China
Dear Friend,
It is always a special joy to thank you for supporting the work of the Derek Prince Ministries China team. Your prayers and giving have accomplished much in China, for which we are forever grateful. This letter is a call for intensified prayer—for the nation of China, for its church, and for DPM’s ongoing role in reaching out to this fast-changing nation. We are asking you to stand strong in prayer—interceding in a special way at this critical time for our brothers and sisters in China.
China’s Rise to Power
You are probably well aware of China’s rise on the world stage. But you may not be fully aware of what that rise to power means.
China expert Kai Strittmatter writes: “Within its borders, China is working to create the perfect surveillance state, and its engineers of the soul are again trying to craft the ‘new man’ of whom Lenin, Stalin, and Mao once dreamed. And this China wants to shape the rest of the world in its own image.”
This “new man” which China wants to create, not only differs from that “one new man in Christ” that the Lord Jesus died for. It is in fact a “new man” which is totally hostile to that Biblical revelation.
Prayer Target #1: The Nation of China
During the thirty-year period from 1980 to 2010, China “opened up.” In the 1960s and 1970s, the nation had been locked from view behind the Cultural Revolution, seemingly unapproachable. Suddenly, it began to develop in the direction of “capitalism with Chinese characteristics.”
Up to the early 2000s, there was a fair amount of autonomy in the private lives of Chinese citizens—so long as they didn’t agitate against the party politically. Today, increasingly, that “social pact” no longer exists.
Now the Chinese people must conform to Xi Jinping’s authoritarian teaching. Strittmatter writes: “The China that was with us for forty years — the China of ‘reform and opening up’ — is making way for something new. Something is happening in China that the world has never seen before. A new country and a new regime are being born.”
Everything must line up with Xi Jinping’s version of socialism. Everything. China’s surveillance state has begun to reach into every area of life – even school children from the age of six must be taught Xi Jinping’s thoughts.
Prayer Target #2: China’s Church
China’s “new revolution” has serious implications for Christians and for the church in China. As one Chinese Catholic priest commented, “In practice, your religion no longer matters, if you are Buddhist, or Taoist, or Muslim, or Christian; the only religion allowed is faith in the Chinese Communist Party.”
There are new and increasingly strong religious laws. When fully enforced, it can mean that preachers must teach from the pulpit only what aligns to the teachings of the Communist party. If they refuse to do so their churches may be closed down and they can be arrested. Bibles can no longer be purchased or obtained online and recent 2018 laws mandate that children aged under 18 may not enter a church building.
Prayer Target #3: DPM’s Response
The first response of Derek Prince Ministries is one of prayer, calling on those who love God and the Chinese people to engage in “intensified prayer” for China.
I have been to the city of Wenzhou many times. During the Cultural Revolution of the 1970s, believers in that region were fiercely persecuted. In response, they set up a 24-hour prayer chain. Wenzhou now has so many believers that it is known as the Jerusalem of China. “Lord, we ask You to do that again—not just in Wenzhou, but right across China”.
DPM produces materials to place in the hands of Chinese believers. Our vital USB project provides decades of translation work (in Mandarin) containing Derek’s video, audio, and written materials. Our goal is to produce as many of these USBs as possible in as short a time as we can. They are then placed into the hands of pastors who use the resources to feed the flock of believers in Jesus Christ.
Another goal every year is to produce nearly 400,000 of Derek’s books in Chinese, placing these life-giving pages into the hands of leaders and other hungry believers.
DPM has a significant online ministry into China. Knowing that up to 800 million Chinese citizens increasingly live online, we use websites and Chinese apps dedicated to Derek’s materials. Our DPM team pours in a living stream of Derek’s teaching that can be accessed online or downloaded across China’s huge territories. The response from China is thrilling.
Thank you for your partnership with us.
In His Name,
Warren Smith
Regional Director DPM-Asia/Pacific
