China (MNN) — It’s no secret that believers in China endure pressure under the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a multi-front struggle that needs the prayer support of Christians around the world.

Floyd Brobbel with Voice of the Martyrs Canada explains that the symbol of the cross, family discipleship, and church leaders are under fire in China. 

“The Communist government has waged war on the cross,” Brobbel says. “We’ve heard that before, where crosses are being dismantled.” A 2020 campaign saw dozens of crosses removed from public view.

(Photo courtesy of Jerry Wang via Unsplash)

The next generation of Christians is also being targeted. The CCP is “waging war on the children’s minds. They’re not allowed to be taught even in Sunday school or Bible lessons,” Brobbel says. (More on regulations for children here.)

Instead of religious education, children have other goals set before them. This summer, a state-sponsored campaign taught kids in Shanghai to resist cults — any religious group not sanctioned by the state.

Underground churches count as “illegal religious groups.” One such church experienced a sharp crackdown this October: Beijing Zion Church. The congregation had lost its building due to state-applied pressures in 2018, but it had since multiplied. In November, eighteen leaders from the church were formally arrested after being detained in October. 

Surveillance by citizens is another strategy the CCP has employed over the years.

“It does hearken back to the days of the Mao regime, where they really clamped down on the churches,” Brobbel says. “But under such severe persecution, the church began to grow.” 

Find your place in the story through prayer. Pray that Chinese believers “continue to present the gospel, preach truth and live biblically and unapologetically — but live wisely as well,” says Brobbel. “[Pray that they] find moments and opportunities where they can advance the gospel and reach out to those that really need to hear.”

Keep watching religious freedom issues in China, so that you can pray in an informed manner. Brobbel adds, “Also then, when we have [an] opportunity to raise a voice to our government, we can do so with a clear understanding of what’s happening.”

Header photo courtesy of Zhang Kaiyv/Unsplash.

Floyd Brobbel with Voice of the Martyrs Canada says the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has used this strategy elsewhere in China, apparently with success in locating house churches.

Photo courtesy of Timothy Eberly via Unsplash

“House church movements don’t have permits. They’re not registered. So they [the government] would call that ‘illegal’ and then something that they need to clamp down on,” says Brobbel. “But really, it is an attempt to control the Church, to contain the Church and its growth.”

This is no small task for the government because it’s no small number of Christians. There are estimated to be tens of millions of Christians outside of state-controlled, Three-Self Patriotic churches. For the CCP, in its push for sinicization and control of religion, that’s deeply concerning. 

This fall, one underground church known as Beijing Zion Church has been hit hard. On November 18, eighteen pastors and staff were formally arrested after being detained in a coordinated crackdown back in October.

Please pray

Even with the difficulties, Brobbel says there are things to celebrate in China. It is a nation “where we recognize that after so many years of oppression and persecution, the church has just exploded,” he says.

Yet the pressure on Christians in China isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Please let this report lead you to sober prayers for believers.

“[Pray] that certainly the house church leaders would continue to be bold but be wise in how they meet. [Pray] that the Lord would use this clampdown and this continued hostility against the church for another massive explosion of growth,” says Brobbel. 

“We pray that these house church leaders and even Christians in the Three-Self Patriotic churches would remain faithful and continue to present the gospel.”

Header photo: China, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, Baiyun, 白云山 (Photo courtesy of Zheng Xue via Unsplash).

Zion was once a massive house church. But it was banned in 2018 after refusing to install government surveillance cameras in its sanctuary. The congregation has continued to meet in smaller groups in creative ways since then, despite continued challenges. 

This series of detainments has received the condemnation of the US State Department.

A cross outside of a government-approved Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church in Suzhou, China. (Photo courtesy of IMB)

“It is a new and significant crackdown that should get our attention and should refocus our thoughts and prayers towards the people in China that are facing ever-increasing challenges and outright persecution,” says a gospel worker supporting the Church in China. 

Last month, the Chinese government issued new restrictions on how religious leaders can and cannot use the internet. According to a report from Bitter Winter, Zion Church’s coordinated arrests seem to stem from church leaders disregarding those regulations.

“[Online platforms] became very important during COVID and have been a really important tool for especially the house churches, but the registered churches as well,” explains the gospel worker. 

As Chinese believers continue to pivot under government rules, they need wisdom for how to minister the gospel. 

“The Christians in China are not afraid to take some risks and to do things that might get [them] in trouble, but if they don’t have to and there’s strategies otherwise, then they’d love to take advantage of that,” says the gospel worker. 

Pray for younger believers to glean insight from the older generation on how to endure and adapt to persecution.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Donald Tong/Pexels.