Last September I was getting ready to go into my first country, China. In the church, you hear how hard it is to share the gospel and you hear about the underground church and how people must smuggle Bibles into the country. But when we arrived and met our very first missionaries that we would work with, Jake and John, they gave a very different perspective on how they approach the gospel in China.
We were speculating that when we would work with the church in China we wouldn't be able to say the name of Jesus, not let anyone see a cross around your neck, not send any "churchy" messages home on Facebook. But Jake blew those ideas out of our minds. He told us to be bold and say the name of Jesus, bring out our Bibles, pray with people and say whatever we want in the name of Jesus. We had our own retraining that first day about spreading the gospel in China.
Jake's vision is more cutting edge in China than other missionaries, but it was amazing to be able to be bold in China. We all had the experience of sharing the name of Jesus with people who had never heard it, prayed with people for their very first time and gave people their first Bibles and none of us ever went to jail or put anyone in danger.
But this past Easter, the church plants in Harbin that we worked with all came together to celebrate Christ's resurrection while the police stood guard outside.
And something happened.
"Pastor Levi just said “amen” at the conclusion of his sermon when we were visited by Harbin police Easter morning. Levi had just finished preaching on how the resurrection of Christ should encourage Christians to persevere in their faith even the midst of persecution, such as the kind the church in Smyrna encountered in Revelation 2. They came in first with camcorders taking everyone’s photo and recording while Pastor Levi was finishing his sermons-end prayer. The cups and bread lay ready for the Lord’s Supper on the back table, but we didn’t make it that far in the service. We were ordered not to speak or use our phones. Some of our people’s cell phones and iPads were confiscated, some returned and some not. At one point we were told that not knowing the law isn’t excuse for not obeying it, so with that being said, I can’t imagine what excuse these men will have while standing in front of the Lord’s throne.
The police also visited other churches in Harbin disrupting the preaching, taking computers, taking the offering money, and detaining everyone until they had given over their personal information. As for the foreigners, we were detained much longer. Foreigners on student and English teaching visas we’re let go but myself and Jake, who was attending in a different location, were singled out for interrogations to held at separate police departments. Pastor Levi and Pastor Stephen, Chinese pastors were also taken in for interrogation. Police were reasonable with us, making sure we had food and water as well as bathroom breaks when we asked, but Jake’s home was searched and mine was observed while retrieving our passports off the bookshelf. At the police station we joined them in the small lunch, however the Jake and his family were a little more hard pressed for food until a church member went to get french fries for their 1 year old daughter." – John Walz Through the course of events, our friends have been deported from China and it is unclear when or if they may return. It can all seem like bad news just as the disciples saw how bad it was the day Christ was crucified. However, we cannot forget that Christ did not stay dead. It was on a Sunday morning that the disciples discovered that God always wins. Taken from https://www.booster.com/projectchinabrown
New photo of church bust. This was taken by our song leader. He turned around and did a quick snap shot of people behind him with a couple cops in the back ground. You can see by the smiling faces that even during this somber intrusion upon our Easter celebration that the fellow Christians stayed encouraged and at peace in their hearts. One boy in the picture is a newcomer. Pray for the people who attended the various church services who are not Christians. Pray they see the difference and uniqueness of our faith. Pray they find God through this experience.
I want to ask the church around the world to support the boldness of the gospel being spread in China in one of four ways.
1. Purchase a t-shirt so you too can share about what God is doing in China.
Check out their website here: https://www.booster.com/projectchinabrown
?
2. Consider asking Jake to come to your church to share what God is doing in China. He will be in the states soon. Learn more here:
http://chinachurchplant.com/2014/04/29/providential-furlough/
3. In the comments below, leave a short prayer to encourage the church in Harbin. Please include your name and location. I will email it to my friend in China. It would be a great way to encourage the body of Christ to remain bold.
This morning I spoke with my friend and translator, Victoria, while in China.
4. Continued prayers are powerful and effective. Here is Victoria's list of things to pray for them:
-Can you pray for Jake and John can come back or build a church in Taiwan successfully.
-Every foreign pastor who is in China or will come here is safe.
-Church in Harbin will be stronger. Money will not be a problem for our Chinese pastors.
-Pray for Alisha (John's wife), she will give birth to a baby.
-Everest (Jake's baby) visa will be worked out soon.
-Newcomers to the church will not be afraid.
Me with Victoria
Pastors Levi and Thomas are still hard at work in Harbin.
Photos from Jake Taube
