Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Apr 07: China, People’s Republic, Fujian Province, Gansu Province, Guangdong Province
China
People's Republic of China
Asia
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Geography
Area: 9,573,000 sq kmThe third-largest state in the world, also containing the highest mountains and plateaus in the world. The climate and geography are extremely diverse, ranging from tropical in the south to sub-arctic in the north, from a highly industrialized and modern eastern seaboard to sparsely populated western deserts and mountain ranges. Hong Kong and Macau are integral parts of China, though their statistics are not included here; Taiwan’s status is debated. These three are handled separately.
Population: 1,330,584,783 Annual Growth: 0.63%
Capital: Beijing
Urbanites: 44.9%
HDI Rank: 92 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 516 (83% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese); local languages in the five Autonomous Regions. 15 regional mega-languages. There are an estimated 600 different spoken Han dialects, but one written language common to all Languages: 296 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Non-religious| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 105,382,315 | 7.92 | 2.7 |
| Evangelicals | 75,399,270 | 5.7 | 2.9 |
| Non-religious | 590,247,410 | 44.36 |
Answer to Prayer
The faith and commitment of Christians under what may have been the harshest and most widespread persecution of the Church in all history. Persecution and suffering refined the Church and shaped it to withstand successive waves of repression and government efforts to weaken or destroy it. God, powerfully working through the unwitting atheist rulers of China, cleared spiritual roadblocks for the advancement of Christianity through Mao Zedong; freed up the economy and gave more freedom to Christians through Deng; and, through Hu Jintao, God guided China to new levels of interconnectedness with the rest of the world, strengthening the link between the Chinese Church and the worldwide body of Christ.For an additional 8 Answers to Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of China.Fujian Province
China
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Challenge for Prayer
Fujian’s connection with Taiwan is ancient and profound. Around 80% of Taiwan’s population can trace their roots back to Fujian province. The Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia and even globally is heavily weighted toward peoples from Fujian – Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka and others. Business, family and traditional connections between Taiwan and Fujian enable much potential ministry. But these links are also at the root of the revival of Buddhism and Daoism in the area, as Taiwanese seek to restore or build temples and shrines in their ancestral areas. Over 20,000 have been restored or built without legal permission. Pray that the connections between Fujian and overseas Chinese might serve to extend the gospel.For an additional 2 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Fujian Province.Gansu Province
China
See Prayer Information
Challenge for Prayer
The least evangelized:a) The Dongxiang and Bonan are of mixed Mongolian background and are strongly Muslim. No one has ever sought to evangelize these isolated peoples – probably China’s least evangelized. There are a few dozen believers in each group. The Enger Yugur are related and have at least several dozen believers.
b) The Muslim Hui are numerous in the cities; the city of Linxia has only a handful of believers. Despite little outreach, there are a growing number of Hui believers scattered across China and a few small groups of believers. The Hui Bible was translated in 2009 and the NT is now in distribution.
c) Tibetan peoples are largely Lamaistic Buddhists and number 600,000. There is one Tibetan church. Four Tibetan peoples are indigenous to Gansu – the Jone and Saragh Yugur have small numbers of believers, but the Zhugqu and Boyu have none.
For an additional Challenge for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Gansu Province.Guangdong Province
China
See Prayer Information
Challenge for Prayer
This province has been economically booming for decades, and its people have a long tradition of being traders and entrepreneurs. Shenzen, its primary port, grew from a small fishing village to a metropolitan area of over 12 million people in the span of 25 years! Migrant labour traditionally fuelled Guangdong’s growth and wealth, with up to 30 million people from elsewhere working seasonally in the province. But with the rise of the economy in other parts of China, Guangdong’s factories are now short of workers. Rapid increases in trade and wealth, the high proportion of migrants, famously crooked local officials and historically powerful organized crime groups create an environment ripe for corruption, exploitation, crime, sexual immorality and drug abuse – all of which have rates higher here than nationally. Pray that such moral declension might be addressed; pray that the Holy Spirit would work in individuals and society for God-pleasing change.For an additional 3 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, orDVD-ROM.
