Crackdown on Chinese minority believers
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Recent growth amongst the Uygur Church has been met with harsh opposition by the Chinese authorities. But, despite their suffering, the new converts ask Open Doors for help as they zealously share the Gospel with others.
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You can provide Bibles for Chinese Christians that will help them to reach others and to guard against the pernicious influence of cults.
Brother Xi and his family have not walked an easy road. Leaving the familiarity and comfort of home, Xi and his wife Wei - both Han Chinese - have chosen to re-settle in Xinjiang, the home of the Uygur minority group. Their desire is to share the Gospel with the Uygur people, and in recent months, they have begun to see the fruit of their labours. But it has not come without a price.
Through the Holy Spirit's work, many Uygurs have come to Christ over the last few months. Recently, the converts have been called to suffer for the Name of their Lord. One of the new believers has a relative who is an Islamic scholar. When he observed that his relative was meeting regularly with other Christians, his suspicions began to grow.
The crackdown begins
Not understanding the new converts' desire to meet for worship and Bible study, the Muslim relative wondered about their motives and shared his suspicions with the local police. Immediately, they dispatched a team of officers to arrest the whole group for questioning. One Christian family was arrested for allegedly having links with the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
The local authorities were concerned by the converts' changed behaviour. They conducted searches of the believers' homes, expecting to find political or terrorist information. The only things they found were Bibles and Scripture teaching cassettes.
Brother Xi arrested
While in custody, the Uygur believers were beaten and tortured. Through cruel interrogation techniques, the police extracted enough information from the believers to lead them to Brother Xi.
Xi was arrested and detained. He was deprived of sleep and interrogated for three days. His family were ordered to pay a fine of 5,000 Yuan (£340) to secure Xi's release. While they worked to get the money together, Xi made the most of his time behind bars. He shared the Good News and brought five of the prison guards to the Lord!
Since the arrests, Xi and the new believers have to be so careful. The police are constantly on the look-out for any Uygurs who mix with the converts. But, even through this period of intense persecution, the believers are still following Jesus and growing in their faith. And the Lord is adding to their number all the time. They now number over 100 believers in this one region.
Xi asks us to remember the believers in our prayers. They are zealous for evangelism, wanting to take the Gospel to other parts of Xinjiang. They ask us to supply them with books and tapes in their language to help them in their task.
You can strengthen and equip Christians across China by:
- providing Bibles for them
- taking Bibles to them
- joining our 7-year China Prayer Campaign.
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