Displaying items by tag: China

The Australian government wants G20 countries to take action on wildlife wet markets, calling them a ‘biosecurity and human health risk’. It is not calling for a ban, but believes they may need to be ‘phased out’. Although wet markets sell fresh meat and fish, some also sell wildlife. It is believed that coronavirus began in a Chinese wet market selling foxes, wolf cubs, civets, turtles, pangolins, and snakes. Australia’s agriculture minister said, ‘A market like the Sydney fish market is perfectly safe. But when you add live exotic wildlife, it opens up human risks to the extent we have seen.. China itself reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health that a wet wildlife market was the cause of Covid-19. WHO said, ‘When these markets are allowed to reopen, it should only be on the condition that they conform to stringent food safety and hygiene standards’.

As coronavirus ravages the world, many are now watching Wuhan slowly emerging from 2 months complete lockdown - cautiously with masks and gloves moving about.

The world is now in an extraordinary and precarious situation watching what happens in Wuhan for a glimpse of what might lie in store for the rest of us.

Will there be a second coronavirus wave in Wuhan? Almost inevitably yes but how big a wave and are hospitals better prepared.

How will the Chinese government respond to this second wave after mismanagement and misinformation of the first outbreak? Will they keep damaging information secret.

A recent report on the number of ash urns stacked at Wuhan funeral homes put the true death toll over 40,000 not the official 2,500 deaths.

Pray for transparency in communication and sharing of strategies in China and across the nations in order to craft effective responses to unfamiliar challenges.

Pray for competence in the next phase based on honest experience and heaven’s wisdom (Job 6:24)

More at: https://www.gzeromedia.com/watching-wuhan-but-can-you-believe-your-eyes
(Thanks to www.Prayer-Alert.net)

As coronavirus ravages the world, many are now watching Wuhan slowly emerging from two months’ complete lockdown - the population cautiously (with masks and gloves) moving about. The world is now in an extraordinary and precarious situation, watching Wuhan for a glimpse of what might lie in store for the rest of us. Will there be a second coronavirus wave there? Almost inevitably yes, but how big a wave and are hospitals better prepared? How will the Chinese government respond to this second wave, after its mismanagement and misinformation of the first outbreak? Will they keep damaging information secret? A recent report on the number of ash urns stacked at Wuhan funeral homes put the true death toll at over 40,000, not the official 2,500. Pray for transparency in communication and sharing of strategies, in China and across the nations, in order to craft effective responses to unfamiliar challenges. 

Pastor Huang Lei leads a church in Wuhan. The coronavirus crisis makes it impossible for his church to have their usual gatherings, so they are meeting online. They are not just doing church, but being church. ‘First, we have more than 50 groups,’ he says. ‘Almost all the groups are meeting via the internet - praying, studying the Bible, sharing, witnessing, praising and worshipping. Of those 50, we have over 30 groups spending two hours every day to pray, worship, share and testify together. That’s far more frequent than our normal meetings. Of course, now we have more free time; everybody is staying at home, so that’s given us the chance to do this. But we usually have the group meeting weekly and now we’re doing this daily. Sometimes even more, so we are very grateful for that.’

The government wanted to install facial recognition cameras in Pastor Xiang En’s church sanctuary. When he refused they did it anyway and gathered the private data of church members so that they could target them. They will intimidate them with their jobs, their housing, and their children’s education to prevent them from going to church. Pastor Xiang said, ‘Hundreds of policemen raided our church, smashed our building, put the pastors on surveillance, and shut down the church.’ After his church was shut down the first sermon he preached was from Revelation 3:7-8: ‘I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.’ Pastor Xiang remains hopeful, despite the opposition his congregation faces. Many prominent mainstream churches and house churches in China continue to be shut down.

A woman who fled to China illegally was recently baptised, even though such an action could have resulted in her being repatriated and killed. Over two years ago, Bon-Hwa crossed the border into China, where it is illegal to help North Korean escapees. Despite the risk, Open Doors partners have set up ‘safe houses’ along the border for North Korean Christians, as well as for women who could be forced into a marriage. It was at one of these safe houses that Bon-Hwa became a Christian. It was too risky to be baptised in her new home town, so she and two other Christians, including the pastor, walked many hours to a remote location for the service. The pastor said he almost cried: ‘It was a beautiful moment and such a privilege to baptise a North Korean believer in these circumstances.’

Please watch this short and agonising video from China, a woman's desperate cry for help in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic. It confirms reports of the government suppressing news and ignoring doctors' warnings. From last week’s international prayer call, including a Christian leader from Wuhan, we heard that Chinese Christians are taking communion daily as protection from death, as ancient Jews did in the first Passover, and standing against the spread of coronavirus in prayer. Let's continue to pray with our Chinese brethren for the end of what could become a pandemic and for people everywhere to be protected. We know that the Lord in His redemptive love and wisdom can utilise bad things to bring forth good outcomes. May He use the current health and related economic crisis to bring real reform to the communist government of China so that the people finally obtain the human rights and freedoms they have longed for, so poignantly expressed in this brave woman's cry.

Christian Aid Mission has many Bible schools in China offering one- and two-year programmes, with training primarily focused on evangelism and the cost of discipleship. Seven days a week, faculty led morning prayers at 5 a.m. and evening prayers at 9p.m. Every Saturday, students divide into groups to evangelise their community. Due to the school’s excellent standing, home churches often invite students and faculty to preach and lead worship. They travel in pairs on bicycles to over forty house churches in the school’s vicinity. Over 120 students graduate from this Bible school each year. Students become teachers at the school, return to serve in their home churches, or plant new churches in various regions throughout China.

The Chinese government has introduced even tougher restrictions on religious freedom, requiring church leaders to ‘display complete devotion to the Communist Party’. The rules limit communications between churches and overseas organisations, including donations. But even before the new rules took effect on 1 February 2020, there were reports that Chinese officials were confiscating aid intended to help churches fighting coronavirus. Dr Lin, who gave early warning of the virus, was a Christian. A Chinese Christian wrote on social media, ‘Some overseas Christians shipped supplies designated to serve hospitals through local churches. Yet the supplies were confiscated and the Christian who received the shipment was invited to “have tea” with the police (a common practice to intimidate and threaten citizens).’ Despite increasing persecution, Christians in Wuhan have been handing out face masks on the street and sharing their faith with pedestrians.

Until 12 February the number of people with the virus in Hubei province, where coronavirus emerged, was stabilising, but new cases and deaths in the province have pushed the national death toll above 1,350 - with almost 60,000 infections in total. The World Health Organisation is seeking ‘further clarity’ from China about the changes to how cases of the virus are being confirmed. China is accused of suppressing the full extent of the outbreak in the past. A professor from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that China has changed the definition of what the disease really is. They are now including people who have lesser symptoms, but the fatality ratio is about the same as it has been - as high as the death rate in influenza. Only Hubei province, where 80% of overall Chinese infections are, is using the new definition to diagnose new cases.