to more urban areas.

On a recent Wednesday evening, a group of men and women in their late 20s met in an apartment not too far from the city center to discuss how to thrive in their rapidly changing nation.

Those who attended are members of China's new privileged class -- highly educated, cosmopolitan, middle or even upper class of urban professionals. And they're all Christians.

"We've never had it so good in China today," Jia Li Tian, a member of the group, told CBN News. "But there's more to life that just money and materialism."

Pressures to Succeed

Jia works for one of Beijing's largest tour operators. Like young urban professionals in other parts of the world, he and his peers live in high-rise apartment buildings. They own a car - sometimes two. They are tech savvy. They travel. They have money to spend.

But the pressure to succeed and thrive is fierce.

"The competition for jobs in the big cities is intense," said Zhou Jie, a Spanish translator who works in Beijing.

"Status is everything," said 23-year-old Liu Yi Zhuo, a business consultant for one of China's biggest oil companies. "How much you make. How big is your apartment. What kind of car you drive. This is what people focus on."

"The government makes it possible for us to earn money and have a good life," Jia added. "But how do we handle all these pressures? The government doesn't have answers for this."

Filling the Spiritual Vacuum

But religion is filling a void within this rapidly-changing Chinese society.

"I'm different person today," graphic designer Zhu Kun said over a cup of coffee.

The 23-year-old is one of the many city residents who are now embracing Christianity in record numbers.

"The last couple of years have been difficult for me," Zhu said. "I've struggled professionally and personally. But then someone introduced me to Jesus and now I have a different outlook on my life."

Jesus in the Office

Zhu worships at Shou Wang, one of the largest unregistered or "underground" churches in Beijing. Jin Tian Ming leads the church.

"God called me to start a church to reach these young people with the Gospel," Jin said.

Jin, who himself is a graduate of China's most prestigious university, began the Shou Wang church 18 years ago with 10 people. Now, close to 1,000 attend his weekly service.

"The majority of them have graduated from college and work in the city," he explained. "We have lawyers, professors, doctors, business people."

Jin added that similar gatherings are springing up in other big cities, attracting the white collar working world.

"They are looking for ways to handle the dramatic changes in China, and they are finding answers in Christianity," he said.

New Face of Christianity

Jia Lin Tian helps run a Bible study for new converts in the city. He says this is the new face of Christianity in China.

Such believers are part of what some are calling China's "Third Church."

Peter, not his real name, has worked with China's underground churches for decades. CBN News agreed to conceal his identity to protect him.

"They are called the 'Third Church' because they are very different than what used to be the only two real kinds of churches in China," Peter said. "The registered church -- registered with the government -- and then the unregistered churches, usually called house churches which thrived in the countryside in the 70s and 80s."

"But then after the 1989 (Tiananmen) demonstrations, these urban, educated, well-to-do Christians started forming urban churches," he continued.

'Third Church' Growth

Although Christianity continues to grow in China's countryside, experts say it's in big cities like Beijing where the church is growing fastest.

"Whereas the rural church was not able to have an impact on society as a whole, the 'Third Church' in the cities is able to do that because they are comprised of leaders who can have an impact," Peter explained. "[They are] businessmen, government officials, professors, leaders in engineering, every aspect of life."

Pastor Jin's congregation is technically an illegal gathering. He hasn't registered his church with the government, nor is it part of any of the state-sanctioned churches.

But rather than hide from authorities, Jin and others who lead such congregations in big cities say they want to work with the government officials.

Moving Past Persecution

The Chinese government has always maintained a tight grip on religion. Torture, arrests, imprisonment, and beatings of Christians are still practiced in the country.

But in recent years, authorities have made positive overtures towards house church leaders -- especially those in urban areas.

"The church in China is growing and Christianity is becoming more and more a part of mainstream society," Jin said. "The authorities know this and they are showing a willingness to work with us."

And young, urban believers are welcoming the gesture as they use faith to navigate the opportunities and challenges of China today.

On North Korean Christians

2012-02-11T14:37:00.002-06:00

SEOUL, South Korea -- Some North Koreans have been able to escape from the Communist country and its strict human rights violations. Kim Eun Jin is one of those survivors.

The 31-year-old was born in Pyongyang, North Korea. She was part of the nation's secret underground church, and her story has never been told until now.

America's Central Intelligence Agency estimates that some 24 million people live in North Korea. The best estimate is about 2 percent or 480,000 of them are Christians.

"Growing up I was told by the authorities that there was no God in this world," Kim recalled. "We were ordered instead to worship Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the leaders of the country."

Freedom of religion is guaranteed under North Korea's constitution, but it's never encouraged.

"We met every Saturday evening," Kim said, explaining what it was like being a believer in North Korea.

"My family gathered in the back room of our small apartment," she continued. "We had to be very quiet. We whispered when we prayed, sang songs or read the Bible. We often covered our heads to muffle the noise."

A Secret Revealed

Growing up, Kim said she heard stories of how her native city Pyongyang was once known as the "Jerusalem of the East."

In 1945, 13 percent of the population was Christian. The city was the center of Christianity on the Korean Peninsula. Half a century later, Kim's faith made her a target.

"My parents often asked me to stay outside the apartment on Saturdays to make sure no one was coming while the family prayed inside. We couldn't allow anyone to know what was going on," she told CBN News.

Over time, the meetings grew to include a few friends and extended family.

"We had one Bible in the house. My grandmother, who was a believer from the Japanese Imperial times, had a Chinese Bible. She translated the Bible by hand into the Korean language on pieces of paper. That's how we read the Bible. We found strength in those pages," Him said.

But soon the authorities discovered that her father was a secret believer.

"My father was a tailor in town and the police suspected something was going on," she recalled. "We believe they planted listening devices in his shop and on his clothes."

In 1994, police discovered that Kim's father was operating a secret underground church. They raided the house, arrested him along with an uncle, and both men likely ended up in one of the six labor camps dotting North Korea.

"The day my father was arrested I was at school, but I'll never forget that day. He hugged me before I left for school and like every other day he reminded me to be careful," Kim said.

"Every morning at the breakfast table he would tell us that one day the government will come and arrest us for being Christians. He warned us of the price we would some day pay for our faith. I remember him saying often that 'Even if I face death I will follow Jesus,'" she added.

Christians Held Captive

Some 200,000 prisoners are being held in political prison camps in North Korea. An estimated 30,000 of them are Christians. The regime is routinely sited for human rights violations.

Won Jae-chun is a professor of law in South Korea's Handong International Law School.

"They (North Korean Christians) are treated as criminals, especially as terrorists, and they are prosecuted based on national security crimes of North Korea," he said.

A video obtained by CBN News shows what's believed to be the execution of North Korean Christians.

"I hereby declare that the accused is sentenced to death. The death penalty must be executed at once. Ready! Fire! Fire!" a man in the video says.

Kim doubts her father is alive today.

"Everyone knows what happens when government agents arrest Christians in North Korea. They never make it out alive," she told CBN News.

"I know my father is in Heaven and he's praying for North Korea and my family," Kim said tearfully.

In a Better Place

Kim's mother, grandmother and siblings managed to escape to the mountains.

In 2005, with the help of a Chinese pastor, she crossed the Tumen River and defected to China. Her family followed months later.

"It was a difficult decision. I knew that if I got caught I'd be arrested and sent to a prison camp," she said. "But my family defected because we were being persecuted in North Korea for our faith."

Today Kim is married, has a baby boy and lives in Seoul, South Korea.

"I am very proud of what she did. Her family has gone through a lot over the years. She is a hero in my eyes," Kim's husband Jeong Hyung Shin said.

Kim is quick to brush aside those compliments, and instead gives honor to the man who laid down his life.

"I grew up in a land where they said there was no God. But my father told me otherwise. He loved Christ and for that he died," she said.

Kim has a dream to one day go back to Pyongyang and share this love with the people of North Korea.

"We are getting ready for that day when the doors open," Kim said.

Cry for the god of North Korea or go to prison

2012-02-07T13:46:00.001-06:00

After the death of Kim Jong Il, the country went into mandatory mourning. Anyone who did not attend the organized ceremonies or show “real” tears were sentenced to six years in labor camp. Anyone who is critical of the new leader Kim Jong Un will also face being prison time in a labor camp.

There is a real fear among the leadership that the god-like image of the leaders in North Korea may be deteriorating among the population. Back to Jerusalem missionaries continue to labor among the people of North Korea during their time of transition and introducing them to the real God that will never leave them.

[I have a couple Chinese contacts in North Korea. May the Lord give me wisdom to bring truth to them. gc]

North Korea open to Back to Jerusalem Chinese national missionaries

2012-02-07T13:42:00.001-06:00

The Chinese have a very special relationship with North Korea. Anyone observing today’s international politics can easily see the unprecedented influence that China has over North Korea. No other country in the world has a working relationship with North Korea except for China.

A book was released this week showing that this relationship may be even deeper and more influential than many observers have previously thought. A new book called “My Father, Kim Jong Il and me” was released this week in Japan that gives the rare glimpse into the family of Kim Jong Il. The book is written by a close friend of Kim Jong Nam who claims to have done a few interviews and over 150 emails of discussions with the eldest son of Kim Jong Il.

The book highlights the fact that Kim Jong Nam does not have high expectations of North Korea in the hands of his younger brother and feels that the regime will edge closer to collapse under the control of the current regime that has taken over after his father.

Kim Jong Nam lives in China and is given special protection and right of abode there and is a frequent visitor of Macau. Though China currently has a good relationship with the current leaders in North Korea, it seems that China is keeping their “Ace in the hole” – Kim Jong Nam – in safe keeping until all things work themselves out. If relationships sour with the current regime, speculators claim that China could introduce Kim Jong Nam into the equation as an alternative. China has a lot of resources invested in North Korea including port rights in North Korea that will benefit the entire north eastern region of China. China also likes having a clear buffer between their border and the 38th Parallel.

Either way, this still keeps the door open for the future for Back to Jerusalem Missionaries from China into North Korea. Today, more than six Back to Jerusalem missionaries from China are working with the North Koreans to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and provide tools to the underground church.

China increasing crackdown on Christianity, Group Claims

2012-02-07T13:37:00.000-06:00

BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- Chinese authorities have stepped up their "longstanding opposition to Christianity" in China last year, an influential human rights group said in comments monitored by BosNewsLife Thursday, February 2.

In its annual report, U.S.-based China Aid Association (CAA) cited figures that it said "showed a dramatic worsening of government persecution of Christians and churches."

Those statistics included "a 131.8 percent increase" in the number of Christians detained for their religious beliefs. "This trend of worsening persecution has persisted for the past six years," the group said, adding that Christians were not the only target.

"In the year just ended, China's Communist regime has succeeded in creating an atmosphere of terror among the Chinese people -- throughout the country but particularly in Beijing -- by skirting the nation's judicial system to punish its own citizens, in violation of the nation's laws, through abduction, forced disappearance, torture, mentally and physically destructive abuse, treating family members as guilty-by-association, etc. In 2011, more than 100 influential lawyers and human rights activists -- both Christians and non-Christians -- had "disappeared," or been "tortured, put under surveillance or sentenced," the report said.

A "new government practice" in 2011 was targeting churches and individuals who, CAA said, "were significantly impacting society". Among those targeted was the 1,000-member Shouwang Church in Beijing, which has been holding outdoors services after government interference made it impossible for them to buy or lease a meeting space.

Additionally, leading legal activists, including constitutional law expert Fan Yafeng, has been under house arrest since December 2010 while award-winning human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who "disappeared" into official custody for 20 months, was sent to a remote prison in far western China to serve a three-year sentence.

"DETAINEES TORTURED"

The report highlighted CAA called "the worrying increase in the use of torture against detainees," citing a 33.3 percent increase over 2010 in the number of cases of abuse of all kinds, including torture.

It was not immediately clear how these figures were obtained, but CAA is known to have close contacts with China's growing house church movement.

Many of the nation's 130 million Christians prefer to worship outside the government-backed official denominations, including in underground 'house churches' organized in homes of individual believers and other buildings.

The Midland, Texas-based CAA was founded a decade ago to draw international attention to what it calls "China's gross human rights violations against house church Christians". The group monitors and reports on religious freedom violations in China.

China's government has denied human rights abuses against Christians and says believers are free to worship in the official Catholic and Protestant denominations. Officials are known to have expressed concerns over the spread of Christianity in a country ruled by a Communist Party with an atheistic ideology.

God is magnified!

2012-02-06T13:53:00.000-06:00

This young boy, age 12, lives in a poor farming area in China. He had an unreal heart medical problem and his poor family took him to Shanghai for medical help. The doctors later sent him home with his family as there was nothing in Shanghai that could be done for him. They literally sent him home to die.

Robin, the boy's cousin and a friend of mine since I first contacted him in 2008, told me of the pending fate of this young boy... sent home to die. I suggested our church in Arkansas would pray for his cousin and God was able to heal him. Robin had already become a believer. He was thrilled that people in the USA, who did not know him nor his cousin, would pray to "the God" for his ill cousin.

The church began to pray. In the meantime, Robin managed to make a connection to a heart specialist in Beijing and drew out his life-savings for his future, and took his cousin and parents to Beijing to meet with this doctor. The doctor told them of the sad condition of this boy and his chances of survival. But Robin insisted that people in America love the boy and are praying for him. The doctor said only one thing he could done to help and he was the only surgeon in China that could do it. The risks were high and the boy's ability to pull through was extremely weak. Arkansas church continued to pray.

Robin was about to bring his cousin and parents back to the farm, and let the boy die if it just had to be because the doctor told Robin how much money to bring to pay for the operation and recovery up front. The amount was only what a very rich person could afford. His money was already gone just sto bring them to Beijing. He told the doctor to schedule the operation... he would "find" the money. He relayed this situation to me and we continued to pray.

With time running out and the boy looking as though he was already dead, skin and bones, only able to say a few words in a whisper, by some miracle Robin made his way back to the hospital to see the surgeon, and put the entire money up front for the boy's surgery and care. Robin's hopes were dashed when the surgeon agreed but told him and the boy's parents that the chances of the boy living through the operation were almost zero. Still prayer was lifted up in the boy's behalf and prayer for the family to have courage and to believe that Jesus is a healer. Robin told the doctor he had already given him the money -- now "the schedule the operation. Within hours the boy was in the operating room, chest opened and skillful hands of a surgeon and the loving arms of "the God" doing what they do best.

The boy survived the long operation! Hopes climbed. Belief was struggling to breath fresh air of hope. But is was coming together in a miraculous way. The boy began to gain strength. His heart beat strong. Color came back to his gray face. Soon silence was broken by the voice of the boy and he managed a smile. So much noise and excitement in the heart intensive care unit as parents rejoice, Robin wept, and the medical staff stepped in to see the unbelievable.

I believe it was two weeks later, Robin took his cousin and parents back to their farm on the long train ride back home... the boy alive and gaining strength ...and get this, the parents and the boy believing that Jesus Christ is really not just a God for the western world, but for Chinese as well. They believed. They shouted their excitement to all the neighbors. People came to their poor little house on their tiny farmland to see this boy. God is magnified.

Robin was truly amazed and strengthened by this miracle. I kept checking with Robin and his reports were always so great. Then he let me know the boy was playing basketball with the other kids. Slowly, not able to jump much, but on the court to try to play. I thought that was so awesome. The other day I asked Robin, "How's our little cousin?" He replied, "He is stronger than other kids he plays with. He eats well. He has flesh on his bones. He looks like all the other kids. He always wants to play basketball and has parents can hardly get him to come in the house and do homework or do his chores. He is fully recovered as if he never had been sick in his life!" God is magnified.

Robin said the boy is very bright. When the boy was in the hospital in Beijing, waiting to see if a doctor there could help him... as if waiting for death to claim him, he began to speak to Robin about God. Robin said the boy understood so much about God and His love and His ability. They did not know where he got that information because none of the family has ever had contact with a Christian. Robin said wisdom poured from his quivering, gray lips and so inspired him that he determined this boy has got to live. Robin said the boy spoke of the same things I had told him about God and His love and his mercy... His power. I have never had contact with this young boy... his wisdom did not come from something he heard a foreigner say.

Here is our cousin's photo ...as one can see, he looks fine and he IS fine. He believes there is a Jesus Christ that loved him enough to heal his body. This is a great witness in their village and a confirmation to Robin, a new convert, that God is not a horrible looking dragon or beast of some kind that cannot hear, see, feel, touch... but He is alive and loves Chinese people as much as anyone on earth.

If you were one of those who helped pray for this boy, look what your prayers and faith in God did. God is magnified.

You can see from the date on the photo it is recent. I just received the photo on February 4th. God is magnified!

You are a new creation

2012-02-03T15:28:00.000-06:00

Old lady and old car... both looking good

2012-02-02T16:09:00.002-06:00

Shanghai... understand a little of the life

2012-01-28T15:18:00.002-06:00

SHANGHAI, China (BP) -- Madison Zhang*, 27, hangs on to the subway's overhead belt, trying to keep her balance as the train constantly starts and stops for passengers. The young professional's two-hour one-way commute to her government job requires her to travel by foot, bus and subway.

She tries to look upbeat and positive, but tiredness lines her face. She doesn't know how she could survive if her mother-in-law, a widow, hadn't come to live with her and her husband just a month after their wedding. Zhang's commute and long work hours leave her no time to buy groceries, clean house or cook meals.

The commute would tax anyone's energy, but Zhang's even more so. She is six months pregnant with what will -- unless China relaxes its one-child policy -- be her only offspring.

Her child will get a Shanghai hukou, or ID card, to attend public school and obtain health and other social benefits. Zhang, whose own household registration is in her native Shandong province, can't get her Shanghai hukou until her marriage to her Shanghai husband marks its 10th anniversary.

Yet Zhang feels fortunate. Countless Chinese people share her dream, but hers has come to fruition. She has carved a niche for herself in China's commercial and financial capital of Shanghai.

"Shanghai is the doorway to China," says Adam Johnson*, a Christian worker in the area. "People from all over China live in Shanghai and at some point will take what they learn there back to their hometowns and villages.

"Reaching Shanghai is strategic for reaching China," he says.

ABOVE THE SUBWAYS

Emerging from the modern underground labyrinth of subways brings breathtaking views of cosmopolitan Shanghai into focus.

A Louis Vuitton suitcase replica the size of a building stands guard on Shanghai's Nanjing West Road, overlooking the morning commute of hundreds of young, fashionable professionals on the sidewalks below. Coffee shops, trendy restaurants and designer clothing boutiques line this passageway of wealth and privilege.

The ostentatious display almost looks normal in the high-rise city where everything is larger than life.

No other place in China is quite like this. Anyone who'd seen only Shanghai would be hard-pressed to imagine what the rest of the country is like.

Shanghai has long been China's trendsetter in fashion, business and standard of living. Comparisons to New York City fall often from the lips of stunned international visitors. With 23 million people, it boasts a population larger than that of the entire country of Australia. The cosmopolitan mecca pulls in dreamers -- like Zhang -- from all corners of China and the world.

Southern Baptists Isaac and Karen Scidmore* share Christ among the city's young professionals like Zhang. "It's not easy to work among them," Isaac says, "because they are so busy.

"There is no way that you can buy a house in Shanghai on a normal salary. You have to work overtime. You have to move up the ladder somehow. So they are extremely driven to work hard and move up," he says.

Nonetheless, the Scidmores say many Shanghai professionals hear the Gospel and turn to Christ.

"In college and high school they've been told what to think. They've been told communism is the way, Marxism is true, there is no God, evolution is true -- all these theories and philosophies," Isaac says. "And then when they graduate, it is basically the first time they have freedom to decide what they are going to do, what they are going to think.

"So we've found a lot of young professionals very willing to consider the Gospel. They are very open. There seems to be just that kind of release. You know, 'now we have the chance, now we don't have the restrictions.'"

OTHER SIDE OF TOWN

Beyond the glittering urban districts filled with businessmen, professionals and academics, however, another side of Shanghai exists.

Liu Shan Ying*, 35, came to Shanghai from Anhui Province 10 years ago. She wears an apron and stirs a large pot of bubbling stew beside the dusty street. She stands near a blackened automotive parts shop where her husband works. A toddler roams under her attentive watch.

Liu says the neighborhood children attend a private school in the suburbs. The scholastic standards are lower than the public schools, yet the tuition is expensive in relation to incomes. They do not have hukous that would grant free education for their children.

"We make twice the salary in Shanghai that we did in our home villages for the same type of work," Liu says. "Even with private school tuition, we make enough money to live and still send money back to our family in Anhui. It really is better here."

Liu believes in Christ. She attends the house church on the third floor of the rusted warehouse around the corner. The church, led by seminary students, is one of many churches that reach out to migrant and grassroots communities throughout Shanghai.

Grassroots people, the population segment that includes low-income native Shanghainese and migrants, comprise approximately 10 million of Shanghai's 23 million population [in the city proper].

@Southern Baptists Baker and Eunice Lee, who develop leaders among grassroots church members in Shanghai, know their work has made a difference. One day while riding the subway, Baker noticed two women offering evangelistic tracts to passengers. When one of the women turned to offer him a tract, they recognized each other. He had trained the two women in evangelism just days before.

SHANGHAI'S LURE

Shanghai attracts optimistic people both from within China and from abroad. "They want to be on the front edge of culture, society and business in China," Johnson says.

Progressive foreign businessmen in the early 20th century built the "Bund," a row of elite riverfront business establishments along Shanghai's Huangpu (whang-poo) River. The European stone architecture stands today as a testimony to a bygone era.

Across the boat-filled waters stand gleaming glass and steel skyscrapers in the ultra-modern commercial district of Pudong. Twenty years ago, Pudong was swampy farmland; now two of Asia's tallest buildings stand side-by-side there. Shanghai's unique past and optimistic future can be seen in a simple turn of one's head.

"If you go there as a tourist, it's great to see the buildings and some of the historical sites," Johnson says. "But if you really begin to look at Shanghai from a strategic standpoint and say, 'What's it going to take to reach 23 million people with the Gospel?' then you start looking at the multiple districts and just see the mass of humanity. I mean apartments after apartments after apartments. It can get overwhelming.

"According to conservative estimates, 95 percent of Shanghai's 23 million are lost. On average the annual mortality rate in China is about seven in 1,000," he says. "You can do the math. About every three and a half minutes, a lost person in Shanghai dies. Every three and a half minutes, a person in Shanghai enters eternity without Christ."

"We have to turn that around. We need to be in Shanghai. We need to be impacting 23 million people with the Gospel."

[Names changed. Emily Stockton is a writer with International Mission Board based in Asia.]

Photos in and around Shanghai...

Kidnapped, tortured by China State Security Agents

2012-01-28T07:44:00.000-06:00

Overseas Chinese Christian Businesswoman Who Visited House Churches in China is Kidnapped, Tortured by State Security Agents

Contact: Bob Fu, President, Bob@ChinaAid.org; Mark Shan, Spokesperson, Mark@ChinaAid.org; both with China Aid Association, 888-889-7757; 267-205-5210 cell; LA Office: Eddie Romero, 323-521-6777, ChinaAid.LA@gmail.com; www.ChinaAid.org; www.MonitorChina.org

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- A Chinese Christian businesswoman from Canada who visited China late last year was kidnapped and tortured by Chinese state security agents after she visited two persecuted Chinese house churches during the Christmas and New Year's holiday season, ChinaAid has learned.

Photo: Jenny Chen took this photo on Christmas Day 2011 of an armored personnel carrier and other police vehicles outside Jindeng Church in Linfen, Shanxi province.

Jenny Chen, who is in her 50s, was held by state security agents and denied food and water for nearly two days. About to go into shock, she was taken to a police hospital, from where she managed to escape and get on a flight to Los Angeles, arriving in the United States on Jan. 17.

Chen, who does business in Canada, the United States and China, had learned of the severe persecution inflicted on Shouwang Church in Beijing and the Linfen house church in Shanxi province from reports online.

Motivated by Christian concern for her fellow believers, Chen and her daughter traveled to Beijing and Shanxi. On Christmas Day, she was an eyewitness to police action in front of the Jindeng Church established by the Linfen house church. She saw both regular and armed police and police vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, surrounding the church to stop church members from attending a Christmas worship service. Police blocked streets leading to the church and closed nearby shops. Chen was followed and threatened by plainclothes police officers.

In Beijing, Chen had paid a visit before Christmas to Rev. Jin Tianming, senior pastor of Shouwang Church, who has been under house arrest since April 2011, and on New Year's Day, she and her daughter attempted to attend Shouwang's outdoor worship service. (See her account here: www.chinaaid.org/2012/01/new-years-visit-to-shouwang-church.html.) On both occasions, she was followed by Domestic Security Protection agents.

Aware that they were being followed more and more closely, Chen put her daughter on a U.S.-bound plane on Jan. 10, then returned to her hometown in the city of Tianjin. On the evening of Jan. 14, she was forcibly taken into custody by two plain-clothed state security agents who refused to show their IDs and taken to a secret place for questioning. She later realized that she had been kidnapped by Tianjin state security agents. She was interrogated in a cold, windowless cell with only one chair, and was asked what organization she was affiliated with and what overseas mission she was on. Chen said she had no organizational affiliation nor was she on any overseas mission. She said she was simply an overseas Christian whose conscience had propelled her to return to China to visit her fellow believers. The agents appeared not to believe her and threatened to imprison her for more than ten years for subverting state power and stealing state secrets if she did not tell them the truth. The agents also beat her, pulling her hair and slapping her hard.

Chen was detained for nearly two days without food and water, and almost went into shock. Physically exhausted, she was sent to the Tianjin Public Safety Hospital, where she was diagnosed with slight pneumonia and had to be hospitalized. However, Chen had no money with her, and the state security agents said they had no money either. The hospital refused to treat her, giving her the excuse of returning home to get money. Instead, she took a cab and rushed to Beijing Capital Airport, where she caught a flight in the early morning of Jan. 16. She arrived in Los Angles on the following day and is currently undergoing medical observation and treatment.

"It is appalling to hear what Ms. Chen had experienced at the hands of the brutal Chinese security forces for simply visiting and trying to worship with the Chinese Christians during the Christmas season," said Eddie Romero, director of ChinaAid's Los Angeles office. "The unprecedented persecution against the peaceful house churches like Shouwang and Linfen should be stopped. We urge the Chinese government's highest authorities to hold those abusers accountable for the harm done to this businesswoman, Ms. Chen."

Jenny Chen's journal New Year's Visit to Shouwang Church: www.chinaaid.org/2012/01/new-years-visit-to-shouwang-church.html
Media are welcome to contact ChinaAid's Los Angeles office to interview Ms. Chen.

Chinese New Year photos

2012-01-27T19:17:00.000-06:00

BEIJING

PRAYING FOR A YEAR OF BLESSINGS

TRYING TO FIND A SEAT IN A RAILWAY STATION

NANJING NEW YEARS ARTWORK

SLOGANS ARE FOUND EVERYWHERE FOR GOOD LUCK AND HARMONY FOR THE NEW YEAR

ACTORS IN A CHINESE OPERA FOR NEW YEARS

A WORLD OF DRAGONS... AND THIS HAPPENS TO BE THEIR YEAR OF THE DRAGON

HOPING FOR A GOOD LIFE OF HAPPINESS

SHANGHAI DRAGON DANCE

ASKING FOR HAPPINESS AND GOOD FORTUNE IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

BURNING MONEY IN FIREWORKS... AND THERE IS MUCH!

NANJING NEW YEARS CELEBRATION

EVEN IN THE FARM AREAS OUTSIDE THE CITIES, BIG CELEBRATIONS HAPPEN

COULD YOU DO THIS?

2012-01-27T16:12:00.003-06:00

COULD YOU DO THIS?

Click the above LINK. Location: China.

Friends

2012-01-23T15:50:00.003-06:00

University students are waiting for my arrival back in China. Lord willing, my plans call for me to arrive March 1.

There is an opportunity to visit new "friends" and their families in Inner Mongolia this year. I have eight invitations to go to their homes and sit with them, eat with them, and make a "good talk." The vast grasslands of northern China experiences very cold winters. However, I have found warm and kind hearts inviting me to come and share with them the joys of "the book" and a "harmonious life."

INNER MONGOLIA

Two more!

2012-01-17T08:40:00.000-06:00

I received two more shots... again, just had to share them.

Growing up

2012-01-14T10:32:00.000-06:00

My little "grandson" in Shanghai, China, is growing so fast. His dad, Jamie, just sent me these photos. I HAD to share them with you!

What China loves about Christmas, and doesn't

2011-12-25T14:03:00.001-06:00

By Helen Gao

Christianity's most important holiday is a big event here, but state regulation of religion and a suspicion of all things Western can sometimes get in the way. And, yes, it's too commercialized.

A man dressed as Santa Claus walks past two security guards in downtown Shanghai / Reuters

It's that time of the year again. Santa smiles from the glass doors of hair salons and pharmacies; "Joy to the World" plays in busy shopping malls; plastic trees laced with blinking lights stand in front of restaurants and bars, their dark green softened by the ruby glow of lanterns hanging under the eaves. And written on banners on university campuses and flashing in neon in business districts are the characters, "圣诞快乐!". The world's most widely celebrated religious holiday is in full swing here, in the center of communist China.

Christmas is young in China -- it did not enter mainstream society until well into the 1990s -- and is embraced mainly by the younger generation. According to a well-regarded Chinese business magazine, 70 percent of the people celebrating it here are below age 38. First introduced to the country by western missionaries, it found popularity in 1920s and 30s among converted Christians and in the circles. Peasants feasted with their priests inside farmhouses; businessmen toasted over candles with foreign trade partners. In 1949, after the Communist Party took power, all things Western were labeled "mental poison" and Christmas gradually became a concept so foreign that people took little interest in it.

The liberal spirit of the reform and opening era in the 1980s reinvigorated western culture in China, and the quickly marketized economy in the 1990s seized onto the holiday's profitable potential. Now, Christmas is both a commercial and fashion statement for many of the young in China, who celebrate in ways that would be at once familiar and alien to Westerners. Stand on Oriental Plaza in downtown Beijing and you'll see girls wearing furry reindeer antlers amble by, holding hands with their boyfriends in Santa hats. Open the government-owned Guangming Daily and stacks of ads on Christmas sales will fall into your lap. On certain streets on Christmas morning, convoys of Audis will glide past, decorated with red ribbons tied into a bow at the front, where a mini-sized Santa stands. The cars are taking happy brides and grooms to posh hotels and restaurants, where lavish wedding ceremonies -- a Christmas tradition here -- await.

Chinese and Americans might both indulge in shopping sprees around Christmas time, but how they think about the holiday is quite different. Christmas in the West represents an occasion to spend time with cherished ones, for families to exchange presents and friends to visit each other. In China, however, it is a social event not for one's private life but for the public domain. Students rehearse dance performances and plays for school-organized galas; foreign companies' labor unions hand out movie tickets and gift vouchers to employees. The intimate western traditions such as building gingerbread houses, hanging up stockings, or gathering as a family to open presents on Christmas morning have no equivalent in China; on Christmas eve, most young people will get together with maybe a dozen friends to watch the latest big release at the movie theater or belt out at a few songs at a karaoke bar. In many Chinese cities, Christmas kicks off what is often the most festive time of the year -- in a couple of weeks, when migrant workers jump onto homebound trains for Chinese New Year, these cities are left with little more than empty streets and closed stores.

The popular Chinese perception of Christmas as a holiday for the masses has two very different causes: peoples' love of communal celebration and the government's effort to distract from the holiday's religious aspect. Growing up in Beijing, I learned to hum "Jingle Bells" in elementary school and heard the story of the birth of Jesus from American teachers. Still, Christmas for me was a Western cultural phenomenon rather than something religious. It had never occurred to me that the holiday is not universally celebrated in America as it is in China until I came to the country six years ago as a student. When a Jewish friend described her plans on the night of the 24th of December, I asked, out of confusion, why none of it involved Christmas. When she told me, I exclaimed, "It is your national holiday after all!"

My surprise was common among new arrivals from China. "It looked like a national holiday to me," Zhongling Yuxiu, a Chinese student at Yale, told me. "In China, Christmas is just like Valentine's Day or other western holidays that we decided to celebrate." Brought up in a Christian household in China, Zhongling had spent Christmases at underground churches in Beijing before she came to America. (There were also government-sanction services, but she called them "no different from propaganda.") She says she had considered herself only "culturally Christian" then. Living in America's more tolerant religious environment, where society attaches a much weightier significance to Christmas, she now feels her Christian identity better defined.

Some religious groups in China have tried to reconnect Christmas to its spiritual origins. Wiggling around in what limited space the government allows, the boundaries of which seem ever-changing, these groups do not always have much success. After graduating from Yale, an American I'll call Jane headed to southern China in 2008 to teach English. (She has asked not to be named for fear of putting her friend's church at risk.) A devout Christian, she planned to spend her Christmas in Beijing singing in a choir led by her friend, a pastor. Throughout that year, the Chinese government had been cracking down on ethnic protests and working to suppress negative food safety reports, all prior to the Olympic Games. It had little patience left for respecting Chinese Christians' end-of-the-year rituals. Although Jane's friend tried to negotiate permission for the concerts from the government, even agreeing to forego choir outfits and cut religious words from the carols, the performances -- which had won official approval in earlier years -- were called off at the last minute. The government had decided to cancel all "crowd-gathering events" for the fear that they might sparkle unrest.

That the state so tightly manages Christmas's image can be off-putting for Christians in China, but it also liberates them from some of the western perceptions surrounding Christianity. Jane says that she feels much more comfortable inviting friends in China to her Christmas choir than she might in America. "Religion is so stigmatized in America. The word Christianity is associated with Republican, Tea Party ... it's politicized." she told me. "In China, because non-Christian people understand so little about the religion, it is less threatening for them than for the non-Christian in the States." Her identity as a foreigner also gives her license to observe Christmas in China, she says. "Other Chinese people pretty much just assumed [I did that] because I was a crazy foreigner," she laughed. When Jane's non-Christian Chinese friends showed up to her choir performance, they saw not just foreigners, but also large crowds of men and women of fellow Chinese, engaging in activities they'd always perceived as western.

There is one thing that China's Christmas and America's have in common: both are widely lamented as over-commercialized. While some in America fight to resurface the holiday's spiritual significance, Christmas-bashers in China warn against allowing Western culture to contaminate Chinese civilization. Shortly before Christmas in 2006, ten post-doctoral students from Peking University, Tsinghua University, and other elite colleges penned an open letter asking Chinese people to boycott Christmas and resist the invasion of "western soft power." They warned, "[Christmas celebrators in China] are doing what western missionaries dreamed to do but didn't succeed in doing 100 years ago." The letter added, "Chinese people need to treat Christmas cautiously, and support the dominance of our own culture."

In the summer of 2007, I taught English in rural Fujian, a coastal province in southern China. One student had taken a few weeks off to work in a factory in Fuzhou, the capital of the province and a large export hub. When he returned to school, on a scorching mid-summer day, he dropped something into my palm, explaining it was a product of his factory that he had sneaked out to bring to me as a present. It was a large piece of gummy candy wrapped in plastic, wet from his sweaty palm, the shape of a white-bearded man in red robes.

"I brought more with me, but ate all of them on the train. It was too yummy." He smiled apologetically. "It was meant to be sent to America, for a holiday they call -- they call --" He struggled for the name.

"Sheng Dan Jie," I said. Christmas.

"Right," he repeated shyly, scratching his head. "Sheng Dan Jie."

Christimas town party shut down

2011-12-16T20:37:00.000-06:00

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese police and government officials scuffled with Christians and smashed sound equipment for a public Christmas celebration in an eastern village known for unofficial house churches and producing ornaments.

Christians in Xintan village said Friday that the officials wrecked a mixing console, turned over an electric piano and pushed and punched worshippers, injuring five, Tuesday night. A local official said the believers hit first, sending a deputy village head to the hospital.

"There were a few hundred of us. And the village heads were there too, and they were even more violent," said Wang Jingfeng, one of the Christians present. "This is like a dog biting a rat."
Setting off the scuffle was an attempt by an unregistered local church to hold a Christmas gala on a stage set up in a village square.

The Xintan Village Church, in a video posted on YouTube, said the local government authorized the event. But a higher-level official in charge of religious affairs said the believers were asked a day earlier to cancel because regulations forbid worship outdoors and Buddhists in the community complained.

"We told them that any outdoors event of a religious nature is strictly banned from being organized, and that's what it states in the government rule on religion," said Zeng Jianhua, deputy director of religious affairs in Ruian city, which oversees Xintan.

Though small on the surface, the to-do underscores the blurry status of religion in a fast-changing China. Belief in all faiths is soaring while the officially atheistic, communist government is wary about religious groups growing popular and beyond its control.

Some Communist Party members are getting caught up in the revival, violating party rules and becoming active religious believers in a trend that drew a high-level admonition Friday. "If we let party members believe in religion ... this will inevitably result in the splits in the party organization," Zhu Weiqun, a vice minister for the United Front Work Department, wrote in an essay in the party magazine "Seeking Truth."

The hills and rocky coastline around Ruian are teeming with Buddhist shrines and Christian churches mixed in among small, privately owned factories producing clothes and other consumer goods. While many of these Christian congregations, often called house churches because they originally operated in people's homes, are unauthorized, officials often turn a blind eye to them as long as they're discreet.

Ruian has become home to makers of toys and Christmas ornaments. Xintan bills itself as "Christmas village." Local factories produced more than $78 billion, or 500 million yuan, in Christmas products this year, prompting local officials to stage a Christmas arts and culture fair last Saturday in celebration. That inspired the Xintan Village Church to hold its own nighttime Christmas party Tuesday, the church statement said.

The video the church posted online showed people putting up decorations on a stage with a red backdrop that says "Silent Night" in Chinese and English and below that "2011 Christmas Village Christmas Party" while Christmas music plays in the background. Uniformed police then cut the electricity, killing the sound, while throngs flood the stage pushing and shoving.

Zeng, the religious affairs official, said the church members had been obstinate, turning down government requests to call off the event. The authorities acted, he said, because they were worried that the party might rile the local Buddhist community.

"There has long been tension between the Christians and the Buddhists, " Zeng said. "And among the village officials, some are Christians and some are Buddhists. Some of the village officials wanted to beat them, and we stopped them. Nobody beat anyone."

December 2011 BTJ Newsletter

2011-12-16T12:59:00.001-06:00

Use the link provided to see the Back To Jerusalem Christmas newsletter.

December 2011 Newsletter

2012 China Mission (click on image to enlarge)

2011-12-15T15:41:00.001-06:00

The Great Commission

2011-12-13T22:26:00.000-06:00

We Are The Church

2011-12-13T22:15:00.000-06:00

China and the Bible

2011-12-07T08:59:00.000-06:00

BEGIN QUOTE
Georgene Rice of KPDQ-FM interviews Scott Thunder of the Bible League , a ministry that provides the Scriptures to people around the world. She discusses the availability of Bibles in China and their campaign for sending Bibles to China.

Georgene: Tell us first a little about the Bible League.

Scott: The Bible League was founded in 1938 by William Chapman. He became very, very sick and an elder in his church came to pray with him. He recovered and was so grateful that he dedicated his life to serving God by making sure everyone in his little town in Indiana had a Bible. From those humble beginnings, it became an international ministry right after World War II. General Douglas McArthur invited the Bible League to help provide Bibles for the reconstruction of Japan. Since then we’ve been in fifty countries around the world. We equip local churches with Bibles and train leaders in how to lead a Bible study and how to plant churches. Since we’ve began, we’ve placed 750 million copies of the Scripture in people’s hands around the world.

Georgene: There seems to be some confusion as to the accessibility of Scriptures in China. Maybe you could help clarify what is possible in that country.

Scott: There are a number of facets to be talked about. First, we need to understand that there are millions of people in China who are believers but they don’t live in an urban area. In these areas there are no bookstores. There are no places to buy a Bible even if you had money. They are so far removed from the availability of Bibles that the only way they are going to get one is if someone makes an intentional effort to put one in their hands.

The other thing to consider is that there are two varieties of churches in China. There is the government monitored and controlled church—the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The pastors are told by the government what they can and can’t preach and only these churches receive any bibles printed in China.

The others are the house-churches, the underground churches where the real living, vibrant, and active Christianity is being experienced. Since the government won’t provide them Bibles, we try to reach them. Due to their location and because they are a peasant class they’re like being on a deserted island. Unless a case washes up on shore, they won’t have them. If they do get a Bible they will copy it word for word by hand and take it apart page by page and memorize it and pass it along to others.
Georgene: Tell us what you witnessed when you went to China.

Scott: I had to meet with pastors and leaders in very clandestine ways. You can’t be open about this, especially being a foreigner. If I’m seen associating with a house church it is bad for me, but even worse for the pastors and the house churches. We always have to speak in code. For example, for Bible we used the word bread; for church we used the word club.

I met with one of the leaders at a large mall. We wanted to close in prayer, but we couldn’t bow our heads or close our eyes. We sat with our eyes open and looking around, which was a unique experience for me.

The pastor gave me some insight into what it is like when churches don’t have Bibles. You can read about it for yourself if you go to the book of I Corinthians in the Bible. The struggles they have are similar. They didn’t know how to fellowship or administer the sacraments properly. People are immature in their faith. There where chasms and factions in the congregation. It is very difficult to grow in your faith and be disciples or even understand what is right and wrong.

If that weren’t hard enough, there are a lot of cults active in China that are coming into the house churches and stealing people away. The Bible is needed so they know what is pure and true.

Georgene: I had the opportunity to be in China to help distribute the Bible. When I handed a Bible to a very elderly Chinese woman, she wept. She’d been praying for years that she would have the Scriptures. To see the expression of gratitude on her face and know that her prayers had been answered, that God had not forgotten her, for me made the Bible League’s work all the more important.
END QUOTE

Hospital discards premature baby

2011-12-05T16:19:00.000-06:00

October 26th morning, Foshan city Nanhai district Red Cross Society Hospital, Liu Dongmei gave birth to a baby under the help of two nurses. The nurses told the family that it was a baby girl, was already dead when born, and had placed the infant into a plastic bag discarded in the bathroom. Relatives who quickly arrived over half an hour later requested to see [the baby], only to discover that the “dead baby” was actually still moving, and was a baby boy. That day, after the family discovered that the baby was still alive, they filmed a video showing the nurse running into the bathroom to clean the baby’s forehead and carry it out for treatment. Mixed in the video are the infant’s family’s angry rebukes and denunciations, but the nurses didn’t make a sound. Many Chinese still prefer boys over girls.

Monk prays for dead man found in railway station

2011-12-05T16:11:00.000-06:00

Elderly person dies in train station waiting hall, monk waiting for his train prays for his soul

November 25th, travelers noticed an old man asleep who had been asleep on a bench for a long time. When they patted him, the old man’s body was cool to the touch and 120 emergency first aid personnel then confirmed that the old man had passed away. A monk who was waiting for his train performed a religious ceremony for the old man to help his soul find peace.

The elderly person passed away in the waiting hall of the Shanxi Taiyuan train station. A monk who happened to be waiting for his train went forth, held the deceased’s hand, and proceeded to pray for him.

The old man’s identity and cause of death is unknown. Seems such a lonely sight... indelible.

Teach Us To Pray

2011-11-27T16:48:00.001-06:00

Vance Perry is a barbershop singer who made this video where he sings all four parts. Notice that each image is singing a different part and there is never a missed cue.

What a voice he has, such talent, and unbelievably perfectly on tune. Now that is a voice range to be able to sing bass, baritone, lead, and tenor--not even to say he did it all together with various videos of himself. That is creativity at its best!

Hope you enjoy this!

Wish our local MacDonalds could move this fast!!

2011-11-20T17:11:00.000-06:00

Children of China's migrant workers

2011-11-20T13:55:00.000-06:00

An agrarian society for thousands of years, China is on the course of having more urban than rural dwellers for the first time. Of an estimated 150 million migrant workers in China, 90 million are under 30 and they are driving one of the most significant demographic shifts in the country's history.

Pray for North Korea

2011-11-15T14:53:00.001-06:00

North Koreans are suffering unbelievably. New reports tell of many who go hungry and starve to death. Christians and non-Christians are taking huge risks to escape to China. When the get there, they find themselves in other problems -- but at least they have a little food. The Christians have a bit more liberty to worship in China than in their own country. (I have Chinese contacts in North Korea and some North Korean contacts in China.)

Please pray for the those who suffer and have suffered so much. Look on the field -- let compassion bring you to interced for these hurting people. Surely they will feel someone is praying for them.

NOW!

2011-11-11T10:40:00.000-06:00

He said, ’Take now your son . . .’ —Genesis 22:2

God’s command is, “Take now,” not later. It is incredible how we debate! We know something is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it immediately. If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later— it must be done now. And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actually perform it.

“So Abraham rose early in the morning . . . and went to the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:3). Oh, the wonderful simplicity of Abraham! When God spoke, he did not “confer with flesh and blood” (Galatians 1:16). Beware when you want to “confer with flesh and blood” or even your own thoughts, insights, or understandings— anything that is not based on your personal relationship with God. These are all things that compete with and hinder obedience to God.

Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, “I will only go to there, but no farther.”

God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.

China children's ministry is alive

2011-10-29T14:54:00.000-05:00

Even if illegal, children are being taught by grandparents and others. I personally know people who are involved in this ministry and their stories are so touching.

We often take for granted the ease of holding a Vacation Bible School or Sunday School Class, outreach for children, Bible stories, object lessons, action songs, or even a decorated Sunday school room... just imagine the thrill a little illustration or a Bible story or some action song does for a little Chinese child. If you want to help financially for children's ministry projects in China, contact me. glennclarkcamden@sbcglobal.net. I will personally see it gets to the right ministry person to bring Christ to the young in China.

Have you thought what it must really be like? Did you pray for China today?

2011-10-29T14:42:00.000-05:00

The government of the People’s Republic of China is officially Communist and atheist.
What does that mean for Chinese Christians? Try to imagine being beaten to death for your faith. Imagine having to use safe-houses and secret passageways. Imagine being released from prison, only to resume defying the authorities – and proclaiming Jesus … unafraid.

Maybe the first-hand video messages from some of your precious Chinsese brothers and sisters will help you understand.

Will you lift them up in prayer? They are suffering today - as you read this – and know they may join the list of martyrs who have died for the faith.

Perhaps you’ll find it hard to forget these words: “The more they prosecute us, the faster we grow.”

"I chose you..."

2011-10-25T18:10:00.003-05:00

I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some —1 Corinthians 9:22

A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “. . . Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

“I chose you . . .” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.

Maybe you will never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside . . . to the right or the left . . .” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.

Girls change name

2011-10-23T16:40:00.001-05:00

Indian girls hold up their name change certificates during a ceremony in Satara, some 250kms from Mumbai, on Oct. 22. More than 100 Indian girls named "Unwanted" by their parents are to get new names this weekend as part of a campaign to tackle bias against women that has led to the country's huge gender imbalance. The girls named "Nakusa", which means "unwanted" in the local Marathi language of western Maharashtra state, got rid of their first name for good under an initiative in the district of Satara.

Father and son

2011-10-23T12:37:00.000-05:00

Children being kidnapped

2011-10-23T12:34:00.002-05:00

In February of 2011, news spread across Chinese websites and BBS forums about cases of child kidnapping in Anhui province. These cases were a bit more brutal than what’s often reported in the Chinese media — in some cases, kidnapped children had been splashed with acid or otherwise disfigured to make them look more sympathetic as beggars — but the kidnapping of children is in no way uncommon in China, nor is it limited to Anhui [province].

In fact, tens of thousands of children — estimates vary — are kidnapped in China each year. Some, like the children in February’s Anhui case, are sold into lives on the street. Many are lucky enough to be sold to “adoptive” families who raise them as regular children. Still others, mostly older children, are sold into marriage, prostitution, or slave labor.

Another Chinese "grandson"

2011-10-20T12:08:00.000-05:00

Some of you may remember how I met Jack and Tanner before my trip to China in 2008. Jack was finishing his university studies then in a northeastern China city.

After graduation and beginning his own business, he is doing well. He got married and they have a cute little boy, another "grandson" for me!

Jack is now a good Christian and is bold and able to talk to many people with boldness and at great risks. Not long ago he told me he was riding the city bus in his city and sat by an old lady who turned to him and asked, "Are you a Christian?" He had a wonderful talk with her and let her know he now owns his own "Holy Book." He said she was also a Christian and gave him some needed words of encouragement. He does not know her name or where she lives... sharing this kind of information is not safe in China. He has an English and Chinese Bible and willingly shares his knowledge with others.

Lunch time

2011-10-20T11:29:00.000-05:00

I love to eat from food "shops" along the street. This food is my favorite. It is healthful as it has meat and veggies and really good seasoning. Cheap... less than about .60 cents for more than one can possibly eat. You need to try it before you knock it!

Tibert prayer time

2011-10-19T16:49:00.000-05:00

The young with the older

2011-10-19T16:43:00.000-05:00

Praying people... where are the Christians?

2011-10-19T16:34:00.001-05:00

Tibet citizens are faithful and fervent in prayer. Does their god hear, see, or speak to them?

Quote from Steve Jobs

2011-10-19T16:29:00.003-05:00

Get rid of plague of the spirit of this religious age

2011-10-19T12:33:00.000-05:00

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world —John 18:36

The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.

We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.

Entertainment

2011-10-16T14:15:00.000-05:00

South Korean mega-churches

2011-10-13T16:41:00.000-05:00

For God and country

An influential pastor comes under scrutiny for his business dealings

KOREA has long been a hotbed of religiosity. Before a certain Kim Il Sung began having other ideas, Pyongyang (now the capital of North Korea) used to be known as “The Jerusalem of the East”. And in today’s Seoul, practitioners of traditional shamanism, Buddhism, Christianity and even cults such as the Unification Church (better known in the West as the Moonies), all have plenty of followers.

Many of them also have lots of money (not least because religious institutions are tax-exempt). The Protestant church, in particular, seems to have produced a tribe of flashy, mansion-dwelling pastors. This is partly a result of the character of Korean Protestantism: a common theme, for instance, at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul is that a poor Christian is not a good Christian. However, it is also a result of the incentives created by the sheer size of some churches. Yoido itself ranks as the largest Christian congregation in the world, with over 1m members. Another, Somang Church, has hundreds of thousands of faithful, including South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak.

With all these people throwing their spare won into the collection plate, mega-churches have become big businesses. Yoido Full Gospel Church’s founder Cho Yong-gi, who has run the congregation since 1958, has family interests ranging from private universities to newspapers. Members of his church were once asked to pray for higher sales for one of his titles.

A pastor at a Seoul-based church of a mere 60,000 members notes that the likes of Yoido have become “so big, and with assets so huge, that human greed comes into play”. And in late September, following complaints by 29 church elders, prosecutors began investigating Mr Cho over the alleged embezzlement of 23 billion won ($20m) from Yoido’s funds. A documentary aired by MBC, a television station, claims that this money was used to buy property in America. The show also charged that Mr Cho’s wife sold a building constructed with collection money for her own gain. Its buyer was Hansei University—an institution where she also happens to be president. Mr and Mrs Cho deny the allegations.

Yoido Church’s founder is rarely out of the news in South Korea. In March he sparked a storm of criticism by claiming the earthquake and tsunami in Japan was “God’s warning” to a country that follows “idol worship, atheism, and materialism”.

He is also too political for some. When President Lee’s government drew up plans to legislate for Islamic sukuk bonds in South Korea, Mr Cho argued that this would aid “terrorists”, and that the president was forgetting the vital role the Protestant lobby had in electing him. Following concerted efforts by Mr Cho and other South Korean church leaders, the government blinked first, and the plan was dropped.

There are plenty of rank-and-file Christians in South Korea who do not indulge in the cathedralism of the mega-pastors. Many of the underground networks helping North Koreans on the run in China are organised by South Korean Christians. Refugees who reach South Korea are often cared for by church groups, and South Korean church aid-agencies are usually among the first to respond to natural disasters around the world, including the Japanese tsunami in March.

But in a country that thrives on group activities and collective bonding, as well as religion, Seoul is a natural home for mega-churches. The likes of Mr Cho, for all their flaws, provide something that millions of Koreans find irresistible.

The above from The Economist, wed edition.

Obama chicken restaurant in Beijing, China

2011-10-04T17:03:00.000-05:00

Is Obama abandoning his bid for a second term in the White House and is giving Colonel Sanders a run for his money by opening a chain of fried chicken joints?

Now that's change you can't really believe in.

But in Beijing, China, a restaurant is actually calling itself OFC with a logo that looks alarmingly like the President dressed in the colonel's clothes.

Darrin Clark family

2011-10-02T16:41:00.001-05:00

HANNAH and her dad, Darrin, on his September 26 birthday.

JOSH with his dad. Growing like a weed.

JENNIFER and Darrin... a lovely couple.

Talent

2011-10-01T14:37:00.000-05:00

There are no perfect father -- but fathers who love perfectly

2011-09-22T19:29:00.000-05:00

Are Chinese Christians threatened by freedom? Tens of millions joined faith while government tried to stamp out belief

2011-09-22T07:17:00.001-05:00

By Michael Carl © 2011 WND

For decades Christianity in China has been officially and forcibly repressed: Believers have been arrested, house churches broken up and Bibles restricted. And the community of the faithful has grown by estimates as high as thousands per day.

Now, religious freedom is growing along with Westernization in the Middle Kingdom and the discovery that businesses that operate by Christian concepts often are the most successful.
Is that good for Christianity?

Maybe not completely, says one expert.

"One of the ironies is that the great teacher for the global church of how the church thrives not in prosperity but under persecution is the Chinese Christian movement from the time of the Cultural Revolution until the present," said Open Doors President Carl Moeller.

"Chinese Christians themselves are really the great teachers to the Western church in this area that they in fact know that the secret to a healthy, growing and powerful Christian movement is not a wealthy, prosperous, materially affluent church but a church that has learned to endure hardship because of the truth of their message," Moeller told WND.

"In that refining fire of persecution, it's come away with a more rigorous, tested faith. So, one sense or another, maybe the seeds of the future weakness of the Chinese church might be planted if they are now being more sympathetic to a prosperity theology," he said.

Did he say "seeds of the future weakness?"

His concern is partly because of how Chinese society is impacting the growth of the Christian church in China.

Recent reports from Christian human rights and missions groups say the Chinese church is experiencing explosive growth. Moeller notes that the church is growing quickly among young people, because they have discovered a powerful dynamic.

"The younger generation is, in fact, now seeing as an addition to the spiritual dynamic of Christian theology a very practical dynamic of Christianity being an advantage economically," Moeller said.

"There's real tangible evidence that those Chinese business people who are following Christian doctrine in their business practices tend to be more successful," he said. "I think we have a very unique dynamic both spiritual and economic helping to facilitate church growth in China."

He said the benefits of church growth as a byproduct of economic growth, capitalism and social networking, however, also could be its downfall.

"We are recognizing that as a potential threat to the growth of the Christian movement in China. I think the dynamic of prosperity theology is superficially very attractive, but unfortunately it leaves in its wake a lot of disillusionment and disappointment from those that believe every bit of Christian theology centers around the prosperity we can materially have here on earth," Moeller said.

Moeller says marrying the Gospel to prosperity is a step that needs to be watched.

"From what I've seen until the recent months, Christianity was allowed to operate in China without much persecution. There had been substantial progress in getting Christians more freedom there," Elliott said.

"Even though we talk about the fact that there are illegal house churches there, the government pretty much knew in some places where those churches were and they were allowed to operate under the radar without much interference from the government," Elliott said.

But she said the advent of the so-called "Arab Spring" of revolutionary actions across the Middle East and in northern Africa prompted Chinese officials again to begin pulling the reins.

"With revolutions taking place in other places in the world such as Egypt and Syria, the government has been tightening up control on its people to try to ensure that a revolution couldn't take place," Elliott said.

She said that in itself may not necessary be bad for Christians.

"In that environment of persecution we know the church always grows very strongly. The Lord told us that would happen and that has happened for 2,000 years," Elliott said.

China's culture, economy and even government have been heavily influenced by capitalism in recent decades. And the result of that has been a greater return for the workers, business operators and others. It also has allowed Christianity a greater platform.

"Because the regime in China has opened the doors to capitalism over the past 20 years, that has opened up the nation to Western ideas and that goes together with the idea of Christianity," Elliott said. "Capitalism has been influenced very heavily by Christianity and Chinese have been learning more and more about Western religion."

She said the fact that people see the answers as coming not from the government or communisms but from God is good.

Elliott said that there's no way to facilitate an accurate estimate of how many Christians are in China.
But while the numbers are growing significantly, veteran observers of the Chinese mission field say there also are red flags.

"The number [of Christians] is growing. You have churches there with thousands of members and are really thriving especially in the younger population," Elliott said.

"They're looking for the social aspect of the church as well that offers them acceptance and connections to finding people who offer intimate relationships rather than just getting ahead in the world," Elliott said.

Moeller said one of the expected byproducts of a more Western culture and civilization is that the government will find it harder and harder to control people without a clearly defined communism.

"There are powerful dynamics at play here because I do think there is a linkage between the freedoms that Christian and Judeo Christian theology helped provide for Western civilization historically," Moeller explained.

"We may be deep into abandoning those ideals and in so doing may be also abandoning our position of being able to look at our prosperity as the direct result of the blessings of God, but the dynamic of the church in China recognizing the value of Christian morality and Christian liberty is not a bad thing," Moeller said.

"It is certainly a powerful, and in this context a politically powerful ideology to link up with especially as the Chinese government continues to find itself in the unenviable position of trying to restrict peoples access to information and ideas," Moeller said.

Elliott added that prospects are good for continued growth of the church in China, but Moeller suggests that with that growth, the tension between the church, capitalism and the Chinese government will only grow.

This may be the most moving ad of all time

2011-09-17T17:34:00.000-05:00

See how Asian evangelism is done by these Asians

2011-09-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

So sad. Join in prayer for the people of China to find Light

2011-09-17T17:05:00.001-05:00

Zhejiang Haining kiln workers have no choice but to tie their children by the windows when they go to work

2010 April 20, at a certain brick/tile factory in Dingqiao of Haining in Zhejiang province, many kiln workers’ sons and daughters have been tied to the workshop windows with rope by their parents. The reason the parents have done this is because they do not have time to look after their children yet are afraid of their children running around and getting into an accident. As it is understood, these children are tied to the windows for nearly 10 hours every day.

What are China's young people thinking

2011-09-16T16:53:00.002-05:00

SORRY... ONCE AGAIN THESE PHOTOS WERE HACKED FROM MY BLOG. -GC

In today’s China, the population of people 16 to 30 years old has reached 322 million but in the mainstream media, these ordinary young people’s thoughts and voices are often drowned out. British photographer Adrian Fisk traveled 12,500 kilometers and had a group of young people write down their thoughts on paper. Their future is also China’s future.

“I’m currently worried about certain things. China’s girls are becoming materialistic. Without a house, my girlfriend won’t marry me. My parents aren’t able to help me either, so I want a high-income job. This is what I want.” Guangdong, Rainbow Su, 22 years old, software engineering student.

“In adults’ eyes I am a bad person in society, but in fact I am a very obedient person.” Gansu, Chow Liang, 17 years old, hair stylist student on way to see father who works in another province.

“After watching television I have many ideas, but am unable to realize them.” Yunnan, Luo Zheng Chui, 30 years old, farmer.

“The Olympic Games proved that China is a powerful modern nation.” Yunnan, Li Nan Song, 21 years old, returned from migrant labor job, now wants to try and set up business trading local fungus.

(Illiterate) “When I go to the big city, I feel like I don’t know anything.” Gansu, Yang Long Long, 30 years old, farmer.

“When people leave their village to live in the city, it becomes very hard for them to go back.” Hubei, Song Jing Ping, 22 years old, migrated from 400 km away, runs two basic restaurants with her fiance.

“People care about money more than the past.” Guangdong, Su Dong Ping, 22 years old, works in a tea shop.

“Why aren’t there any employers setting up factories in the countryside? We don’t want to work as migrant laborers.” Shanghai, Feng Long, 21 years old, first-time migrant laborer working on new building interiors.

“I think it’s time for us to STAND UP FOR OURSELVES & be WHO WE REALLY ARE!” Guangdong, Jell Zhu, 22 years old, communications student.

“These days there are a portion of young people who are not very concerned with the development of China and the world, only caring about themselves, ignoring many of the people and matters around them.” Guangxi, Jia Jia, 25 years old, (day) mobile phone after sales service / (evening) self-studying marketing management / (night) professional nightclub dancer.

“I HATE the WEATHER in CHINA!” Guangdong, Jhoana Pan, 21 years old, international economic trading student.

“I want to save people’s lives.” Qinghai, Heng She Dong, 16 years old, junior high school student.

“City should be slow down. Country side should be speed up!” Shanghai, Guan Ying Ni, 25 years old, computer systems analyst.

“I believe China’s economy will continue to develop forward.” Yunnan, Xu Ai Hua, 19 yars old, high school graduate.

(Illiterate) “My husband and I want to become migrant laborers so we can work hard to make ourselves and our parents happy.” Qinghai, Ma Xiao Lian, 19 years old, farmer.

“I want to walk my own path, I don’t want other people telling me what to do.” Henan, Jiang Min, 24 years old, farmer.

“Living here, I feel frustrated!” Shanghai, Hu Lin Shuan, 27 years old, migrant worker as room service boy in hotel.

“My dream is to one day be able to pilgrimage to the Potala Palace in Lhasa.” Qinghai, Qiang Chow, 25 years old, construction worker.

“If I have a sister would be better!” Beijing, Liu Gu, 26 years old, mobile phone hardware designer.

“Why people must get married?” Beijing, Meng Hai Lin, 29 years old, mobile phone engineer.

“I don’t want children!” Hong Kong, Wong Jing Yi, 30 years old, works in a sex toys shop.

“I’d like to see any supernatural thing such as alien, UFO, mysterious thing.” Chan Jie Fang, 28 years old, supervisor in bag making company in Guangdong province but learning English in Guangxi province.

“Do not judge China from the media, because the real China is not on the papers.” Beijing, Lim, 22 years old, political science student.

“Huge cultural differences exist between the East and the West. Do not tell us what to do.” Guangxi, Li Qi Sheng, 30 years old, computer science teacher from Liaoning Province, currently studying English in Guangxi Province.

“I want to associated with people from different cultures.” Guangdong, Ray Chuang, 20 years old, economic trading student.

“I like English very much. I want to go on English. But I don’t much money. So I don’t to know what I will go.” Hubei, Xiang Xue, 18 years old, almost done with studies preparing to go to Shanghai factories for work.

“Do whatever you want in your life. Because you might DIE tomorrow.” Hong Kong, Sarah Yup, 22 years old, investment bank receptionist.

“Right now I am really enjoying exploring China by myself.” Inner Mongolia, ZHang Shuang, 18 years old, traveling high school graduate from Liaoning province.

“We are the lost generation. I’m confused about the world.” Guangxi, Avril Lui, 22-years-old, post-grad student.

“Before I die, I want to see a united China. Both united with itself and with the world.” Great Wall of China, Wendy Xhang, 20 years old, law student studying in Canada.

Resident forcibly evicted: Cangzhou, Hebei

2011-09-16T16:43:00.001-05:00

SORRY... THESE PHOTOS WERE HACKED. -GC

Finished work

2011-09-13T15:38:00.005-05:00

Often called THE BOOK, the Chinese have access to Bibles in some places. In others it is never to be found or heard. Christians look everywhere for a copy while China has some of the largest Bible printing facilities in the world. The demand is so great -- and the opposition is also large. Sometimes called the HOLY BOOK, it is cherished and adored, loved and read, by the rich and the poor, by the educated and by some who cannot even read. THE BOOK is their hope and their promises for today and their tomorrows.

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do —John 17:4

True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.

Surrender for Deliverance. “Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— “Come to Me.” And it is a voluntary coming.

Surrender for Devotion. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . . ” (Matthew 16:24). The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being. He says, “If you want to be My disciple, you must give up your right to yourself to Me.” And once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9 and (Philippians 4:19).

Surrender for Death. “. . . another will gird you . . .” (John 21:18 ; also see John21:19). Have you learned what it means to be girded for death? Beware of some surrender that you make to God in an ecstatic moment in your life, because you are apt to take it back again. True surrender is a matter of being “united together [with Jesus] in the likeness of His death” (Romans 6:5) until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.

And after you surrender— then what? Your entire life should be characterized by an eagerness to maintain unbroken fellowship and oneness with God.

Christians in China: Is the country in spiritual crisis?

2011-09-13T15:26:00.000-05:00

by Tim Gardam

Many of China's churches are overflowing, as the number of Christians in the country multiplies. In the past, repression drove people to convert - is the cause now rampant capitalism?

It is impossible to say how many Christians there are in China today, but no-one denies the numbers are exploding.

The government says 25 million, 18 million Protestants and six million Catholics. Independent estimates all agree this is a vast underestimate. A conservative figure is 60 million. There are already more Chinese at church on a Sunday than in the whole of Europe. [Some estimates go well over 120 million.]

The new converts can be found from peasants in the remote rural villages to the sophisticated young middle class in the booming cities.

Driven underground There is a complexity in the structures of Chinese Christianity which is little understood in the West. To start with, Catholicism and Protestantism are designated by the state as two separate religions.

The Haidian Christian Church in Beijing was completely re-built to cope with rising numbers

Throughout the 20th Century, Christianity was associated with Western imperialism. After the Communist victory in 1949, the missionaries were expelled, but Christianity was permitted in state-sanctioned churches, so long as they gave their primary allegiance to the Communist Party.

Mao, on the other hand, described religion as "poison", and the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s attempted to eradicate it. Driven underground, Christianity not only survived, but with its own Chinese martyrs, it grew in strength.

Since the 1980s, when religious belief was again permitted, the official Churches have gradually created more space for themselves.

They report to the State Administration for Religious Affairs. They are forbidden to take part in any religious activity outside their places of worship and sign up to the slogan, "Love the country - love your religion."

In return the Party promotes atheism in schools but undertakes "to protect and respect religion until such time as religion itself will disappear".

House Churches Protestants and Catholics are both divided into official and unofficial Churches.

The officially sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association appoints its own bishops and is not allowed to have any dealings with the Vatican, though Catholics are allowed to recognise the spiritual authority of the Pope.

There is a larger Catholic underground church, supported by the Vatican. Inch by inch, the Vatican and the government have been moving towards accommodation. Most bishops are now recognised by both, with neither side admitting the greater sovereignty of the other.

Yet in the past few months, the Chinese government has again turned tough, ordaining its bishops in the teeth of opposition from the Vatican which has in turn excommunicated one of them.

Even so, it would be wrong simply to dismiss the official church as a sham.

In the mountains West of Beijing, I visited the village of Hou Sangyu where a Catholic Church has stood since the 14th Century.

The tough faith of these old people had withstood the Japanese invasion and the Cultural Revolution. The village clinic was run by nuns, one from Inner Mongolia, a Catholic stronghold.

It is from such villages that the Catholic Church recruits its young ordinands, to undertake training for the priesthood.

The official Protestant Church is growing faster than Catholicism.
On Easter morning, in downtown Beijing, I watched five services, each packed with over 1,500 worshippers. Sunday school was spilling on to the street.

However, these numbers are dwarfed by the unofficial "house churches", spreading across the country, at odds with the official Church which fears the house churches' fervour may provoke a backlash.
What the authorities consider non-negotiable is the house churches' refusal to acknowledge any official authority over their organisation.

The State fears the influence of zealous American evangelism and some of the House Church theology has those characteristics, but, in many other respects, it seems to be an indigenous Chinese movement - charismatic, energetic and young.

An educated young Christian described her church to me: "We have 50 young professionals in this church. Everyone is so busy working, you don't have time socialising, and even if you are socialising, you are putting on a fake face.

"But in church people feel warm, they feel welcome… they feel people really love them so they really want to join the community, a lot of people come for this."

Alpha marriage course A Chinese academic close to the government told me that the government would prefer to ignore the house churches, as unlike the Falun Gong they are not seen as a threat. But where a church oversteps the line, as happened in Beijing this year, taking its worship on to the streets, then the authorities will crack down.

In some areas the state has sought to enlist Christianity into its "big idea" of a "harmonious society" - the slogan that dominates Chinese public life. There has been official interest in the Western evangelical Alpha Marriage Course, because of alarm at the escalating divorce rate among young Chinese.

What must unsettle the authorities most is the reason why so many are turning to the churches.

I heard people talking again and again of a "spiritual crisis" in China - a phrase that has even been used by the Premier Wen Jiao Bao. The old have seen the old certainties of Marxism-Leninism transmute into the most visceral capitalist society on earth.

For the young, in the stampede to get rich, trust in institutions, between individuals, between the generations, is breaking down.

As one of China's most eminent philosophers of religion - Professor He Guanghu, at Renmin University in Beijing put it to me: "The worship of Mammon… has become many people's life purpose.

"I think it is very natural that many other people will not be satisfied... will seek some meaning for their lives so that when Christianity falls into their lives, they will seize it very tightly."

N Koreans risk lives for freedom

2011-09-10T17:55:00.002-05:00

China's communist identity crisis

2011-09-10T17:52:00.000-05:00

Kung Fu's birthplace goes commercial

2011-09-10T17:32:00.002-05:00

GOLD...

2011-09-10T17:04:00.000-05:00

Thai Life Insurance ad... touching!

2011-09-08T16:07:00.000-05:00

5 months and 600 arrest later

2011-09-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

Posted on Sep 7, 2011 | by Sarah Page/Compass Direct News
BEIJING (BP) -- On Aug. 28, five members of a house church in Fangshan, China, woke at 4 a.m. and traveled for two hours to a public square in Beijing in order to worship with members of the embattled Beijing Shouwang house church.

On their arrival at 7 a.m., waiting police sent the five back to their local police station, according to a report posted on Shouwang's Facebook page. Officials then urged them to sign documents repenting of their decision to support the Shouwang church. All five refused but were eventually released.

The Fangshan five are part of a growing wave of house church Christians determined -- despite the consequences -- to support Shouwang Church in its five-month-long stand for greater religious freedom.

Shouwang members have attempted to meet in the outdoor venue every Sunday since April 11, after government officials repeatedly denied them access to a permanent worship place. Church leaders prayerfully decided on this course of action as a means of forcing the government to resolve their dilemma.

More than 600 arrests have been made over the last 22 weeks, including 15 on Aug. 28 and 12 arrests on Sept. 4. Police arrest the Christians before the service even starts and typically free them within 24 hours.

China's Domestic Security Protection Squad maintains constant surveillance outside the homes of senior church leaders, while police camp outside the doors of other church members from Saturday night until noon Sunday, when service times are technically over, according to China Aid.

"If those national security staff who persecuted believers assume that they can force Christians to give up by increasing the level of persecution ... they are destined to be disappointed," Shouwang's leaders wrote in August. "Because our brothers and sisters, though have difficulties, are not overwhelmed by these persecutions.... [I]f it is God's will for us to face such difficulties, many believers are willing to suffer for our Lord."

On Aug. 14, police detained some 16 worshippers at the square. Among them was Wang Shuanyan of Beijing's Xinshu house church.

In a letter written after her release on Aug. 16 and smuggled out of China, Wang described how police detained her at 7 a.m. and took her to the Zhongguancun Boulevard police station. The previous Sunday, a police officer had threatened to lock her up for 48 hours if she persisted in coming to the worship site; this time Wang came prepared with a sleeping bag.

Throughout her detention, Shouwang church members, including the wife of senior pastor Jin Tianming, took turns waiting outside the police station for her release.

Wang described how she wrestled with her natural inclination to obey orders and her conviction that "the things [the officers] have done are violations of the law."

"I believe deeply that all things considered ... Shouwang's outdoor worship, done [at] this time and this way, is right," she wrote.

By the time fellow Xinshu church members convinced officers to allow Wang snacks and bottled water, Wang had decided to go on a hunger strike.

"Was I fasting or on a hunger strike?" she wrote. "To me it was both. To God I prayed earnestly. To the relevant authorities I was protesting against the repeatedly occurring violence."

Some China watchers believe the government has shown relative toleration and restraint towards Shouwang's outdoor worship. But "this can only be true in comparison to extreme violence," Wang countered in her letter. "We are now used to unrighteous and illegal behavior."

Wang was one of 17 house church leaders who signed and submitted a groundbreaking petition to the National People's Congress (NPC) on May 10, calling for a complete overhaul of China's religious policy.

Police on May 31 detained another signatory, Shi Enhao, pastor of Suqian house church in Jiangsu Province and deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance (CHCA), in a church raid. In late July he was sentenced -- without trial -- to two years in a labor camp for "illegal meetings and illegal organizing of venues for religious meetings."

Police have since ordered Shi's church members to stop meeting and have confiscated musical instruments, choir robes and donations, according to China Aid.

Zhang Mingxuan, president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, said he previously had taught church members to abide by the law and respect the government but in return had been deprived of many rights, including the right to a passport. Many others shared his fate, Zhang said, such as house church pastor Zhang Tieling of Fan County, Henan Province. Officials recently sealed Zhang Tieling's house with bricks and knocked his wife to the floor, leaving her in the hospital with a brain injury.

"This is the so-called religious freedom and harmony of China," Zhang Mingxuan declared.

In a letter to the Chinese president, Mingxuan concluded, "In the past 26 years I have been arrested, beaten and placed under house arrest 42 times just because I speak the truth. Even if you misunderstand me or even kill me or imprison me, I still have to tell you the truth in this letter.... As long as [it means] Christians can freely worship God, I don't mind dying for this cause."

It seems many other Chinese Christians are fast forming the same opinion.

While the Chinese government claims freedom of religion through approved bodies such as the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, many Protestant and Catholic churches prefer to worship independently, rejecting government censorship and theological interference -- and paying the price. House church pastor Zhang Rongliang -- who has been detained five times and served a total of 12 years in prison -- was released Aug. 31 from a Kaifeng prison after being detained since 2004. He was convicted on ambiguous charges in 2007 and has languished in prison while suffering chronic diseases and a stroke in 2007.

Experts estimate there are anywhere between 60 and 130 million people attending unregistered Protestant churches in China, compared with just 23 million attending Three-Self Patriotic Movement churches. During the past decade of relative openness, many of these unregistered churches have come "above ground" to meet in large numbers in public spaces -- highlighting the inadequacy of current religious policies and creating a government backlash often targeting church leaders.

More than 160 people were arrested at the first outdoor meeting of Shouwang Church. The following shows the approximate arrests from the subsequent weeks: Week 2 (50 arrests), Week 3 (40), Week 4 (30), Week 5 (13), Week 6 (20), Week 7 (25), Week 8 (20), Week 9 (20), Week 10 (14), Week 11 (14), Week 12 (15), Week 13 (19), Week 14 (26), Week 15 (22), Week 16 (35), Week 17 (22), Week 18 (11), Week 19 (16), Week 20 (7), Week 21 (15), Week 22 (12).
--30--
Barbara Baker is a writer for Compass Direct News, a California-based news service focusing on the persecuted church. Used by permission. With reporting by Michael Foust, associate editor of Baptist Press.

Top of Chinese wealthy's wish list? To leave China

2011-09-07T16:30:00.000-05:00

Louise Watt, Associated Press, On Wednesday September 7, 2011, 11:49 am EDT

BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese millionaire Su builds skyscrapers in Beijing and is one of the people powering China's economy on its path to becoming the world's biggest.

He sits at the top of a country -- economy booming, influence spreading, military swelling -- widely expected to dominate the 21st century.

Yet the property developer shares something surprising with many newly rich in China: he's looking forward to the day he can leave.

Su's reasons: He wants to protect his assets, he has to watch what he says in China and wants a second child, something against the law for many Chinese.

The millionaire spoke to The Associated Press on condition that only his surname was used because of fears of government reprisals that could damage his business.

China's richest are increasingly investing abroad to get a foreign passport, to make international business and travel easier but also to give them a way out of China.

The United States is the most popular destination for Chinese emigrants, with rich Chinese praising its education and healthcare systems. Last year, nearly 68,000 Chinese-born people became legal permanent residents of the U.S., seven percent of the total and second only to those born in Mexico. Canada and Australia are also popular.

It is a bothersome trend for China's communist leaders who've pinned the legitimacy of one-party rule on delivering rapid economic growth and a rising standard of living. They've succeeded in lifting tens of millions of ordinary Chinese out of poverty while also creating a new class of super rich. Yet affluence alone seems a poor bargain to those with the means to live elsewhere.

Despite more economic freedom, the communist government has kept its tight grip on many other aspects of daily life. China's leaders punish, sometimes harshly, public dissent and any perceived challenges to their power, and censor what can be read online and in print. Authoritarian rule, meanwhile, has proved ineffective in addressing long standing problems of pollution, contaminated food and a creaking health care system.

"In China, nothing belongs to you. Like buying a house. You buy it but it will belong to the country 70 years later," said Su, lamenting the government's land leasing system.

"But abroad, if you buy a house, it belongs to you forever," he said. "Both businessmen and government officials are like this. They worry about the security of their assets."

Leo Liu, marketing manager at Beijing emigration consultants Goldlink, said the company has noticed an increasing trend of rich Chinese wanting to emigrate, particularly to Canada, in the 15 years since it was founded.

The main reasons people want to move abroad, he said, are their children's education and for better healthcare. Some want to leave because they got their money illegally, such as corrupt government officials and businesspeople, while others are inspired by friends who have already emigrated to the U.S.

"They want to get a green card even though they may still do business here in China," Liu said. "They might have sent their wife and children abroad.

"And some of them just love life in a foreign country, the Western style," he said.

There is also a yawning gap between rich and poor in China, which feeds a resentment that makes some of the wealthy uncomfortable. The country's uneven jump to capitalism over the last three decades has created dozens of billionaires, but China barely ranks in the top 100 on a World Bank list of countries by income per person.

Getting a foreign passport is like "taking out an insurance policy," said Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiles the Hurun Rich List, China's version of the Forbes list.

"If there is political unrest or suddenly things change in China -- because it's a big country, something could go wrong -- they already have a passport to go overseas. It's an additional safety net."

Among the 20,000 Chinese with at least 100 million yuan ($15 million) in individual investment assets, 27 percent have already emigrated and 47 percent are considering it, according to a report by China Merchants Bank and U.S. consultants Bain & Co. published in April.

Nearly 60 percent of the people surveyed said worries over their children's education are a reason for wanting to leave.

A millionaire who works in the coal industry, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the main push behind his plans to emigrate is China's test-centric school system, often criticized for producing students who can pass exams but who lack skills for the world of work.

He will take his 7-year-old to the U.S. as soon as the child graduates from junior high at an international school in Beijing where pupils are instructed in English.

"The U.S. has a good educational system and excellent health care," said the 39-year-old, who has three homes in China and assets worth $5 million. "That's why we look forward to going there."

Other top motivations cited in the Merchants Bank study are to protect assets and to prepare for retirement. Also cited as reasons for leaving: having more children and making it easier to develop an overseas business.

Alongside increased emigration there has also been a massive outflow of private money from China despite its strict currency controls. The report estimates that rich Chinese -- those with assets of more than 10 million yuan -- have about 3.6 trillion yuan ($564 billion) invested overseas.

"The Chinese economy now looks like a massive funnel," said Zhong Dajun, director of the non-governmental Dajun Center for Economic Observation & Studies in Beijing.

Zhong said it is mostly corrupt government officials who transfer entire fortunes overseas because they have been illegally acquired and "they have fears and feel guilty."

Wealthy Russians have also been establishing footholds abroad for the past decade, seeking a safe haven both for their money and their children. In recent years, the trend has extended to Russia's emerging middle class. They cannot afford to invest in London, a favorite destination for Russia's billionaires and millionaires, so have been setting up second homes in less expensive European countries, including those like the Czech Republic that were once part of the Soviet bloc.

Su, the property developer, intends to stay in China and continue building residential high-rises and office buildings for another 10 years because he fears it would be too difficult for him to replicate his mainland business success abroad.

His wife is already in the U.S., expecting their second child. Under China's one-child policy in place for the last three decades to control population growth, couples can be penalized for having more than one child. In Beijing, the penalty is a one-off fee 3-10 times the city's average income, a maximum of 250,000 yuan ($40,000).

"The living conditions abroad are better, like residential conditions, food safety and education," said the millionaire as he dined in the VIP room of a Beijing restaurant. Lowering his voice, he said for many rich there are worries about the authoritarian government. "This is a very sensitive topic. Everyone knows this. It's freer and more just abroad," he said.

REPOST OF SEPTEMBER 05

2011-09-07T11:01:00.000-05:00

I have reposted photos to the September 05 blog post. The photos were blocked, perhaps by the subject country. I trust the photos will stay with my blog now. If you have not seen the blog, please check it out. Surely your heart will be touched.

Thanks for reading my blog. You may post comments to me personally anytime at:
glennclarkcamden@gmail.com

God bless and trusting something said or seen in this blog will touch you in a good way. -gc

Fountains that flow

2011-09-07T10:10:00.002-05:00

The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14

The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you “will flow rivers of living water”— irrepressible life (John 7:38).

We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as “rivers of living water” in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you “will flow rivers of living water.” It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.

Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.

China children with birth defects abandoned

2011-09-05T15:06:00.007-05:00

SEEMS SOMEONE OTHER THAN ME, HACKED THE PHOTOS. I WILL LEAVE THE TEXT AND SEE IF I CAN'T GET THE PHOTOS PUT BACK IN HERE. I SUSPECT THE REMOVAL OF THE PHOTOS CAME FROM THE COUNTRY IN SUBJECT HERE. SORRY FOR THIS. I WILL TRY TO GET THE PHOTOS BACK ON. IF I CANNOT THEN I WILL DELETE THIS POSTING. THANKS FOR READING AND HOPE SOMETHING PLACED IN THIS BLOG SOMEWHERE TOUCHES YOU. -GC

LATER... PHOTOS INSERTED. HOPE THEY STAY IN THIS POST. -GC

Photo Story: Lives like garbage

Since 1986, Henan Lankao County’s Yuan Lihai has already adopted over 100 foundlings [abandoned babies]. Those who have grown up to marry and work have left, and there are still 39 with her today, some suffering from albinism, some with cleft palates. Yuan Lihai peddles goods on the street to make a living for herself and these abandoned babies, while her husband who opposed her taking in abandoned babies has separated from her. Photography: Lu Guang from the August issue of Lens magazine.

Five foundlings lie on a bed made of a straw mattress and dirty bedding, some playing, some dozing. The honeycomb briquettes at the head of the bed are stacked very high and could easily fall onto the bed if not careful. This is a residence of Henan Lankao County’s Yuan Lihai. Beginning in 1987, Yuan Lihai has taken in handicapped or diseased children, having adopted over 100 over the past 25 years, with some of the children having died due to severe illness and inadequate medical treatment. Yuan Lihai is rather well-known locally, with the ordinary common people, hospital, and even 110 [police, emergency services] all sending children they have found to her. At a certain level, the inadequacy of public welfare institutions [orphanages] has pushed these kinds of “private orphanages” towards complications between morality, law, and interest/profit.

Yuan Lihai does not have a permanent residence in Lankao County, normally living in a tent where she peddles goods on the street. She has a total of four places where the children live, with dozens of children living in two small homes. Not far in the back are Lankao’s high-end villas. Compared to feeding, the problem of clothing the children is slightly easier to overcome. In the past, it was always the neighbors or the people’s government who would provide a little and scavenging some off the streets. Those that the children have outgrown, the smaller children can continue wearing. When the clothes have holes, Yuan Lihai would patch them up. After gradually becoming known, many kind-hearted people have donated their old clothes and shoes for the children to wear, resulting in a heap that has become a small mountain.

In certain places of Yuanping in Shanxin province, adoption/foster care has already become a business. However, foster families often cannot provide foundlings very good care. In order to lessen the hassles of watching [the child], this household has used a rope to tie this foster boy to the heatable brick bed, restricting his movement. (This photo’s photographer: Yang Meng)

Shanxi Jiexiu County’s Mao Naifeng gave birth to a set of fraternal twins, the children’s arrival having brought great joy to the entire family. However, 14 months later they discovered that of the two children, one has encephalatrophy and the other has hydrocephalus, resulting in lower-body paralysis, unable to walk. However, Mao Naifeng and her husband did not give up, the wife persisting in massaging and moving the child’s four limbs in hopes of rehabilitation. At present, the incidence of birth defects in China is 13-15%, with the majority occurring in the rural countryside, not without relation to the lack of pregnancy exams, environmental pollution, and other reasons. However, in certain developed countries of Europe and America, the incidence of deformity is basically kept at 3-4%. Due to the amount and limits of public welfare coverage, many families are often pushed to poverty by handicap and disability, and often forced into the ethical dilemma of abandoning such babies.

2010 September 23 night, this mentally handicapped child who had been fostered for six months died from illness. Because he had not reached one year, he doesn’t have a name. This was the 21st infant Yuan Lihai found last year, as well as the tenth baby to die from sickness. Children who spend every day with each other surround their just passed away little brother, reluctant to leave his side.

2010 September 23 day, this foundling without a name has been taken to a distant place to be buried, the child’s eyes still slightly open, as if with a sliver of attachment to this world it never knew.

SMILE... it's Africa

2011-09-01T16:06:00.000-05:00

If we want to, we can find a way

2011-09-01T12:36:00.000-05:00

2011-08-31T15:49:00.001-05:00

I heard this story and want to post it here...

Proverbs 2:1-9
¹ My son, if you accept my words
   and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
   and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
   and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
   and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
   and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom;
   from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
   he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
   and protects the way of his faithful ones.
⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just
   and fair—every good path.

Just before our church service began, I overheard a young man behind me talking with his mother. They were reading an announcement in the bulletin about a challenge to read one chapter of Proverbs each day for the months of July and August. He asked his mom, “What will we do with chapter 31 in August since there are only 30 days?” She said she thought there were 31 days in August. He responded, “No, there are only 30.”

When it was time in the service to greet each other, I turned back toward him and said hello. Then I added, “August does have 31 days.” He insisted, “No, it doesn’t. There can’t be two months in a row with 31 days.” The singing started, so I just smiled.

This brief encounter made me think about our need to develop a teachable spirit, seeking wisdom beyond our own. In Proverbs 3, the attitude the father recommends to the son is one of humility: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord” (v.7). In chapter 2, he says, “Incline your ear to wisdom . . . ; search for her as for hidden treasures” (vv.2,4).

Knowing whether August has 30 or 31 days doesn’t matter much, but having a teachable spirit does. It will help us gain wisdom from God and others. Reading a chapter from Proverbs each day next month may give us a start.

Cell phone helps

2011-08-30T22:03:00.005-05:00

4 Things you might not have known about your Cell Phone

For all the folks with cell phones. (This should be printed and kept in your car, purse, and wallet. Good information to have with you.)

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.
Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival.

Check out the things that you can do with it:

FIRST (Emergency)
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked.. Try it out.

SECOND (Hidden Battery Power)
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.

THIRD   (How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone? )
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone:
  *#06# .
A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.
If your phone is stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

And Finally....
FOURTH   (Free Directory Service for Cells)
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1..75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial:
(800) FREE411   or (800) 373-3411
without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.
This is sponsored by McDonalds.

What really counts

2011-08-30T15:51:00.000-05:00

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven —Luke 10:20

Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7:38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).

Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory . . .” (Hebrews 2:10).

India: Eat, pray, give

2011-08-29T13:49:00.003-05:00

I am moved by what someone, who does not have my religious experience and teaching, can feel a passion to be and do. This is a sobering video; life changers are really in short supply. May God help us all to have more compassion.

Click the link below to see the video.
India: Eat, pray, give - 101 East - Al Jazeera English

Too young to work

2011-08-29T12:15:00.001-05:00

Click on the link below to see the video.

Too young to work - 101 East - Al Jazeera English

Quote from Steve Jobs

2011-08-29T11:31:00.001-05:00

Thai ad - MARRY ME

2011-08-26T12:54:00.001-05:00

"I have called you friends..."

2011-08-25T11:56:00.000-05:00

We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if . . . !” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.

But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.

Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God . . .” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.

“I have called you friends. . .” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.

True believers - 101 East - Al Jazeera English

2011-08-24T15:33:00.001-05:00

Click the link below to watch the video concerning Christians in China.
True believers - 101 East - Al Jazeera English

Thai Insurance ad

2011-08-24T10:33:00.000-05:00

This is touching.

Amazing Grace

2011-08-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

I never become weary of this song. Here it is rendered in a unique style. I have played this song on the piano and sang it in many places since my very first trip to China in the early 80's. Chinese love the melody and when I tell the story of the song, they are truly touched. Hope you enjoy this post today

CHINA - Trying to deal with the heat

2011-08-20T14:21:00.000-05:00

August 14th, a large amount of visitors enjoying the refreshing water during the summer heat in the indoor floating pool of China’s Dead Sea located in Daying County. Since the beginning of summer, China’s Dead Sea has welcomed nearly a million visitors to escape the summer heat. Like the famous Dead Sea in the Middle East, the “Chinese Dead Sea” or “China’s Dead Sea” is a salt lake that has many times more salinity than the ocean.

TEACH

2011-08-20T12:33:00.001-05:00

This is a great video clip. Click the extreme far right icon to expand the video to full screen.

ENCOURAGEMENT - PASS IT ON

2011-08-18T17:00:00.000-05:00

Need faith and vision

2011-08-16T16:31:00.012-05:00

"You give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37). It’s easy to miss those words from Jesus. A huge crowd had gathered to hear Him. Late in the day, the disciples got nervous and started pressing Him to send them away (v.36). “You give them something to eat,” Jesus replied (v.37).

Why would He say that? John 6:6 says He was testing them. Did He want to see if they would trust Him to perform a miracle? Maybe, but it seems more likely He wanted His disciples involved in caring for the crowd, to be hands-on in working with and for Him. I have seen this work in my own life. I felt to do something to reach the unreached in China. I had no finances and no idea how to bring this about. God has provided the needed resources for each trip -- and not ahead of time -- but in time. I began with three contacts and slowly it expanded. Now I have over 300 contacts in China where the seed is being planted.

Just today, for instance, a very talented and clever young man who just received his bachelor degree in theater this summer, had a very good conversation with me. We will call him AC, from Shanghai. He has personal friends in the movie acting and directing industry and also stage theater. He has done some screen writing and acting in Beijing and many professionals in the acting and theater business have their eyes glued to him. His talent is remarkable and he certainly has a gift. His humility and kind spirit make him very popular among his peers. He seeks advice from me often and we have had some awesome moves of Spirit in our conversations.

Today I was instrumental in directing AC away from anti-government activities, demonstrations, writings and talking which would end in a lock-up in a prison somewhere -- or even worse. Like many youths I deal with, there is a swelling tide of resentment against the government as people long for more freedom and less oppression. We discussed the opportunities he would have that Party membership would provide for him. Success in business and in every sector of life in China is enhanced with Party membership. The best jobs, best pay, best opportunities, and best promotions come from within the Party and it's strong hand to control. But he also recognizes the corruption that is rampant with the Party.

The seeds I have planted of honesty, ethics, morals are paying off with AC. He now wants no part of the Party membership even if it means his career and all his studies would become worthless. Knowing the extreme sacrifice of his family to finance his many years of schooling and future studies (he is now embarking on post graduate work for a master degree and later a PhD), and considering the Asian culture of loosing face, his raw decision today is a huge step. And his decision is his own; he came to this conclusion himself.

Christian influence deals with many areas of life -- maybe it could be said it deals with every area of life. Winning Chinese for Christ takes much time and one influence after another, collectively, bring them to the foot of the cross. We have seen this happen multiple times. God is honored. Planting seed may not seem so sophisticated but it puts somethings in the ground to germinate and grow into a harvest... if not now... if not in my life-time... no less a harvest for the Master in His time.

What we need is faith and vision—the ability to see that God wants us to be His instruments, and that He will supply what we need.

Some of my readers have supplied needed finances... my heart and life are humbled by your willingness to gift Light to those behind the wall. Your reward will be great and hundreds will greet you on the other shore, by faith, to personally thank you.

Better to develop our relationship

2011-08-14T15:44:00.002-05:00

The most beautiful place of worship in Jeremiah’s day was the temple in Jerusalem, which King Josiah had recently repaired and restored (2 Chron. 34–35). The people were fixated on the magnificent building (Jer. 7:4), and they foolishly thought that having the temple there meant that God would protect them from their enemies.

Instead, Jeremiah pointed out the sin in their lives (vv.3,9-10). God is not impressed by beautiful buildings constructed in His name if there is no inward beauty in the hearts of those who go there. He is not interested in an outward legalistic worship that is not matched by inward holiness. And it is wrong to think that God protects people just because of the religious things they do.

Just because we’re reading the Bible, praying, and fellowshiping with other believers doesn’t mean that God is somehow then obligated to do something for us. He cannot be manipulated. The purpose of those external activities is to develop our relationship with the Lord and to help us live differently than those in the world around us.

Japanese embrace black gospel music

2011-08-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

TOKYO -- Historically, it's been difficult to share the gospel in Japan. Traditional Japanese faiths like Buddhism and Shintoism have many gods and people avoid religions that make specific claims like Christianity.

But now through a music workshop, Japanese non-believers are learning to sing to the one true God.
The movie "Sister Act" brought an interest in black gospel music to Japan. Now the music is being used as an effective evangelistic tool.

Eleven years ago, missionary Ken Taylor saw an opportunity to use the gospel music fad to teach the Japanese people about Jesus Christ. The former nightclub entertainer began holding black gospel workshops in community centers.

"It became a big hit. More people joined the workshops," Taylor said.
Taylor partnered with several Christian churches in order to get non-believers involved with gospel music.

"The end goal is we see lives transformed. Within the two-hour session, they're not just learning how to sing black gospel music, they're learning to pronounce properly like a little English class," he said.
"But more than that they're really experiencing church because there's fellowship, there's worship. There's the sharing of the Word," Taylor said.

Now, there are gospel choirs in 50 churches across Japan. They call themselves the Hallelujah Gospel Family.

Pastor Masahiro Okita is involved with the movement. Okita said it has broken barriers between Christians and non-Christians.

"It opened the church to the community. And it's a very unique ministry because the target of the outreach are the choir members themselves," Okita said.

And that outreach is making a difference. Choir members say the gospel workshops are making them better people. Some have even chosen to convert to Christianity.

Choir member Mayuko Shizuka used to practice Shintoism, but through gospel music has now found the Lord.

"I used to have low self-esteem. I studied philosophy and did my rituals at Shinto shrine but nothing worked. But within one year in the choir, I learned about Jesus when I studied the lyrics of the songs. So now I am a Christian. I am more patient with our children and I am more confidents about myself," Shizuka said.

Others, like Sachico Ishihata haven't decided to follow Christ, but the gospel music they sing is still having an impact.

"I'm not a Christian but as I study the words in the songs, I'm finding new meaning in my life," Ishihata said.

Twice a year the Hallelujah Gospel Family comes together for a concert to share the message of Christ with their families and friends through the music they sing.

Taylor says the movement is making a difference.

"A hundred percent of the people who step into these choirs are being touched by the spirit of God. God is working mightily in Japan," he said.

Islam's Assault on the West

2011-08-12T18:51:00.002-05:00

Churches Unite to Free Oppressed N. Korea

2011-08-12T18:43:00.002-05:00

Yet God says you must continue

2011-08-11T14:00:00.003-05:00

From the writings of Oswald Chambers... this inspired me today. If I could just remember this at the right times. Man can be so frail at times. gc

"Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha . . . saw him no more —2 Kings 2:11-12

"It is not wrong for you to depend on your “Elijah” for as long as God gives him to you. But remember that the time will come when he must leave and will no longer be your guide and your leader, because God does not intend for him to stay. Even the thought of that causes you to say, “I cannot continue without my ’Elijah.’ ” Yet God says you must continue.

"Alone at Your “Jordan” (Kings 2:14). The Jordan River represents the type of separation where you have no fellowship with anyone else, and where no one else can take your responsibility from you. You now have to put to the test what you learned when you were with your “Elijah.” You have been to the Jordan over and over again with Elijah, but now you are facing it alone. There is no use in saying that you cannot go— the experience is here, and you must go. If you truly want to know whether or not God is the God your faith believes Him to be, then go through your “Jordan” alone.

"Alone at Your “Jericho” (2 Kings 2:15). Jericho represents the place where you have seen your “Elijah” do great things. Yet when you come alone to your “Jericho,” you have a strong reluctance to take the initiative and trust in God, wanting, instead, for someone else to take it for you. But if you remain true to what you learned while with your “Elijah,” you will receive a sign, as Elisha did, that God is with you.

"Alone at Your “Bethel” (2 Kings 2:23). At your “Bethel” you will find yourself at your wits’ end but at the beginning of God’s wisdom. When you come to your wits’ end and feel inclined to panic— don’t! Stand true to God and He will bring out His truth in a way that will make your life an expression of worship. Put into practice what you learned while with your “Elijah”— use his mantle and pray (see 2 Kings 2:13-14). Make a determination to trust in God, and do not even look for Elijah anymore."

A best chance for success tucked away in our memory

2011-08-11T12:48:00.002-05:00

Things were off to a great start for Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. In Matthew 3, He was baptized and heard the affirming words, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (v.17). But then things took a turn for the worse.

What happened next—Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness—was not a mere coincidence. The Holy Spirit led Him into this face-off between the powers of heaven and hell. Thankfully, Jesus’ victory in the face of temptation provides a great example when we find ourselves in the wilderness of Satan’s sinister seductions.

Notice that the tempter caught Jesus at a time when He was tired and hungry. Satan uses the same tactic with us. Waiting for those vulnerable moments, he lures us with the bait of seductive suggestions that offer quick relief and opportunities for self-advancement. When facing such challenges, it’s important to follow Jesus’ example—throw “the Book” at Satan! Jesus responded to temptation by quoting Scripture: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4; see Deut. 8:3). The Bible is full of verses about lust, greed, lying, and other sins. If we tuck them away in our memory, we can use them when under attack. It’s our best chance for success!

Placed where we bring the most glory to Him

2011-08-10T14:31:00.003-05:00

Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will— even if it means you will suffer— is something very different.

No normal, healthy Christian ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. And no Christian should ever dare to interfere with the lesson of suffering being taught in another believer's life.

The Christian who satisfies the heart of Jesus will make other believers strong and mature for God. But the people used to strengthen us are never those who sympathize with us; in fact, we are hindered by those who give us their sympathy, because sympathy only serves to weaken us.

No one better understands a Christian than the Christian who is as close and as intimate with Jesus as possible. If we accept the sympathy of another believer, our spontaneous feeling is, “God is dealing too harshly with me and making my life too difficult.” That is why Jesus said that self-pity was of the devil (see Matthew 16:21-23).

We must be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy for us to tarnish God’s character because He never argues back; He never tries to defend or vindicate Himself.

Beware of thinking that Jesus needed sympathy during His life on earth. He refused the sympathy of people because in His great wisdom He knew that no one on earth understood His purpose (see Matthew 16:23). He accepted only the sympathy of His Father and the angels (see Luke 15:10).

Look at God’s incredible waste of His children, according to the world’s judgment. God seems to plant His children in the most useless places. And then we say, “God intends for me to be here because I am so useful to Him.”

Yet Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of the greatest use. God places His children where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.

We are part of a larger body of believers

2011-08-09T14:55:00.004-05:00

During a demonstration of sheep-herding using a Border Collie, the dog trainer explained that because sheep are highly vulnerable to wild animals, their main defense against predators is to stay together in a tightly knit group. “A sheep alone is a dead sheep,” the trainer said. “The dog always keeps the sheep together as it moves them.”

The biblical image of God as our shepherd is a powerful reminder of how much we need each other in the community of faith. When writing about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, the psalmist said, “[God] made His own people go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; and He led them on safely, so that they did not fear” (Ps. 78:52-53).

As part of God’s flock, we who have trusted Christ are under His guiding, protecting hand while being surrounded by the shielding presence of others. We are part of a larger body of believers in which there is safety and accountability.

While we don’t give up our personal responsibility for thought and action as members of the flock, we are to embrace the concept of “we” rather than “me” in our daily lives. With Christ as our Shepherd and fellow believers around us, we find safety in the flock.

China

2011-08-09T12:28:00.005-05:00

Here are two newpaper cartoons that ran in the Shanghai Daily recently.

The caption reads:

"Young women must marry by a certain age, say 28, after which they look like "leftover." Fetuses race to be born by a certain date, say September 1, to get enrolled in school one year earlier than those born on September 2."

China

2011-08-08T18:31:00.004-05:00

I know of a good fisherman. He’s a very thoughtful man. After climbing into his waders and boots and gathering up his gear, he sits on the tailgate of his truck and scans the river for 15 minutes or more, looking for rising fish. “No use fishing where they ain’t,” he says. This makes me think of another question: “Do I fish for souls where they ain’t?”

It was said of Jesus that He was “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). As Christians, we are to be unlike the world in our behavior, but squarely in it as He was. So we have to ask ourselves: Do I, like Jesus, have friends who are sinners? If I have only Christian friends, I may be fishing for souls “where they ain’t.”

Being with nonbelievers is the first step in “fishing.” Then comes love—a heart-kindness that sees beneath the surface of their off-hand remarks and listens for the deeper cry of the soul. It asks, “Can you tell me more about that?” and follows up with compassion. “There is much preaching in this friendliness,” a pastor once said.

Such love is not a natural instinct. It comes solely from God. And so we pray: “Lord, when I am with nonbelievers today, may I become aware of the cheerless voice, the weary countenance, or the downcast eyes that I, in my natural self-preoccupation, could easily overlook. May I have a love that springs from and is rooted in Your love. May I listen to others, show Your compassion, and speak Your truth today.”

Working for China?

2011-08-04T16:33:00.004-05:00

Somali refugee in Dadaab, Kenya

2011-08-03T15:01:00.004-05:00

Doctors examine Mihag Gedi Farah at an International Rescue Committee field hospital in Dadaab, Kenya. The 7-month-old child weighs 7.5 pounds.

Severely malnourished Somali refugee Mihag Gedi Farah, 7 months old, is held by his mother at an International Rescue Committee field hospital in Dadaab, Kenya.

China

2011-08-03T11:10:00.004-05:00

I am convinced, that one of the best ways to influence people to follow Christ is to plant the seed in the university students. God has blessed me with this opportunity. The harvest will come, if not now... later. The law of sowing and the harvest works in its proper time. Wish I could interest more in just simply doing this... sowing seed among the young and searching youth of China.

Life as we overcome

2011-08-02T16:28:00.003-05:00

The typical view of the Christian life is that it means being delivered from all adversity. But it actually means being delivered in adversity, which is something very different. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling . . .” (Psalm 91:1,10)— the place where you are at one with God.

If you are a child of God, you will certainly encounter adversities, but Jesus says you should not be surprised when they come. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” He is saying, “There is nothing for you to fear.” The same people who refused to talk about their adversities before they were saved often complain and worry after being born again because they have the wrong idea of what it means to live the life of a saint.

Perhaps God does not give us overcoming life— He gives us life as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no strength. Are you asking God to give you life, liberty, and joy? He cannot, unless you are willing to accept the strain. And once you face the strain, you will immediately get the strength. Overcome your own timidity and take the first step. Then God will give you nourishment— “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life . . .” (Revelation 2:7). If you completely give of yourself physically, you become exhausted. But when you give of yourself spiritually, you get more strength.

Perhaps God never gives us strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the moment. Our temptation is to face adversities from the standpoint of our own common sense. But a saint can “be of good cheer” even when seemingly defeated by adversities, because victory is absurdly impossible to everyone, except God.

Wouldn't you like to be there?

2011-07-31T12:39:00.012-05:00

"Steady, boys. I am just about done."

"This seat belt law is just too much!"

"Reckon this will be okay?"

"I don't need your $25 delivery charge... I will take care of it myself, thank you."

"I really wish I could have gone to college."

"O Lord, guide my way."

CLEVER... stools can multi-task.

"You can do what you want... I am NOT going to miss my lunch."

"Hey! ...whatever you do, DON"T STOP TOO FAST!"

"Tired, hungry and sleep, too. Nothing don't bother me like sleep do." Lunch time is for sleeping!

"...not expecting this big a rain when we did the wedding planning."