Year of the Snake

Happy Chinese New Year – Year of the Snake

The Year Of Dragons

Happy Chinese New Year!

The Year of The Dragon

China’s Migrants and Ministry

I have recently read an interesting article about the number of internal migrant workers in the People’s Republic of China. In the article, “China’s Migrant Workers at Record High” (July 26, 2010), a Chinese government report estimates that there are 211 million migrant workers in China.

Read here about the millions who have left their homes to wander the nation in order to find gainful employment to better provide for their families.

Ministering to the nation’s migrant worker force could be a tremendous ministry platform for the sharing of Jesus Christ.

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Note: I took the above picture in 2008 through a fence surrounding a construction site in the town centre of a major city in Southwest China. The workers live, sleep, and eat on the construction site.

Pray for China – Qinghai Province

Pray for China – Qinghai Province (“Blue Sea”). Population: 5.1 million (Han, 54.5%; Tibetan, 21.9%; Hui, 15.9%; Tu, 3.9%). Christianity: 2.3% (Protestant – no report available). Other religions: Islam, 16%; Lamaistic Buddhism.

Qinghai’s industries include agriculture, hydropower, salt-chemical, and oil and gas.

Among the province’s natural resources are 30 salt lakes, 125 different minerals, natural gas, oil, and pasture lands.

Three great rivers – the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang (Mekong) Rivers – originate in Qinghai Province.

The level of house church activity in Qinghai is considered to be high.

“Father, as You have blessed the land of Qinghai with many salt lakes and a prosperous salt industry, I pray that believers in the Province will live their lives as Gospel ‘salt of the earth’ and that You will use them to penetrate, flavor, and influence their families and neighborhoods for Your glory and the expansion of Your Kingdom. I also pray that as the great Yangtze, Yellow, and Mekong Rivers originate in and flow from Qinghai Province, bringing life and nourishment to people, fields, and nations, that the Great Gospel of Jesus Christ will flow forth from Your church in Qinghai and bring eternal life to all who hear and believe on His Name.” (Matthew 6:13; Colossians 4:6; Psalm 98:8; Psalm 105:41; Isaiah 41:18; Isaiah 43:19; Acts 1:8; Revelation 21:1,2)

Pray for China – Yunnan Province

Pray for China – Yunnan Province (“Southern Clouds”). Population: 43+ million (Han, 68%; Tibetan, 20.6%; Tai, 7%; Hmong, 2%). Christianity: 5.3% (Protestant – no report). Other religions: Buddhism, animism, polytheism, Islam (1.5%).

Yunnan Province has the highest number of ethnic groups among all of China’s provinces. 25 of China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups live in Yunnan.

The level of house church activity in Yunnan is considered to be high.

Major industries include chemical, electronics, machinery, and tobacco.

“LORD of the Nations, my prayer is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be carried to the ethnic minority groups of Yunnan Province and that each one will hear, in their own heart language, the message of salvation that is found in Your Son. I praise You that multitudes from each of Yunnan’s 25 minority groups will be counted among the nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues who will gather before Your throne and ‘cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” ‘ for eternity.” (Genesis 12:1-3; Psalm 67:1-7; Isaiah 49:6c; Matthew 24:14; 28:18-20; Revelation 7:9,10)

Pray for China – Hainan Province

Pray for China – Hainan Province (“South Sea”). Population: 8 million (Han, 75.7%; Tai, 24%). Christianity: 4.8% (Protestant – 0.6%). Other religions: Buddhism, Daoism, polytheism.

Hainan is an island province that consists of more than 250 islands. It is often referred to as the “Hawaii” of China and is a favorite vacation site for Chinese from the Mainland.

Besides tourism, the major industries of Hainan include petrochemicals, electronics, and fishing.

“LORD, I pray that the inhabitants of Hainan, and all those who visit the islands for entertainment and pleasure purposes, will have the Gospel of Jesus Christ shared with them by Christ-followers who live and serve You in Hainan. I pray that many who hear will respond to the Gospel call and come to know You as their personal Savior. May the ‘islands be glad’ as Jesus Christ is lifted up and may a ‘new song’ of praise rise from the ‘islands and those who dwell on them’ as many enter Your Kingdom.” (Psalm 97:1; Isaiah 42:10)

Pray for China – Guizhou Province

Pray for China – Guizhou Province (“Valuable Province”). Population: 37 million (Han, 67.4%: Hmong/Mien, 18.5%; Tai, 11%; Tibetan, 2.7%). Christianity: 3.9% (Protestant – 1.4%). Other religions: Buddhism mixed with polytheism and animism.

Guizhou’s major industries are machinery, steel production, chemicals, and agricultural products (rice, wheat, and herbs).

Guizhou Province is very isolated and mountainous, and is one of China’s poorest provinces.

The level of house church activity in Guizhou Province is considered to be medium.

“Father, though the Province of Guizhou is one of the poorest provinces in the nation of China, the people – the boys and girls, the men and women, rich and poor, educated and illiterate – in the villages, cities, and suburbs of Guizhou are valuable in Your sight. You paid the greatest price – the life of Your dear Son, Jesus Christ – to purchase and make their salvation, through faith, possible. My prayer is that the Gospel will be carried to and proclaimed among the people of Guizhou and that many will come to know You as their personal Savior and Lord and the spiritual riches that are theirs in Christ.” (Matthew 10:31; 12:12; Acts 20:28c; I Corinthians 6:20a; Ephesians 1:7; 3:8b)

Pray for China – Guangdong Province

Pray for China – Guangdong Province (“Eastern Expanse”). Population: estimates range from 78 – 82 million (Han, 98%). Christianity: 1.4% (Protestant – 0.8%).

Guangdong’s major industries include agricultural (food) products, clothing, household appliances, and textiles.

Shenzhen, a special economic zone between Guangdong and Hong Kong, has grown from a population of 30,000 in 1980 to more than 3 million today.

“Father, as millions of migrant workers from China’s interior, more rural, provinces flood the eastern, more prosperous provinces, of which Guangdong is a leader, in search of employment, I pray that You will provide these men and women with physical safety and gainful employment as they seek to better provide for their families. I also pray that as these millions seek material and financial provision that You will use the believers and churches of Guangdong to reveal Yourself to them as the Provider of all of their spiritual needs, the greatest of which is salvation for the forgiveness of the sins through faith in Jesus Christ.”

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Please read this article entitled “China’s Migrant Workers at Record High.” In it, a Chinese government report is referred to that estimates that there are 211 million migrant workers in China.

Pray for China – Hunan Province

Pray for China – Hunan Province (“South of the Lake”). Population: 66 million(Han 95.7%). Christianity: 2.4% (Protestant – .o5%).

Hunan’s major industries include building material, electronics, and heavy machinery.  The province’s natural resources include fruit, rice (Hunan is one of China’s leading rice producers), and timber.

Chairman Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, was born in Hunan.

The level of house church activity in Hunan is described as medium.

“Lord of the Nations, as You placed Pharoah, Darius, Cyrus, and Pilate in places of authority for Your purposes on Earth, so You placed Mao Zedong in authority for the founding of the People’s Republic of China. I pray that You will continue receiving great glory in China as You draw masses of people to faith in Christ and as You do mighty work in and through the persecuted house church networks of China.” (Romans 13:1-4; Philippians 1:12-14)

Pray for China – Sichuan Province

Pray for China – Sichuan Province (“Four Streams”). Population: 88 million (Han, 95.4%). Christianity: 1.4% (Protestant – 0.6%). Other religions: Animism, Lamaistic Buddhism.

Sichuan is one of China’s most populous provinces, and because of its warm, fertile climate, is one of the country’s major agricultural “breadbaskets.”

The level of house church activity in Sichuan is described as medium.

A major earthquake occurred in Sichuan in May 2008, killing 69,000 people, injuring 374,000+, and displacing 15,ooo,ooo. The province is still recovering from that natural disaster.

“Lord of Comfort, I pray that You will work in through the lives of Sichuan believers and foreign Christian relief workers who continue to minister – in word and very practical ways – to the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. May those who have suffered loss of loved ones, displacement, and injury experience and come to know You as the God of grace, comfort, mercy, and salvation.” (II Corinthians 1:3-5 ; Romans 8:28)