Operation China - Day 2

This is a picture of me and my brothers, Jared Kennedy and Jayson Evans, in the streets of Nanchang China. Their not really my brothers but I consider them to be. Nanchang is where we spend nine of our eleven days in China. We spend time with college students, just hanging out with them and building relationships. All the students were very nice, always happy, and asked tons of questions! It was Christmas time while we were there. They loved wearing santa claus hats, singing songs, and watching Jared dance around with antlers and a blinking red nose being Rudolph. haha

Today is day two of our Operation China. March 24 - April 5 were praying for specific prayer challenges in China. Today were focusing on the church in China. Here they are...

THE CHURCH IN CHINA
1) The Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) was instituted by 'patriotic' and often theologically liberal Christians with the strong encouragement of the Communist Party as the interface between the government and Church
a) The neutralization of all measures to impose unbiblical doctrines on the churches, limit evangelism, and force conformity to the dictates of the atheist government
b) Leaders who have compromised the faith and bowed to government pressure
c) The continued growth of the registered churches
d) Relationships between the TSPM churches and house churches
e) The future of the TSPM. Growth, despite its major flaws and weaknesses, has been astonishing

2) Leadership training is woefully deficient, and a crisis need
a) Faculty – often selected for their political correctness rather than for their walk with God
b) Students
c) Protection from interference

3) The Catholics were divided when the Marxists set up the Catholic Patriotic Association in 1957 with its own structure and hierarchy independent of the Vatican

4) The unregistered or house church networks are the heart of the true Church in China
a) Persecution is a present reality
b) Ongoing evangelistic outreach
c) Challenges to face:
d) The intellectual elite is largely urban
e) Leadership for the churches
f) The multiplication of heretical sects and doctrinal extremist groups
g) Spiritual unity has been furthered by recent persecution
h) Missions vision