“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
Romans 8:35
As we prepare to spend an hour or so in a comfortable worship environment tomorrow, please consider that not all Christians have this privilege. Such is the church in China. Please read the following statement written by Pastor Wang Yi before he and his wife were arrested.
“Editor’s note: Over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were arrested beginning Sunday, December 9. At the time of publication of this translation, arrests are still being made. Among those taken away were Pastor Wang Yi, senior pastor of Early Rain, and his wife, Jiang Rong, who have not been heard from since Sunday.
Foreseeing this circumstance, Pastor Wang Yi wrote the declaration below to be published by his church should he be detained for more than 48 hours. In it, he explains the meaning and necessity of faithful disobedience, how it is distinct from political activism or civil disobedience, and how Christians should carry it out.”
The translated statement can be read from the December 12 post of China Partnership.
I pray that we begin to understand what freedom and blessings we have, now. But also that we see the need to prepare, at least our children, for the persecution that lies ahead for those who follow Christ. Let us pray for those who stand firm for the gospel of the kingdom of our Father and His Christ in China and throughout the world. Fran
God's Grace ~ God's Glory! 
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Vincent. Blessings!
LikeLike
You’re very welcome Fran and likewise my friend 😎🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pastor Wang Yi’s translated statement is also available at https://chinachange.org/tag/early-rain-covenant-church/ I will also reblog this on my site. This degree of persecution by the governing authorities and faith by the Christian adherents should make us mindful of the rights that we currently enjoy and to lift up our brethren in prayer in China and other countries such as India and Africa where the rights we currently have are not available. Thank you Frances for sharing this. Grace and blessings.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Bruce. I found the church’s facebook, too. There is so much to read of how other Christians are making us proud. We must learn from them. Blessings for your week-end.
LikeLiked by 2 people
All Western believers should be aware of Christian persecution in non- Western countries. Many good organizations cover this, the Voice of the Martyrs among the best. Thank you for posting this, Frances.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes, David. There is much to learn and prepare to follow in their footsteps; even as they follow in the footsteps of our Lord. Blessings for your week-end.
LikeLike
Fran when I read of these stories—of Christians being rounded up in countries known for their communist leanings, I always think of Pastor Richard Wumbrand who was arrested in the USSR and spent 14 years in solitary confinement and tortured in a Soviet Gulag…
Global Christian persecution remains very much alive and well…it’s just easy for us here in the West to forget about such as it seems so far removed or something that happened during the dark days of the Cold War…
And yet we’ve seen it with ISIS with their very publicized beheadings of journalists as well as Christians and we continue to see it in places like China as you mention and Myanmar, Syria, etc.
Here in the West, we have our own persecution…
It is a persecution that is a bit more insidious.
It is a subtle persecution of shaming and or legal pursuits.
The banning of Christian businesses that refuse to cater to homosexuals or the push that Christian companies be forced to provide birth control or even abortions to employees despite such being against the values and beliefs of the owners.
It would behoove us in the West to be aware that persecution continues both on a physical level as well as a psychological level!
Thank you for this timely reminder
LikeLiked by 3 people
Julie, it gets even more subtle than that. At the risk of being guilty of self-promotion, check out my post, “Seduction, the Frog, and the Death of Sunday,” (November 9) describing what I’ve noticed about the subtle stealing of our children.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good reminder of our blessings in the West, Fran. It is chilling to think that the treatment experienced by Paul, Peter, etc. is experienced by Christians in the world today. We must pray for the WHOLE body of Christ.
LikeLiked by 2 people
YES! Thank you, LIly. Blessings!
LikeLike
I’m moved to pray for the church in China. Frances I’m glad you posted this. This was our second week at church of being moved to pray for China in our prayer meeting.
LikeLiked by 1 person