Recently, we were able to gather with a number of representatives from house churches in China and hear from several more. The communication with those who could not travel was not done through a Zoom link, but through handwritten letters that were also carried by hand to the location meeting. This in itself says a lot about how things in China have changed.
As they shared reports, there was a lot of reflection on the past six years. In 2018, the first significant new laws restricting unregistered churches came into effect. A little over a year later, Covid followed, and China was under severe Covid restrictions for the better part of three years. Digital surveillance skyrocketed and people were not allowed to travel, or even go to the store, without a green health code on their app. These restrictions have been lifted, but digital surveillance and laws against religious freedoms have remained.
The combination of stricter laws, stricter surveillance and Covid travel restrictions, has radically changed the way the house churches operated. But as house church leaders make up the balance of the past years, they testify of the faithfulness of God.
“The Covid years took us back to our first love,” commented one leader. “Perhaps we had become too much focussed on numbers and the sending out of missionaries at the expense of our inner work. Covid forced us to look inside. We had time to go deep and do more training.”
“The house churches have become real house churches ones again,” commented another. Many house church congregations had grown much to large to fit into a house. But stricter laws forced them back into homes and into small groups. This meant that suddenly far more leaders were needed to lead all these small gatherings. The leader tells how the house churches have wasted no time, and in the past years many more leaders, evangelists and missionaries have been trained as a result.
Even many government registered Three-Self churches are now gathering in homes. Many brothers and sisters have opened their homes despite the risks. And those risks are not imaginary. Even small house churches are raided. The normal members are often released after questioning, but the leaders can be kept in prison for a long time.
“The persecution makes our roots grow even deeper,” the church leader commented. “Before Covid our focus was to send out as many as possible. Covid stopped us in our tracks. But now we know depth is more important than numbers.”
Since borders have opened, the flood of missionaries leaving China is again gathering steam. One leader told about the hundreds of workers they have in 20 countries in the 10/40 window. Another church has people in 40 nations. Many are still being trained, with their training taking at least a year.
Also, within China the church keeps growing, and the leaders shared encouraging stories of God calling minority groups to Himself. Uyghurs being baptised, an Imam coming to Christ, groups of minority children following Jesus. Many make big sacrifices for the spreading of the gospel in China. “It is these sacrifices which lead to growth,” the church leader reminds us.
“Don’t worry about us.” he concludes. “We live close to the Lord. We have become mature. We will pass on the inheritance we have received.”
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