Editor’s note: Fuyang is a city of about 9 million in eastern China. Church leaders in Fuyang say the last years have been difficult and filled with persecution, and need prayer for faithfulness as they continue to follow God in difficult times.
China Partnership: How can we pray for your church and your families?
Pray for Faithfulness
Song Xile: First, pray we keep learning, that we stay open to truth and don’t close ourselves off. Even in this pressure-filled city, theological equipping and learning are still necessary. Studying God’s word opens spiritual strength within us. Whatever form it takes, pastors need to keep learning and being equipped.
Second, pray for pastors’ faith and hope. When our church was going through such a hard time and I was sick, I genuinely considered leaving. But I could never bring myself to make that decision, because it never felt like God’s leading. That struggle revealed the real fear we have in the face of persecution. We don’t want to absorb so much pain. Pastors’ hearts need to be shepherded, too. The hope we need can only come from a deepening relationship with God. We need faith and hope to overcome the fear in our hearts.
Third, pray we remain faithful and can continue to shepherd believers. So many things scatter our attention: persecution, the needs of individual believers, economic pressure, marriage crises, all of it. Sometimes we lose hold of the power of the gospel, ministry’s most central thing. Pastors need prayer to keep coming back to the realization that God did not give us a calling to fight or wrestle with the government, but to shepherd Fuyang believers. That cannot be changed or covered.
Pray we remain faithful and can continue to shepherd believers. So many things scatter our attention.
Fourth, pray for wisdom in how we relate to the government and handle relational tension with officials. Though these years have given us insight, it’s still not enough. When we face those who persecute us, it’s really hard not to harbor anger and resentment. We need calm, Spirit-given wisdom. How do we find a way forward in an environment that seems impossible? The specific wisdom for that must come from God’s leading. We do not need to fight head-on, but we also don’t need to passively let them dictate everything. What is the balance? We need spiritual wisdom, so our hearts aren’t bound up in bitterness while we serve.
All these things are also tied to our families. Our wives especially bear a great deal of pressure. Our children have also struggled with tics and other psychological struggles. We entrust all these things to God; they are real and difficult.
Pray for Persecution
Zhang Ping: Pray for our church as we face persecution. It also seems government officials genuinely misunderstand our church and faith. Pray that, through all this, we would be able to truly explain what we believe and why we believe in Jesus in a way that clears up misunderstanding. Officials don’t seem to understand what faith really is. I hope they can come to know we simply believe in Jesus, who bore our sins to redeem us and save us from wrongdoing. Pray that, as we come before officials and the watching world, we might truly be a light, a city on a hill, so others would more clearly know our faith.
Government officials genuinely misunderstand our church and faith. Pray that, through all this, we would be able to truly explain what we believe and why we believe in Jesus.
As for my own family, my son is grown and will soon be wanting to get married. Economic realities come with that. Second, there’s ministry itself. If we can’t meet our financial needs, that has an impact; and if faith isn’t growing and relationships aren’t being shepherded well, that also has an impact. If families are truly united behind the ministry and are being pastored, service goes much better.
Pray for Sound Doctrine
Hu Laiyang: Pray for our faith community to put into practice the sound doctrine and teaching we have received. May we live by it, build our families by it, and raise our children by it. May all our church members have a fervent, lived-out faith. Pray that God will guard the next generation’s bodies and souls. May he open doors for them.
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Pray for God to give ever-growing faith and faithfulness to our pastors and their families. May they come and serve God. Pray for government and law enforcement officers here in Fuyang. As we intercede for them, may God turn their hearts.
Finally, I’m grateful for my wife. She carries so much at home: keeping the home, watching and waiting, all the daily managing. She also has some physical weaknesses – please pray for her.
Pray for Unity
Wu Huizhi: First, pray for the unity of the church. Although we have had outside pressure, we have been very united. In the past I’ve been through church splits and tensions, so I ask God to continue guarding our church’s unity.
Second, pray for those whose hearts may have been wounded under sustained pressure. Many brothers and sisters struggle with depression. That may partly be “urban sickness,” a by-product of city life – and it may partly be caused by ongoing tension with the government. Pray for the hearts of these Christians.
Third, pray for believers in public employment, working in schools or civil service. Their situation is particularly difficult. In recent years, they have had lots of government scrutiny: they are called in for regular talks, and might lose promotion opportunities, benefits, and so on. Because of that, some believers have a somewhat distant relationship with the church: they’re not fully in or out. May God have special mercy on them and give them strong hearts.
Pray for those whose hearts may have been wounded under sustained pressure.
Fourth, pray for the children as they learn. It’s really hard for them, especially with such a long stretch of online classes. Sometimes I feel hopeless. Ask God to guard the hearts of teachers and students.
As for my family, one of my children went through a serious illness in the midst of this, which was basically a psychological response to all the stress. Now that child is essentially recovered. However, we don’t know what education environment to put them in now. All my children have been home with my wife for many months. Pray for her, because she carries much of what needs doing at home, in addition to homeschooling our children. Her personal pressure is great. There are times when her heart is heavily burdened, and she asks, “Why are we living this way? Why?” Pray for her.
Song Xile, Hu Laiyang, Zhang Ping, Wu Huizhi, and Tan Jianli are pseudonyms for house church elders and deacons in Fuyang.
Pray for Fuyang Christians to persevere and remain steadfast in trying times.
