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Prayer Updates
AM-CCSM News
Please continue to lift up the short-term mercy team that is currently in China. The team members are serving with our China-based co-workers in three different projects. They are running a summer camp at a village school, organising some games and crafts for another large group of children from rural areas, and working in an orphanage.
Crackdown in Chongqing
Chongqing in western China is home to over 30 million people.
Not Enough Leaders
"Many of our practical needs... are not satisfied at official churches," said 38-year-old Jacob Sun, who now attends a house church.
Workers Protest
"Industrial unrest has been spreading through China's factories, with strikes breaking out in the south, east and north... Strikes have been rippling from factory to factory," according to the BBC.
Returning to China
The new academic year is about to begin in China and several of our co-workers have recently returned there after time in their home countries.
Caring for the Elderly
More than 12 percent of China's 1.3 billion people are now over the age of 60 and, as a result of China's one child policy, the percentage will continue to grow.
“China’s Ant Tribe”
"They sleep in boxy rooms crammed into dingy low-rises and spend hours commuting to work on crowded buses." They are the "struggling college graduates who swarm out of their cramped accommodations and head to work in the urban sprawl each morning." Reuters has described them as "China's ant tribe".
Meaningful Relationships
As two of our co-workers began their seventh year in China, they told us, "We still feel privileged to be where we have so many opportunities to share the Good News with those who have never heard. Our desire is for our time here to be spiritually profitable and that we would have meaningful relationships in order to share the wonderful news of Jesus."
Working Overseas
The number of Chinese citizens officially registered as working overseas had increased from 657,000 in 2006 to 740,000 by the end of 2008. The real figure, including those who have not registered, is quite possibly in the millions.
Inundated with Requests
"Some local churches in rural areas of our Zhejiang Zhuji City have started saying that the Lord will come before the Chinese New Year. Many young students have quit school. Married people have got divorced and quit work. Several hundred people are living together to pray and waiting to be caught up... They close themselves up and do not allow other preachers to go inside."