Operation China - Day 9

Today one of the province's we are praying for is the province where our group spent most of our time. Jiangxi province in the city of Nanchang. Beautiful area, it was towards the end of December and the weather was much like Oklahomas at that time of the year. I found some pictures online of the area where we were at.

This is the school we visited


And this of course one of my favorite... The "Zu Qiu" field, Soccer field there at the school. I was really hoping to be able to play on it but the students were more interested in playing basketball than soccer.

Would you help us for pray Jiangxi province and the others? Prayer changes things, and when we pray God answers. Amen?

April 1

Jiangsu Province


GEOGRAPHY
Area 102,600 sq.km. Relatively prosperous, fertile coastal province west of Shanghai.
Population 73,866,000; 720 people/sq.km.
Capital Nanjing 3.38m. Other major cities: Xuzhou 1.83m; Wuxi 1.05m.

PEOPLES
Han Chinese – speaking Putonghua.

RELIGION
Muslim 0.2%. Christian 7.6%: House churches 5.1%, TSPM 1.5%, all Catholics 1%.

CHALLENGES FOR PRAYER
1) Church growth has been spectacular since 1980, with over one million associated with TSPM churches and many more with burgeoning house churches. Pray that no subterfuge or attack of the enemy of souls may succeed in hindering that growth.
2) Nanjing is an important centre for Christians – one of the most prestigious TSPM seminaries and the Amity Press are located here.

Jiangxi Province


GEOGRAPHY
Area 164,800 sq.km. South-central China.
Population 42,654,000; 259 people/sq.km.
Capital Nanchang 1.84m. Other major cities: Pingxiang 1.87m; Fuzhou 1.42m.

PEOPLES
Han Chinese – speaking Putonghua and Gan.

RELIGION
Christian 4.8%: House churches 3.4%, TSPM 0.9%, all Catholics 0.5%.

CHALLENGES FOR PRAYER
1) The Communist Long March began here – a march that ended with the political triumph for that ideology, but an immense disaster for China. The blight of that history still affects Jiangxi. Pray for the release of the province from all that opposes God.
2) There are some areas where Christians have multiplied, but many parts of the province are relatively under-evangelized.

Jilin Province


GEOGRAPHY
Area 187,000 sq.km. Part of former Manchuria, bordering on North Korea and Siberia.
Population 27,153,000; 145 people/sq.km.
Capital Changchun 2.95m. Other major cities: Jilin 1.77m; Gongzhuling 1.33m.

PEOPLES
Han Chinese 91.9%, speaking Putonghua.
Korean 4.9%.
Manchu 2.3%.
Hui 0.5%.
Mongolian 0.4%.

RELIGION
Many Koreans practice a mix of Buddhism and Shamanism. Muslim 0.5%. Christian 5.7%: House churches 4.1%, TSPM 0.9%, all Catholics 0.7%.

CHALLENGES FOR PRAYER
1) The Church is relatively strong with many registered and unregistered congregations. A large minority of the Christians are Koreans. Nearly a third of the 2.1m Koreans in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces are Christian. Praise God for this.
2) Changchun has a much lower percentage of Christians. Pray for churches to be multiplied.
3) The Chinese Korean Church has an unusual role to play for North Korea. The terrible plight of their kinsfolk in that repressed land has brought many famine and political victims to them. In the event that Communism collapses, these Christians will play a vital part in the healing and re-evangelization of North Korea.