2009 A.D. : China Burns (A few examples of miracles in China)
The people of China thirst for their God as deeply as the peoples of God's other lands!
When the Apostle Paul wished at one point to enter Asia and preach, he was restrained by the Holy Spirit. There is a certain time, it appears, for different areas of the globe to be reached with Christianity's message. And once reached, only vigilance and constant reteaching can maintain a nation's awareness of what Christianity stands for, and how precious it really is.
China is a large geographical nation - the 4th largest nation - but it hosts a gargantuan collection of humans. The nation with the planet's highest population is China. Isn't it about 1.35 billion men, women, and children?
And China's time seems to have come. It is on fire with the Holy Spirit, and the growth rate is amazing right now. There are numerous 'home churches' (small churches which meet at private homes) already, and the movement is growing. And these small churches are evangelizing. Some have 'Gospel Month', for instance, when the whole point is to go out and introduce new people to Christianity.
The Chinese people seem just be hungry for Jesus's message, and there are workers willing to spread it. That's an environment ripe for explosive growth. How explosive?
In about 1950 there were apparently about 700,000 Chinese Christians. Today in 2009, call it 60 years later if you want, some estimates have it as close to 50 million. It's hard to say, as it is growing rapidly, and many meet quietly in homes. It is illegal to meet in homes, and sometimes the authorities raid. There is a State approved Christian faith with church buildings that they can attend, but home church isn't allowed. Yet, Jesus commanded us to preach the good word to all nations, and a God command overrides a state command in importance, since God has more authority than any state composed of leaders who are, after all, just His created beings. Missionary work is basically forbidden there, though, for outsiders. So what can actually be done varies from place to place based on how the local authorities choose to enforce things. And by how the locals choose to treat this restriction.
But, the church grows by one means or another. Some 'official' Chinese estimates say there are about 15 million Catholics and Protestants. Some unofficial estimates by missionaries have it as closer to 50 to 80 million. Others believe the figure is in excess of 100 million. That's around 50 times as many Christians as China had in 1950.
What's more amazing is that the bulk of that growth since 1950 has taken place since the 1970's, when the Chinese government began lifting certain restrictions against Christianity. Warming relations with America and the West in general had a part to play in that. President Nixon's visits helped, it seems. Maybe among other things Christians should assess their Presidents based on how they affected Christianity, right? The Watergate tapes reveal a Nixon who can fall very short of ideal Christian behavior. You might even say that he was ruthless and underhanded towards his enemies. But God used him to open up some pretty important doors.
So, for easy math, let's say there are even 30 million Christians in China today - sort of an 'in between' number. That means Christianity has grown to around 40 times it's original numbers since the 1970's (say 40 years time) How many Christians would there be in China if that rate of growth continued for 40 more years? How many Chinese Christians might there be in 2050 A.D.?
The answer is about 1.2 Billion Christians. Maybe more. Nearly half of China would be Christian, since China would have presumably grown a lot by then in population.
This is obviously unlikely to happen. They will begin to run into the hard core adherants of some of the other religions in China - the Confucionists, the Bhuddists, the Thaoists, etc. Their zeal might cool. And Satan will work furiously to oppose the Chinese Christian church's expansion. But right now it's awesome! It has the possibility of being the largest recorded growth spurt that Christianity ever experienced....perhaps the largest that any religion ever experienced.
If China's Christian growth continues for even 20 more years, it will probably have the largest Christian population on Earth. Can this be happening? What is fueling it?
Hunger for the word, the burning fire of the Holy Spirit, and miracles. Many miracles. China has felt the fiery power of the Holy Spirit, and China burns!! Here's a little of what is happening, a few reports from different places that describe some of what the Chinese are doing and seeing:
In Henan, in the Xinyue district, 3 sisters spent a week evangelizing and in only that one week over 1,000 people repented and accepted Jesus. The reason for their success is that the people not only heard the words of life, but when the sisters touched them, a hot burning tingle filled their bodies - they felt the Holy Spirit.
At one point a man began to curse at them as they preached and worked. Yet as people urged them to shut the man up, the man fell dead.
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Another time women (there are a lot of female evangelists in China! It is said that they are effective in showing Chinese women about Christianity) were preaching out in the open when a Policemen saw them and pointed at them, yelling to other Policemen "Arrest them!!" But then it is said that he couldn't lower his arm. It was locked up. At the station, with the arm still locked up, he was asking people what they thought he could do. They said that he would need to find a Christian to pray for him. They found one, and when the man prayed, the arm became free. Some of the policemen converted.
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What was behind America getting into the Korean War? Was it normal human politics? Was it the fight between good and evil? Was it worth losing so many American lives back then in the 1950's, to try to assure freedoms in South Korea? After all, almost 170,000 Americans were killed, captured, or wounded there.
Well, each person will be their own judge of that, but......today there are around 17,000 South Korean missionaries inside of China according to some sources. Only the US has more. And when they walk around among the gathered Chinese in some churches, laying on hands, praying for faith, and preaching, it is reported that great portions of the church groups are seized by the Holy Spirit, experience the gifts of the Spirit, and the manifestations of the Spirit, and accept Jesus, becoming believers. Many go on to become a permanent part of the growing Chinese Christian church. Good job, Koreans!!
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In North China a man was healed by Christians during the Chinese Spring Festival from 31 years of being both deaf and mute. He was so grateful that he began to copy Chinese Bibles and pass them out to neighbors and acquaintances in his town, and he has continued in that. Now, many who knew him have become Christian as well.
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Among the Miao people in a certain village someone obtained a shortwave radio. They eventually began to listen regularly to Christian sermons. Some became saved, accepted Jesus, and left Bhuddism.
One day the sermon was about the importance of baptism,and they began to desire to be baptized, but their area was very dry, and didn't have a sufficient body of water. It seldom rained much.
They decided to have faith, dig deep holes, and pray for rain to fill them. The rains soon came, and the rain fell heavily. The holes were filled, and they used them to become baptized.
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In Guanxi are some of the Dong people. Two Dong men went away to Christian training. They were told they must quit smoking and drinking. They lasted three days, but then snuck away to smoke a cigarette. This made them violently ill, and they did not smoke or drink again.
After training, when they returned home, their families were impressed at their changed character, and they too became Christian.
These men were farmers, and the Christian farmers noticed that their crops seem to be larger year by year since they had turned to God. Then one year, a type of worm moved into their area, and began harming the crops greatly. But, the whole area noticed that while the fields were dead and brown where the worm was, there was no worm in the Christian fields, and they were green and growing well, even though they were near the other people's fields.
They asked these Christian farmers if they believed it was because of Jesus, and they answered 'Yes, they believed Jesus was protecting their fields.' So many more believed.
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Two Christian missionaries went to Eastern Yunnan near the border to preach to the Shui people. The Shui liked their stories, but did not want to change their beliefs.
One day a distraught father brought his daughter, who had terrible boils on her face. He asked if the missionaries would pray for her. Nothing happened when they prayed, so the father left. But, when that family awoke the next morning, these boils were gone. This news got around.
Before long a father came who had a son very sick with dysentery. He pleaded for prayer for healing. So they laid hands on the boy and he was prayed for. That night he could eat well. Soon, he was normal for the first time in a long time.
This news got around quickly also. Then many sick people came from near around and for many days in a row they prayed much for many different people. Even some lame people were healed and could walk again. People became very convinced of Jesus, and excited. Many were eager to learn and become Christian, and so a Church was built there.
And in yet another place, the name of Jesus was praised.
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More Chinese miracles are recounted at this website: www.born-again-christian.info/chinese.revival.miracles.htm
And of course this is only a drop in the bucket of the miracles they are seeing. China burns!