His son Kevin Palau calls it a
labor of love. "So far, the answer
is a polite 'No, not yet.'" Palau's efforts have gradually led to more opportunities to preach. Right now, their team is getting ready for a
March 20 campaign at the Chong Yi church in Hangzhou, a church that seats over 5,000 people. 

With a long history of friendship
with the church, the potential to reach thousands more is huge. Kevin explains, "They're hoping to use
some screens and overflow outdoors and have 20,000 people listening to the Good News. Dad would share it just like he would at a festival anywhere, with
an open opportunity to respond to the Gospel." 

Luis Palau festivals have
produced some of the largest audiences ever recorded in cities from south
Florida to South America.

Pray for open doors. Kevin urges fellow Christians: "Pray
that as Dad keeps building relationships with government officials, he would
have the chance to keep challenging them for greater freedom and to allow God's
people to worship and especially evangelize."

The way is being paved. The senior Palau co-authored a book titled,
"A Friendly Dialogue Between A Christian and An Atheist" — an idea
proposed by atheist and former spokesman for Communist China's Cabinet Zhao
Qizheng — in November 2005.

In it, he states, "My dream
would be that every Chinese person would find peace with God through
Jesus. That's my dream. We all know we're going to die, and the
interesting thing is that Jesus offers the absolute assurance of eternal life
to every sinner who repents and believes in Him."

Zhao, in response, said: "I,
too, have a dream. My dream is that the exchanges between religious believers
and non-believers will become an important part of contemporary culture. The United
States and China are both great nations. The United States is the largest
developed country in the world, and China is the largest developing country in
the world. We should make a more active effort to promote the exchanges between
the Chinese and American peoples…It should include religious dialogue and
dialogue between religious and non-religious people."

Five years later, many seeds have
been planted. Pray that they will take root
in the hope of Christ. Details
are still coming on the Chong Yi event. Click here.

Erik Burklin with China Partner says
it has taken its toll on families. In
traditional Chinese society, the elderly used to live with one of their
children. But today, young people live with their parents because they cannot
afford a place of their own. According to China Daily, the population of the
elderly (60 or older) in China is about 128 million or one in every ten people–the largest in the world.

Experts say family-based care is
now impractical. "More and more young people are leaving their villages
and their smaller cities for the large cities seeking better employment, making
a lot of money," explains Burklin. "As a result of that, the traditional
'family values' of adult children taking care of the elderly family members is
falling by the wayside." 

In Hangzhou, Christians responded
by building the Hangzhou Christian Senior Home for them. Not only a community center, it's also a
senior home and serves as a church on weekends. 

Groundbreaking for the second
phase was March 30. The senior home's
first phase is complete and already houses between 60 and 70 senior
citizens. 

Staff will provide care and
ministry for the elderly. Several years
ago, Reverend Joseph Gu shared his dream of building a Christian senior home
next to the church with China Partner's founder, Dr. Werner Berklin.

The "Senior Project"
has been ongoing, supported by China Partner for practical reasons and for
ministry reasons. Burklin says, "Sharing
your faith openly is still not very much allowed by the government, but how
they do share their faith is through the way they live. In this particular
case, they take care of the needy and the elderly. That speaks volumes to the community."

Pray that God will provide for
this ministry. Pray too that the staff would be the hands
and feet of Christ to those they're serving, and that as a result, hearts
would be open to the hope of Christ. Click here if you can help.