The apostle Paul, like many of the New

JUNE 2015 How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings. Psalm 36:7 Heresy and Cults In China Day 1 The apostle Paul, like many of the New Testament writers, warned against the dangers of heresy, of departing from the truths which are now revealed in the Bible. Speaking to his disciple Timothy, Paul wrote in 2 Tim 4:1-4: I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word!... For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. Those words are powerfully relevant to the church in China today. It is a church that struggles with heresy and false teaching. Since 2000, Tianfeng, the magazine of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement National Committee and the China Christian Council, has published more than 40 articles related to this topic. (from the ChinaSource Team, drawing on an article from Phoenix Weekly). There are a great number of such cults even 6 years ago, in July 2009, there were 14 officially named cults posted on the Chinese government s website. And there are others that are not listed but are nonetheless real and dangerous There are two major dangers to the church in China from heresy and false teaching. Firstly, believers get drawn away into error, and may lose their salvation. Secondly, the Chinese government is now active against cults, but that in turn endangers the church when government officials confuse the house churches with the cults. The China Source writers suggest several reasons for the proliferation of cults in China. The first reason is that Christians in the Seeking to Serve, Strengthen and Support the Church and People of China

2 China Prayer Update China Prayer Update 3 countryside have a low level of education. There are not many people who can recognize enough characters to read the Bible. Lack of spiritual knowledge and uninformed faith easily leads them astray. The countryside lacks doctors and medicine. Their faith only rises to the level of a rudimentary quest for happiness and security. In the depths of their spirit, there is not a real understanding of God. So if there is any excuse for superstitious thinking, it will seduce them into following it In this context there is a lack of spiritual preachers. This gives false prophets an opportunity to lure believers into heresy. A second reason given, surprisingly, is the lack of traditional church denominations. After the Communist Liberation, mainland Christianity broke all ties with overseas churches and also cut off contact between the church and the orthodox doctrine of the Christian tradition. Once the church lacked the doctrinal and traditional mechanisms for self-examination to guard against splits and deviations, it prompted a loss in the protective equipment against heresy, particularly against syncretism between Christianity and traditional folk religions. A third reason given relates to Henan province, which has been a center for Christianity and cults. The suggestion is that some house churches are anxious for quick results. Some people are sent out to evangelize without first having a solid grounding in theology. They themselves only half understand the faith and they can very easily go astray. A fourth reason relates to Chinese government policy. Government suppression of house churches forces members to hide, much like secret societies. Their lack of space for communication and interaction means that they can easily become breeding grounds for heresies. A fifth reason lies in China s recent political changes. After the Reform and Opening Up, various problems such as injustices and poverty among the lower social classes, coupled with fierce competition, environmental pollution, food safety, and corruption have caused people to lose hope. Because of this, people are particularly vulnerable to absorbing the Armageddon propaganda espoused by heretical cults. Whatever the reason may be, there is no doubt that cults and heresies are a grave danger to the growing church in China. Antioch Missions seeks to work with the church in China in three ways: 1. By encouraging information about and prayer for the church in China, so believers outside of China do not simply assume that China s church is growing without any problems, and therefore see the need for strong prayer for China s church. 2. Antioch Missions prints and distributes Bibles and Christian teaching books that help believers to be grounded in the truths of the Bible. 3. Antioch Missions also encourages skilled Bible teachers whose first language is Chinese to go into China to help ground China s present and future church leaders in the Bible. Celebrating Qing Ming Day 2 Easter Sunday this year coincided with the traditional Chinese Qing Ming or grave sweeping festival. On the day when Chinese Christians celebrated Jesus empty tomb, they were also expected to tend to the tombs of their ancestors. Such traditional festivals can be challenging for believers, who may no longer be willing to join in activities such as burning incense or bowing at their ancestors graves. Non-Christian relatives may see their refusal to join in these traditional activities as unfilial and disrespectful to their forefathers. Yet an article in the Gospel Times describes how some Christians are finding ways to honour their ancestors without compromising their Christian beliefs. Several churches now hold Qing Ming memorial services during which Christians remember and give thanks for the lives and testimonies of their ancestors. The article also seeks to help Chinese people understand that Christian believers have great respect for their ancestors. It is not the case, however, that Christians are not truly filial ; rather their expression of filial piety differs from traditional Chinese practices, it explains. In fact, the Christians emphasize filial piety as much as others do. This is because devout Christians base their lives on the foundation of the Ten Commandments. The fifth commandment, which is honour your father and mother, is the first of the Ten Commandments that references mankind s relationship with others (the first four explain God s relationship with mankind). Needs of the Church Day 3 What do you believe the church in China needs most today? That s a question we recently put to our China-based co-workers.

4 China Prayer Update China Prayer Update 5 Their answers help give us some specific areas in which we can support our Chinese brothers and sisters in prayer: The church in China is really good at evangelism, but they don t always realise the need to look after the poor and orphans, care for the sick, etc. They don t seem to have so much social consciousness. Young Christians are leading churches. They re on fire for the Lord, but know very little of the Bible. Some leaders will avoid the Old Testament because they find it too hard to understand. They need teaching on conflict resolution. They often don t know how to deal with conflict. People are very quick to leave the church when their feelings are hurt. They need discipleship. Not just teaching principles from the pulpit, but someone to come alongside and look at issues together with them, someone who will let them figure out what Scripture is saying and apply it to their situation. There s a lot of legalism. Don t do this and don t do that; then you ll be fine. Each person needs to learn to develop their own sense of hearing from the Lord, rather than just being told what to do. In Chinese culture there s a belief that those in authority will always know best, which has helped cults to thrive. Chinese believers need to learn how to test everything against God s Word, rather than against what someone in authority says. Caring for the Elderly Day 4 China s elderly population is expanding rapidly, while its working-age population is shrinking - a situation that is a challenge to both government authorities and ordinary people, including many Christians. Cultural expectations and legal requirements put the onus on [families] to care for older family members, but neither the government nor the society at large are adequately prepared to support this effort. For churches in China, the immediate concern, especially in the rural areas, is caring for elderly pastors in their later years of life Younger urban pastors are faced with caring for parents who, in many cases, still live in the countryside or in smaller cities. Many of their congregants find themselves in a similar situation. With living space limited in the city, it may not be practical or desirable to have older relatives move in with the family, comments a recent China Source article. Yet this is also an area where the church has the opportunity to serve. The church is the one entity that does have access to a sizeable pool of potential personnel, both professionals whose expertise could be applied specifically to senior care, as well as unskilled workers who could be trained for support roles, China Source continues. With a Biblical ethic of caring for others, these Christians could bring to their service a motivation that would not be found among others who see senior care as simply a business opportunity. This could involve Christians visiting and helping seniors who are living at home but whose families are not able to care for their needs. It could also involve setting up residential facilities for those who are no longer able to live in their own homes. Some churches and individual Christians have already begun to be involved in this area of ministry, but there remains a huge and ever-growing need for such help. Doing so can provide a way for the church to gain legitimacy within the society, as Christians are seen caring not only for their own needs but also for the needs of their community, China Source concludes. Opportunities to Share Day 5 Our China-based co-workers have regular opportunities to share their faith as they go about their daily lives. Here they share some of those opportunities to help us pray for their witness and ministry: Foreigners are being watched by local Chinese all the time, even when you re not aware of it. They watch you for ages, and then they come and talk to you. Foreigners are being watched by local Chinese all the time, even when you re not aware of it. People keep asking why we live here. I m amazed that just living here speaks to some people. As a teacher, I ve been able to share about Christmas and Easter with my students. Then the students come up individually afterwards to ask questions. There are plenty of opportunities to share! Most people assume you re a Christian because you re a foreigner, so they ask and it comes up naturally in conversation.

6 China Prayer Update Some fellow teachers are always asking about my faith. I try to take all the opportunities. I was asked about the meaning of Easter eggs one time. That led to lots more questions. And eventually the guy became a strong believer. I ve shared with other mums through a mums and tots group. Students often come to me and tell me about their lives and the problems they face, so I share my life values. They all know I m a believer. We re running Alpha courses. Sharing the Gospel is about helping people gain an understanding of God. It s not a short-term thing that is quick to do. It takes a while. Most people don t understand enough to become a Christian that quickly. It s a natural topic of conversation when you get to know someone well here. They see you do things differently from them and ask you about it. Misfortune resulting from a warped valuesystem- sale of infants Day 6 A 5 month old baby boy, Ming Ming, was sold by his parents to a woman in their village. Ming Ming is both lucky and unlucky. He is lucky to be rescued after he was sold for five months, but he is unlucky because his parents were the ones who willingly sold him away. The buyer, a woman from the village, longed to have a son after giving birth to 4 daughters. The village mentality still emphasizes the importance of having sons. The woman who has high school education claimed that they could not free themselves from the traditional village practice of favoring sons. After one surgery which went wrong, she lost her ability to conceive children, crushing her dreams of having a son. Hence she decided to buy the new born baby boy, Ming Ming. Last May, while investigating a crime involving thieves breaking into homes, the police chanced upon a criminal ring involved in drug trafficking in Sichuan, a gang made up of Liang Shan nationality. More than fifty suspects were arrested in connection to this crime. It was discovered during interrogations that some of the members were involved in infant trafficking. The Xinxiang police investigation is part of the Ministry of Public Security s work in the area. Other areas like Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Sichuan and Shenxi are also under investigation. So far, police has cracked down six such illegal operations and arrested 171 suspects. The reason why this crime of baby trafficking is not rooted out after various attempts to ban it is that there is a huge market for such trade. The law stipulates that those who purchase kidnapped women and children are punishable by a three year jail sentence, detention or supervision. However, if there has been no abuse against the child and the perpetrators do not obstruct rescue work, the guilty parties will be let off without punishment. Due to the light punishment for such crimes and the understanding that criminals will not need to bear legal responsibility if the child is not abused and they do not obstruct police work, the huge illegal market for baby trafficking remains active. Belt and Road Initiative China Prayer Update 7 Day 7 Source: New Fortune magazine Why do we need to understand the Belt and Road Initiative? It is because this development will affect China s future in the next ten years or more. The Belt and Road Initiative is not a physical entity, but a proposal and idea to promote cooperative development between China and related countries. The initiative provides a platform for these countries to explore mutually beneficial and effective ways to cooperate with one another. The Belt and Road Initiative runs through Europe and Asia, connecting the Asian economic circle from the East to the western economic circle in Europe. The benefits from this cooperation will include both economic development for improving the livelihood of nations found along this belt and quicker procedures for crisis response among the many countries found along this road. Historically, the Silk Route on land and the silk Route via the sea were the the superhighways through which China interacted with Asia, Eastern Africa, and Silk Road Economic Belt 21st Century Mari9me Silk Road Belt and Road Ini9a9ve

Antioch Missions China Prayer Update May 2015 Europe. This promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative tradition has so far been very well received. This new initiative will completely transform the development blueprint of the area. Horizontally, this initiative will run through East China, Central China, and West China. From a longitudinal view, it will connect major seaports, stretching all the way to Central Asia and ASEAN. This will completely revamp China s regional development blueprint, strengthening the ties and communications between various provinces, facilitating the transfer of assets. These benefits will ensure the upgrade of economic transformation in China. working in co-operation with CCSM to match the needs inside China with the resources outside If you wish to donate: Please write cheque payable to Antioch Missions Or by bank transfer to Development Bank of Singapore Current a/c no. 065-005675-5 DBS Bank Swift Code: DBS SSG SG Bank Code: 7171 Branch Code: 065 Mailing Address: PO Box 2046, Robinson Road Post Office, Singapore 904046 Office Address: 5001 Beach Road, #04-01C Golden Mile Complex, Singapore 199588 Tel: 65-6392 1812 Fax: 65-6392 1823 Email: singapore@amccsm.org www.am.amccsm.org f o r i n t e r n a l c i r c u l a t i o n o n l y