House Church Movement Rebounds from Kidnapping Incident in China

China Gospel Fellowship improves government relations while increasing outreach.

by Xu Mei

NANJING, China, March 4 (Compass) -- In April 2002, the China Gospel Fellowship (CGF) attracted world-wide media attention when 34 of its top leaders were kidnapped by the cult known as Eastern Lightning, also known as Lightning from the East (which preaches that Christ has already returned to China as a woman). But what has happened to Gospel Fellowship leaders since? To find out, Compass recently interviewed one of the leaders of this fast-growing evangelical house church movement.

Compass Direct: Can you update us on the fate of your leaders?

CGF Spokesman: Praise God! All were eventually released. Since then we have pooled our experiences and made great efforts to root out the influence of Eastern Lightning from our churches with in-depth training. This cult is expert at using blackmail, drugs, sexual enticement and torture to infiltrate and destroy existing fellowships.

Compass: We heard you eventually approached the government for help. Is this true?

CGF: Yes! Although it was a risk, some of our people went to Beijing to ask for assistance to secure our leaders’ release. They claimed their right as Chinese citizens and the government responded. Since then, our relationship with the authorities has improved. We are no longer blacklisted as a dangerous cult, and our meetings are not under as much pressure as previously. However, we are still careful.

Compass: Can you give us some details about the size of your Fellowship?

CGF: We are a church operating nationally throughout China. We have 23 gospel teams in many different provinces. Each team is responsible for about 100,000 Christians. So we have over two million believers in total.

Compass: What about training?

CGF: We now have 32 Bible training schools throughout China. Since 1998, we have used our own basic training manuals. We have three text books, The Christian Faith, The Christian Life and Christian Service.

Compass: Would you share something about your evangelistic strategy?

CGF: We started sending out gospel evangelists on a wide scale in 1995. We have also developed what we call “migration evangelism.” In 1999, we sent out 30 married couples to start a new life in remote areas and do pioneering evangelism. We now have people working for Christ in Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Guizhou, Yunnan and many other areas targeting national minorities.

However, this work is not easy because of the backwardness and poverty of those areas. We are also now concentrating on urban evangelism, as so many young rural people are leaving the farms to seek work in the cities.

Compass: Overseas we hear a lot about Chinese missionaries going “back to Jerusalem.” Are you involved?

CGF: Very much so! We now have 50 believers in intensive training for mission. They are preparing to go to Arabic-speaking countries. They are studying English, computer skills, medicine and business. We realize this is one of the hardest areas in the world to reach with the gospel. Only the love of Jesus can change men’s hearts and melt away hatred. We are a church seriously preparing for mission.
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Copyright 2004 Compass Direct

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