Many of you have probably heard the story about Chen Guangcheng in China. He is considered a human rights activist in China. I read about other cases that he was involved in, but the one that most interested me was the one that first brought him to my attention. He brought awareness about forced abortions and sterilizations to people...standing up against the one child policy and for women.
From what I've read he was imprisoned for something like 4 years and then put under house arrest with his family.
Reports are that they tortured him ... and his wife. (They have two children.)
How many of us are willing to go that far to save lives? How many of us do much of anything to save babies in the womb from being slaughtered even willingly in the U.S.? We certainly have a lot less at risk in our efforts to make a difference (even using http://180movie.com).
His escape from imprisonment was amazing, especially realizing the fact that he is blind since sometime in his childhood. Chen was late getting any education, and some of what he learned he taught himself. Apparently he had another occupation aside from being a lawyer.
Many years ago I got interested in China and freedom there. I used to watch the U.S. Congress (House of Representatives) ...in the 1990s I believe ... when they were discussing MFN status ...which changed to NTR... status for China. MFN stood for Most Favored Nation and NTR stands for Normalized Trade Relations I believe. Anyway, I also used to listen to a talk show on a Christian radio station where China was also discussed. I once interviewed a guy from Laos which is not in China, but has some similar freedom issues. I did a terrible interview job (I barely got questions out...I probably still have a recording of it), but it was to help me with my Missions class in high school I believe.
I have learned about China that they have a Three Self Church controlled by the government. People are not allowed legally to give the Gospel to people under 18 years of age. They have cracked down even in recent years on some house churches.
There was concern about China getting our technology and getting money to build up their military. They also have used prisoners to make some of the goods that people buy here in the U.S. (and probably other countries). Some of those prisoners crimes may be the fact that they are a Christian or they -- like Chen -- want to make people aware of some of the serious problems in China.
In China, there are other places where people work for long hours at little pay with risk of injury. Things may be improving some on that score in some of the factories.
Not all places in China are the same, and there is some freedom for Christians in some areas of China. Prayer is needed that good solid Biblical doctrine gets into the house churches of China, and that many more people will repent and believe...putting their trust in the Lord in China. Prayer is needed for the Christians who are persecuted and for the hearts of the leaders and prison guards to be changed as well. I have prayed for Chen Guangcheng and his family, and I used to pray more for people in China. This situation is a good reminder to not give up praying for people in other parts of the world that they will hear the Gospel, and also that God will protect His people and may even bring more freedom for them there in China.
In California near where I used to live there are a lot of people from China and other Asian countries (well, a lot of people from Spanish speaking places as well). Some are first or second or third generation, etc. I love Panda Express Orange flavored chicken. Okay, what does that have to do with anything? Well, the next time you eat Chinese food, perhaps you will remember to think about (and if you are a Christian -- to pray about) China. That includes if you are of Chinese descent yourself!
I hope that Chen will be able to come to the U.S. to study, but more importantly I hope that he will be able to hear the Gospel.
If you speak Mandarin, Chinese, please check out this site: http://www.joshuaproject.net/languages.php?rol3=cmn
For more info. about China, here are some websites you may want to look at:
From what I've read he was imprisoned for something like 4 years and then put under house arrest with his family.
Reports are that they tortured him ... and his wife. (They have two children.)
How many of us are willing to go that far to save lives? How many of us do much of anything to save babies in the womb from being slaughtered even willingly in the U.S.? We certainly have a lot less at risk in our efforts to make a difference (even using http://180movie.com).
His escape from imprisonment was amazing, especially realizing the fact that he is blind since sometime in his childhood. Chen was late getting any education, and some of what he learned he taught himself. Apparently he had another occupation aside from being a lawyer.
Many years ago I got interested in China and freedom there. I used to watch the U.S. Congress (House of Representatives) ...in the 1990s I believe ... when they were discussing MFN status ...which changed to NTR... status for China. MFN stood for Most Favored Nation and NTR stands for Normalized Trade Relations I believe. Anyway, I also used to listen to a talk show on a Christian radio station where China was also discussed. I once interviewed a guy from Laos which is not in China, but has some similar freedom issues. I did a terrible interview job (I barely got questions out...I probably still have a recording of it), but it was to help me with my Missions class in high school I believe.
I have learned about China that they have a Three Self Church controlled by the government. People are not allowed legally to give the Gospel to people under 18 years of age. They have cracked down even in recent years on some house churches.
There was concern about China getting our technology and getting money to build up their military. They also have used prisoners to make some of the goods that people buy here in the U.S. (and probably other countries). Some of those prisoners crimes may be the fact that they are a Christian or they -- like Chen -- want to make people aware of some of the serious problems in China.
In China, there are other places where people work for long hours at little pay with risk of injury. Things may be improving some on that score in some of the factories.
Not all places in China are the same, and there is some freedom for Christians in some areas of China. Prayer is needed that good solid Biblical doctrine gets into the house churches of China, and that many more people will repent and believe...putting their trust in the Lord in China. Prayer is needed for the Christians who are persecuted and for the hearts of the leaders and prison guards to be changed as well. I have prayed for Chen Guangcheng and his family, and I used to pray more for people in China. This situation is a good reminder to not give up praying for people in other parts of the world that they will hear the Gospel, and also that God will protect His people and may even bring more freedom for them there in China.
In California near where I used to live there are a lot of people from China and other Asian countries (well, a lot of people from Spanish speaking places as well). Some are first or second or third generation, etc. I love Panda Express Orange flavored chicken. Okay, what does that have to do with anything? Well, the next time you eat Chinese food, perhaps you will remember to think about (and if you are a Christian -- to pray about) China. That includes if you are of Chinese descent yourself!
I hope that Chen will be able to come to the U.S. to study, but more importantly I hope that he will be able to hear the Gospel.
If you speak Mandarin, Chinese, please check out this site: http://www.joshuaproject.net/languages.php?rol3=cmn
For more info. about China, here are some websites you may want to look at:
- http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=MzY0
- http://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Mar/29/there-still-persecution-christians-china-today/
- http://www.operationworld.org/chna#prayer
- http://www.chinaaid.org/
- http://www.christianpost.com/news/frank-wolf-church-americans-quiet-on-rising-persecution-60184/
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