GlocalNet

I’ve been following this on the internet and think it’s critical to stay informed.  It’s as if the government in China tries to keep people and groups off balance - maybe that is their way of governing a billion people - either way, pray for your brothers in Christ. 

There are over 50 million Chinese who worship regularly in unregistered or “house” churches across China. This past weekend, Shouwang Church, a prominent 900‐member Protestant “house church” in Beijing, attempted to hold outdoor services, after it had been refused access to its own building (a building legally purchased by Shouwang for 4.1 million USD—the first time a house church has owned its own property). As a result, the church decided to worship outside on Sunday, 10 April. In response, the Chinese government arrested dozens in the street who attempted to worship outside and hundreds at home. As a result, 300+ global news outlets in multiple languages reported on the crisis including the New York Times and the Guardian (UK), as well as Fox News and Al Jazeera.
This memo has been developed by people across America who care desperately for China and seek a strong bilateral relationship between China and the United States. People like us recognize and respect that there are complex issues at play, and that we may not have all the information required. But we also understand that if China’s religious freedom progress should halt, it will have negative repercussions in the near‐ and long‐term for relations between our two countries.

Why should you care?
The players impacted by this situation include: 1.) the Chinese house church movement; 2.) the Chinese government; 3.) the U.S. government; 4.) the global church; and, 5.) the global public square (e.g., business, media, NGOs).
Chinese police officers question a foreign journalist near a building where leaders of Shouwang had told parishioners to gather. (AP/April 10)

Here’s the strategic significance of this crisis for each of these players:

1. Chinese church: For any individual believer, anywhere, it is a fundamental spiritual requirement for them to be in fellowship with other believers, especially on Sundays, the day of worship. If the house church movement doesn’t act with unity in response to this situation, it invites the opportunity for their Sunday meetings across China to be shut down too (and, potentially, be forced to worship in government‐approved religious organizations).

2. Chinese government: Cracking down on the house church movement will stimulate political motivations in a 50‐million strong spiritual movement, creating the potential for instability. A significant crackdown by the government also risks increased international attention and elevated anti‐China voices in America (especially among evangelical voters who comprise 26% of America’s electorate), as it moves into a Presidential election year.

3. U.S. government: If it ignores Chinese governmental actions, the U.S. government denies its identity and encourages instability in China, a country critical to our economic future. Speaking now and finding a way to practically discuss these tense issues with the Chinese government ensures that bigger problems with bigger consequences don’t result later.

4. Global church: For the global church, if it ignores Chinese governmental actions, it ignores the suffering of family members and takes for granted the gift of having a spiritual home to return to each Sunday, a place to worship. If the global church ignores Chinese governmental actions, it allows this initial act at China’s national‐level to escalate to the local‐level where reduced transparency results in greater harm to people. If this is how China treats a major church in its capital—a world‐class city and home to the 2008 Olympics—how will it treat the church behind closed doors in the countryside? We can have no expectation of better treatment.

5. Global public square (human rights, economic development, and investment): If our common global discourse ignores Chinese governmental actions, it encourages the violation of contract and property law, which is bad for ROI and therefore FDI.

Buses taking worshipers to a local detainment center (a school). All people have been released (Reuters/April 10)
Long‐term impact if each player doesn’t speak up:

1. From the house church perspective: The house church is subject to quiet arrests and detainment until it has no place to independently meet its spiritual requirements. In the name of avoiding collective action it invites selective action against individual churches until all are coerced to join government‐ approved religious organizations.

2. From a U.S. government perspective: Our two countries need each other but a lack of voice on this issue confirms to China that all it needs to care about is money and the economy. In saying nothing, the U.S. reveals a weakened and vulnerable moral authority worldwide because it does not stand up for its founding principles with China…which arguably happens to be the largest English‐speaking, Protestant Christian, and U.S. debt owning country in the world.

3. From a Chinese government perspective: China begins to fight an unwinnable war against believers of all faiths, spending millions, maybe billions, of dollars in forcing people to change how they practice their belief; instead of saving millions of dollars by educating those same people how to serve their communities and create a harmonious society. Seemingly, China makes this decision simply because it doesn’t know any better, seeing the house church movement as a threat instead of the opportunity it could be for the common good of all Chinese.

4. From a global church perspective: The church believes that if one member of the “Body” suffers, the whole “Body” suffers (1 Corinthians 12:26). If it can happen in China without rebuke, then why not in each of our own countries over time? Freedom is not free and requires prayer, compassion, and vigilance.

5. From a global public square perspective: If contract law is selective, then how can one feel assured regarding a return on investment? This precedent is not good for believers, and it’s not good for business. If it’s not good for either how can it be respectful to human development or dignity?
Here’s how you can act:
  Pray for wisdom within the house church movement, that they would exercise wisdom at this time, and specifically Shouwang church that it would have a legitimate home to meet in every Sunday. Also, pray for the Chinese government that they would have wisdom to bring about a peaceful resolution. Pray that the security and prosperity of the Chinese people would result from these developments occurring.
  Express your sympathies for Shouwang on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/prayforshouwang
  Send letters to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. addressed to President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China, expressing your sympathy for the church, asking for fairness according to normal commercial practices: Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Washington, D.C., 3505 International Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008
  Call your Governors, Congressional Representatives, and Senators and ask them to speak out about the issue.
  If you are in the Chinese or U.S. government, seek to inform your government’s position as best you can.
  If you are in the media, review the religion situation in China and investigate the causes of this incident and the state of religious life in China: government‐approved and private.
  Call your local Chamber of Commerce and ask that China uphold its commitments to Property Law.
  Forward this summary to those who you think would be interested in learning more about the situation.