Editor’s note: Wuhan pastors share how those of us outside of China can pray for them in this season of pressure and persecution. They said they want to see their people hold strong to their faith during a season of pressure and persecution. They also hope for their churches to develop a bigger heart for evangelism, and to be willing to share the gospel in new and more personal ways that are better fitting to this current era.
China Partnership: How can we pray for your churches and families?
Hold Onto Our Faith
Xu Yao: Pray for us to uphold our faith amidst persecution, and to be a good witness for the truth. The preaching of truth in Wuhan churches is weak. We need to rightly handle the word of truth, and bring people to God. When God’s word is clearly explained, his power and comfort will help the congregation persevere in their faith during persecution.
Second, pray we will uphold the Great Commission and share the gospel to save souls. “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint.” A church must have a vision – otherwise, what is the point of existing in society? Our church has become less active in evangelism, and this seems to be the case for many Wuhan churches. We’ve lost our zeal for the gospel, and our love for souls. May God have mercy.
Pray for us to uphold our faith amidst persecution, and to be a good witness for the truth.
Third, pray individual believers will build good relationships with God. When our relationship with God is strong, our relationships with others will also be healthy. So, please pray our church will develop a close, intimate relationship with God.
Finally, pray that God will bless our various ministries, whether missions, evangelism, or discipleship, so we can do them according to his will and for his glory.
Peaceful Gatherings
Ben: Pray for the church to have peaceful gatherings. We haven’t had to move as much as other churches, and have been using our current location for more than 10 years. Although we’ve been shut down and questioned before, the most recent incident was last year, when we were asked not to meet there. The community secretary knew what we were doing, but we all understood not to make it explicit. We hope the community will turn a blind eye and not interfere, although we’ve recently been warned again. So, pray for peaceful worship gatherings, and continued use of our location.
For my family, both my wife and I are in full-time ministry, and we often talk more about work and ministry than our relationship. A strong emotional bond between husband and wife is crucial, so pray for our relationship.
Pray for the church to have peaceful gatherings.
Also pray for our children’s growth. Both our children attend public schools – our older child is in college, and our younger child is in middle school. We pray they can be good witnesses in this “Babylonian” environment. Pray they will uphold their faith, resist the anti-God aspects of secular education, and embrace the common grace God provides.
Evangelism Among Loved Ones
Pastor Yan: After the pandemic, our church’s vision is to externally spread the gospel, and to internally build up lives. Of course, all of this depends on the work of the Holy Spirit. Our church has consistently had discipleship training and various theological studies. In terms of truth and knowledge, believers have the basic equipment. But living this out does not rely solely on knowledge. It requires faith, and the work of the Holy Spirit. So, we must rely on prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit working in the church. We thank God that, over the past couple of years, we can see him working.
Never miss a story
In the past, we relied on events for evangelism. But now, we focus on starting with family. Many of us have family members who are not believers, so we start with those around us, with our friends. This evangelism is different from before, when we held evangelistic meetings, and many people came to the church and built relationships with us. Now such opportunities are almost non-existent, or much smaller. Only as we are led by the Holy Spirit can we be motivated and enabled. The work of the gospel is not only by word of mouth, we ourselves are a testimony of the gospel. Our lives must also be built up in this process.
Recently, there’s been some information about the central government’s policies regarding religion, which specifically mentioned Wuhan Three-Self churches. Wuhan used to have about 84 permitted Three-Self churches. But starting this year, Wuhan’s official church quota is only 17. Of course, this doesn’t target house churches, because they aren’t even considering house churches. But in the overall faith landscape, there might be more brainwashing, more propaganda, and more surveillance.
The work of the gospel is not only by word of mouth, we ourselves are a testimony of the gospel.
Something troublesome about current surveillance is it is now done through the community. The economy isn’t good, and many people don’t have jobs. So the community is recruiting temporary staff, and giving them money to do community work. Starting this year, the religious affairs group can enforce the law and issue fines. A significant portion of those fines will be given to them as compensation. This could have a big impact on the church, and going forward, the problems might be even greater. So, we ask the Holy Spirit to lead and help the church. Especially when we face situations like this, may the church rely on the Lord, hold fast to faith, be strong and courageous, and not be weakened or scared away by the environment.
In this kind of environment, the church needs a lot [from me], and I have a lot of needs: marriage, family, education, and so on. The church doesn’t have many full-time staff, so ministry work is quite heavy. My health hasn’t been good the past few years, so I ask God to strengthen my body.
Also pray for my wife, who is still working outside. I hope she can join me soon, and both of us can work together full-time in the church.
A Heart to Share the Gospel
Pastor Fan: Pray for us to have consistent and healthy ministry in our home, with regular fellowship and study. We hope for a healthy, normal family life.
Also please pray for my daughter’s marriage, and for her family.
In this environment, when it’s difficult to share the gospel, families can influence other families, and can influence society. This is a good way to evangelize now.
As for the church, pray for student and university ministry, that God will lead us to win souls. Pray the whole church will have a heart for evangelism, that believers will be motivated to take action and share the gospel. Finally, pray God will give us wisdom to skillfully navigate the relationship between government and religion, and maintain the church without loss.
Families Influencing Families
Pastor Wong: Pray the church will raise up workers after his own heart. Pray for churches to raise up young people and provide good discipleship training, so church members will dedicate themselves to serving God.
Pray for the church to establish family worship and build up family ministry. In this environment, when it’s difficult to share the gospel, families can influence other families, and can influence society. This is a good way to evangelize now.
Pray for our family to have good family worship, for husband and wife to be united and continuously learn and grow. Pray for us to become witnesses and examples.
Xu Yao, Ben, Pastor, Yan, Pastor Fan, and Pastor Wong are pseudonyms for Chinese house church pastors in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Pray for Wuhan believers to have a heart for evangelism, and to hold fast amid the storms of persecution.
