China to become the most Christian nation in the world
The Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you
Megachurch in China
Megachurch in China
Within 15 years, China should become the country with the most Christians in the world, according to a study, writes Chad Dou and Mark Ellis.
Fenggang Yang, of Purdue University, predicts that China will reach 224 million Christians by the year 2030, as quoted in the UK Financial Times.
“By my calculations China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon,” said Yang, an expert in sociology and author of Religion in China: Survival and Revival under Communist Rule, in the UK Telegraph. “It is going to be less than a generation. Not many people are prepared for this dramatic change.”
The explosion of Christianity in China will upend the traditional Christian powerhouses of the world. In 2010, the U.S. had around 159 million Protestants, and many observers say congregations are in decline.
As part of a possible passing of the baton, China is now sending missionaries – especially to North Korea.
A6ADG3 Various Age Worshippers Celebrating Christmas Eve during Christmas Mass at Beijing Xishiku Catholic Church 2005-12-24
Celebrating Christmas Eve in Beijing
“The number of Christians is extremely underestimated (in China) intentionally because the increase of religion would reflect negatively on government officials.” said Yang.
Currently, there are about 100 million Christians in the world’s most populous nation, which eclipses the 86.7 million-strong membership of the ruling Communist party, according to the Financial Times.
Jin Hongxin, 40, is not interested in the political or missiological implications of Chinese growth. She’s just proud to attend the mega church Liushi in Wenzhou, the city many outside observers call China’s Jerusalem due to its flourishing Christian churches.
“It is a wonderful thing to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It gives us great confidence,” she said at an Easter service, as reported by the Telegraph. “If everyone in China believed in Jesus then we would have no more need for police stations. There would be no more bad people and therefore no more crime.”
China’s churches started experiencing astronomical growth after the conclusion of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. A successor to Chairman Mao, Deng Xiaoping, reformed politics, liberalized the economy, and opened China to foreign countries.
Then in 1985, a clause was included in the new constitution that promised freedom of belief to Chinese. But the “neutrality” of the party did not cover public meetings.
In that light, a printing company was set up in Nanjing, financed by charity, and has become the largest Bible publisher in the whole, according the Financial Times.
Fervent worship
Fervent worship
However, evangelistic campaigns in public are not permitted, and churches are subject to supervision from government agencies. There have also been a number of churches demolished and prominent crosses removed in many cities across China.
In 2014, a government campaign was launched that demolished Protestant churches in Whenzhou. Before the demolition, the water, electricity, transportation and even phone coverage were cut off in the entire area by government officials, according to Financial Times.
Yang thinks some in the Communist party overestimated the political threat from the church. Christianity has brought positive changes to China, he said. “Christianity has been overestimated as a way too severe threat,” Yang said.
Others see China like the United States in the 1980s when materialism and a booming market economy brought prosperity and contributed to a sense of angst as people drifted from God.
So far, Christianity has brought a sense of belonging and hope to China. In a published Chinese report based on a survey of religious affairs, 69 percent of the Christians started believing because they or a family member suffered illness, according China’s Academy of Social Science.
Christianity – once thought of as a byproduct of colonial invasion and the “opiate of the masses” – is now gradually accepted by not only the uneducated and destitute ones but also by those who are more prosperous. According to Financial Times, a survey shows that half of the most affluent people in China publicly believe in religion, and 18% are followers of Jesus Christ.
The expansion of Christianity in China is foreseeable and inevitable, Yang said. Even during the 10 years of the Cultural Revolution during which churches were forced underground, Christianity grew yearly by 15 percent, according to statistical estimates.
“But immense influence is sure to be made — to China, and the whole world — no matter people are prepared or not,” Yang said. – Chad Dou is a student at the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Santa Monica.
· Toe ek in 1970 gered is het ek ‘n artikel geskryf “Bid vir die Redding van Mao tse Tung” die destydse leier van Kommunistiese China. Christene veel ouer as ek, het vir my gelag. Ek was ontsteld, maar ek het geredeneer, by God is almal gelyk en as die HERE my kon red, dan kan Hy Kommunistiese China ook omkeer. Dit was 46 jaar gelede. Vandag is daar
1,380,336,728 Sjinese met ‘n gemiddelde ouderom van 37. Baie van diegene wat gered word, neem nou die Evangelie na ander lande.
Daar is feitlik nie ‘n dorp of stad in Suid-Afrika waar daar nie Sjinese is nie. By Modderfontein digby Johannesburg word ‘n Sjinese stad teen ‘n koste van R85 miljard gebou wat 100 000 Sjinese sal huisves. Die Sjinese regering prober die Herlewing in Sjina keer, maar is magteloos. Hoe meer hulle teen die Christendom prober optree, hoe vinniger versprei die Evangelie.
Van oral oor die wêreld stroom boodskappe in van Moslems wat ook gered word. Die Heilige Gees is aan die beweeg. Die Gelowiges in SA moet die oomblik aangryp en bid vir die redding van die Sjinese en Moslems, maar ook vir die terugkeer na God onder ons eie mense. Die Laatreëns het begin val. Mens hoor van wonderwerke oral. Ons is op pad na ‘n volskaalse Herlewing. Rig jou lewe in die regte rigting en verwag die Bonatuurlike. Bid sonder ophou.
Ek skryf nog so toe beland die volgende berigte vanaf die Gospel Herald vanuit Sirië en Europa hier:
Thousands of Muslims Embracing Christ in Syria After Witnessing Miraculous Healings, Answered Prayer
An unprecedented number of Muslims living in the war-torn country of Syria are embracing Christianity after experiencing the love of missionaries and witnessing miraculous healings in the name of Christ.
A ministry leader in Syria told the Christian Aid Mission that despite the dangers of remaining in the country, he and 21 others continue to faithfully serve predominantly Muslim communities, providing medical care, shelter, food, and spiritual guidance for those in need.
He shared how, for many families affected by the ongoing civil war, food is becoming increasingly scarce. However, a miracle occurred when one Syrian mother, who had come to Christ some time ago, prayed God would provide food for her family.
"She prayed, 'Lord, I know you never let us down - we need food for our family,'" the director said. "As she was walking later that day, she found some money on the path in front of her. She was so pleased that God had answered her prayer in such a creative way that she started jumping up and down with joy."
She rushed out to buy bread for her family, and when her neighbors asked where she had gotten the money, she replied, "It was sent to me from God."
"They pressed her to tell them how that was possible, so she went on to share her faith and pray with them," the director said.
Many Muslims are drawn to Christian communities after hearing stories of miraculous healings. The director shared one particularly heartwarming story, where a mother named Nivine brought her paralyzed, 2-year-old daughter to a meeting of one of the ministry teams for prayer.
Fearing he would offend the young mother, the area ministry leader warned her that they pray in the name of Jesus.
"Whatever it takes," Nivine replied, in tears. "Just make her better!"
"Our ministry leader said, 'When we pray, we pray to a living God,'" the ministry director said. "The team explained the gospel to her, and she accepted Christ. Nivine even started coming to the meetings along with her paralyzed daughter."
"About two weeks later, when Nivine was worshiping during a meeting with her daughter next to her, Nivine looked beside her at her daughter and saw the girl smiling," the director said. "Then she noticed that her hands were moving. Was this a dream? But her daughter continued to move. It was true - she was healed!"
He shared another story, where a Muslim named Amad heard about a place in his town where people pray and some are healed. The worsening skin disease of one of his children drove him to visit.
"In a moment of bravery, he brought his son to the meeting place, and the believers there prayed for him," the ministry director said. "The next day the child woke up with nothing on his skin! It was undeniably a miracle. The whole family has come to believe in the Lord, and they want to be baptized."
Many Muslims find that a relationship with Christ brings incomparable joy: one mother, Aveen, along with her husband, Mohamad, and their seven children, are part of a church in an undisclosed town in Syria. Mohamad recently lost his job.
"They are weary of struggling through life," the director said. "What surprises us most about this family is that Aveen and Mohamad both come from very fanatical Muslim families that wish to stone them to death, and yet they still fearlessly display their strong love for the Lord. Despite the difficulty of surviving without work and the threat of persecution, they have the courage and desire to share the gospel with everyone around them."
Christian Aid Mission notes that such stories of salvation, healing, and faith stand in stark contrast to the devastating violence pervasive across the area. ISIS claimed responsibility for bomb blasts in Damascus on Sunday (Feb. 21) that killed at least 87 people, according to the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and car bombs in Homs killed at least 59 civilians. On Monday (Feb. 22), Russian forces were suspected in an attack on a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders that killed 25 people.
The ministry director told the organization that there is a critical need for medicines, medical equipment, food, and other commodities, as 13.5 million Syrians remain in need of care.
"This year we have seriously lacked funding for all our Syrian ministries, and this weighs on me," he said. "Because they don't have the funds for transportation costs, they cannot travel to the villages or areas of ministry where they serve. They also plead for funds in order to take care of urgent medical costs or illnesses that come up. I hear a lot of desperation in their voices."
Christian Love Shown In European Countries Prompts Thousands of Muslim Refugees to Renounce Islam and Embrace the Gospel
Migrants receive food at a Christmas market in a refugee shelter run by German charity organisation Arbeiter Samariter Bund ASB in Berlin, Germany,
December 12, 2015
The warm welcome that many Muslims from Syria and Iraq have experienced in European countries has opened their eyes to the gospel, as hundreds of refugees are accepting Christ at a dramatic rate.
"Some European communities welcomed immigrants and harbored them, showing love to them," a ministry director in Iraq told the Christian Aid Mission. "This stirred feelings in the Muslim world, as they started realizing the difference between European countries, which carry the principles and history of Christianity, and Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, which refused to receive any refugees."
According to CNN, while most of Europe has attempted to answer the humanitarian crisis, no Syrian refugees have been resettled in Persian Gulf nations like Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, countries with significant financial and political interest in Syria. Officials in such areas have defended themselves by noting that each has given millions of dollars to the United Nations to help the refugees.
However, because they are shut out of the Persian Gulf states and are facing hostilities from ISIS, many Syrians and Iraqis have denounced Islamic teachings in social media outlets, and in the past few months, hundreds of Muslims have come to Christ.
"What ISIS is doing today is dictated by the Quran and Islamic books and has become visible and public to people," the ministry director said. "Every day we hear testimonies from Muslims that have accepted Christ."
The ministry director shared the testimony of one of his childhood friends, who was forced to flee Iraq. After making it to Turkey, the Muslim survived a treacherous trip to Athens on one of the feeble "boats of death" before arriving in Germany, where he telephoned the director in Iraq.
"He said, 'I found all love, respect, and appreciation in Christians, and all that I saw of believers in Christ was the purity and sincerity of heart, and the love is unconditional,'" the ministry leader said. "And then he asked me how it would be possible for him to follow Christ. He surrendered his life to Christ over the phone; he and his wife prayed and asked the Lord to enter into their hearts and help them with their new life."
Despite facing prejudice from many in Middle Eastern countries, Syrian and Iraqi refugees find themselves embraced by Christians. One ministry leader in Lebanon revealed that he opens church doors on Friday evenings to refugee families for coffee, socializing and sharing about Jesus.
"We often see miraculous answers to prayer," he said, adding that one of his team members had been meeting for Bible study with a Muslim woman named Yana, whose eyes were slowly being opened to the truth of the Gospel.
"Her brother was very ill and was told by a doctor that he had to be hospitalized immediately or he would die," he said. "Having no money, Yana pleaded for prayer for her brother. Soon after being prayed for, the brother's fever left, and he stopped coughing up blood."
Yana informed the doctor that her brother no longer needed treatment, but he refused to believe her story until he witnessed the miraculous healing for himself.
"Together they went to the home of Yana's brother, and the doctor was able to see for himself that the illness was completely gone," the ministry director said. "The doctor was completely amazed and described it as a miracle. Yana accepted the Lord Jesus into her life and went on to share the good news with all her neighbors."
He added, "Praise the Lord Jesus that His glory has been revealed among this community!"
As the cold weather approaches, Christian ministries are asking the international community to help provide for winter needs, as families in 90 tents have an urgent need for heaters, firewood, and food.
"They need immediate help from us, since no one can work in winter time, and their life is getting even harder," the director said. "We have visited a tent where a mother had a 10-day-old son. They were freezing, and the baby was coughing, so we brought him to a doctor, paid the expenses and got medicines for cold and bronchitis."
"We have also received phone calls from the refugees, and they keep telling us about their urgent need for items to keep them alive," he said, adding that in addition to physical needs, many refugees display a thirst for spiritual fulfillment.
"They had asked some questions about Jesus," he said. "They kept saying they knew about Jesus from the Quran, so we explained verses from their book that salvation will be only from Jesus. We prayed for them. We are also praying that we can bring help to the other 90 suffering refugees soon, and that we can touch their hearts to the Lord Jesus."
· En dan het herlewing ook in Iran (Persië) uitgebreek. Die liedjie kom tereg “All over the World, the Spirit is Moving.” In SA moet ons wegkom van die daaglikse politiek en murmurering en verby dit alles kyk na die Hemel, vanwaar ons hulp kom.
“Want ons burgerskap is in die hemele, van waar ons ook as Verlosser verwag die Here Jesus Christus (hoekom?) wat ons vernederde liggaam van gedaante sal verander, om gelykvormig te word aan sy verheerlikte liggaam volgens die werking waardeur Hy ook alles aan Homself kan onderwerp.” Fil 3:20-21
Ons is op pad na die Nuwe Jerusalem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6VxuyN448 Ons moet gereed maak. Van oral oor die wêreld kom berigte in van mense wat ontmoetings met Jesus beleef, wat deur die Hemel wandel. Soo in die Hemel so ook op die aarde. – einde
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