Ministering to China's Children

An Open Doors' co-worker shares about his exciting and challenging visit to one remote Chinese village, where God is at work amongst old and young.

It was summer, hot and humid, in north west China.

My plane arrived on time at the new airport located about 30km from a large city.

Our little vehicle travelled away from the city to a toll road just a few miles from the airport. Like most toll roads in Europe, we were able to drive about 80 to 100 km per hour.

After about an hour, the driver left the motorway, and all of a sudden we were in a totally different world. I saw again that the benefits of the 20 years of Economic Financial Revolution have not reached the whole of China. It was clear that poverty was widespread.

In 2002, Premier Zhu Rongji said, "We have eight billion farmers living below the poverty level, and their income is decreasing." The area we had travelled to was home to poor farmers such as these.

And there are many Christians among them.

Finally we arrived at the village. About 100 believers were eagerly awaiting our arrival.

This church seldom has anyone come visit or minister to them. They said that we were the first group of brothers and sisters from outside of their province to come and minister to them.

The church asked me to lay hands on their leaders and pray for them.

Pastor Chan was released from prison a few months before. As soon as he was released, he returned to the church to restart his ministry and share the Gospel.

He said, "My mission is very clear from the Lord. We are weak and we fall – yet God's vision and revelation are like a consuming fire, motivating the church."

Child evangelists

Besides preaching the Word, I had the opportunity to share with a group of children.

As pastor Chan said, the church is on fire with the Holy Spirit. The same consuming fire touches and motivates the children too. I was so blessed as I heard how these children are doing evangelism among their peers.

Then in the midst of them, I saw an Open Doors' children's Bible. Excitedly, I asked a 12-year old girl, "Have you finished reading this book?"

She replied, "We received this children's Bible two days ago. A sister knows that we don't have any children's books. She walked for half a day to give us two copies of the children's Bible. So now we share our precious children's Bibles one with another."

I will never forget this group of children as they gathered around.

Their shining eyes were astonished and single-mindedly focused on the children's Bible.

It is heart-rending to know that these villagers share only two copies of this children's Bible. There is still much work to be done in China!

This group of Christians face poverty and lack physical and spiritual food, but their desire to preach the Gospel and follow God's heart is evident.

What a privilege to serve the Lord by serving them!

Prayer Points

• Officially, it is illegal to teach anyone under the age of 18 about the Christian faith. Those who share the Gospel with children and young people need courage and wisdom in their ministry.
• Thousands of Christians are running Sunday Schools across China with little or no training. This often leaves the teachers exhausted and discouraged.
• Across the country, there is a severe shortage of Scriptures and teaching materials suitable for children. This makes it hard for children and young people to understand Bible truths.
• In 2004, Open Doors' teams aim to deliver 1,000,000 items of children's literature to Chinese house church networks. The co-workers ask for our prayers!
• Christian children may face ridicule and scorn from unbelieving family members and also from their school teachers and peers. They need strength and courage to hold firm to their faith.

Praise points

• Despite continuing restrictions, children's and youth ministry is a growing work amongst many house church networks.
• Despite the lack of training and resources, God is raising up thousands of leaders to bring his Good News to the country's children.
• In many regions, Sunday Schools are also expanding within the official 'Three Self Patriotic Movement' congregations.
• There is a great openness to the Gospel among China's younger generations. The harvest is indeed plentiful!
• Open Doors' co-workers have plans to train and resource thousands of children's workers in 2004.
• Many observers fear that China's massive revival in recent years may be short-lived. One way to counter this threat is to establish young people in God's Word. They will then have the potential to be raised up as future leaders for China's churches.