{"id":48069,"date":"2023-10-10T14:00:29","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T05:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=48069"},"modified":"2023-10-10T14:21:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T05:21:07","slug":"vomk-report-273","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/10\/10\/vomk-report-273\/","title":{"rendered":"CHINA: PERSECUTED CHURCH CALLS FOR PRAYERS FOR ANOTHER LONGSUFFERING CHINESE CHURCH"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48039″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”One of China\u2019s most persecuted churches used its weekly prayer letter to intercede for another longsuffering Chinese church facing renewed persecution. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]Early Rain Covenant Church<\/span> in Chengdu,<\/span> which <\/span>has <\/span>been <\/span>endur<\/span>ing<\/span> its<\/span> own <\/span>crackdown<\/span> by authorities <\/span>since <\/span>its <\/span>pastor, Wang Yi, <\/span>and more than <\/span>100 church members<\/span> were arrested <\/span>nearly four<\/span> years ago<\/span>, called on God to<\/span> \u201chelp <\/span>[Guangzho<\/span>u<\/span>] <\/span>Huajing<\/span> Church pass this \u2018examination\u2019\u201d<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The \u201cexamination<\/span>\u201d<\/span>,<\/span> according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley, <\/span>is the Communist Party\u2019s August 19 ban on <\/span>Huajing<\/span> Church. \u201cIt\u2019s the culmination of <\/span>more than <\/span>20 years of persecution,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>Ever since the <\/span>Huajing<\/span> Church<\/span> was founded in 2000 by Pastor Cao Wen, <\/span>it has faced wave after wave of persecution.<\/span> Authorities closed its building in 2015, and then after the church moved, authorities closed their next building in 2019<\/span>. Then the Communist Party <\/span>completely <\/span>banned the church <\/span>on August 19.<\/span> A<\/span>uthorities <\/span>have been <\/span>threaten<\/span>ing<\/span> the <\/span>pastors<\/span>, <\/span>interrogating the members<\/span>, <\/span>raid<\/span>ing<\/span> their homes<\/span>,<\/span> and <\/span>install<\/span>ing<\/span> CCTV cameras <\/span>outside <\/span>their doors.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48048″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, <\/span>it\u2019s<\/span> a situation that Early Rain Church <\/span>members can empathize with.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly Rain Church has been experiencing the same treatment from the authorities, but <\/span>neither church has given up<\/span> its ministry <\/span>or lost its trust in God<\/span>,<\/span> and neither is begging the world for help,<\/span>\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cThey both see the persecution they are experiencing as <\/span>a gift <\/span>permitted<\/span> by <\/span>God to help the <\/span>Chinese church grow stronger and continue to spread. <\/span>We <\/span>Christians from countries <\/span>without a lot of government persecution can learn a lot of helpful biblical theology by \u2018listening in\u2019 on the prayers Early Rain Church is praying for <\/span>Huajing<\/span> Church<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley <\/span>provided<\/span> an excerpt from Early Rain Church\u2019s prayer for <\/span>Huajing<\/span> Church, which Early Rain Church published in <\/span>one of <\/span>its weekly prayer newsletter<\/span>s<\/span> last month:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Lord, please strengthen Pastor Cao Wen and all the workers who have been called by You to serve the sheep. Please make them see that this is a trial permitted by You, Lord. The scope, method, and extent of this persecution are all determined by You. Under the control of the Holy Good, you must open a way out for the loyal people in difficult times. Pray that the Lord will grant all the brothers and sisters of <\/span>Huajing<\/span> Church the heavenly wisdom to be able to identify all the lies of the devil. In the atmosphere of terror created by the devil, they can stand firm in the Lord and not be disturbed by rumors or misled by lies. In the faith trust each other, tolerate each other in love, and maintain the unity of the church. Ask the Lord to help <\/span>Huajing<\/span> Church pass this <\/span>\u2018<\/span>examination<\/span>\u2019<\/span>, grow more mature, fight for the Lord, and win with the Lord!<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48043″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”File photo of a worship service at Early Rain Covenant Church before the December 9, 2018 arrest of Pastor Wang Yi.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Representative Foley also shared <\/span>Early Rain Church\u2019s <\/span>instructions to its ministry partners <\/span>from an earlier prayer newsletter <\/span>on how they can pray for <\/span>Huajing<\/span> Church:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>No matter how preachers are driven away, the Lord\u2019s church will always stand firm. The church has taken root deeply in the land of China and can no longer be driven away. The church may be <\/span>persecuted<\/span> and the preachers may be driven away, but the head of the church is in heaven, and the church has <\/span>demonstrated<\/span> the power of <\/span>the <\/span>resurrection<\/span> for thousands of years. <\/span>Pray that the Lord will continue to use persecution to cause the church in China to grow a hundredfold and harvest a thousandfold.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we<\/span> Christians in so-called \u2018free\u2019 countries <\/span>wrongly<\/span> pray for persecuted Christians<\/span>,<\/span> by asking the Lord to make their situation like ours<\/span>, with freedom of religion and no persecution<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>This prayer <\/span>by <\/span>one persecuted church for another persecuted church can teach us how to pray for all persecuted churches<\/span>, and even how to pray for our own churches<\/span>. <\/span>Their prayer reminds <\/span>us not to be afraid o<\/span>f<\/span> persecution and to remember that the Lord<\/span>, not the government, holds all power and authority. The <\/span>Lord<\/span> often uses <\/span>persecution<\/span>, not religious freedom,<\/span> to <\/span>strengthen <\/span>and grow <\/span>his church<\/span>. This is why churches in persecuted countries are typically much stronger in their faith <\/span>and more fruitful in their growth <\/span>than churches in countries where there is no persecution.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s work in partnership with persecuted Christians in China can visit <\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/china<\/a><\/span> or give via electronic transfer to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Account Holder: (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note \u201cChina\u201d on the transfer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”48039″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”One of China\u2019s most persecuted churches used its weekly prayer letter to intercede for another longsuffering Chinese church facing renewed persecution. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]Early Rain Covenant …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":48040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48069"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48072,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48069\/revisions\/48072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}