China (MNN) — For some church congregations in China, Christmas 2023 was a challenging time due to government restrictions.
Erik Burklin with China Partner says some pastors reported that services were well attended, with clear gospel invitations and baptisms celebrated. But other pastors shared they had not been allowed to gather on Christmas Day at all.
“We saw some reports of pastors who were discouraged, because the government now is no longer allowing some Western-type celebrations, including Christmas. [These churches] were not able to do a Christmas Day celebration that they had done in the past. Yet they were faithful [in] doing what they could do in the midst of those new restrictions,” says Burklin.
“I’d always heard that, you know, the sanitization push [by the Chinese government] is trying to control everything. But that this one church would actually literally say, ‘We could not celebrate Christmas Day any longer because of the restrictions,’ that was surprising.”
Don’t miss the hope that remains. Both Chinese pastors and lay people faithfully use the Christmas season to share the message of the gospel with others. They are not silent.
Image courtesy of China Partner.
“I think Satan would love to discourage us. He is in the business of destroying our faith. That’s what we need, to rally as Christians, to come together and be reminded by Scripture that Christ is still on the throne, that He’s defeated Satan. He’s the Victor and the Church will survive all this.”
Pray for Chinese churches to persevere under increased limitations by the government.
Learn more about how you can support Chinese churches through the ministry of China Partner.
Header photo courtesy of China Partner.
