The Voice of the Martyrs (http://www.persecution.com/) recently reported that Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers in China evicted one of the more prominent house church leaders, Pastor Hua Huiqi, and his family from their home in Beijing, China. A number of sources have been reporting and commenting that the Chinese government has been cracking down on the Christian house-church movement members in China, likely in preparation for this summer's Olympics. Pastor Hua will remain in prison until well after the ending ceremonies.
The Chinese Church is estimated by some to be considerably more than 100 million. Officially, the Chinese government, which tracks "official" church registrations, acknowledges about 21 million but the house church movement is much larger. This persecuted church is also very evangelical and from those that are familiar with the leaders, is following a model very closely aligned with what is recorded in the book of Acts ("And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" Acts 2: 47)
I can't help but believe that this persecuted church in many ways has thrived because of the persecution. Watchman Nee is often credited as one of those that was responsible for planting the contemporary seed of Christianity in China before the Communist revolution in 1949. That seed has resulted in a harvest that likely has China with the largest number of true believers in any country (yes, that includes even the United States).
Jesus told us that we would be persecuted "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.... If they persecuted Me they will persecute you... for they do not know the One who sent Me." John 15:19-21
Church history has shown that the Body of Christ has always grown stronger under persecution while churches have fallen into mediocrity and even apostasy when they are embraced by the general community and the state.
While I don't pray for persecution in the US, I do pray for a strong, healthy and uncompromising church. I also pray for pastors that preach the Word of God and find every opportunity to reach out to a culture that is adrift, unaware and lost.
