China (MNN) — An upcoming congress in China will determine the country’s leadership for the next five years.
Every five years, the leading Communist Party in China meets together for a congress. There, they determine which individuals should control the party and the nation until the next congress. Current leader Xi Jinping has held power for two terms, and according to tradition, that should mean China will receive a new leader. However, in 2018, China did away with term limits for its leaders. For the first time in decades, China could see a leader with a third term.
From international attention during the Olympics to the COVID-19 epidemic, Xi Jinping’s most recent term has been filled with challenges and controversies. Throughout those events, Kurt Rovenstine of Bibles for China says that “these wheels were turning, and some political things happened that that pointed to the reality that [reelection] is going to take place.”
What does that mean? Unfortunately, it’s not clear. says this is so unprecedented that it’s hard to predict what comes next. “We don’t what kind of restrictions or additional challenges might be there for the church,” Rovenstine says. “Maybe he relaxes a little bit, because he’s got thing well under control, but there’s a lot of speculation.”
As long as the future of China remains foggy, so too does the future of Bibles for China. “If there’s something that people can pray for, it’s for what [we’re going] to look like after this,” Rovenstine says. “What are our opportunities? What changes? How do we continue to be obedient to this call that God has placed upon our ministry to provide Bibles to folks in China?”
Rovenstine suggests that maybe the team’s mission field needs to expand.”Quite honestly, we’ve had conversations about trying to reach the Chinese diaspora around the world, because we don’t know what 2023 is going to give us.” That might mean going to regions outside of China with heavily concentrated Chinese populations – or even Russia. “We’re trying to determine, with what we know and what the Holy Spirit leads us to, how heavily we dive into those areas, knowing that those people still have strong connections to people in China.”
Pray that the spread of the evangelistic Word of God. Pray for the upcoming shifts – or lack thereof – in Chinese leadership. And pray for believers “all around the world that still love and care for and pray for their family who has remained in China.”
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Header image courtesy of Bibles for China
