A question to start: Is our God still working in China?
The short answer is Yes! It is however important to fully understand the current attitude and freedom permitted by the Chinese authorities regarding religious practice. China’s policy on religion states that ‘the Chinese people are free to choose and express their religious beliefs as well as demonstrate their religious status’.
On the face of it, it appears there is religious freedom, but the reality is different and complex. The Chinese constitution stipulates: Citizens enjoy freedom of religion. No state organisation, public organisation or individual may compel citizens to believe in or not to believe in any religion, nor may they discriminate against citizens to believe in or not to believe in religion.’ It goes on to state: ‘Nobody can make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt social order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state.’
Questions and restrictions
While the practice of Christianity is permitted, the implications of the latter statement must be understood to avoid possible conflicts with the authorities. The existence of approved government churches (the Three-Self Patriotic Movement) continues to pose searching questions about the legitimacy of the proclamation of the gospel message. There are still severe restrictions on the unapproved independent house churches. So, what is the way forward? It is no longer possible to enter the country to undertake full-time mission work and the alternative of full-time employment while undertaking part-time mission work is not very effective, due to time constraints.
I am a pastor in an Asian country and have been involved with mission work since 2002, initially in Northern China. This work included many facets of evangelism, preaching, mentoring /supporting local Christian leaders, and building trust relationships and networking among the house churches. After many years, it became clear to me and my Mission Board that the Lord has a different plan for the work in China. This leading of the Lord was to move to a different location and to engage in a new work of Christian seed planting (1 Corinthians 3.6-8).
The Lord overcomes objections
Initially I had reservations and was reluctant to accept the new location the Lord was leading me to, as I felt it was a difficult and impoverished place. Regardless of my many objections, the Lord was gracious to address each one until there was none. One example of an objection I had was that I did not know of any Christians in the new place, but to my surprise it was pointed to me that a few years before a Christian from one of the house churches I know had moved there.
So I moved to the new location with the intention to spend the first six months to ‘figure out’ what and how to start this seed planting work. Our God is patient but yet ‘smart’. He again showed me the direction and what was needed. During this period, I observed that there were many young people wandering around aimlessly. It prompted the question: ‘Who are these young people and why do they look lost?’
An acceptable platform
The answer was obvious: these are students, as there are many universities and education institutions here and these students have nowhere to go. They had no intention of spending all their free time in their dormitories or just hanging out in coffee houses like Starbucks all day, since this was not really suitable or viable. So the concept of establishing an acceptable platform to meet the needs of the students was born.
This led to the setting up of a self-sustaining club with many student-friendly amenities like a mini coffee house, Internet access and even providing English conversation sessions. This allowed us to build one-to-one relationships with the students and, at the same time, allowed us to involve overseas Christians working and studying in China in the work. Even with the ever-increasing challenge of finding appropriate properties in the right locations at affordable rents, the Lord has been pleased to bless the work.
The work is managed and operated by local Christians. I provide an oversight and guidance role on this work. Please pray with me that the Lord will raise up new workers to take on this work. I praise God for his love for the Chinese people and continuing to work in China.
