China has banned all Christian-related activities in the country. Government officials have been implementing various edicts to prevent Christians from practicing their faith.
In Wenzhou, an industrial city in Zhejiang province, authorities outlawed Sunday School to restrict the spreading of Christian values. The city is known as “China’s Jerusalem” for its growing Christian population. Officials have been hard pressed at curbing the faith’s influence in Wenzhou.
Chen, a Christian mother in Wenzhou said, “Faith comes first, grades come second.”
Christian parents, however, are determined to let their children learn about Christianity.
Sunday school may be outlawed, but Christian leaders have devised clever ways on how to spread the Good News. Children are brought to private homes for their religious lessons, Sunday schools are done on Saturdays instead and are billed as daycare.
The Communist Party has come up with ways to remove Christianity from its society. Government authorities have required churches to install surveillance cameras for “anti-terrorism and security purposes.”
Chen, a Christian mother in Wenzhou said, “Faith comes first, grades come second.” She’s one of the wealthy Christians living in the city who prioritizes Bible classes for her children. With state education failing to equip Chinese children with classes important to a Christian family, parents have taken it upon themselves to provide the proper lessons.
In an interview with Reuters, Chen said, “Drugs, porn, gambling and violence are serious problems among today’s youth and video games are extremely seductive.” She added that, “We cannot be by his side all the time, so only through faith can we make him understand (the right thing to do).”
Despite moves to curb Christianity, Chinese Christians have been growing in the last forty years. Official statistics said there are 30 million Christians in the country’s 1.41 billion population. An independent census, however, claimed that the number of Chinese Christians is about 60 million.
The Communist Party has come up with ways to remove Christianity from its society. Government authorities have required churches to install surveillance cameras for “anti-terrorism and security purposes.”
Another campaign removed about 360 crosses and demolished a church. Recently, officials instructed families to replace images of Jesus with President Xi Jinping’s, reports South China Morning Post.
Believers continue to endure and remain strong in their faith. There are many churches in Wenzhou, which are donated by local business owners.
“Wenzhou government does not let churches register, because there are way too many, so there are lots of house churches and it is tough for the government to manage them,” Zhao Gang, the minister at Wenzhou’s Church of the Rose-tinted Clouds said.
Sources:
Reuters
South China Morning Post