Displaying items by tag: winter Olympics

China has been preparing for months to ensure that it puts on its best face for the Winter Olympic Games. Our TV screens will present beautiful images, majestic music, and inspiring athletic performances. They don’t want people to look behind the scenes at the totalitarian government oppressing and abusing its people, including our Christian brothers and sisters. Olympic coverage won’t include images of destroyed church buildings or interviews with imprisoned Christians. However, from 4 February the games can act as a daily reminder to pray for Christians in China. We can pray for pastors and church leaders to stand firmly for biblical truth in spite of government pressure to compromise. Pray for God's protection over Christians in prison, for their health and nutrition, and that they will have opportunities to witness for Christ to guards and fellow prisoners. China is also the biggest incarcerator of journalists; pray for protection over honest journalism.

As the eyes of the world turn toward Beijing and the Olympic Winter Games, we are invited by Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) to join believers around the globe in praying for our Christian brothers and sisters suffering persecution by China’s Communist government. Though they are not considered Olympians, many Chinese Christians walk or bicycle great distances to deliver the gospel, lift countless boxes of Bibles for delivery to new believers, and endure great suffering for the name of Christ - even in Chinese prisons and concentration camps. VOM have suggested specific ways to pray for Chinese Christians during the Olympics: a) that pastors and church leaders will stand for biblical truth despite government pressure to compromise, and b) that Chinese believers will be encouraged, experiencing unity and fellowship as members of the body of Christ. For more ways to pray and to join Christians around the world who are committing to pray for China’s Christians during the Olympics, click here

Authorities are cracking down hard to make China Covid-free ahead of the Winter Olympics. In a Maoist-style shaming stunt, four violators of Covid rules were paraded through Jingxi city wearing hazmat suits, with placards showing their names and photographs round their necks and surrounded by armed police in riot gear. At Christmas, China imposed a lockdown on Xi'an city (population 13 million) and Yuzhou city (1.2 million inhabitants) after finding three cases of Covid. Residents cannot leave home, even to buy food. Government workers have been distributing aid, but the distribution is patchy, resulting in many desperate stories leaking onto social media of residents near to starvation, bartering mobile phones for food. Some people are living on one egg or one bowl of porridge a day. 'I'm about to be starved to death,' was one message. Recently authorities turfed a thousand people out of their homes at midnight and carted them off to grim quarantine facilities. See

Despite the pandemic, the Winter Olympic Games hosted by China are expected to go ahead as normal. However human rights groups have raised concern over the religious freedom violations carried out there. US president Joe Biden has already introduced a diplomatic boycott, followed by other nations including the UK. Now Christians are being urged to play their part in standing in solidarity with persecuted brothers and sisters in China. Open Doors and a former US ambassador for religious freedom are calling for action, saying, ‘In the USA people of faith are woefully ignorant of the plight of their fellow believers in China. The persecution of Chinese Christians is rarely if ever mentioned in American megachurches. Raising awareness has been a long, slow struggle for organisations exposing religious persecution in China and elsewhere’. They are calling for Christians to break their silence, pray and fast, and pressurise their politicians to act.

Over five billion people across the world are not followers of Jesus, and two billion have never even heard the Gospel. Most will never hear unless somebody tells them. Pyeongchang has welcomed the world for the 2018 Olympic Games. 92 nations are participating. The world's best athletes are competing side by side with people from every corner of the world. They represent every possible worldview, religious background, and political system. Many - maybe most - of these athletes, families, and fans have never heard the Gospel. This is a special window of time for Christian athletes and participants to shine His light to those around them. What if the Olympic Games became an open door for the message of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed to the nations? Pray for an anointing of evangelism for every Christian involved in the Olympic Games.

Nearly 3,000 athletes will compete in 102 events in this year’s Winter Olympics. Among them are Christian Olympians who have spoken openly about their faith. Kelly Clark (snowboarding halfpipe) said she didn’t get her worth from what she did, it was from Christ. David Wise (freestyle skiing halfpipe) said his Christian faith ‘plays a huge role because it enables me to be confident’. Elana Meyers Taylor (bobsled) said, ‘Regardless of whether I win gold or not, I just have to trust that God has a plan for my life and I’m called to be his representative through the sport and outside the sport.’ Katie Uhlaender (skeleton) said God guides her and gives her the strength to keep going. Gigi Marvin (hockey) said her mission is more than winning medals: it’s about sharing Christ and leading others to him.

The North Korean missile crisis must be turned into a rallying cry for prayer for persecuted Christians in that country, says Release International, which supports Christians under pressure around the world. North Korea brought forward its annual display of military might to 8 February ahead of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. The muscle-flexing has been described as grandstanding in a crisis that could threaten nuclear war - but many believe the crisis should be turned into a rallying cry for prayer for the persecuted. North Korea is probably the harshest persecutor of Christians on the face of the earth.