A Proposal for a Day of Prayer for Persecuted Chinese House Churches

'Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 'Hebrews 12:28

'Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. ' Hebrews 13:3

“一二九“，看来是一个平常的日子，却成就了一个不平常的记号。从 2015 年 12.9 贵阳活石教案，到 2018 年 12.9 成都秋雨圣约教案，并其后在各地频繁发生的教案，表明了中国家庭教会所遭受的政府逼迫进入了更严酷的时期。众所周知，中国的掌权者正在倾举国之力，用各种手段，对家庭教会进行了全方位的逼迫：他们抓捕传道人、查抄教产、查封账户、高额罚款、关闭会堂、取缔教会；约谈信众、开除工作、封杀教会学校、打击在家教育。凡此种种，为的只是一个目的：要扑灭杜绝，一切不受共产党领导之教会的任何聚会和活动。

"December 9th (129)", it seems like an ordinary day, yet it has become an extraordinary marker. From the Guizhou living stone (Huoshi) Church case on December 9, 2015, to the Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church case on December 9, 2018, and the subsequent frequent crackdowns on house churches across the country, it indicates that the persecution of Chinese house churches by the government has entered a more severe period. As is well known, the Chinese authorities are using all means at their disposal, mobilizing the entire nation's power, to comprehensively persecute house churches: they arrest pastors, raid church properties, freeze bank accounts, impose hefty fines, shut down meeting places, ban churches; they summon believers for questioning, dismiss them from their jobs, shut down church schools, and suppress homeschooling. All these actions serve only one purpose: to extinguish and eradicate any gathering or activity of any church not led by the Communist Party.

在中国，每一天都可能成为某个家庭教会的“一二九”。当前，不仅有相当多的教会领袖和普通信徒受捆绑、入牢狱，更有众多弟兄姊妹的家庭生活，遭到停水停电停气、堵锁眼、扎轮胎、喷油漆以及跟踪、看守和逼迁等形式的骚扰破坏；他们同时面临着“煽动颠覆国家政权” 、”非法集会”、“利用邪教违法犯罪”、“非法经营”、“诈骗猥亵”、“寻衅滋事”、“偷越国境”和“扰乱社会秩序”等莫须有罪名的指控和处罚。‘

In China, any day could become a "129" for some house churches. Currently, not only are a considerable number of church leaders and ordinary believers bound and imprisoned, but many brothers and sisters' family lives are also subjected to harassment and sabotage in the forms of water, electricity, and gas cut-offs, blocked keyholes, punctured tires, spray-painted vandalism, as well as stalking, surveillance, and forced eviction. At the same time, they face accusations and punishments under fabricated charges such as "inciting subversion of state power," "illegal assembly," "using cults to violate laws and commit crimes," "illegal business operations," "fraud and molestation," "provoking trouble," "illegally crossing the national border," and "disrupting social order."

感谢主，众多的家庭教会即使面对这样的逼迫，却不将”一二九“仅仅视为“政教冲突”或者“宗教迫害”的记号，他们更将其看作是属灵争战的记号。”因我们并不是与属血气的争战，乃是与那些执政的，掌权的，管辖这幽暗世界的，以及天空属灵气的恶魔争战“（弗 6：12）。这记号传达了上帝对我们的试炼、激励和警醒。如果上帝定意让 “教难”成为“中华归主”的必要形式，那么，我们愿意拥抱“教难”，“在这弯曲悖谬的世代，作神无瑕疵的儿女。”（腓 2：15），因为在基督里，“如果我们和祂一同受苦，也必和祂一同得荣耀。(罗 8：17b)。

Thank God, many house churches, even in the face of such persecution, do not regard "129" merely as a sign of "political-religious conflict" or "religious persecution," but rather as a sign of spiritual warfare. 'For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. '(Ephesians 6:12). This sign conveys God's trials, encouragement, and vigilance to us. If God intends to make "persecution of the church" a necessary form of "China's return to the Lord," then we are willing to embrace "persecution of the church" and 'that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, '(Philippians 2:15), because in Christ, '...,provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. ' (Romans 8:17b).

感谢主！”一二九“之后，许多经历患难的中国家庭教会，因上帝的同在，信主的心更得坚固，甘心走上十字架的受苦道路。基督徒站在神公义与慈爱的立场上，一方面勇敢地抵挡政府逼迫教会的罪恶，另一方面却以善胜恶，遵循主的教导，”为那逼迫你们的祷告“（太 5：44），在中国这个充满了仇恨报复，以暴易暴的文化中，传讲上帝在基督里的恩惠福音、神与人和好的信息。

"Thanks be to the Lord!" After the "12.9" incident, many Chinese house churches that had experienced suffering were strengthened in their faith in the Lord by God's presence, and willingly embarked on the path of suffering on the cross. Standing on the ground of God's justice and love, Christians courageously resisted the government's sin of persecuting the church on the one hand, and on the other hand, overcame evil with good, following the Lord's teaching, "pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). In China, a culture filled with hatred, revenge, and violence begetting violence, they preached the gospel of God's grace in Christ and the message of reconciliation between God and man.

我们相信: ”一二九“既是中国家庭教会蒙难的记号，也是中国家庭教会蒙恩得荣耀的记号，在这一天里，我们要像《圣经》所言:“若一个肢体受苦，所有的肢体就一同受苦；若一个肢体得荣耀，所有的肢体就一同快乐”（林前 12:26）。因此，我们倡议世界各地的华人教会，把这一天，并其后的一周分别出来，作为“为受逼迫的中国家庭教会祷告日和祷告周”：

We believe: "129" is both a mark of suffering for Chinese house churches and a mark of grace and glory for Chinese house churches. On this day, we should, as the Bible says: "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together." (1 Corinthians 12:26). Therefore, we propose that Chinese churches around the world set apart this day and the following week as a "Day and Week of Prayer for the Persecuted House Churches in China":

1.  我们为甘愿牺牲，走信仰抗命道路，为主被囚的仆人们祷告: 愿他们从主得到能力，至死忠心，永不动摇。
2.  我们为默默忍耐，把生死交托给上帝的中国家庭教会祷告: 愿他们在患难中生忍耐，忍耐生老练，老练生盼望，盼望不至于落空。”因为凡从神生的，就胜过世界; 使我们胜了世界的，就是我们的信心“（约（壹）5：4）。
3.  我们为所有坚持信仰，不停止聚会的家庭教会祷告: 愿他们极力保守圣灵所赐合而为一的心，不再相互诋毁，而是彼此代祷，彼此帮扶，彼此相爱。
4.  我们为世界各地的教会领袖和信徒们祷告：愿他们认出正在受逼迫的中国家庭教会，是大公教会不可分隔的部分；正在受苦害的中国弟兄姊妹，是在基督里互相联络的肢体。
5.  我们迫切地为中国祷告：求上帝按着祂的心意赐恩中国，管教中国，更新中国；求上帝兴起的中国家庭教会和众信徒，无论得时不得时，将福音传遍中国的大地，因为我们相信耶稣的应许——“到我这里来的，我总不丢弃他”(约 6:37)。苦难多灾的中国啊，一定要在主的眷顾下获取新生!
6.  我们也为“在上掌权的”祷告，因为我们知道“王的心在耶和华手中，好像陇沟的水随意流转”(箴 21:1)，“父啊!赦免他们，因为他们所作的，他们不晓得”(路 23:34)。但愿神使他们“离开恶道，......不把所说的灾祸降与他们了”(拿 3:10)。
  1. We pray for the servants who are willing to sacrifice, take the path of faith and disobedience, and are imprisoned for the Lord: May they receive strength from the Lord, be faithful unto death, and never waver.
  2. We pray for the Chinese house churches that patiently endure and entrust life and death to God: May they produce perseverance in tribulation, perseverance produces character, character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint. 'For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. ' (1 John 5:4).
  3. We pray for all house churches that adhere to their faith and do not cease gathering: May they earnestly preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, no longer slander each other, but pray for each other, help each other, and love each other.
  4. We pray for church leaders and believers around the world: May they recognize that the persecuted Chinese house church is an inseparable part of the universal church; and that the suffering Chinese brothers and sisters are members of one body in Christ.
  5. We earnestly pray for China: May God grant grace to China, discipline China, and renew China according to His will; may God raise up the Chinese house church and all believers, in season and out of season, to spread the gospel throughout the land of China, because we believe in Jesus' promise—'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. '(John 6:37). Oh, China, suffering and disaster-ridden, you must be reborn under the Lord’s care!
  6. We also pray for "those in authority," because we know that "the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord" (Proverbs 21:1). "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”" (Luke 23:34). May God cause them to "turned from their evil way,God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it." (Jonah 3:10).

从“中国早晨五点钟”到“中国下午五点钟”，祷告已经更加广泛地成为中国家庭教会向上帝呼求的形式。我们呼吁世界各地的教会共同发起“一二九”---为受逼迫中国家庭教会祷告日和其后的祷告周活动，由此让我们一同来到三一上帝面前祷告，深知我们“得了不能震动的国”，就来感谢祂，愿意“按上帝所喜悦的，虔诚、敬畏的心”来敬拜、侍奉和祷告(来 12:28)。让我们在同一个时间，“记念被捆绑的人，好像与他们同受捆绑”;让我们在不同的地方，“记念遭苦害的人，想到自己也在肉身之内”(来 13:3)。

From "5AM in China" to "5PM in China", prayer has increasingly become the way Chinese house churches cry out to God. We appeal to churches worldwide to jointly initiate "129"--a Day of Prayer for Persecuted Chinese House Churches and a subsequent week of prayer. Through this, let us come together before the Triune God in prayer, knowing that we "have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken," and give thanks to Him, willing to "offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, " (Hebrews 12:28). Let us, at the same time, "Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body." (Hebrews 13:3).

我们求上帝祝福中华大地上为基督的名受逼迫的中国家庭教会，成为天国的大使、这个国家和⺠族的祝福，用耶稣基督的福音去唤醒同胞们“沉睡的心灵”。因为，上帝借着耶稣，“使万有与自己和好，无论是地上的、天上的，都借着他在十字架上所流的血促成了和平。”(⻄ 1.20)

We ask God to bless the Chinese house churches on the land of China that are persecuted for the name of Christ, to become ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven and blessings to this country and nation, and to use the gospel of Jesus Christ to awaken the "sleeping hearts" of our fellow countrymen. For, through Jesus, God "through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." (Colossians 1:20)

倡议 Proposer:

  • 美国秋雨圣工 负责人：陈彪牧师
  • 北美浸信会信友堂 负责人：洪予健牧师
  • 丰收华夏基督教会 负责人：张伯笠牧师
  • 美国中国福音会 负责人：赵享恩长老
  • 澳大利亚尼哥底母真理追寻会 负责人：张坦老师
  • EarlyRain Ministries, USA, Leader: Rev. Biao Chen
  • Faith Chinese North American Baptist Church,Canada, Leader: Rev. Yujian Hong
  • Harvest Chinese Christian Church, USA, Leader: Rev. Boli Zhang
  • China Ministries International, Leader: Elder Xiangen Zhao
  • Nicodemus Truth Seekers Fellowship, Australia, Leader: Tan Zhang

联署(成为共同发起人) Co-sign (become a co-sponsor):

方式：邮件签署(以教会或机构为单位签署，注明责任人， 不接受个人签署) 邮箱：earlyrainministry2020(at)gmail.com

Method: Signed by email (signed in the name of a church or institution, with the person in charge indicated; individual signatures are not accepted). Email: earlyrainministry2020(at)gmail.com

附 Appendix:

12.9 祷告日:以北京时间为准，每年 12 月 9 日 00:00 开始，次日 00:00 结束。各地教会（机构）根据时差，事先确定时段、环节和主题，24 小时不间断接力祷告。

12.9 Prayer Day: Based on Beijing time, starting at 00:00 on December 9th and ending at 00:00 the next day each year. Churches (organizations) in various locations will determine the time slots, segments, and themes in advance according to the time difference, and conduct 24-hour uninterrupted relay prayers.

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