(this is a 2019 update video on religion in China. I'll discuss the status of Christianity and other churches there, and what can be done to ease the persecution). The last half of 2018 saw rampant Christian persecution in China. I documented how the communist government was trying to harass Christians and decrease more and more religious freedoms they had previously enjoyed. The crackdown in late 2018 involved burning Bibles, demolishing both approved and unapproved churches, removing crosses, and detaining pastors and other church attendees for "suspicious" reasons. I'm especially interested in China since I have a friend that conducts Christian missionary work there. It's true too that there are many other persecution "hotspots" around the world like the middle-east and North Korea.

I talked to my Bible missionary friend again recently to discuss where things are in China as of January, 2019. He said that the trip to smuggle Bibles into China this coming March was very much in jeopardy. That "foreign visitors had every right to be concerned about their safety and ability to leave the country." This was apparent when I discovered recently that the U.S. state department had issued a travel warning to visiting China...that U.S. citizens could have problems moving about there and exiting the country.

In times past China has asserted broad powers to prohibit U.S. citizens from leaving China through the use of "exit bans," which could keep U.S. citizens in China for years. The party claims that this is primarily done for "investigative" reasons. However, U.S. citizens usually only become aware of this when they attempt to depart China. And, there is no way to determine how long the bans will last. Previously U.S. citizens under exit bans have been harassed and threatened. Of course it can even happen by sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government. My Bible missionary friend does indeed have reasons to be concerned!

Many believe that the Chinese Communist Party is cracking down on Christians to control access to the Western world. They want to "cut off the oxygen" of churches, by forcing non-Chinese Christian leaders to be deported for proselytizing. More and more they are stipulating that Chinese people and foreigners cannot attend churches together. If so, churches risk being closed and foreigners to be deported.
In 2015 Chinese officials starting using the term "sinicization," requiring Muslim, Buddhist, and Christian leaders to fuse their religions with Chinese socialist thought. As mentioned earlier, since mid-year 2018 we're seeing church closures, congregants detained, Bibles burned, and even students being forced to sign documents renouncing their faith. Also, the government is pushing more underground churches to join their approved registry. But, even registered churches are facing more and more scrutiny and even some of their church buildings demolished. President Xi Jinping appears to be cutting off the independence of churches. It has to be mentioned too that other Chinese people, including Muslims and Buddhists, have also faced widespread persecution and crackdowns.
So, what if anything can be done to help Chinese Christians, and to expose how the Communist Party is ripping apart religious freedom there? First, we need to spread the word in our U.S. churches about the crisis going on in China. Education of worshippers about the situation can hopefully join Christians together and provide one "loud voice" of protest. Second, Tell your congress people how you are very concerned about the religious oppression going on in China. Demand that they do more to speak out against it for all the religions there.
Third, try to support better national and international organizations whose missions are to help Christians around the world that being persecuted. "Open Doors USA" and the "Voice Of The Martyrs" are two organizations that report on persecution of Christians going on around the world. Their work has helped to lead to many countries adopting "religious-freedom laws." One example is the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, requiring the U.S. government to respond to religious rights abuses abroad.
Fourth, and perhaps the best option of all, is to pray for the Chinese Christians and other persecuted Christians around the world. Pray for their safety, to be always bold, to stand fast in their faith, and that governments will have a change of heart and allow religious freedoms to flourish. "The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church," is a Colorado Springs ministry that holds an annual prayer day for the persecuted Christians. This year the prayer date is Sunday, November 3rd.
Like many Christians in China, each year more than 150,000 Christians world-wide die for their faith. Others face discrimination, detainment, imprisonment, and beatings. Pray for the persecuted church in China and around the world.