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Randy Alcorn's Blog: china

Chinese Persecution: Still a Tragic Reality

WireFor the ten years since I wrote Safely Home, I’ve been regularly asked, “Isn’t persecution of Chinese Christians a thing of the past?” Yes, there are some good developments, including more Christian books being printed in China. I’m grateful for that. But despite the improvements in some areas, where persecution isn’t as bad as it once was, there are still many Chinese Christians who are persecuted.

Some Positive Change in China?

bound handsSince writing my novel Safely Home, which is set in China and involves religious persecution, I’ve received innumerable confirmations of the persecution of Chinese Christians. Those who live in China now and know the country from the inside know that persecution, in some places, is very severe, while in other places it is mild or almost nonexistent. At the same time, I've heard many sincere but naïve comments from American evangelicals who say, “There’s no longer any persecution of Christians in China.”

I addressed this issue in the foreword to Safely Home I added a couple ...

An Olympic Sized Question: Do Christians in China Still Suffer Persecution?

China OlympicsThe protests of China as host of the Olympics come from a wide variety of people from many countries, on a variety of issues, ranging from Tibet to supplying arms to the corrupt government of Sudan in its genocidal war on Darfur (see previous post), to religious liberty.

With the 2008 Olympics going on, it seems a good time to address what many people often ask me: whether Christians in China continue to suffer persecution. Often they’ve been told, by Christian leaders no less, that such persecution is a thing of the past.

Certainly, compared to earlier decades, religious ...

My Thoughts on the Beijing Olympics, and Darfur

Olympics Men's RelayI love the Olympics. Nanci and I were jumping and screaming yesterday when our American guys came from behind to win the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. An amazing race. Wow!

Sadly, last week China revoked the visa for Joey Cheek, Olympic gold-medalist and co-founder of Team Darfur, a coalition of 400 athletes from around the world speaking out about the atrocities in Darfur, Sudan. Team Darfur decathlete Chris Boyles' visa was also revoked last week. The Chinese government didn't give their reasons for denying or revoking visas.

Joey Cheek
Team Darfur's website explains the situation in Sudan: The current ...

World Evangelism Statistics, and Missions Giving

worldI'm not a big statistics guy, but sometimes statistics can be revealing.

The following statistics are from the book 2020 Vision, by Bill and Amy Stearns.

As a qualification on some of the stats, I realize that definitions of Christians vary, and someone's claim to come to Christ, or to be a Christian, does not mean they really are. (There is a plague of nominalism in our own country.) Still, this material is worth reading. I will follow these quotes with my own thoughts on investing in world evangelism.

My good friend Doug Nichols, founder and director of ...

Shut Up and Compete: Putting a Gag on Olympic Athletes

Beijing OlympicsI'll never forget hearing nearly seven years ago that China had been selected as the host country for the 2008 Olympics. Now the time has come.

I have very mixed feelings about the Beijing Olympics. I'm glad because it will put China under the greatest world scrutiny it's been under in modern times. Since China is extraordinarily image conscious, this may restrain the hand of persecution against believers. Whether or not it does, it will certainly result in the gospel being brought into China, because every Christian athlete, coach, trainer, and support personnel can bring in a ...

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