China Update

Here's a portion of an email I sent to our intercessors as an update to our trip to China:

Dear Intercessors,

Sorry to take so long in getting you this final update. I feel like I have been in a coma since we returned last Friday, and wanted to process everything some more before sending this to you all.

I cannot thank you all enough for all your prayer covering while we were in Kenya and China. Especially in China as we experienced first hand the pressure and persecution the Chinese brothers and sisters live under every day of their lives! I am very glad I live in America!

I will have to be vague about the people and towns we traveled to while in China for obvious reasons. I do not want to jeopardize anyone or any work that is ongoing. But I can tell you God is moving in China! In spite of all the devil's tactics!

The day we landed in Beijing, we traveled to city #1 where we had the opportunity to have lunch with some university students that are on fire for God! For almost 3 hours we sat around a table in a local restaurant and ministered to those students on their giftings and callings. Like little birds they drew things out of me I didn't know I had…especially after all the flying we had done! They are so hunger for God, and some of them have already experienced some tremendous persecution. I have great encouragement and hope for China… their future leaders are sincerely seeking after God's heart!

We left there and traveled to city number 2 where we experienced first hand some of the pressures these house church leaders have to live under day after day. After checking into our hotel, we were attempting to meet with one leader who has hundreds of house churches under his network. But he is under such scrutiny, and we were convinced the hotel rooms were bugged so we ended up meeting him under a tree down by the river that ran close to the hotel we were staying in.

For 45 minutes to an hour we listened to Pastor Joseph (not his real name) as he shared of how God was growing the house churches in spite of the opposition from the government. But the biggest need they have now is discipleship materials that are not written with a western mindset. When he shared that with us, I repented again in my heart for the idea we have fostered in the U.S. that we are the last true guardians of the Christian faith! If anyone could be the guardians of the Christian faith it could very well be these Chinese pastors who will labor their entire lives with any recognition, honor or adequate monetary support; but they do it all in Jesus name and for His honor! If the Gospel goes to the whole world in our lifetime, it won't be because of the power or the pompousness of the U.S. church; it will be because of pastors like these house church pastors who have literally sacrificed everything to follow Him!

The next day we were scheduled to have lunch with Joseph and four other families whom satan has being attempting to bring division between. As we left the hotel, we noticed a blue van following us. We attempted to dodge them a few times, but when that didn't work we simply decided to go to another restaurant to keep from drawing attention to these other leaders.

At the restaurant, our translator Paul ordered something that looked like chicken stew. Basically it was a whole chicken cut up with a meat cleaver and scraped into a bowl of water. Every piece of the chicken. The first portion that was dipped out went to me and of all things…it was the chicken head! I do know it was a rooster!

It's all for the Gospel!

The goons followed us back to the hotel and almost all the way back to the airport before they finally dropped out. Just the pressure we felt, the heaviness that we experienced made me realize, we really cannot grasp the freedom we have here in the U.S.! I know you have heard it over and over; I have heard and even said it over and over that we must never take our freedom for granted! That day, I thanked God for allowing me to be born in the U.S.! But I also recommitted my life and my service to Him…no matter what it cost me! If I have this much freedom, I MUST use it lest it be take from me!

Just a final note on this post; the families that were having some division between them…God began the process of healing and they agreed to continue meeting together to seek God about what He would have them do together!

As many of you have heard me say so often; people are people wherever you go; the devil is the devil wherever you go; and JESUS WILL BE LORD WHEREVER YOU GO… if He can just find someone who will let Him be Lord! Evidently, our job was to simply get these families together…and Jesus did the rest!

More to come!