Displaying items by tag: Christians

Many observers are saying that the fresh wave of protests across Sudan could be pivotal. On 30 June at least seven were killed and 200 injured in clashes when thousands took to the streets demanding that the ruling military council hand over power to a civilian government. For Christians, the revolution initially brought hope of religious freedom, but now there is a keen sense of disappointment. A local Christian said, ‘If there is more of a democracy, hopefully, prayerfully there will be more freedom to be able to evangelise, and to share the message of Jesus’ love. What can we do? We need to be praying for the situation in Sudan.’ Pray for definitive peace and stability between the people and military commanders who continue to vie for power. Ask God for government leaders to rule with integrity and justice. Pray for the church to grow spiritually strong despite intense suffering and persecution.

Last week we praised God for the peaceful anti-extradition bill rallies in city streets. This week violent demonstrators stormed the legislative building in protest against the extradition bill. Many Christians feared for their lives in light of the now-suspended bill, due to China having some of the most restrictive religious freedom laws on earth. According to the law, religious assemblies in public areas are not deemed illegal, so if people sing hymns together, it could actually work as a protection and guarantee that they stay safe. But this week people started to sing ‘Sing hallelujah to the Lord’ to protect themselves in chaotic scenes of huge groups storming into government buildings, painting graffiti on the walls and even draping the front lectern in a British Hong Kong flag used during the colonial period. Amid the political turmoil, Hong Kong’s many Christian leaders have called for peace and progress. Pray for people with different positions and opinions to listen to each other.

A few years ago, Rob Gifford, author of China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power, spoke at a ChinaSource conference in Hong Kong. He talked about the economic and social challenges that were likely to force China into drastic restructuring, noting that demographics alone would require it to move from being a labor-intensive, manufacturing-based economy to something else. ‘One thing is certain’, Gifford said, ‘the next 30 years in China cannot look like the last 30 years.’

More recently, this sentiment was echoed by China watcher Bill Bishop, who wrote in November in the Axios[2] newsletter that ‘we have to accept that China under General Secretary Xi Jinping is materially different from the China we knew under Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin.’

One way that China is ‘materially different’ under Xi Jinping is a significantly tighter political environment. After three decades of loosening Communist Party control and expanding freedoms, Xi is systematically trying to reassert Party control over all sectors of society. This is behind so many of the reports we have seen of late of crackdowns and growing harassment/persecution of believers. However, the crackdowns are part of something much broader and it is a misinterpretation to assume that they are simply targeted at religion in general, or Christianity in particular.

This new political environment is impacting both local believers in China and foreign workers whohave been serving the church in China.

End of the era of openness

The past few decades have seen an increased openness for churches and believers.[3] The urban house church movement came into its own. Unlike the rural house church movement that had grown up during the era of intense persecution and of necessity had been ‘underground’, these urban house churches are often public (complete with websites) and have adopted a less confrontational stance towards the government. The goal has been to show the authorities that they are not a threat.

Even though religious regulations were not changed, enforcement was relaxed, leading to an expanded gray zone that allowed for the growth of Christian publishing, media, and education. Local officials had leeway in overseeing religious affairs in their jurisdictions, and some even cultivated relationships with church leaders. This contributed to a more relaxed environment as Christians could offer assurances of not being a threat. As long as local churches and believers did not cause trouble, they were largely left alone.

For the foreign Christian community serving in China, the past few decades have been marked by increasing openness as well. While still not being allowed to engage officially in religious work, foreign Christians could live and work in China on a variety of legitimate visa platforms. These included teaching, studying, operating registered commercial enterprises, and establishing locally-registered NGOs. Some were working independently, while others were quietly part of sending organizations. So long as their visa and residence permission papers were in order, they were operating their businesses according to local laws and regulations and were considered to be providing legitimate services to the community, their presence was tolerated.

The ‘New Normal’

The new environment, or ‘New Normal’[4] as it is sometimes referred to, is making things more difficult for local believers. In 2018, the government issued a new set of religious regulations that make it significantly more difficult for unregistered churches (house churches) to function. Penalties can be levied against landlords who rent to unregistered groups, and local officials are under pressure to be stricter in their enforcement of these regulations. As a result, a few large, high-profile house churches have been closed and their leaders detained. Other larger house churches have made plans to divide (or have divided) into smaller churches should the need arise. In some ways this can be seen as Communist Party-led church multiplication.

Registered churches (‘Three-self’ churches) are also feeling the pressure, with more political rhetoric and directives to ‘Sinicize’.[5] Many registered church leaders now have to spend more time managing their relationships with government officials, leaving less time for shepherding the flock.

Read the full report here: https://www.lausanne.org/content/lga/2019-05/the-new-normal-for-christianity-in-china?utm_source=Lausanne+Movement+List&utm_campaign=0f41363ced-Lausanne_Global_Analysis+-May2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_602c1cb67d-0f41363ced-91691477

Pray: that the doors will re-open to Christian workers and mission agencies.

Pray: for those being persecuted and marginalised because of their faith.

Pray: for protection of those 'at risk'

In Algeria and Sudan, peaceful protesters are continuing to demand genuine change, but the military - the most powerful institution in both countries - resist the calls. Both countries know that ousting an authoritarian leader is no guarantee of reform. In each case, Christian communities have added their voices to the calls for greater democracy and transparency. In the Holy Land, recent violence saw Islamic militants from Gaza launch 600+ rockets into Israel, and Israel responding with a heavy bombardment. Both sides eventually agreed a ceasefire, which is currently holding, but the UN envoy to the Middle East warned on 13 May that the risk of another war ‘remains imminent’. Half the Christian population has returned to Iraq following the collapse of IS, but they are returning to broken towns and Iran-backed militias in the Nineveh area. The search for peace, good governance, fairness, justice and dignity continues.

Three Christians stood in disbelief as police clapped them in handcuffs. They went to jail, simply for praying for a sick woman. Surjan, Kolah and Krishna had not been openly sharing the gospel in the streets, which would draw persecution. They had simply prayed for the sick wife of a friend. But the woman died, and the villagers blamed the three Christians who had prayed for her. 27-year-old Krishna had only been a Christian for a month. What would prison do to his young faith? In prison, guards called the three men ‘Hallelujah people’ because they met every morning for prayer and to encourage each other. As months passed, they shared the gospel with fellow prisoners. Thirteen became Christians. After eleven months a lawyer was able to get them released on bail. But they still face a trial. They may yet face a term in in prison for the crime of ‘murder’ by prayer.

Muqadas was 16 when her parents married her off to a Chinese man looking for a bride. A few months later, Muqadas is back home, pregnant, and seeking a divorce from an abusive husband. Hundreds of poor Christian Pakistani girls have been trafficked to China in a bride market that has swiftly grown since last year. Brokers aggressively seek girls for Chinese men, sometimes cruising outside churches to look for potential brides. They are being helped by Christian clerics paid to target impoverished parents in their congregation with promises of wealth in exchange for their daughters. Parents receive several thousand dollars and are told that their new sons-in-law are wealthy Christian converts - but this is not true. The Chinese government and its embassy in Pakistan are accused of turning a blind eye to the practice by issuing visas and documents without question.

Christians across the Middle East are now experiencing or preparing for Holy Week (those churches that follow the Eastern Christian calendar being a week behind the West). Streets and squares overflow with believers celebrating Palm Sunday in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Iraqi Christian towns in the Nineveh Plain, along with believers in Lebanon and the Holy Land. Thus they demonstrate the deep faith of the region’s Christians as they worship a Saviour who showed strength through love, service and sacrifice.

Responding to recent publicity about knife crime and its devastating consequences, British churches, Christian charities, and voluntary organisations worked jointly to host Standing Together, a public rally against knife crime and youth violence, in Trafalgar Square on 6 April. It was initiated by the Ascension Trust (creators of Street Pastors in 2003). The general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland said that we, the Church, must recognise that knife crimes and violence have been ruining lives for decades. ‘Standing Together’ is encouraging churches from all Christian traditions and denominations in Britain and Ireland to ‘begin their engagement, or redouble their efforts, to combat serious youth violence’. Churches have much to offer in terms of prayer, expertise, volunteers, and resources such as buildings and equipment. May this event launch even more faith in action on our streets.

An international Christian delegation went to the Mexico-US border and witnessed first-hand the situation being faced by those seeking asylum and refuge. They are now calling for the dismantling of walls, borders and facilities that contribute to dehumanisation, exclusion, isolation and victimisation of people. They want nations to enact laws that account for human dignity, human rights, righteousness and compassion. The delegates will take their message to Washington, where they will join other Christians at an ecumenical advocacy event. Meanwhile a group of Mexican churches, together with the Theological Community of Mexico, are providing pastoral and psychological support to the people who make a stop in Mexico City. Churches in the USA are providing legal counsel to those seeking sanctuary and asylum, and offering their houses of worship as sanctuaries. Pray for radical reforms that address the causes of migration and the way in which migrants are treated on their journey.

An Iranian man seeking refuge in the UK has had his claim refused by the Home Office who wrote to say that his decision to convert to what he described as ‘peaceful’ Christianity and to leave Islam because ‘there is violence, rage and revenge’ was inconsistent. The letter quotes verses from Exodus, Matthew and Revelation as examples ‘inconsistent with a peaceful religion’. Recently an Iranian woman was rejected because the assessor believed her ‘faith was half-hearted' and did not think she was a true believer. She was mocked for admitting Jesus could not protect her from the country's tyrannical regime. The Bishop of Durham asked how a government official can arbitrarily pick bits out of a holy book and use them to trash someone's heartfelt reason for coming to a personal decision to follow another faith. See https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6844623/ANOTHER-Christian-asylum-claim-rejected-official-questioned-faith.html