Photo courtesy Open Doors USA
China (MNN) ― Now that China has faded from the world spotlight of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese Communist Party is launching a nationwide campaign against "unstable social elements," including house church leaders.
Also targeting political protestors and human rights advocates, this movement is intended to be part of a campaign for "20 more years of political and social stability" in China. Open Doors USA continues an important project that began during the Beijing Games, despite this new threat.
"Our Olympic Games version of the Gospel of John has been very well received by everyone we have distributed it to," said one leader of the Open Doors youth ministry division in China. "Looking at our distribution records, we can see that it has already been delivered to practically every province in the nation."
Although all copies of the Olympic Games Gospel of John have been distributed, Open Doors plans to continue placing God's Word into the hands of youth leaders across China.
"I shared with [a Chinese youth leader] that we would soon be distributing a new Youth New Testament within his region," the leader said. "He was overjoyed!"
Beijing house churches were ordered to halt services between July 15 and October 15 while the Olympic Games were in session. House church leaders were asked to sign documents in agreement with this postponement, and anyone who broke the contract now faces "disciplinary action." The church of one Chinese believer, Shi Weihan, was closed in June.
A year ago, Weihan was charged with printing unauthorized Christian books and incarcerated. While in prison, Weihan has been denied medical care for his diabetes and is now unrecognizable as a result of an extreme weight loss. Weihan is still awaiting the outcome of his trial, but during the Olympic Games his bookstore remained open in close proximity to the Olympic Village.
