Church in Chains, 20 January 2022

Chinese authorities detained Chen Yu on 11 September 2019 for “illegally selling foreign-published religious materials” and officially arrested him on 18 Oct 2019.  His bookshop had sold more than 20,000 books (mostly Bibles and other Christian books) through a Chinese e-commerce platform.  Police used the bookshop’s records to contact buyers across China and more than 800 books were confiscated.

On 27 September 2020, after he had spent nearly a year in prison, Linhai People’s Court sentenced him to 7 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 yuan for “illegal business operation”.  The government confiscated his mobile phone and ordered the Public Security Bureau to destroy 12,864 books seized from the bookshop.  His lawyer submitted an appeal to the Taizhou Intermediate People’s Court.

Bitter Winter reported that police were enraged that Chen Yu sold thousands of copies of the book Transformation of the Gospel by Pastor Wang Yi of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence.  During the nationwide investigation, officials demanded that customers who had purchased copies of “Transformation of the Gospel” return them.

Bitter Winter commented, “Not coincidentally, it was when the trial against Pastor Wang Yi was being prepared that bookseller Chen Yu was arrested.  The prosecutor characterised Chen’s bookselling operation as an ‘anti-Chinese conspiracy,’ because some of the Bibles and books he sold were printed in Taiwan and the United States, and claimed that Chen had more than 10,000 customers.”

The Joshua Project 11 January 2022

What is the future for China’s Uyghurs, a people with a rich and centuries-old Turkic culture severely oppressed by China’s government?  Millions of Uyghurs live in China’s north-western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, now a police state that imprisons well over 1,000,000 Uyghurs in brutal “re-education” camps.  Although almost all Uyghurs are Sunni Muslim, they mix their Islam with folk religion.

Their community-oriented culture and religion face serious threats.  Such a situation makes them less open to outside ideas.  Few Uyghurs are open to Christ and Han Chinese Christians have little interest in reaching them.

The Uyghurs may listen to believers who demonstrate the compassion and love of the only Saviour.  Their language contains the complete Bible, the JESUS Film and many audio and visual materials based on the Bible.

Pray that members of this people group will soon have as rich an understanding of the need for God’s presence as Moses did.

A small but growing number of Uyghur believers live in nearby Central Asia.  Pray that they would be strengthened in their faith and filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Ask God to disciple Uyghur believers to reach Uyghur communities throughout China.  Pray God would stir Chinese Christians to intercede for and reach out to China’s suffering Uyghurs.  Ask that suffering Uyghurs would experience God’s comfort from within re-education camps and broken homes.

Voice of the Martyrs, 6 January 2022

After worshiping peacefully together in a tin hut for more than 10 years, a church of more than 20 families from the Chakma people group recently began constructing a church building in their village in Bangladesh.

Shortly after building began, a mostly-Buddhist organization known as the Underground Army destroyed the church building’s windows and threatened to torture or kill the men of the church, who fled into the jungle for several weeks.

Frightened, the women and children of the church lived together in one home for safety.  Eventually, the Underground Army found the women and beat them with canes, leaving them bruised.  The militant Buddhists then looted the believers’ empty homes, stealing their crops and livestock.

For their safety, the Christian children have not attended school since the initial attack.  Pray for the families to remain strong in their faith despite the pain they’ve endured and the uncertainty they face.

Pray that the Buddhists will witness the gospel in the lives of those they are persecuting and repent.  Pray for the completion of the church building’s construction.

Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world.  Churches are careful when offering relief to the poor and needy because they do not want to encourage false conversions among people claiming faith in Christ solely for economic benefit.

Millions of Bangladeshis are learning about Christ and the Bible through media outreaches.

Release International, 10 November 2021 (excerpts)

During a four-day online speaking tour, Jamal, a Muslim- background Christian, described how his Hand of Help organisation is giving new hope to Christian refugees in northern Iraq who fled the conflict with Isis and have been given a safe haven in the region of Kurdistan.  And through remarkable favour with the government, Jamal’s work has been extended to help displaced Muslims and Yazidis.

In 2003, before the upheavals of the Gulf War and Isis, there were around 1.8 million Christians in Iraq.  Today there are considered to be fewer than 400,000 Christians living in Iraq.

As well as distributing relief aid, Hand of Help train seamstresses, electricians and hairdressers and teach computer skills.

Through all of this comes the message of Christ’s love. Jamal’s team uses the Gospel of Luke to teach his students keyboard skills.

The Kurdistan government has seen the remarkable work Hand of Hope is doing and is right behind it.  The country’s parliament has presented the ministry with its Shield of Honour.

The government has given this openly Christian ministry access to teach at a prison and to work in camps for displaced Muslims and Yazidis.

Says Jamal: ‘This is a Muslim country and we are a Christian organisation.  We clearly say we are Christian and yet they allow us to go to the camps.  It’s amazing!