It was Israel’s second airstrike in Beirut in five days, straining the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that ended last year’s devastating conflict. Heart for Lebanon’s Tom Atema calls the ceasefire “very tenuous at best; there is a lobbying of shells back and forth almost every day.”

Meanwhile, Lebanese authorities arrested several people on Sunday in connection to rocket fire targeting Israel on March 22 and 28. Israel sent a warning to Lebanon on Friday, striking parts of Beirut and saying more would come unless the rocket attacks stopped.

(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

Months of war between Israel and Hezbollah have left southern Lebanon in tatters. Heart for Lebanon teams are making repairs in several hundred homes.

“Nonprofits, especially faith-based in Lebanon, can’t rebuild a house. [But] we can repair a room in a home,” Atema explains.

Work begins in the kitchen, often considered the heart of the home in Middle Eastern culture.

“The mom can make a meal with a new stove and refrigerator and a few things. They can sit around it, they can talk,” Atema says.

“The kitchen is the hub of the family.”

As they work, believers talk to families about the Lord. Interest leads to deeper conversations.

“Our missional leadership students are doing small group Bible studies throughout southern Lebanon. They have about 130 different people [involved,]” Atema says.

Pray that lives will change as people meet Jesus at the kitchen table. “These kitchens could eventually become like a house church,” Atema says.

Header image depicts a recent art activity at Heart for Lebanon’s children-at-risk club, which exposed the deep trauma experienced by Lebanon’s children. (Photo, caption courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)

Kurt Rovenstine with Bibles for China says they are funding and distributing a special resource for kids, printed by a ministry partner. It’s the Egermeier Children’s Bible in Mandarin.

“We’re excited about that aspect of the diaspora ministry and praying hard that God used it to reach some children that know nothing of the gospel, know nothing of the work of Christ and what He’s done to bring them into relationship with Him,” Rovenstine says.

Photo courtesy of Bibles for China

These Bibles are meant to reach the whole family. BFC hopes to have them printed and ready to distribute by mid-summer through their existing network of partners in Canada and the U. S.

“Ironically, (this network is) some of the house church pastors that have left China who are now just jumping right back into it,” Rovenstine says. 

For now, North America will be the primary focus of this outreach. Rovenstine says they want the books to be given with care as intentional evangelistic tools. 

“We want it to be, ‘Here’s a piece of literature that will help transform your life.’ We’re working on those connections and looking for those connections,” he says. 

That said, if you live or work among the Chinese diaspora in North America, Bibles for China would love to talk with you. Connect with them at biblesforchina.org/contact.

Finally, join in praying that Mandarin-speaking children who receive these Bibles will be open to the gospel of truth. Pray that North American Christians who encounter the Chinese diaspora will show them the love of Jesus. 

Header photo is a representative stock image courtesy of Sue Zeng/Unsplash.

Eric Foley works with many Ukrainian Christians and other Russian speakers through the Voice of the Martyrs Korea. He shares the Ukrainian pastor’s story below:

“His friends urged him to leave. The Lord brought to mind the story from Numbers about Moses and Aaron interceding and turning away God’s punishment of the people. And he prayed about it. He said, ‘Well, who would intercede for these people if I left?’ So he stayed.”

The 2022 invasion

When the invasion started in February 2022, Russian forces miraculously went around the pastor’s small village.

Amid a food shortage, the pastor and his wife scraped together enough flour to give away 30 loaves of bread. Foley says, “People were just moved that this small little house church would share everything they had. So, people started bringing flour. A farmer brought 60 liters of milk. Someone miraculously supplied yeast to the family.”

Over the next 10 days, they made about 160 loaves of bread a day.

“The government called them and said, ‘We understand you have bread. There is another small village nearby. Do you have any bread we can supply to them?’” Foley says.

A powerful witness

Protestants make up just a small minority in Eastern Ukraine. But this ministry made a very positive impression on the local people.

Foley says, “It reminds me of the Old Testament story of the widow and Elijah and how she gave what she had. Ukrainian Christians are really giving what little they have.”

Praise God for His new creation breaking into the war zone. Pray many Ukrainians would find hope in Jesus.

Header image depicts Russian bombardment of telecommunications antennas in Kyiv in March 2022. (Wikimedia Commons)

Joe Handley of Asian Access says these specific cases follow a broader trend. “Over the last few years, the government [has become] more concerned about the rise and influence of the underground church, sometimes called house churches,” he says.

“Those I’m talking to have mentioned people put under house arrest or some form of monitoring.”

The pandemic provided a brief respite from intensified persecution. “During COVID, life was chaotic, and the government focused on the health concern of the country. That gave new momentum to the underground church, and tons of people [were] joining online forms of church,” Handley says.

However, “as the pandemic started to wane, the government began to do much more review of these online formats.”

Asian Access equips Gospel workers who multiply churches. Although it does not operate in China for security reasons, leaders like Handley closely follow the latest developments.

“You have in-depth discipleship in many places,” Handley says.

Speaking of Chinese believers, he adds, “they’re not afraid of persecution; they’re not afraid of pressure. They’ve been through this before.”

Pray Chinese believers will find new strength and encouragement in the Lord. Pray also for wisdom and patience.

“Their (believers’) plan is Jesus. They want to see a better society by having people follow Christ and then improve their lives – have better marriages, families; have better commitments to their communities,” Handley says.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Christian Lue/Unsplash.

On August 14, police raided a branch of Zion Church, the largest house church in Beijing. They confiscated several computers. On September 7, officials banned the House of Light Church in Jilin province. And authorities liquidated a 30-year-old house church in Xi’an.

Bob Fu, a partner with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says, “Pastors were being taken away and arrested. Some were indicted, with very serious (of course trumped-up) charges like aiding illegal religious organizations, or like business fraud.”

“This is a new charge, because the church had an offering box.”

In December 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for action against illegal religious groups in the country.

Legal challenges

Fu says many churches are having a hard time even finding a lawyer to fight these charges. “Hundreds of Chinese human rights lawyers who traditionally take a stand have now been disbarred. Pretty much all of them are disbarred. I mean, the lawyers’ lawyers are disbarred.”

But some Chinese officials still worry about how these raids look to an international audience. After a pastor was recently arrested, Fu tweeted about it to let people know.

Quickly, the pastor was released. Shortly afterward, Fu received a message from the police involved. “The message said something like, “Oh, we did a good thing by releasing him. Now could you do us a favor and not put our shame on your Twitter message?’”

Ask God to strengthen Chinese Christians.

The header photo shows a street in Xi’an, China. (Photo courtesy of Acstar, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

It all started with a trip to Sweden. A friend invited Marzieh’s husband to church, and he became a Christian soon after. When he returned, the family noticed the change. He shared Christ with them and showed them Mohabat TV, a Christian channel run by Heart4Iran. Marzieh and their two children became Christians soon after.

Marzieh and her husband. (Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran on Facebook)

Mike Ansari, President of Heart4Iran and Director of Operations for Mohabat TV, says, “This couple started an underground church, knowing the risks, because they love Jesus so much that they couldn’t be silent. They witnessed to their friends and neighbors, and a friendship group got started in their home. With the help of the Mohabat TV Response Team, it developed into a church.”

Persecution of Christians

Many churches in Iran use Mohabat TV and other media ministries for training, discipleship, and virtual church. This allows Iranian believers to grow in their faith from safe places.

And they often need a safe place, as Iran cracks down hard on Christian populations. Ansari says, “Iran remains a dangerous country for any person who follows Jesus. And the Iranian government has taken it upon themselves to continue to harass, persecute, and marginalize the Christian population in the country. The Islamic government of Iran feels threatened as many families become Christian, so the persecution and imprisonment are continuing at full force.”

So many Iranians have left Islam for Christianity, putting aside wealth, status, security, and even family to follow Jesus. On November 18^th, join in a global day of prayer for Christians of Muslim backgrounds.

The header photo is courtesy of Heart4Iran on Facebook.

(Photo Credit Keith Tan Via Flickr)

Now, the church is taking a stand and bringing its case before governing officials. According to China’s regulations, congregations of 50 or more people need to register with the government. According to VOMC, this particular house church does not seem to be in violation of this law.

But, these actions by the government don’t come as a surprise, according to VOMC. The CCP is officially atheist, and there are currently heightened tensions between the CCP and religious organizations. Christians have been facing persecution for years, especially from a government attempting to regulate religion.

Persecution in China

Just last year, over 12,000 crosses were removed from China’s southern coast as part of governmental regulations. At the time, officials claimed the removal of crosses was to beautify the coast and create a harmonious-looking society. Read more about it here.

China is currently listed at #29 on the Open Doors USA 2015 World Watch List (WWL). The WWL is a ranking of 50 countries where persecution of Christians for religious reasons is most severe.

Please pray for:

• The church’s endurance
• Members’ safety and protection
• Wisdom and direction for those representing the church
• Officials to allow the church to continue worshiping
• Unity among all house churches in China
• The advancement of the Gospel

Mob Attacks Pastors

Though a small house church in India had previously received warnings from Hindu extremists, a recent attack on two church leaders was surprising.

As the church met on Sunday March 15, radicals from the RSS and BJP Hindu political organizations stormed the service. Pastor “Arul” was in the middle of a sermon when more than 30 extremists poured into the building. They began to beat him in the face, head, and chest. “Omkar,” another church leader, tried to stop the attack, but he was overpowered.

Pastors Arul and Omkar
had to be hospitalized for their injuries.
(Photo and caption by VOM)

The extremists wrenched Arul and Omkar out of the building. The angry mob punched and kicked the two as they dragged them a quarter of a mile to the police station. There, police charged the men with “forcing conversions,” a crime in many Indian states.

The attack left Arul and Omkar bloodied and badly bruised, and Arul had difficulty breathing. He and Omkar went to a nearby hospital. A chest x-ray revealed that two of the pastor’s ribs were fractured.

Omkar, an evangelist, met Arul when he came to the village to share the gospel. The two began working to establish a house church in the area. Approximately 20 believers now meet every Sunday in a rented building for prayer and worship. A month after the church began meeting, RSS and BJP members threatened the Christians. They also pressured the building’s owner to evict the church. In spite of the threats, Arul and Omkar have continued to lead the church each week.

Although India’s constitution allows religious freedom, attacks on Christians have risen in the last year. Hindu nationalist groups such as the BJP and RSS feel greater freedom to act now that BJP leader Narendra Modi is prime minister of India. The BJP and other Hindu nationalists subscribe to the idea that all Indians should be Hindu. Other religious groups threaten this belief.

After they were released from the hospital, VOM contacts met with the men and prayed with them for their recovery. VOM will continue to support them as they return to their ministry.

Fined for Sharing Faith

While at home in early February, “Vijay” received a call from the police.

After six Muslim men recently beat him and a friend after a follow-up meeting with a new Christian, angry men from the local mosque formally brought a complaint to the police against him for entering their community and sharing his faith.

The police called him to the station several times, including the morning a VOM partner was meeting with him.

“Vijay had to pay a 20,000 rupee fine to the police in front of his accusers who would not guarantee his safety unless he did so,” the VOM partner said.

VOM helped Vijay move to a nearby neighborhood and covered the costs of his fines, his first month’s rent, and moving expenses.

“Vijay has successfully moved out of his old neighborhood that was causing him trouble and into a new apartment about a mile away,” the VOM partner said. “There are more Christians in the new area, though there are Muslims and Hindus there as well. No news from those who brought up the case against him, so that’s a relief.”

A VOM partner has been meeting with Vijay regularly and reviewing pertinent Bible verses, such as Colossians 1:24-29 and Acts 4. Vijay feels the seriousness of the events, but remains positive. He recently received training from VOM, and his family is remaining positive, too, as it willingly accepts that it may face further persecution.

“Several of us went to his new place last week as a house-warming gathering and prayed with him,” the VOM partner said. “He and his family seem to be getting back to normal. Vijay accompanied me and two other men on Tuesday of this week to conduct training five hours away. He taught for about a third of the four hour training. This week he’s taking a Nepali believer to the north part of the city to model for him how he does evangelism among Muslims.”

[Source: VOM Sources]

(Photo courtesy Bibles For China)

China (MNN) – This last story of our trip to China is more blog than anything else.
What follows are the observations I made during our time in China as well as those of my 15-year old son, Matthew Bliss, who is with me on his first mission trip.

To get scope, let’s look at I Corinthians 12:12-14 and 27-31 with regard to unity and diversity in the body of Christ…and just in case you don’t have those passages memorized, here they are:

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many…
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

There are lots of arguments that surround the above-ground Church (China Christian Council/Three Self-Patriotic Movement) and the underground Church (house church) movements.

Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Together, they are a formidable part of the global Church.
We started our trip with a visit to Amity Printing Company to see what’s being done to address the need for Bibles in China. We heard about the vision to increase accessibility.

Later in the week, we were part of making God’s Word available to the Church that represents China 2, the rural part of inland China where poverty is more the reality for families (China 1 represents the bigger cities in the east coast where there is a concentration of wealth).

As guests of the Chinese Church, we learned what it means to serve the above ground church, celebrating and observing all that they are doing in the Great Commission. We also saw the hope in this statement “Because we may not be able to do it today, does not mean we can’t do it tomorrow”. Despite the challenges facing the Church, that saying speaks to the indomitable will of these pockets of believers to live as Christ.

Between the four teams,  <a href=”/mission_groups/bibles-for-china/”>Bibles For China </A>helped the China Christian Council deliver 6,000 Bibles this week . Keep in mind that our team visited village churches that had never hosted foreigners before. We were the first they’d seen. Our team leader, Barry Werner is a 60-something German man, well over 6’ tall and obviously not Chinese. Aside from our interpreter, Summer, Matthew and I made up the rest of the team. We are Chinese American, speaking almost no Chinese at all.

Still, Matthew was very popular among the youth in the churches we visited, sometimes

(Photo courtesy Bibles For China)

because he was new, sometimes because he was American, but nearly always because he represented his youth group from First Baptist Church in Spring Lake, Michigan. His presence and the generosity of our church’s children (ages 5-18) gave the church leaders renewed energy in developing outreach programs for young people.

The churches are doing all they can to keep the youth engaged with their faith, but it’s an uphill battle due to the urban sprawl happening around so many of these former agricultural villages. That actually turned into one of the prayer requests that stuck out for him.

Another thing was how many of the elderly were so grateful for a personal copy of God’s Word. Matthew observed, “These people come from a time where, if you proclaimed you were a Christian, you would be sent to what they called a ‘re-education camp’. It was pretty harsh. It was during the Cultural Revolution and it’s like a dream coming true for them.”

And then, there’s the concept of hospitality—the guanxi that is all encompassing in the hospitality of believers in China. It’s all about ‘first, make friends, then do business’ and these believers are investing in the relationship of a lifetime. It works, too, according to Matthew.

“Looking back on it all, the hospitality of these people, who don’t have that much to give, save up and they give for you anyway. It’s very humbling to see the things that happen.”

Our team will close the trip out with a short visit to some of the most historical monuments in China. While it sets the stage for the grandeur and longevity of China’s culture, that’s not the thing that Matthew will take away. He says, “It is going to be life-changing when I get back to the States. Here in China, we’re just doing the work of God. Plain and simple, that’s what the Great Commission is; it’s what we’re supposed to do.”

It has been a privilege to serve believers in these far-flung churches, learning with every visit that the strength of our diversity is the strength of our unity.

This last story of our trip to China is more blog than anything else. What follows are the observations I made during our visit as well as those of my 15-year-old son, Matthew Bliss, who is with me on his first mission trip.

For perspective, let’s look at I Corinthians 12:12-14 and 27-31 with regard to unity and diversity in the body of Christ…and just in case you don’t have those passages memorized, here they are:

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many…. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

There are lots of arguments that surround the above-ground Church (China Christian Council/Three Self-Patriotic Movement) and the underground Church (house church) movements.

Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Together, they are a formidable part of the global Church. We started our trip with a visit to Amity Printing Company to see what’s being done to address the need for Bibles in China. We heard about the vision to increase accessibility.

Later in the week, we were part of making God’s Word available to the Church that represents China 2, the rural part of inland China where poverty is more the reality for families (China 1 represents the bigger cities in the east coast where there is a concentration of wealth).

As guests of the Chinese Church, we learned what it means to serve the above-ground church, celebrating and observing all that they are doing in the Great Commission. We also saw the hope in this statement, “Because we may not be able to do it today, does not mean we can’t do it tomorrow.” Despite the challenges facing the Church, that saying speaks to the indomitable will of these pockets of believers to live as Christ.

Between the four teams, Bibles For China helped the China Christian Council deliver 6,000 Bibles this week. Keep in mind that our team visited village churches that had never hosted foreigners before. We were the first they’d seen. Our team leader, Barry Werner is a 60-something German man, well over 6’ tall and obviously not Chinese. Aside from our interpreter, Summer, Matthew and I made up the rest of the team. We are Chinese American, speaking almost no Chinese at all.

Still, Matthew was very popular among the youth in the churches we visited, sometimes because he was new, sometimes because he was American, but nearly always because he represented his youth group from First Baptist Church in Spring Lake, Michigan. His presence and the generosity of our church’s children (ages 5-18) gave the church leaders renewed energy in developing outreach programs for young people.

The churches are doing all they can to keep the youth engaged with their faith, but it’s an uphill battle due to the urban sprawl happening around so many of these former agricultural villages. That actually turned into one of the prayer requests that stuck out for Matthew.

Another thing was how many of the elderly were so grateful for a personal copy of God’s Word. Matthew observed, “These people come from a time where, if you proclaimed you were a Christian, you would be sent to what they called a ‘re-education camp.’ It was pretty harsh. It was during the Cultural Revolution, and it’s like a dream coming true for them.”

And then, there’s the concept of hospitality: the guanxi that is all encompassing in the hospitality of believers in China. It’s all about “first, make friends, then do business,” and these believers are investing in the relationship of a lifetime. It works, too, according to Matthew.

“Looking back on it all, the hospitality of these people who don’t have that much to give, save up and they give for you anyway. It’s very humbling to see the things that happen.”

Our team will close the trip out with a short visit to some of the most historical monuments in China. While it sets the stage for the grandeur and longevity of China’s culture, that’s not the thing that Matthew will take away. He says, “It is going to be life-changing when I get back to the States. Here in China, we’re just doing the work of God. Plain and simple. That’s what the Great Commission is; it’s what we’re supposed to do.”

It has been a privilege to serve believers in these far-flung churches, learning with every visit that the strength of our diversity is the strength of our unity.