House Church Talk - Fw: Fw: China Report

[Dan Hubbell]

Robert, thanks for your inquiry about persecution in China.

As briefly as I can via e-mail, I will try and answer your questions.  I
have access to information from various provinces of China so I am familiar
with much of what is going on in regard to persecution.

The answer to your questions can only be answered by considering each
province in China.  There are varying degrees of persecution from province
to province ranging from simple harassment to imprisonment, torture and
death.

For example, in the area we are working presently, the Christians have a
miraculous favor of the governmental authorities.  It is much like the Book
of Acts where it states, "they had favor with all the people."  For security
reasons, I am not at liberty to say anything further about this unique
situation which I know you can understand.

Just to show the stark contrast to other areas of severe persecution, there
was a beating and death of a Christian leader located just north of our area
who was martyred during the very time we were ministering in China in
November.  Many of the Chinese leaders we know personally have been
imprisoned several times for their witness for Christ.

I had the privilege of ministering secretively in one of the major cities of
China in August where 20 Chinese apostles and their spouses from all over
China attended.  Most of these leaders had experienced severe persecution
and many had been imprisoned several times.  These leaders for the most part
are in their early thirties and forties.  To many of them, it is not a
matter of "if" but "when" they are arrested and imprisoned.

There has been a political pattern in the past that when China changes
governmental leadership that the Communists tighten their hold on the
underground church until that new leader makes certain of his power over the
nation.  Then they tend to loosen up some.  However, the national law is
that every Christian church must register with the government and most of
the believers in China refuse to do this because of the comprises they have
to make with the government controls.

Approximately 8 million Christians register and 120 million refuse to do so
throughout the country.  Thus the government places Christians into two
categories: Registered and Non-Registered.  Those unregistered are according
to the government in violation of the law and are subject to arrest and
imprisonment.  How strictly this national law is carried out depends upon
the local governmental authority of the various provinces.  Thus the
discrepancy of the treatment of Christians varying from province to
province.

To complicate this situation of governmental persecution there is also a
wave of cults in China attacking the underground church.  The most familiar
one is known as the Eastern Lightning Cult.  They try to seduce young
believers and churches to join their cult which believes that Jesus has
already returned in the form of a young Chinese woman who is the founder of
this movement.  While we were in China this past month, representatives of
this cult came to the area where I was ministering and tried to recruit
members from the house churches in that area.

Robert, I trust that this helps you understand a little better the situation
about persecution in China.  I could share more but I am afraid to
jeopardize the safety of the Chinese believers.  Pray for the safety of the
students and our teams as we return to China four more times in 2004.  We
and the students are committed to our Lord regardless of their potential
imprisonment and our extradition from the country .

In His love,
Dan Hubbell
His servant

> Great report Dan and welcome back to the great state of Texas.
>
> Just a question if you please...I have been led to believe that China as a
> nation has been closed to the true gospel message of the Bible since 1949,
> or thereabouts.  Yet your mission trips seem to be rather open and free to
> travel, teach and even graduate student teachers to propagate the gospel
> throughout the Communist nation of mainland China.  Am I being mislead by
> what I have read and seen on "Christian" TV???
>
> Yours in Christ and may the seeds that you and your team planted grow
> great
> fruit for the kingdom of God.
>
> Robert Moseley down and around Canyon Lake

> > CHINA MISSION REPORT #3:
> >
> > We have just returned from our third China Mission in 2003. We were
there
> > from October 23 through November 25. Again, the Lord richly blessed for
> > which we give Him all the glory!
> >
> > Our team members were CJ, Daniel, Jeff, Kathy, Paulina, Tony and me of
> > whom four were from California, two from Texas and one from Mainland
> > China. We taught 60 Bible Sessions, 40 Ministry Sessions and 50 English
> > Sessions.
> >
> > The Bible Sessions were filmed for distribution throughout China. The
> > subjects covered this trip were: 1)God's Design for His Church 2)Man's
> > 2000 Years of Traditions 3)How to Establish New Testament Churches. The
> > Ministry Sessions were for specific leadership training of apostles,
> > prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. The English Sessions
covered
> > English grammar and conversational English. The Chinese students know in
> > the Spirit that God is calling them to preach the Gospel to the ends of
> > the earth and they want to be able to ministry in English to accomplish
> > this commission of the Lord.
> >
> > The Training Center has been preparing student leaders for three years
> > with their curriculum covering a wide range of Bible subjects. Thirty
> > five students graduated from the Training Center on November 24, 2003.
> > They left the Training Center to scatter to various parts of China and
> > beyond to share the Good News of the Kingdom of our Lord. We challenged
> > these new graduates to multiply their ministry training by mentoring a
> > new potential "Timothy" leader each year. By doing this, they could
> > potentially have hundreds of servant workers prepared for future
ministry.
> >
> > We will return to China for four more missions in March, June, August,
> > October 2004. We will begin training a new incoming class of students.
> > All of these four months of Bible teachings will be filmed and made
> > available to the November graduates on a continuing education basis. The
> > previous two Bible Sessions taught in 2003 will also be available to
> > these new 2004 incoming students to round out their curriculum of 360
> > filmed teachings.
> >
> > Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement as we enter the
> > "open doors" to China in 2004!
> >
> > His servant,
> > Dan Hubbell
> >
> > http://www.churchrestoration.org