China (MNN) — As restrictions in China increase and foreign work done alongside the Chinese Church becomes more challenging, China Partner is pivoting their ministry to effectively encourage Chinese leaders.
Eric Burklin with China Partner says, “We just need to stay faithful at this time… stay faithful and stay connected with our brothers and sisters inside China and with our pastoral leadership there.”
The Chinese church continues to do gospel work, and a pastor in Beijing told Burklin, when government restrictions close doors, God opens windows.
(Photo courtesy China Partner)
Burklin says the pastor’s message is, “We’re going to do whatever we can within the system to serve Christ and to stay faithful and reach as many people for Jesus Christ as we can.”
By reaching out to pastors and seminarians through WeChat and by text messaging, China Partner aims to stay involved with the Chinese Church through Key Leadership Engagement.
In Burklin’s regular communication with church leaders in China, he says one professor from a Wuhan seminary asks for continued prayer and appreciates the connection.
“Every time I text her,” Burklin says, “she just sends me back a smiley face, basically saying, ‘You know we are still doing what God has called us to do. I’m so grateful that you’re still doing what God has called you to do.’”
As China Partner waits to do direct ministry in China, the team will continue to visit in person as well.
Practically, visits to the brothers and sisters in China will now be very low-key.
(Photo courtesy China Partner)
Where China partner teams used to visit local churches, seminaries, and Bible schools, now they would need permission to meet. Burklin says the plan now is to go to cities and invite the leaders to visit hotels for conversations they will not be required to report.
Even with the crackdown on churches, Burklin says the government is trying to attract foreigners for visits on tourist visas, and China Partner is going to use that open door.
Please pray that this will continue and that the communist government leadership will not restrict this and will recognize the mutual need between China and the rest of the world.
Pray also that ministries will find creative ways to minister in China.
Please pray for government leadership in China and across the world.
Burklin now prays for Xi Jinping once a week and says, “It’s been a neat spiritual journey for me. So many of us have a negative reaction to powerful leaders whom we deem as evil or anti-Christian, and yet they’re men and women whom God has created in His image. So I have just started to pray for him, and I sense more of a love for him and a concern for his soul, rather than just reacting to his policy changes.”
Pray also for the China Partner team as they prepare for an upcoming trip to China to visit church leaders in Jiangxi, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.
Pray that God will give the team wisdom to respond well and ably while there, abiding by the law openly. Pray that the trip would be an encouragement to local church bodies, strengthening them to continue in the good work they are doing.
(Photo courtesy China Partner)
