The Church in China

For years, I've been watching, waiting and wondering about China.  I would read amazing things about the growth of the church in China - especially the underground "house churches."  It seemed reasonable to me that if the number of Christ-followers was growing so dramatically, there should begin to be some discernible impact on the communist system and culture of China.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an informative article on Rev. Bob Fu of ChinaAid.  He's the "pastor behind the scenes" in the recent confrontation between China and the US regarding Chen Guangcheng, the blind, human-rights lawyer who escaped house arrest and fled to the American embassy in Bejing.  Mary Kissel writes The news out of China these days is gripping, and there's no one more qualified to read the tea leaves than Bob Fu—who from a town in West Texas coordinates the most influential network of human-rights activists, underground Christians and freedom fighters in China.

Mr. Fu is adamant that Christianity is changing China for the better. "In 1949, according to the official figures, there were about 870,000 Christians in China," he says. "But today, even the conservative number by the government academic survey . . . has risen to 60 million." Mr. Fu thinks the true figure may be 80 million to 100 million. That's not a lot in a country of 1.3 billion, but it's growing fast. Christians "fill the gap" in civil society. "They were the first group driving the tractors and buses after the earthquake in Sichuan [in 2008]. They were the majority of the volunteers." 

It's an article well worth reading in full.  Click Here to do that.

For the data behind the graphic in this post, read "Was It Worth It?."  Found on p. 37 of Issue 52 of Christian History Magazine.  Click Here for a downloadable .pdf