MINISTRY//Fall teaching trip in doubt

At 316NOW's administrators meeting last week, our leaders discussed plans for our annual fall teaching trip to China. The bottom line of the discussion was that this year's trip is doubtful.

Doors chained to trip?

Almost every year 316NOW sends a team of professors from our Bible institute to China to personally encourage our students and provide additional teaching. Our faculty members also meet with potential students to recruit them for our  online institute.

This year our friends in China are expressing hesitance to invite our professors to visit their cities. The government's stepped up enforcement of laws against Western influence on Chinese Christianity is the reason.

 The Word is not chained

Our executive director told the administrators, "If we can't send teachers to China this fall, it will be disappointing for us. But we never want to do anything that will put our students in danger. Besides, the Lord of the Church is still in control."

The gospel can never be chained (2 Timothy 2:9).  We continue to research all the ways the Spirit can use 316NOW to unleash his good news in China, even as we thank him for allowing us to serve 200 students each week in our Bible institute.

What you can do: Pray that our Father prospers the Chinese government so that it provides the best care for its citizens. Ask the Spirit to open doors for the gospel to reach more people there. Petition that 316NOW stays alert to every way we can proclaim "grace across China NOW."