Spring Festival

Posted on 13 January 2010.

Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, is the biggest annual celebration in China. In the weeks leading up to the holiday, everyone thoroughly spring-cleans their home, purchases lots of special delicacies to eat and gets lots of practice setting off the obligatory fire-crackers!

This is the most important time for people to travel home to their family. New clothes are often bought; red banners with messages of good luck are pasted on the front door of each home; and gifts of money are given in ‘hongbao' (small red envelopes). For many people the celebrations are a major highlight of their year.

This year's Spring Festival, which is celebrated according to the lunar calendar, falls on February 14th. So this month tens of millions of travellers will be making the journey back home. Although extra planes, trains and buses are put on over the holiday period, they are often booked out as soon as tickets are released. Airports, railway and bus stations are constantly teeming with even larger crowds than normal.

The travellers will include some young Christian believers, who may be planning to share their faith with other family members for the first time. They may well face objections and even ridicule from non-believing relatives. One of our co-workers recently told us of two very new believers from an almost unreached minority group and said, "They voiced some concern about the new year time when they will head back home and may be faced with some difficult questioning from friends and relatives. They are really on fire, so I'm sure they have what it takes, but they will need our prayer backing."

Some churches also organise special evangelistic outreaches over the new year period, as many people have an extended time off work and it is a quiet season for farmers.

Pray for safe travel for the many millions making journeys across China during this Spring Festival period. Remember particularly migrant workers for whom this may be the only chance in the year to see their spouse and child.

Pray for protection as firecrackers explode continually for several weeks in every city, town and village throughout the country. Every year there are stories of accidents and fires as people celebrate.

Pray for Christians who will be visiting non-believing relatives. Pray for God-given opportunities to share their faith and for the Holy Spirit to be powerfully at work. Remember particularly young Christians who plan to speak about their new-found faith for the first time. May the Lord's Hand be upon them.

Pray too for churches that are organising evangelistic outreaches over the Spring Festival period. Pray that as a result many people would come to know the Lord and put their trust in Him.