China (MNN) —In October, people throughout the People’s Republic of China raised flags and took time off work to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the country’s founding.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government continues its attempt to control every aspect of Chinese society, from business to entertainment. These include certain restrictions on video games and K-Pop bands.
Chinese Christians
This display of nationalism put Christians in a difficult spot, says Kurt Rovenstine with Bible for China. Believers in state-sanctioned churches want to love their neighbors, and also serve and proclaim the story of Jesus. “Even in the midst of this difficult political scenario, our partners and provincial leaders are saying, ‘We’re going to move forward. We’re going to do what we think we need to do to be obedient to the call that Christ has placed upon the church, while still living in this difficult political climate that we’re in.’”
Praise God for their faithfulness!
New partnerships
Bibles for China hasn’t been able to visit China since the pandemic began. But they continue to explore new partnerships. “We’ve reached out to a couple of organizations that do similar work as we do to develop some partnerships with them. Those would still function within China, enabling us to reach some places that we haven’t been able to be a part of. It would be a ministry that’s more seasonal. We would maybe do Christmas and Easter outreaches with Scripture.”
Rovenstine says they hope to work with Chinese people living abroad as well. Ask God to use these opportunities to strengthen the Chinese Church.
The header photo shows National Day fireworks from 2012. (Photo courtesy of Mk2010, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
