Southeast Asia – Kenya,Tanzania – China – From the Field – April 13, 2018
Our friend, Mark Bohde, will be doing his independent outreach from April 22-May 31. Meetings will be held with an increasing number in Southeast Asia. We need to be careful in not putting out too much information publicly as it could get around to governments that oppose the faith. You can get his reports from him at comabo [at] consolidated [dot] net
‘Voice of the Martyrs’ reports on the reality of persecution in Vietnam.
Scattered around Vietnam in secret meetings, believers risk all to follow Christ. For the most part, they remain unknown or even ignored by the Western world.
Are You a Christian or a Muslim?”
For most Americans, it may seem a simple question. But if the person asking the question is a gun-wielding member of al-Shabab (Arabic for “the Youth”), your answer could mean the difference between life and death.
Al-Shabab terrorists have asked the question in a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. They’ve gone door to door in a university dormitory asking students that question. And they’ve stopped buses in Somalia and asked every passenger the same question: Are you a Christian or a Muslim?
Muslims are allowed to leave, often after being ordered to recite a Quranic verse to “prove” they are really Muslim, and Christians are murdered.
Al-Shabab says they’re waging a “holy war” (jihad in Arabic) against enemies of Islam. Their goal is to completely eliminate Christians from Somalia. They’ve even circulated a list of suspected Christians; anyone whose name is on the list is executed immediately, if discovered.
Despite al-Shabab’s efforts, there are Christians in Somalia…from “Voice of the Martyrs”
While we are not doing outreach in Somalia, we are in Kenya with our sister churches. We want to remember them in our prayers. And next door to Kenya is Tanzania where brother Pastor Ebenezer Malyi is. He has spoken against the Muslims and their influence, which resulted in attempts on his life.
NEWS FROM CHINA(FROM 316now)
As a trade war with China looms, there is another warfare for the soul that is being waged.
“Christianity under new restrictions
…China has launched a nationwide effort to limit the practice of Christianity, some Christians are unsure about how best to honor their government while, at the same time, honor their God. For example,
anyone under the age of 18 is prohibited from attending worship services. How should parents respond?
Communist Party members are prohibited from attending worship. Why is that a problem for Christians? A sizable percentage of Communist Party members are Christians. Joining the Communist Party is often an important step toward career advancement. Until now, the Communist Party required little from members beyond annual dues. Now the Party insists members cannot be Christians. How should Party members who are Christians respond?
Small Christian groups
The government can more easily identify larger groups of Christians when they assemble for worship and other activities. As a result, Christians are meeting in small groups (10-12 people)…”
Online Bible sales banned
On April 5, the New York Times confirmed what my friend knew. “The Chinese government has banned online retailers from selling the Bible, moving in the wake of new rules to control the country’s burgeoning religious scene…. The move aligns with a longstanding effort to limit the influence of Christianity in China. Among China’s major religions — which include Buddhism, Taoism, Islam and folk beliefs — Christianity is the only one whose major holy text cannot be sold through normal commercial channels. The Bible is printed in China but legally available only at church bookstores.”
We in the CLC have not ignored China, the most populous nation on earth. But so far our attempts have not been successful. What follows is one attempt that did not bring forth fruit.
We have tried exploring China to share the King’s message there.
Dateline: July 18-23, 1995 -The People’s Republic of China, Yunnan Province
At the time Mark Bohde was our CLC missionary in northern Thailand three of us(Pastor Lawrence Bade, Gus Falkenberg, and I) decided to see how things were going, and to investigate if teaching English in China would be a way to have Christians go there and witness. Many individuals and groups were doing this.
The four of us flew over to Kunming, the capitol of Yunnan Province in China. We stayed two nights there. We investigated with the provincial government education committee the possibilities of teaching English in Wenshan prefecture. When we went to the government compound in Kunming they did not let us talk to them, only our translator was allowed. She was the English teacher from Wenshan that Mark met a year previous. She then reported to us what they said. It seemed like the typical bureaucratic red tape and did not offer to us much hope for progress. Regardless we set off for Wenshan on a 10+ hour trip up into the mountains. Putting our confidence in the Lord we met with, over a meal, the principal of the secondary school, a vice-principal, the party secretary for the school and another official. After some initial tentativeness on their part, they indicated their favor for some form of joint effort.
The previous year when Mark went to China his efforts were hampered because of party opposition when he was found to be a Christian. This time with our presence of four and the interest we expressed, we found no party opposition. Upon going to the secondary school to see it, we encountered the director of education. He asked why we didn’t come to him. He looked with favor on our effort. He invited us out that night to a social event. We showed ourselves one with them in jovial camaraderie. During our stay there we were also invited to a much larger meeting. This is one they set up. It seemed they were interested. While Gus and I were sick and could not go, Bade and Bohde carried the ball superbly. The mayor and other officials were there and gave wholehearted support to our effort. There were perhaps 40-50 people there. Mark said that the results were beyond his fondest hopes. And yet as things turned out we did not enter China.