Tibetan Believers Fired, Placed Under House Arrest and Forced into Re-education Classes

It was Hudson Taylor who famously said that preaching the gospel to the Tibetans is like trying to rob a lion of her cubs. Fierce resistance is to be expected when you try. That has been the story of mission in Tibet since the very first attempts of doing missionary work in this area and it is still the story now.

There are two forces which interfere with the freedom of the Tibetans to hear the gospel. One is Tibetan Buddhism, which keeps people captive to fear. The gods and spirits must be pleased, the religious duties must be done, to be a Tibetan is to be a Buddhist, and any change of conviction is a betrayal not just of your religion, but also of your family and cultural identity. The response is often violent.

The other force is that of the communist government, which opposes missionary activity and is very concerned about the political stability of the region. Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader, and this erodes the loyalty the Communist party feels is due to them. They do not want the Tibetans to become Christians and transfer their loyalty to another spiritual entity out of their control. They want them to become good communists. They especially dislike foreigners or people from other Chinese provinces to interfere in Tibet by planting churches and telling people about Jesus.

Many attempts have been made throughout history to preach the gospel in Tibet and they were often successful up to a point. Many Tibetans find the gospel message appealing and want to follow Jesus. But building up a stable and viable church has proven very difficult. Whenever the church grew and became established, something would happen to undermine this. Buddhist monks would raid mission bases, destroying property and killing foreign missionaries. Groups of bandits would abduct people, rob them or chase them away. Sometimes the communist government would come and persecute the church so severely that it had to go deep underground.

Also, in recent Tibetan church history we can see this pattern. In the early 2000s, several missionaries from the East of China settled in a city on the borders of Tibet to start church planting work. It was not easy, but after about 15 years the church in that city had grown to 300, mostly young people. As they were young, they communicated online a lot. This caught the attention of the government. The believers were interrogated, intimidated and all the leaders and missionaries deported. A young church was left without guidance or encouragement and eventually fell apart and scattered.

New missionaries have now come and they try to pick up the pieces. They especially try to help the Tibetan believers who are reaching out to their fellow Tibetans. These believers often pay a high price. A missionary from East China gave several examples of how well-educated Tibetans with good jobs have been fired or placed under house arrest. They get regular visits from the police and in some cases are forced to attend re-education classes. One of them is no longer able to contact the missionary, and can receive no support either spiritually or financially.

Despite these difficulties the church is growing in Tibet. Many are interested in the gospel, especially students. But it is a church constantly under siege. Pray that the breakthroughs that are seen in some areas in this vast province will be sustained by God’s grace. May the church in Tibet be given a chance to take root and grow from a vulnerable sapling into a mighty tree.