CHINA – after the earthquake

Not a Judgment from God, but a Transformation! ( 1 Peter 3:8)

 

WENCHUAN QUAKE: A quake of 7.8 on the Richter scale rocked Sichuan’s Wenchuan County on May 12, 208. Casualties exceeded 80,000 (some reported 200,000+ and most the soldiers dead were not reported) with some 29,000 reported missing or buried under rubbles.

 

Areas most affected areas were Wenchuan, Bei Chuan, Mian Zhu, Mianyang city, Deyang, Chengdu and Dujiang Yan where school buildings collapsed killing or injuring several thousands of students. Many schoolchildren perished in the earthquake. Not only must thousands of parents suddenly cope with the loss of a child, but many must cope with the loss of their only child.

China's population minister recently praised the one-child rule, which dates to 1979, saying it has prevented 400 million children from being born. We continue to pray for all the victims' families, especially the grieving parents. May they come to a personal knowledge of the Father who gave His only begotten Son for them.

 

The earthquake rescue effort turned out to be the largest mobilization of the Chinese military in recent times with nearly 130,000 soldiers involved. To express Christian love and concern, we praise God for His protection over Bro. Yin’s co-workers (more than 100 co-workers from different provinces) who went to assist in the Sichuan affected areas. They saw all houses collapsed along the roads. Tiredness overcame them as they had been distributing tents, rice, clothing and other essentials to the victims since May 5^th. The team had driven for 36 hours from Chendu to Beichuan because the collapse of the highway. Each trip was 4 to 5 days with only one driver. Praise the Lord! More than 1,100 tents housing 6,000 people were sent.

 

Even the house church members, although not really rich, managed to raise up more than 800;000 RMB for the relief project.

 

We thank God for the retreat we were able to have with the co-workers  in Chendu from June 22-23. Together, we prayed for the “Transformation of China” and now we feel there are more opportunities, more grace, more unity and more revelation from the Lord!

Now there are four new 24 hours Prayer towers set up at Chengdu, Chongqin, SZ and GZ.

 

There are thousands of temples destroyed by the May 5 earthquake. One of the biggest Buddhist temples worth RMB 300 million was totally destroyed. We proclaim the power of darkness be destroyed by the Light of the World so that the people of China will be set free to worship our Almighty God!

 

We thank God for the reports from Sichuan that there less than 200 Christian died, and more than 1,200 Christian were saved from the collapsed building with no one hurt. In fact, when the earthquake happened, the Christians were having a church service!

Amazingly, there two children jumped from the first floor with no injuries, and the building collapsed a few seconds later!

 

Christians from nearby churches in Chengdu, as well as from out of town got involved and many wore "Jesus Loves You" T-shirts while giving assistance in various locations but the soldiers forbid the Christians to give tracts. It was reported that two brothers were locked up for a few days!

 

Amidst the bad news we heard or read from TV or newspapers, churches from Sichuan have been calling us during these days, praising God for blessing them, and granting favour with the Chinese government. Because of this, they went out to do the relief work and preach the Gospel to the survivors. 80% to 90% of the survivors immediately accepted Jesus as their Saviour!

We thank GOD because Chinese Christian volunteers from more than 400 churches and relief teams from several organizations were able to assist in the care of the victims. They are planning to start a “Relief foundation” soon. Most of the fund will be raised from local churches in China. We have already started  sending 25 church planting  workers for 3 years to stay in Bei Chuan, Mao district, Du jiang Yan, Mian Zhu, An Xian, and Lia xian. This project may be completed by September because the army disallowed outsiders to stay.

Praise The Lord! In support of this project, RM50,000 has been raised from Malaysia, Taiwan and China for the house churches. This has been sent to Bro. Yin and his team in Chengdu. We encourage you to join us in supporting this plan with your prayers. As more information is received, we shall be sharing with you progressively.

 

 

Pastor David Chee

Pastor of CBC SS2 Chinese Congregation