Pray for China

China, People's Republic of

Stats

• Percentage of Evangelicals - 6%
• Human Development Rank - 94
• Number of Unreached People Groups - 365
• Persecution Index - 12
• Population - 1.36 billion
• Total Number of People Groups - 456
• Languages Spoken - 470

A Communist state since 1949, China has suffered immense economic and social chaos during the Cultural Revolution of the 60s and 70s. Religious believers and intellectuals were severely persecuted, and an estimated 20 million Chinese lost their lives during Mao Zedong's rule. Agriculture and industry were largely privatized in the latter half of the 20th century, and both living and economic conditions have slowly improved. Unemployment is still high, but accurate statistics are difficult to determine. Elimination of all religious groups is the ultimate goal of China's Marxist government. It orchestrated the infiltration and subversion of organized Christianity in the 1950s, which led ultimately to the banning of all religious activity and the birth of the house church movement. Restrictions have slowly eased a bit in recent years, but strict monitoring and repression over all Christian and even Muslim activities is still the norm. The Chinese government attributes the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe to religion, and therefore maintains tight control on religious activities as a way to preserve power.

• Praise that the number of believers is growing despite Communist attempts to stamp out all religious practices; there are now believers in all levels of society
• Materialism, corruption and moral decline are stumbling blocks to spreading the Gospel
• Other social and economic problems: One Child policy results in 10million abortions a year (nearly all girls), growing divide between very wealthy and very poor, strained health care system, deforestation and resulting floods, polluted rivers and cities
• The government instituted Three Self Patriotic Movement was established to control and limit Christian activity under the auspices of patriotism and communication; although there are many who compromise the faith, many quietly ignore this push toward atheism
• Leadership training is woefully deficient and in need of protection from interference
• The growing house church movement is intensely persecuted and the government is intent upon eliminating this group they cannot control; there is a great need for bibles
• There are 60million members of the Communist Party, but there are secret believers among their ranks
• Daoism, Buddhism, ancestor worship and other idolatrous philosophies are growing in number; Islam is also a growing religion
• It is illegal to teach youth what is deemed religious superstitions, and many adults are afraid to minister to the next generation
• Missionaries are not allowed into China; pray that Christians can enter as tourists, students or other avenues and that the Gospel will be spread through their visits
• Bibles, video/audio tapes and other Christian literature are severely lacking, but demand is growing
• The internet and radio are major avenues through which the Gospel is shared; pray for protection of these resources and that they will have a lasting impact