PERSECUTED CHURCH 
CHINA
CHINA REPORT—VISIT WITH
HOUSE CHURCH LEADERS
Dear Family in the Lord,
I bring blessings and encouragement to you from
your church family in China. When I
asked them what could the believers do for you in the U.S.A., they replied, "pray for us, pray that the corruption
in the government be exposed, we need more Bibles, teachers and teaching
materials."
The Lord has blessed my wife & I beyond
belief by calling me to this mission for the church in China. The trip back home took 32 hours. I came home in good health, just exhausted. I guarantee you from the experiences that I
had, I will never be the same. I will
do my best to briefly transfer to you what I have seen and learned without
making a book out of this letter. For
those of you that would like to have me come and share with your fellowship,
look at your calendars and call Nancy to schedule a date. I have a video to show and a limited amount
of books to circulate.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Population: 1.2 billion.
The largest nation in the world.
Religion:
Communist party members 40 million.
Christians 100 million.
Christian converts 20,000 per day.
Church leadership 70% women.
Recently the government has initiated a crack
down on crime in the industrial areas because of the corruption with kickbacks
going to many officials. It is called
"Strike hard". Also they have also targeted Christians whom they fear
because of their phenomenal growth.
With the increased persecution, it could not be guaranteed that we could
see any house church leaders. Prior to
our coming to China, on March 16, eight network house church leaders were
arrested by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and put in prison.
We were hoping to see two or three house church
leaders; we ended up seeing seventeen, praise the Lord. With all the security measures that were
taken the Lord made us invisible to the enemy.
Four Christian undercover agents equipped with cell phones made all of
the meetings possible. Some of the
house church leaders traveled up to 30 hours on the train to meet us. It took tremendous courage and great risk
for all the agents and house church leaders to meet with us. If caught they would have faced arrest,
unspeakable torture and even execution.
If the Lord did not want these meetings to occur believe me none of them
would have come. The success of this
trip confirmed the call that God gave me, on your behalf, to bless the
persecuted church.
What was the call? After I was invited on this trip, the Lord spoke to me and
clearly gave me instructions. I was to
ask my friends and family for a collection to help the distressed house
churches just as Paul did for the Jerusalem church. Please read 2 Corinthians
chapters 8 & 9 to understand the importance the Lord places on helping a
church in distress. I was also
asked to bring letters of encouragement and books of the Bible. I was to prepare envelopes and put into them
$100.00 worth of Chinese money, letters of encouragement and a portion of the
Bible. I was hoping I could bring at
least 20 envelopes, praise the Lord I was able to bring 60 envelopes.
My wife and I bought two money belts and put the
six thousand dollars into them and strapped them under my shirt. It looked like I had gained allot of
weight. The envelopes I carried in my
attaché case to be stuffed after I went through customs into Communist
China. Some of you gave and said I
could use the money as I saw fit. I
want you to know that everything we received went to the families of those who
have been imprisoned or martyred. We
did give some leaders one envelope each to help them with the expense of coming
so far to see us. The Lord was faithful
in providing all my expenses another way.
My companion said of our trip, "I wish that
everyone could have experienced what I just experienced during my short ten
days in China. It was sobering. It gave me a clearer understanding and
appreciation for those who are in pursuit of freedom. More than ever, I saw the horrors of oppression. You cannot fully appreciate the quest for
freedom unless you have been with those who daily fight in the trenches against
oppression, until you witness first hand those who so gallantly have sought
after freedom.
To understand the plight of the oppressed in
China, you must experience what it is like having to look over your shoulder at
all times, wondering if you are being tailed or if your conversations are being
bugged. Even in the privacy of our own
hotel rooms, we had to keep the television volume up in order to mask our
conversations and that of our guests.
We were told to expect that the government had bugged the room and was
listening for information that could lead to the arrest of more
Christians. You would need to have
experienced what it was like wondering whether one of those you are meeting
with in secret locations, in the woods or in busy public places would be
arrested. You become aware that the
police could arrest you at any time.
Being caught was of little personal concern to me, but I was very much
aware of the consequences that my brave hosts would face if they were
caught. They would face possible
beatings, tortures and lengthy prison sentences. After all, it is a crime for Chinese Christians to meet with
foreigners."
We left Hong Kong, which was our base of
operations and headed east to Guangzhou, a three-hour bus ride away. Seven
house church leaders, who were part of a vast house church network, would be
there to rendezvous with us. Two
Christian agents rode on the bus with us but sat in different locations. As we approached the border and customs, it
was mission impossible all over again.
Let me tell you the tension was in the red range as I began to
sweat. My passport was stamped and I
headed for the luggage inspection area.
All the uniformed agents were looking the other way as I gingerly walked
by them to the waiting bus.
We were taken to a hotel and met our agent in the
lobby. She was the agent who looked
after us during most of our stay in China.
Once in the room, the money belts were unloaded and I asked by friend to
start making sixty individual piles on the beds. Into the envelopes we put the money, letters of encouragement and
portions of the bible. We then sealed
them and put them in stacks of tens.
For security reasons, our first meeting was with
only three of the seven leaders. We met
with them for about 1 hour and they left and the other four came and spent an
hour with us as well. Then the first
three came back into the room and all seven were together. The seven works as a team to meet the needs
of the body as best they can. I asked
the older man, the leader of the seven, how many Christians was he serving in
the network under him. He calmly said
10 million. It is hard for me to
explain the humility I felt at that moment.
Was I in the presence of one like the Apostle Paul? The words of Jesus came to mind "greater
things than these will you do." He
said, that they accepted suffering as part of their destiny. Never have so many church leaders been put
into jail.
We were informed that on May 19th at
midnight two of the eight leaders that had been previously arrested were
removed to a secret location and they feared for their life. Unlike the Free Church, they know the value
of suffering and its contribution to their walk with the Lord. I listened intently as they shared and I
knew I was witnessing one of the highlights of my life. Prayer is the most important thing we can do
for them, they said. Pray that the
corruption in the government be exposed.
They never asked us to pray that
the persecution stop. I met THE CHURCH, the one we read about in
the New Testament. I sensed the Lord
was smiling at me as he observed my joy and humility. Tears were never far away.
The persecution of Christians is the worst in 20 years. The Chinese government is trying to give the world the impression that Christians are like the cults of Japan and Waco. They fear the Christians because they now vastly outnumber the members of the communist party. Sister “A” who was in her 30's had been in prison for 8 years because of her faith. She is homeless because there is a warrant out for her arrest. She teaches and evangelizes from house church to house church as the Lord leads, and she hasn't been home in years. The badge of honor for the saints in China is not how intellectual you are, how well you speak, or how many degrees you have after your name. But how many years you were in prison, how much have you suffered for the Lord, or how many churches have you started. The church is growing 20,000 a day in China. You won't see any big tent meetings or stadiums filled, just Christians sharing with their friends and neighbors.
I shared with them a few things the Lord spoke to
me. In the last days I saw two churches
emerging. The persecuted church and the
Free Church. The persecuted church was
the stronger and by its prayers it was driving the Free Church into
action. The Free Church is to pray for
them daily, speak up for them, and support them with offerings. Remember how Darius changed the law to
protect the Hebrews after Daniel survived the lion's den. Pray that the Chinese government realizes
that Christians are good and that they are China's best people. The Lord can impress the communist
government to rethink their treatment of Christians and give them freedom to
worship as they please. All of us are
to lift the level of awareness of our government, neighbors and our
churches. It used to be that the
persecuted church was far away and that God would take care of them. The Free
Church is now being called upon by God to meet their needs like Paul did
for the church in Jerusalem. I
believe, we are witnessing in China the greatest revival the world has ever
seen.
I explained to them what was in the envelopes and
that the Lord had heard their prayers.
It is against the law in China for anyone to receive money from
foreigners. I felt this network was to
receive 40 envelopes, which I put on the bed, and said let us pray over
them. Before I knew it they were on
their knees weeping and praising the Lord.
I felt the presence of the Lord enter the room as if to say YOUR WELCOME AND I LOVE YOU. The Lord seemed to stop everyone from
praying and a brother began to weep and sing a beautiful song to the Lord. The tears just flowed freely as the presence
of the Holy Spirit filled the room, a moment I will never forget. They gave the envelopes to two brothers and
one sister, in case one got caught two would get through. Then they were gone and perhaps I would
never see them again in this life.
Later that evening, there was a knock on the door
and the four agents entered our room with a birthday cake for me. They enjoyed seeing me embarrassed but they
were sweet not to let the occasion slip by.
The day’s events were the greatest present I could ever ask for.
Our next stop was Beijing, the capital of
communism. We met with a local house
church leader, an 83-year-old pastor who spent 21 years in prison because he
would not register in the government church called the Three Self-Patriotic
Church. In his home was a picture hanging
on the wall of someone who spoke at his house church. He said that he was a 3 faced man. We asked what do you mean?
He replied "he wants to be approved of the political, the Three
Self Patriotic Church, and the house churches.
He can't have house church approval because he approves of the
government church, whose God is the government. Christ is the head of our church, our church is
spiritual." The government leaves
his house church alone because he is too well known and too old to
imprison. We asked him what advice did
he have for the American Church? He
replied, "read the book of Acts 100 times. Sounds like good advice to me.
We met with five young people from the
universities in Beijing. They told us
there are 800 Christian students there.
China's communist party has been successful in stopping political
dissent but has not been able to stop the move of the Holy Spirit on the
university campuses. Since March, the
underground church on campus has doubled.
They hold secret meetings in homes, restaurants and other places. A Christian teacher and a student were
recently arrested. The teacher is
temporarily in asylum in Hong Kong, and the student was expelled and warned by
the government. I can't share much
about these students for fear of compromising them. But I can tell you, this summer they plan to travel to the
interior and preach the Gospel no matter what.
I did make some preliminary plans with them to send them information and
teachings. Pray that we can find a way
that won't compromise them.
While in Beijing, we learned the circumstances of
Bro. Liu's miraculous escape from prison.
He was one of the eight that was arrested in March. During his first
imprisonment, this powerful Apostle survived a fast of 74 days. This was documented
while he was in prison. The Christians
in China call him the heavenly man, and he is in the video that I have. This account of his escape is recorded on
tape and I am quoting the one who taped it.
While in prison this time, he tried to escape by jumping out of a third
floor window. He was not injured but
was apprehended, hung by his thumbs from the rafters and beaten with rods. He was then thrown on the floor and the
guards stomped on his legs with their boots and broke his ankle, badly injuring
his legs. The guard mockingly said, "we will fix it so that you can never
escape." While on the ground, the
Lord told him that in 6 days he would escape.
The next day the Lord said he would escape in 5 days and so on until the
last day the Lord said, "today you will escape." The Lord told him to pick up a broom and
start sweeping. Limping on his broken
ankle, he swept the third floor. As he
approached the gate down to the second floor, the guard opened the door. He swept down the stairs to the second floor
and the guard opened the gate to the first floor thinking the guard upstairs
ordered him to sweep the prison. He
swept down the stairs to the first floor, and the guard opened the gate for him
to sweep the yard. When he was outside
of the prison, the Lord told him to run.
You can't run on a broken ankle, but as he ran it was healed. As he was running down the road, a car stops
along side and asked him where he was going in such a hurry. He said, "I am late for an
appointment". So the driver said,
"Come inside, I will take you there." Miracles still do happen.
Arrangements were made for us to meet two house
church leaders of another large network.
We met in the Heavenly Park at a specified gate. We went inside and found a place to talk out
of the way and under some trees. We
talked and shared together for over an hour, much like we did with the first
house church leaders. We asked how many
house church leaders are women? Seventy
percent the leader of this network answered.
What would happen if you did not use women in leadership? "The work of the Lord would be greatly
diminished,” he said. Because of the
one child per family policy in China, many women are more available then men. The network under them is about 10 million
strong as well. We prayed cautiously
over the twenty envelopes because we were in the park. We blessed them and committed them to the
Lord, and they walked away into the future.
To prepare myself for this trip, I spent allot of
time in prayer and meditation and the Lord was good to me. He showed me some things, one of which I
want to pass on to you now. In the last
days, the Universal Church will consist of two churches. The persecuted church and the
free church. The prayers of the
persecuted church are reaching the Lord.
He is sending the message back down from Heaven to believers in the Free
Church to help. The stronger of the two
is the persecuted church. As
persecution spreads the two churches will become closer in unity as they pray
for each other.
When I returned from China, I wanted to hear from
the Lord for direction. Was I to
continue working for the persecuted church or was this just a one-time
effort? After meeting these precious
warriors, I knew what my heart, body and soul wanted to do, but I laid it all
on the altar and waited for Jesus to speak to me. The answer came early in the morning as I was sipping my coffee
and reading the Word. I read "For we cannot help speaking about
what we have seen and heard," (Acts 4: 20).
All of
us who have been awakened to meet this need must be like missionaries to the
free church and blow the trumpet call to prayer and action. Not a
day should go by without lifting the persecuted church up in prayer. And some days our prayers should be as
intercessors. Besides praying, please
call your representatives in congress.
Tell them that our country has to intervene at whatever cost to stop
this brutal behavior against humanity, let alone that they are our brothers and
sisters in the Lord. Please, pray with
me for direction, and send me your comments.
Especially if the Lord is speaking to you about serving His persecuted
church.
Based on the networks we were able to visit with
in China, the testimony of your letters of encouragement and offerings quite
possibly could be told to over 20 million
House Church Christians. God bless
you all for taking part in the Lord's call for help to a people who are
suffering for Him. (Hebrews 13:3).
Living in His design, and loving it,
Jon Dee