Ministering to China's children

An Open Doors' co-worker shares about his exciting and challenging visit to one remote Chinese village, where God is at work amongst old and young.

Christian persecution in China - Children praise the Lord in a house church service

The Holy Spirit's consuming fire touches and motivates the children and young people as well as the adults in China's house churches

It was summer, hot and humid, in north west China.

My plane arrived on time at the new airport located about 30km from a large city.

Our little vehicle travelled away from the city to a toll road just a few miles from the airport. Like most toll roads in Europe, we were able to drive about 80 to 100 km per hour.

After about an hour, the driver left the motorway, and all of a sudden we were in a totally different world. I saw again that the benefits of the 20 years of Economic Financial Revolution have not reached the whole of China. It was clear that poverty was widespread.

In 2002, Premier Zhu Rongji said, "We have eight billion farmers living below the poverty level, and their income is decreasing." The area we had travelled to was home to poor farmers such as these.

And there are many Christians among them.

Finally we arrived at the village. About 100 believers were eagerly awaiting our arrival.

This church seldom has anyone come visit or minister to them. They said that we were the first group of brothers and sisters from outside of their province to come and minister to them.

The church asked me to lay hands on their leaders and pray for them.

Pastor Chan was released from prison a few months before. As soon as he was released, he returned to the church to restart his ministry and share the Gospel.

He said, "My mission is very clear from the Lord. We are weak and we fall – yet God's vision and revelation are like a consuming fire, motivating the church."

Child evangelists

Besides preaching the Word, I had the opportunity to share with a group of children.

As pastor Chan said, the church is on fire with the Holy Spirit. The same consuming fire touches and motivates the children too. I was so blessed as I heard how these children are doing evangelism among their peers.

Then in the midst of them, I saw an Open Doors' children's Bible. Excitedly, I asked a 12-year old girl, "Have you finished reading this book?"

Christian persecution in China - Children share a children's Bible

In China, the Holy Spirit is even inspiring child evangelists to win other children to Jesus.

She replied, "We received this children's Bible two days ago. A sister knows that we don't have any children's books. She walked for half a day to give us two copies of the children's Bible. So now we share our precious children's Bibles one with another."

I will never forget this group of children as they gathered around.

Their shining eyes were astonished and single-mindedly focused on the children's Bible.

It is heart-rending to know that these villagers share only two copies of this children's Bible. There is still much work to be done in China!

This group of Christians face poverty and lack physical and spiritual food, but their desire to preach the Gospel and follow God's heart is evident.

What a privilege to serve the Lord by serving them!

Long-term children's ministry training takes root

One of Open Doors' training partners tells us about how he's seen Chinese believers capture the vision for children's ministry. More...

On my first trip to China about eight years ago, two pastors and I visited one region to understand more about the believers' needs.

They told us just one thing: "We need Bibles."

At that time, the church was growing – but we noted that the leadership had little concern for ministry among children. So we taught the believers about the importance of children's work, the art of storytelling, as well as some sessions on working together in teams.

Christian persecution in China - Sunday School teachers in training

The Sunday School teachers had never been in Sunday School themselves, so they badly needed training on all aspects of teaching their children, including how to do songs with actions

After our visit, several churches realised their lack, and soon started Sunday School ministries.

The workers faced many challenges in their new venture, but God called people to dedicate themselves to this vital work.

So when we returned last year, we were very happy to meet up with our friends and to find that they are still engaged in children's ministry.

In one town, the brothers had even taken the responsibility for all the families' meals, so that their wives could spend time with us for more in-depth training.

About 70 students from many areas attended the Sunday School training class this time – it seemed that word had spread!

Potential realised

My wife Mary and I had seven days to teach, so we were able to give a thorough overview of Open Doors' Bible lesson resources, as well as giving some practical demonstrations!

We split the students into groups and asked them to design a Sunday School lesson, including choruses, games, memory verses, storytelling and crafts.

We saw the students become more and more involved in their task as they spared no effort in using all of their skills.

I could see their potential to be greatly blessed by God.

Christian persecution in China - Children study Open Doors Sunday School materials together

"More children now attend our Sunday School. The classes are very well developed and more interesting now with these children's Bibles, and preparing Sunday School materials is much easier for the teachers."
– Paul

After the training had finished, the workers arranged a demonstration for us – to show us how they'd learned the choruses and the actions.

I was most excited to see the students becoming more open and positive.

I remember one student who when I first met him some years ago wore a very serious expression, and seldom smiled. He said to me, "You are very cheerful, I am jealous of you."

But this time when I saw him at the latest training, his expression was so joyful.

Like him, so many others were especially warm and friendly.

Education is a process. Through several training sessions now, I have been able to see the growth in the students.

Before, they were shy and introverted. Now, they are brave enough to lead classes and to express themselves.

This is truly God's amazing work.

Not only so, but we have seen leaders emerge from among our group of students. We have identified 22 small group leaders and are giving them further training in leadership skills.

Three others have been set apart to pass on the Sunday School training to other house church groups in their region.

My hope is that during the next two years, this work can take root even deeper. Please pray for us!

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Prayer Points

Officially, it is illegal to teach anyone under the age of 18 about the Christian faith. Those who share the Gospel with children and young people need courage and wisdom in their ministry.
Thousands of Christians are running Sunday Schools across China with little or no training. This often leaves the teachers exhausted and discouraged.
Across the country, there is a severe shortage of Scriptures and teaching materials suitable for children. This makes it hard for children and young people to understand Bible truths.
In 2004, Open Doors' teams aim to deliver 1,000,000 items of children's literature to Chinese house church networks. The co-workers ask for our prayers!
Christian children may face ridicule and scorn from unbelieving family members and also from their school teachers and peers. They need strength and courage to hold firm to their faith.

Praise points

Despite continuing restrictions, children's and youth ministry is a growing work amongst many house church networks.
Despite the lack of training and resources, God is raising up thousands of leaders to bring his Good News to the country's children.
In many regions, Sunday Schools are also expanding within the official 'Three Self Patriotic Movement' congregations.
There is a great openness to the Gospel among China's younger generations. The harvest is indeed plentiful!
Open Doors' co-workers have plans to train and resource thousands of children's workers in 2004.
Many observers fear that China's massive revival in recent years may be short-lived. One way to counter this threat is to establish young people in God's Word. They will then have the potential to be raised up as future leaders for China's churches.

You can strengthen and equip Christians across China by:

providing children's Bibles and Sunday School materials for them
taking Bibles to them
joining our 7-year China Prayer Campaign.

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Ministering to China's children

Long-term children's ministry training takes root