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The long-term Servants in China told us that prayer is the greatest thing we can do to help China become the country God intends it to be. Several times a week we broke up into groups of two to four and went on prayer walks all over the city. We prayed in universities, at shopping centers, outside elementary schools, in busy city-centers, in quiet gardens, at national monuments, over historic sites, outside the gates of government buildings and lots of other places, too.

We often prayed at Buddhist temples for those worshipping the golden idols and also for the monks who have dedicated their lives to a false image. In the picture above you can see two of my friends praying for an old blind beggar outside a Buddhist temple. It was a common sight to see disabled people begging outside temples hoping somebody would throw a few cents their direction for “good luck”. None of the Buddhists I spoke with in China were “following” the Buddhist religion for any reason other than the hope that they would have “good luck” and make more money.

One night, towards the end of our trip, we all piled into a city bus and headed to one of the parks. This particular park occupies one of the highest points in the city and has a big tower which offers a 360 degree view of the city from the top. We all climbed up, Erica with her guitar, and we began to worship, pray, praise and proclaim God over the city. Looking back on my time in China I think this was one of the best moments of the entire trip. It was amazing to be up there looking over the city at night, with all it’s lights, traffic and earthly distractions and to be proclaiming God as King over it all. To be asking for His grace, mercy and blessing on the millions of people around us.

As impressive as the lights of one of the world’s largest cities were, they paled in comparison to the heavens stretched out over them.

Here are some prayer points for China.

Picture of modern-day Mars’ Hill by AJ Alfieri-Crispin

Then Paul stood up on Mars’ Hill and said, “Men of Athens, I see how very religious you are in every way. As I was walking around and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar where you worship with the words written on it, To The God Who Is Not Known. You are worshiping Him without knowing Him. He is the One I will tell you about.
Acts 17:22-23 NLV.

To be a police officer in China you must be a member of the Communist Party and to be a member of the Communist Party you must renounce all religions. Period. One day I had the privilege of speaking with a relatively high-ranking police officer. During our conversation about faith I learned that his views of Christianity were the same as many of the other Chinese people I had met. That Christianity is a “western religion”, that “God didn’t make Chinese people” nor does he “care about China”. I asked him what he lived for and he replied, “The future.” Then he went on to explain in broken English that he decided to be a police officer because he wants to help people. To be honest. (He was offended at the idea of taking a bribe and upset that it is a problem in his country.) He wants to help make China better for the next generation. To protect people. To serve them. To do good.

I told him he wasn’t just serving people but that he was also serving God.

That blew him away.

He didn’t believe me. I told him that Jesus said that when you serve people you’re serving him.^# That serving people is at the very heart of Christianity and that Jesus performed the ultimate act of service when he laid down his life. I could have put it another way: You are serving Him without knowing Him. He is the One I’ve been telling you about.

At this point in the conversation his whole demeanor changed. He was listening. He was questioning. He wasn’t rejecting a foreign religion anymore… He was considering Christ.

In addition to that police officer, the other members of my team and I met a lot of English-speaking students, teachers, soldiers and even a man who works for the Chinese military’s ministry of propaganda. Almost always religion, faith and Christianity came up in conversation and talking about our faith in a country where where the vast majority of people have never heard the good news was always a challenge. Words like “Salvation” “Sin” “Saved” “Son of God” and even “Jesus” all had to be explained. I think there are very few (if any) people in our western culture who don’t have a basic understanding of the Gospel. Think about it, you could say all those words and maybe even “Trinity” and “The Incarnation” to anyone on the street and chances are they’ll have a good idea of what you mean.

Not so in China.

People like to call themselves “men of science” who “don’t believe in spiritual things” yet burn incense to idols, consult the stars and and wear Buddhist jewelry for “good luck”. Spirits are things to be appeased and pleased in order to receive financial blessing or an attractive spouse. Christianity is something they were taught in school alongside Greek and Roman mythology. For me to say “I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ” is akin to someone you meet in McDonalds telling you that they worship Zeus.

Though many of the Chinese don’t know it and it’s easy for us to forget: God is in China. He has always been there! I’m thankful that I had an opportunity to go and, like Paul in Athens 2000 years ago, point him out in a place where the “Good News” is actually news.

Picture by Marirs

God has provided all the funds I needed for my outreach and tomorrow I’m leaving early in the morning for Asia with my team. In total I estimate that our travel time will exceed 50 hours! (Three flights totaling almost 20 hours in-air followed by over 30 hours on a train.) That is going to be very tiring! There will also be many opportunities for baggage get lost and flights to be delayed or even missed. Please pray for our safety and that everything goes as smoothly as possible.

I will not be able to update this blog until I return but I will do my best to keep everyone updated via email.

Have a great couple months! I’ll be back in July!

Me and the rest of my Asian outreach team.

Well, I’ve got a lot more details about my outreach to Asia… Our visa applications and passports are on their way to the embassy and our flights are booked. Please pray that the visa process will go smoothly!

Also, we’ve been given final costs for the trip. The total is £1,470 (British Pounds) which is about $2,900 (US Dollars). God has already provided most of that for me, I just need a remaining $500 to pay for the outreach. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to help me go on outreach. (Details about how to do that.) I will also need funds for daily living expenses like laundry, notebooks, weekend meals, etc.

I want to ask that you join me and my outreach team in praying for Asia and specifically for the city we’ll be in. Here are a few areas that we are focusing on in prayer:

Value of Human Life - Policies of the government have helped to cheapen the value of human life in the eyes of many people. The results of which are 25,000 abortions per day, orphanages overflowing with “bad luck” (unwanted children) and lack of care for disabled people.

Materialism - Asia is, in many ways, driven by materialism. The government actually publishes materialistic goals for the people called “The Five Wants”. Apparently it is not uncommon for people to say “Money is my god”. In their quest for money many people have become workaholics, even sleeping at work and only going home two or three times a week.

Idolatry of Education - This is tied in with materialism… A “good education” and a degree are the aims of all children. Average high-school students go to school for 14 hours and then have 3 additional hours of homework. This is unhealthy emotionally, physically and spiritually!

Sexuality - “Traditional” values in Asia have eroded. Prostitution is a huge problem and most men in the city we’ll be staying in frequent prostitutes. The UN estimates that there will be over 10 million Asians infected with AIDS by the year 2010. That’s just 3 years away!

Religion - The people as well as the government are very suspicious of organized movements, mostly due to past experience with “foreign” religions. Many people believe that science contradicts faith and view faith as superstition. At the same time these people put a lot of stock in fortune tellers and horoscopes. There are also many small eccentric cults throughout the country.

Fear, Control and Un-Forgiveness - The government uses fear to control society and people. Historical bitterness toward various groups (Americans, Europeans, Other Asians, Christians, Buddhists, etc.) is taught and encouraged.

Additionally, please continue to pray for me and my fellow students as we continue our studies and prepare for our outreaches!

I’m not actually going to get to see the Great Wall, but I thought it looked “Asian”. Picture by S. Webel

I’m excited to share with you all that I’ll be going to Asia for my DTS outreach. I prayed a lot about where God wants me to go (Asia, Serbia or Ireland) and I feel clearly that he’s led me to the Asia outreach. Thank you, to all of you who were praying for my decision!

There are 7 other members on my outreach team: Mikael and Renee our leaders, Blake, Dani, Erica, Liz and Ruth. Most of us are Americans although there are a couple Europeans also. We’ll be in Asia for about two and a half months, spending most of our time in a very large city. It has a huge population and is one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. There are a lot of Colleges or Universities in the city. Many of the students are learning, or trying to learn, English. Those students are the ones we’ll be seeking out at “English Corners” where they go to practice English with each other.

For the months leading up to the trip we have time set aside each week to get together as a team to pray and prepare for Asia. Already we have phrase-books that we’re beginning to study, visa applications and vaccines to get. We’re also studying Asian history so we can better understand the people and how they may feel about us. There’s lots to do! Meanwhile the “regular” lectures are rolling right along and they just keep getting better and better. God is doing so much in me. I’m so thankful that He’s provided for me to be here!