MINISTRY//Ministry spies

The Chinese government should deputize Christians so they have the authority to stop foreign religions from using the internet to invade the country.

Informers

That was the point of an article to which a longtime student of our online Bible institute alerted us. The surprise about this article was the author. The Chinese communist party is tightening its hold on the country during this year of its centennial. No one would be surprised to learn that the government is commissioning Christian citizens to spy on students enrolled in online institutes like ours.

But the article was written by a pastor in the government-approved church, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

Si, our liaison between the American section of our ministry and our Chinese students says, "This article shows our ministry model is catching not only the attention of the government but also the Three-Self Church."

Preparations

Gaining the attention of more people in the United States would be good for 316NOW. Gaining the attention of the Chinese government and of the official Chinese church is not good for our ministry. How much more essential are prayers that the Lord of the Church protects our outreach to Chinese church leaders.

But it is also essential that 316NOW continues to prepare for the day when China's government shuts down our current ministry model. For that reason, we are developing ways to reach Chinese Christians who don't live in China. We are investigating teaching videos and materials that won't require the internet. We are developing ways to individually mentor church leaders and to consult with congregations. Our plan is that, a decade from now, we have a team of qualified church leaders in China who will take over our ministry.

What you can do: Pray that our ministry is protected from unwanted exposure in China. Ask the Lord of the Church to help us transition our ministry so that 316NOW will continue to proclaim grace across China.