MINISTRY//Be careful what you say

A Chinese friend recently urged me not to use words like God or Jesus or prayer when we talk online. Instead, she instructed that we should use a verbal shorthand: G for God, J for Jesus, and P for prayer. Of course, sending her Scripture verses or Christian graphics is unwise.

The reason? China’s cyber-ears and cyber-eyes are everywhere: WeChat, Skype, email, etc. Bots listen for keywords and scan emails for offending terms. If a person happens to be employed by the government as an official, a police officer, a teacher, etc., those keywords could result in discipline or even job loss.

Another Christian friend has mentioned that her husband, who is a police officer, has refused to go to worship with her or participate in any Bible studies because doing so would put his career at risk. He is waiting until he retires to be more public about his faith in Jesus.

Not every Christian in China is this concerned about government eavesdropping. Other Chinese friends are quite open about their faith when we talk online. One sends me Scripture verses once or twice a week. But, perhaps, she feels freer to do that because she is older and retired. Many of our students continue to study with our online Bible institute, although some are hesitant to become involved.

Nonetheless, China’s tightening hold on the practice of religion (and that’s not only the practice of Christianity) is building higher barriers for groups like 316NOW to scale as we seek to teach Scripture truth to church leaders in China.

How fortunate that our God is greater. How fortunate that our greater God responds to our prayers.