Chinese Christians Confront Religious Bureaucracy
Letter Reveals Difficulties in Establishing Legal Worship Center
by Xu Mei
NANJING, China (Compass) -- About 50,000 Protestant churches and meeting points have been officially registered with the Chinese government. However, registration is by no means a foregone conclusion. Opposition, corruption and bureaucratic regulations are all hurdles which Christians must overcome if they desire to open a legally recognized place of worship.
A recent letter from Hebei, a province in northern China with a particularly poor record of persecuting both Protestants and Catholics, graphically illustrates the problems.
Compass Direct received the following account from a local Christian in Yongqing county, about 50 miles from Beijing.
“I am a brother living in Hebei province. In our area, heresies and cults are particularly rife. The government is unable to control them. However, even we true believers in Jesus are also persecuted.
“There are many believers in my area who are all meeting in secret and have no contact with the government. So God’s work of preaching the gospel is being hindered as many people are following cults. I have prayed to God with many tears asking him to open up a way forward so a legal Christian church could be built in our area.
“From the beginning of 2002, I have been attending worship at the (Three Self) church in Langfang city. It’s a long way from where I live and the bus fare is 10 RMB ($1.20), but I only earn 300 RMB per month ($36.30) so I am giving over a tenth just in fares to get to church.
“All the Christians and the pastor at Langfang are very concerned for me and want to help me set up a legal church in my county. Then they would pastor us from their main church. But now I have run back and forth to the government many times concerning this matter. I’ve written letters many times begging for permission. I even have a testimonial letter from the pastor saying he will pastor us.
“To date, I have approached the government more than 20 times, but they have still not agreed to issue a registration certificate.
“I now have more than 50 believers here in Yongqing county ready to form a church. The list of names has been sent to the county office of Minority and Religious Affairs, as well as to the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party.
“We want to re-open the old church that was formerly open here in Yongqing county, but the government does not respond! So I have given 10 rooms of my own home and the courtyard to be the definite venue for our church meetings and have organized a small committee.
“The preaching is the responsibility of the pastor from Langfang. Moreover, we have handed over a letter of guarantee to the government stating that if our church should transgress any national laws or regulations, then we are willing to wind up our activities and accept a fine.
“But so far we have not been granted permission -- nor have they said we should not meet. They have only said we must wait for some central government document to be passed on down and then they will look into it.
“I have fasted and prayed with tears many times. Please pray with us as we believe our Heavenly Father will certainly answer.”
Copyright 2003 Compass Direct
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Letters from China
Christians Reveal Personal Trials and Triumphs
Anhui
“The Lord has helped me to set up two meeting points: one for young people, for which we lack suitable materials, and one for adults. God has blessed the work of my hands so that the church has been revived. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. But who would have thought when we were in the midst of revival (that) some people wanted to hurt me. When I was actually leading a young people’s meeting, suddenly the local police burst in and took videos and photos of us all. The meeting was broken up and scattered. The person in charge of the household where we were meeting was detained for 10 days. But God protected me as He is my shield and salvation. I am writing this now with bitter tears. So much hatred and jealousy from men! But God has told me to be strong and of good courage.”
-- Letter from Mr. Li, Suzhou city, dated October 24, 2002
Guangdong
“Just recently our house church has suffered persecution. Our hymnbooks and Bibles have all been confiscated. Our pastors have been imprisoned. Some members are not strong enough to continue ahead. But do not be sad or worried on our account. Please just pray for us! At present we have split up our meetings. Our faith is strong. The gospel cannot be stopped! What is most worrying is that the cult “Lightning from the East” has invaded the Guangzhou churches. Several sisters who had been baptized many years ago have been deceived by them.”
-- Letter from Guangzhou, dated November 26, 2002
Henan
“Today at my work unit, the leadership summoned me for a talk. They demanded that, because I am a Communist Party member and a political worker, I cannot believe in Christianity any longer nor preach the gospel. Otherwise, they will dismiss me from my job. I paid lip service to them and agreed I would no longer preach the gospel at work. Please pray for me.”
-- Mrs. Li, dated December 4, 2002
Jiangsu
“Recently the government has promulgated Regulations for the Management of Religious Affairs which restrict the house churches. Now just a few meet together for close fellowship and the government has no way of interfering.”
-- Mr. Zhang, Huaian city, dated December 13, 2003
Jiangxi
“Our church was set up in 1994 and grew very fast. Within one year we gained over 200 people. But this good situation did not last. A heresy came from Nanchang in Jiangxi province called “The Holy Spirit Restoration Church.” All the believers with their leaders joined this cult and were re-baptized. But after six months, those Christians who were better taught withdrew and set up a Three Self (government supervised) church which is the church we have now. In 1997 we only had 50 people. But in 1999 we suffered persecution from the local government. Our Bibles and hymnbooks were all confiscated, and we were fined 100 RMB ($12). This made the believers even more disheartened. It became very difficult to preach the gospel. In this lawless situation, the church had to move to a remote location. After many twists and turns, we finally gained government permission. Now we have set up a formally approved church. But as the road is very far, the elderly have great difficulty attending. So our 50 or more people have split into two meeting points. We are short of workers and have no one to preach. On Sundays we simply read through a passage of Scripture, so the believers are very needy spiritually. Please pray for us that God will raise up educated young people to strengthen the church.”
-- Letter from Mr. Liu, a student, dated November 8, 2002
“Our house church is led by very elderly people. But a few of the co-workers have suggested we register with the Three Self (government supervised church). Some people oppose this so this has led to a split. The Three Self church preaches justification by good works -- not by faith.”
-- Letter from Mr. Liu, dated January 27, 2003
Shandong
“In our area, permission has only been given to set up rural meeting points. In the entire district they have authorized 28 points. Authorization came from the Communist Party United Front Work Department and the Public Security Bureau. But in the city where there were originally 12 meeting points, all have been dissolved and forbidden to meet. Only small groups of three to five or perhaps six to eight people are permitted to meet together. They are not allowed to expound the Bible for fear of heresy. People are now only permitted to go to the big Three Self church on Sundays and Monday and Friday evenings. This was all decided after the problem with the Falun Gong cult arose.”
-- Letter from Mr. Meng, dated January 8, 2003
Copyright 2003 Compass Direct
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