China needs our help (again)

My very first post on this blog was on December 10, 2004; and it was entitled, China needs our help. Three and a half years later, we have come full circle as a new report has emerged indicating that, in advance of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese Government is cracking down on unregistered Christians, including funding of a campaign to eradicate house churches throughout China. A full report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide can be found here. A related story from Voice of the Martyrs can be found here.

What can Christians do? CanaAnglican, commenting on the Stand Firm blog had this to say:

The May issue of National Geographic is completely dedicated to China. It states that Christians comprise 8.4% of the population, roughly the same proportion as Buddhists at 8.5%.

That amounts to over 109,000,000 Christians in China !!
[...]
If a million in the U.S. would pray for our Chinese brothers each day for 110 days, we would have prayed for each of them once.

Actually, as I said in my December 2004 post, there are three things Christians can do:

Pray. Chinese Christians need our prayers for spiritual growth, the raising up of leaders for the Church, the growth of their witness to Christ in spite of persecution, and protection from persecution and temptations that would lead people away from the faith. "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results" (James 5:16b NLT). OMF International provides two guides entitled, How to Pray for China and China 30 Day Prayer Guide.  The Voice of the Martyrs also provides information that is useful in praying for the Church in China.

Write. While carrying out a crackdown with one hand, China has been reaching out to form new trade alliances with the other. Write your elected officials to insist that concern over human rights violations are a part of all trade and diplomatic negotiations with China.

• The White House


• U.S. Senate


• U.S. House of Representatives


• Canadian Parliament (--not the official Canadian Parliament site, but a convenient site with lots of information on contacting your MP.)

Go. There are many ways to meet and support the Chinese people. Below are just a few organizations that can help.

• Youth With A Mission


• Educational Resources and Referrals-China (ERRC)


• OMF International