China Soul For Christ

I don't know if this is the most appropriate place to post this. So help me out, Greg. :)There are reportedly 70 million Christians in China, many of whom had suffered great persecutions. The China Soul for Christ foundation had released a documentary (DVD with both Chinese and English), "The Cross - Jesus in China," which is probably the first indepth documentary on the testimonies and witnesses of these Christians.Check out this site: http://www.chinasoul.com/e/cs-e.htm

Have had a interest in this for quite awhile.This looks like an outstanding resource.It is just incredible what the Lord is doing there despite the attempts to stop it.The power of the Gospel!Thanks for bringing this to our attention, this could be used in so many ways...I am ordering it. By the way, have you seen it yet?

I have seen two out of four parts. The first one talks about how Christianity had transformed the lives of Chinese Christians, both schooled and unschooled, rural and urban.The other one I saw was the fourth part. It talks about how a teenaged sister in the countryside, who did not even graduate from juniour high, received no musical training, came to be filled with the Spirit to compose 900+ original hymns. Many of these hymns are sung by the underground church. The lyrics often described a yearning to have intimacy with God and a willingness to be persecuted. Great lyrics!Great work God is doing there -- purportedly 70 million Christians!

Have heard some of this as well.Maybe someone one out there could inform us better as to what extent. Has this infiltrarted the underground church? Are they recoginized by the TSPM (Three Self Patriotic Movement)?Agent001, are you farmiliar with any of this?

The wheats and tares always grow together. Because of the phenomenal spiritual hunger in China, many Christian or non-Christian cults are also thriving at the same time. One of the bigger ones is known as the "Eastern Lightning" where a woman claimed to be Christ's third coming. They are very secretive, and have always sought to infiltrate home churches of pure faith.Many of the cults are considered very serious threats by the government, however, they still managed to survive because they run pretty much the same way as the home churches.Sometimes, it's not as much as cultic teachings, but merely because of a lack of proper bible teaching, different people or groups came up with rather peculiar teachings or practices. There are squabbles over the practices of the Lord's Table, baptism, etc. A group came up with this idea that one needs to be repentant to a point one cries for three days by the moving of the Holy Spirit as a mark of salvation. Anyhow, I think they are genuine Christians with aberrational teachings. The greatest need today is not missionaries, but proper leadership and biblical training.Finally, there are groups that were mistaken (purposedly or by misunderstanding) as cults and the government exerts a lot of effort to crack them down. The groups associated with Witness Lee's Local Church Movement are known in China as "Shouters," and they are quite badly persecuted. The Shouters may be a little extreme in some of their practices and doctrines, nevertheless, I believe they are genuine Christians and do not deserve the kind of cruel persecutions they face.Crosschk:I think cults and heresies more often than not operate in the home churches than the so-called "Three-Self" (official) churches.

Thanks Agent001,I think they are genuine Christians with aberrational teachings.Well said.I guess what triggered my question was in part from hearing Mr.Hinn had been accepted by China (his words) awhile back. Don't know if this came to pass or not, my assumption being that it would have been through the TSPC which sounded awfully suspect.But it should give us impetus to pray for these believers in their persecution as well as for discernment and as you stated for 'proper leadership and biblical training'.

For any Christian leader in the West to make an official visit to China, definitely approval from Chinese government is required. The churches visited will most likely be the official churches; but I am sure some secret visits with the house churches can be arranged.By the way, Billy Graham did great good to the house churches in China during his two visits to China. He openly visited two house churches, one in Guangzhou, another in Beijing (there could be more).Because of his visit, those two churches were thus placed in the international stage and were therefore sheltered from severe persecutions because of the attention they received.These two churches actually openly meet as unregistered churches with thousands of members in their worship. Quite an anomaly in an otherwise quite repressive regime!

Because of his visit, those two churches were thus placed in the international stage and were therefore sheltered from severe persecutions because of the attention they received.These two churches actually openly meet as unregistered churches with thousands of members in their worship. Quite an anomaly in an otherwise quite repressive regime!Indeed, yet do they really think they are fooling anybody with this face saving tactic?

Nevertheless, by God's sovereign hand, the pastors were spared from further arrests (not that they didn't get other trouble).

I think they are genuine Christians with aberrational teachings.We have two godly souls in our home church who have just returned from over 20 years in Hong Kong, as missionarys; the husband being in his 70s. The church in Hong Kong, of which they were part, has strong links with the mainland churches. This would be their diagnosis too.

Is that church in any way associated with Watchman Nee's ministry?

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/107/31.0.htmlChina Arrests Dozens of Prominent ChristiansAt least 50 detained in fresh crackdown on house churches, reportedly promoted by new video and book releases.By Timothy C. Morgan with David Neff in Washington, D.C. | posted 02/18/2004China's Public Security Bureau has launched a new crackdown on unregistered church leaders, arresting 50 or more people following the release of a new video and book, documenting huge growth among Christians outside the officially permitted church.In mid-February, the China Aid Association confirmed that in January police arrested three prominent Protestant leaders from Henan province, including Qiao Chunling, 41, in Luoyang; Deborah Xu Yongling, 58, in Nanyang; and Zeng Guangbo, 35, in Deng County. Guangbo escaped two days after he was arrested, and remains in hiding.The crackdown may last for 30 days and began during China's annual National Religious Working Conference. This meeting brings together top leaders of the state Religious Affairs Bureau and the policy-making United Front Work Department. Both are charged with oversight of religion in China.During that meeting, communist leaders screened a new, four-hour digital video, The Cross: Jesus in China. China Soul for Christ Foundation of Petaluma, California, produced the series and Yuan Zhiming, a pro-democracy leader and a Christian, wrote and directed it.Communist leaders were also briefed on Jesus in Beijing, a new book by journalist David Aikman, formerly a Time magazine correspondent in Beijing. Both the video and book document the stunning growth and vibrancy of Christianity in China. The video has been classified as "political matter," and Public Security Bureau officers are confiscating CDV copies of the widely distributed series and other Christian literature.A source based in Hong Kong told CT that the crackdown will focus on "the people mentioned in the video and the book" and may be as brutal as the recent repression of Falun Gong. China's actions against Falun Gong, a traditionalist sect that emphasizes meditation, resulted in many arrests, imprisonments, beatings, and deaths. A New York-based watchdog group reported that 64 Falun Gong practitioners have died after being tortured inside China since November 2003."They will especially hunt those in Beijing," the source said. "It took them by surprise that there were so many Christians in China. Every week pastors are arrested and thrown in jail. The communists see Christians as a threat because there are [more] Christians than Party members."According to experts, estimates of the total number of Christians varies widely from 30 million to 100 million. The government-registered Christian church (Three Self Patriotic Movement) includes about 28 million followers. There may be as many as 80 million Christians in unregistered congregations. According to Operation World, independent Christian congregations, mostly evangelical and charismatic, are growing at a rate of 9 percent annually. That's a huge growth rate since China's overall population (1.3 billion) is growing at about 0.6 percent annually. China's constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief but requires all religious organizations to register with the government. The government brands those groups that do not register as "illegal" or "cults."Leaders face hardshipsAccording to another source who asked not to be named, Deborah Xu was arrested on Saturday, January 24, in Nanyang, Henan Province. Around 11p.m. Xu was sleeping on the second floor of her niece's home. Two police officers entered the dwelling and locked the niece's mother-in-law in another room. The officers located Xu, handcuffed her, and took her into custody. Police also confiscated photos and documents.Xu, a leading figure in China's house churches, is the sister of Peter Xu Yongze, founder of the "born-again" movement of house churches in China with millions of followers. In recent years, police have arrested Deborah Xu numerous times. But on this occasion, family members and supporters have been unable to gain any information about where she is being held, according to CT's source. Nanyang police have not disclosed what charges she faces.Peter Xu left China in 2000 to seek asylum in the West. He is currently based in the Los Angeles area and is a leader in the new Back to Jerusalem movement. This organization aims to use 100,000 Chinese evangelists and missionaries to spread the gospel westward from China back to the city of Jerusalem.In early February, Christianity Today interviewed Peter Xu and another prominent house church leader, Liu Zhenying (better known as Brother Yun). Both were in Washington during the annual National Prayer Breakfast. Yun currently is based in Germany.Xu said his family has been Christian for four generations. "I'm extremely thankful that the Lord made my sister as my spiritual partner. She was called by the Lord when she was 17 years old and dedicated her whole life to the Lord." His sister made that commitment along with a decision to remain unmarried."She serves as a beautiful example in the front lines. Brothers and sisters [designate] her as a mother of the church." Her role includes training house church leaders throughout China, especially other women evangelists.Police in China have arrested both Peter Xu and Brother Yun many times. At age 17 in 1975, Yun was arrested for the first time. Police publicly beat him alongside his mother, also an active Christian. Yun told CT, "The fire of the Holy Spirit in my heart has never ceased in spite of this beating with my mom. Immediately after I was released from the detention center, I started preaching again."Xu and Yun were in the same prison in 1997. Xu said one day he discovered his cell door unlocked, which he attributes to a miracle. He snuck into the corridor and over to Yun's cell, which could be unlocked from the outside, and he walked inside."Our eyes just met each other," Xu recalled. "And I said, 'God wants you to go.' So I ordered him to go and then I closed the door and he left. I started praying, Lord, protect him and let him go." Although he was severely injured from previous beatings and torture, Yun was able to escape.Within minutes, prison guards had discovered the escape and began searching. But a winter storm started, allowing Yun to flee as guards were searching for their rain gear. "I was completely relieved," Xu said. "I know God used the rain and the snow as Yun's shelter. God has performed a big miracle."As Yun fled the prison, he thought he was in a dream. He walked up to several iron doors and they opened before him. After he fled, Yun sought asylum in the West. He has told his life story in The Heavenly Man, published in 2002.Controlling Religion in ChinaYun told CT that Western Christians should understand better how China's government seeks to suppress Christianity in China. He said China has used its laws and administrative rules to stringently control religious expression, organizations, publishing, and training.He said, "I won't deny there are true born-again Christians inside the [state-regulated] church. But the head of the house church is Jesus Christ alone."Yun said China uses propaganda to "blur the line between the orthodox belief and those who only obey the Communist Party's command." In addition, Yun said China uses "international propaganda" to mislead Westerners and promote China's policy stance toward religion. He said China also invites top Western Christian leaders to travel inside China to see for themselves how Christians are allowed to run churches openly, but that doesn't provide a full picture.House-church sources told CT that the South China Church and its leader, Pastor Gong Shengliang, is a powerful example of what happens when church growth happens quickly, resulting in crippling state scrutiny.In 2001, China convicted Gong and other South China Church leaders for operating a cult. They were sentenced to death. After an international outcry, Gong was tried again, but on charges of raping women members of his church. According to reliable reports, authorities took women in custody and tortured them until they alleged Gong had raped them. "One sister was beaten to death," Xu told CT. China has banned Gong's church and he is in prison.Xu said China's leaders hope to fracture house church groups any way they can. "They tried to isolate one house-church group, now to single them out. By doing that, they can divide house church unity. This purpose is very obvious, very evil. We really prayed the eyesight, the insight, the discernment of the eagle to really clearly see this trap of Satan."Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Re: by Agent001 on 2004/1/29 8:33:28Is that church in any way associated with Watchman Nee's ministry? SamMy apologies. I have only just spotted this. No the church was not associated with Watchman Nee, although I think they had a few contacts who had been in such churches.

Except for that questionable movement run by Witness Lee (LSM).In my opinion, there is still much to commend in Witness Lee's earlier works. I believe there was genuine revival under Lee's leadership in the 70's up till the mid-80's even as elitism and exclusivism gradually crept in.

Hi I just stumbled upon this site. Praise God. About this DVD, I was able to recieve and view the VCD of this in Mandarin which only contains 2 parts of the DVD. It's a very good tool, a bit low quality on the vcd, but the testimonies are very good and I use them as tools to teach my students english. I am a domestic missonary, but I long to be in China, but alas, the Lord knows more than I. I would recommend this DVD to anyone interested in how Jesus has impacted China.

I'll just throw this in the melting pot,A book that was only given to me to read last week is called 'The Heavenly man' by Brother Yun.To be honest i could not put it down.It has provoked me and stirred my spirit to tears and challanged my passion/vision of Jesus in a new way.I'm not upto date on things in China but this has helped me to see things anewlooking ahead & UpDerek