Thought for the Week - 25/4/2021

Dear Friends, 

In the prayers from the Operation World website last week we were praying for China over a number of days and the prayer information referred to Central China which has a population of 250 million people. It revealed that around 10% are Christians and that the province of Henan is seen as the powerhouse of church growth in China with some referring to the county of Fangcheng in Henan as the ‘Jesus Nest’. The Chinese state declared Henan an ‘Atheistic Zone’ in the 1960s, but revival began during the Cultural Revolution with mass conversions, miracles and vision for evangelising the whole of China. One who was instrumental in this growth was a man called Li Tian’en who was called by the Lord whilst studying at college and changed his studies to theological education. He served in various local churches and was arrested and imprisoned for his faith a number of times. On his second arrest in 1973 he was sentenced to death due to his evangelism during the Cultural Revolution, and he was faced with execution by firing squad on three other occasions, but each time he was spared and able to continue his preaching and service to the churches across the country. He died in 2016 having served the church for more than half a century, and recalling his faith and commitment, pastoral staff and house church members said, “His whole life witnessed Christ, leaving a good example and the message of life for us.” Henan now has one of the largest house-church populations and outreach from Henan is one of the great stories of the expansion of Christianity. Church planting teams, very often young women, went out from Henan and were then followed by Bible teachers seeking to continue the spread of the good news of Jesus Christ. So we can give thanks to God for all that he has done and continues to do in this part of China and throughout the whole country. 

Grace and peace,

Neil

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