Ministry in China
China takes a gold medal in several categories. First,
with a population of 1.3 billion people it is the world’s
largest nation. Second, China enjoys the world’s
highest economic growth rate.
Unfortunately, China also gets a gold in the category
of spiritual poverty. Of its 1.3 billion citizens 1.2
billion live without any knowledge of a God who loves
them or His son who died for them.
How Many Believers?
According to some sources there are anywhere from 70-100
million Christians in China. Exact figures are next
to impossible to come by. Political conditions make
access to such data in the country very difficult. From
experience however it can be deducted that in Communist
countries the real number of Christians is likely to
be significantly less than western analysts maintain.
No matter what the figure, it is too high for government
authorities. Consequently unregistered Churches have
increasingly become targets of a renewed wave of government oppression.
TV - A Window into Millions of Homes
As one walks the streets of China’s big cities
one cannot but notice a peculiar re-occurring scene.
Satellite dishes have appeared like mushrooms on rooftops
of apartment houses.
Last fall an unexpected door opened for IRR/TV to broadcast
the Gospel in Asia. STAR WORLD TV informed IRR/TV that
its programs are seen in over 1 million homes in mainland
China. During a visit to STAR TV headquarters in Hong
Kong we were told that viewership of the channel had
increased to 2.2 million homes in mainland China –
that is over 10 million viewers! Most viewers have absolutely
no comprehension of spiritual matters.
Who is watching?
According to STAR TV the channel is plugged into the
home of every government employee. The colossal steel
works in Beijing has cabled this channel into all of
its staff housing. The channel is also widely available
in universities and hotels. Responses from Chinese viewers
are difficult to monitor.
Today, IRR/TV telecasts programs every Sunday morning
at 8:00 over Hong Kong TV reaching South China, Hong
Kong, Macao.
More initiatives are under way. This website will follow
developments as they happen.
One Million Bibles
The Gospel in millions of homes by television is an
important part of the solution - but it is not the whole
solution. People who respond to the Gospel and who find
Christ need the written word of God as well.
With missions secretary Aki Miettinen, I walked through
the Beijing branch of China’s largest publishing
house not long ago. In our hands we had an official
government permit to print one million Chinese Bibles.
Considering the present political climate this seemed
a dream.
But it wasn’t. We had just placed an order for
the first printing of 20,000 copies of the Bible for
distribution to Chinese congregations. Compared to the
need it was but a drop in the bucket. A million would
have seemed more appropriate but at 2 dollars per copy
our funds were enough for only 20,000.
“When shall we print the rest?” politely
asked the director of the Beijing printing company?
Trying to hide our frustration we offered to get back
to the director as soon as possible.
We gave the director and his staff a video CD containing
the life of Jesus as told by Luke in the Mandarin language.
Judging by the wide smiles of our hosts the gift seemed
to be a real treat.
Two Faces of China
Sadly, all is not well in the Church in China. There
is a cry of anguish and suffering rising from the Chinese
Church.
Unfortunately persecution is part of everyday life for
many unregistered churches in China. The extent of the
persecution depends on local authorities and varies
from province to province. Let us remember these believers
in our prayers.
Opportunity
At the same time we now have the greatest opportunity
in modern Chinese history to reach one billion people
with the Gospel, the message of hope, peace, joy, freedom
from sin.
It is very likely that God requires something of each
of us. We cannot turn a blind eye to a billion Chinese
perishing without any knowledge of Christ and wait for
better times.
