China (MNN) — Tension between the U.S. and China remains at an all-time high. Saber-rattling from China and a U.S. ban on Chinese social media are the latest developments in a year of division. Analysts say investments have fallen to a new nine-year low as U.S. companies feel pressured to leave Chinese markets.
How do politics and the pandemic affect China-focused ministries? Bibles for China President Kurt Rovenstine says there has been “a lot of posturing, a lot of exchange of words; we’re hopeful that it doesn’t keep us from moving forward.”
(Photo courtesy of Bibles for China)
Thankfully, COVID-19 restrictions haven’t stopped their partners’ work. “Ministry continues, but we feel like we don’t have the same touch that we’ve had before, so we’re anxious for that to loosen up,” Rovenstine says.
“China has allowed some countries to begin to come back in [but] the United States is not on that list.”
Praying for open doors
Based in the U.S., Bibles for China partners with rural churches to distribute Scripture where it’s needed most. Learn how the process works here. Rovenstine and others are wary of what may lie ahead in China.
“The government [has had] their eye on the Church a little more than they have in the past. Whether or not China takes advantage of this opportunity to restrict folks that are going over and doing ministry is yet to be seen,” he explains.
More about religious restrictions in China here.
“We’re prayerful that those doors remain open for us to go over and build relationships with people that can help us distribute the Bible.”
Pray with Bibles for China as they wait to see what the future holds. Learn how you can send Bibles to China here.
“I think [God is] trying to draw us back [and] change our focus from us to Him. Then, we act in obedience when He shows us what our part of this is. God, help us to stop looking to ourselves and start looking to You,” Rovenstine prays.
Header image courtesy of Bibles for China.
