Pray4Yueyang

Beautiful Things

Rob — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:30:51 +0000

As you think about and pray for the people of Yueyang, please also consider how you might make a tangible impact on the lostness in this place.

The Heart of God — Are We There Yet?

Rob — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:02:55 +0000

“The command has been to “go,” but we have stayed — in body, gifts, prayer and influence.”

- Robert Savage

“Are We There Yet?”

Rob — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 02:08:29 +0000

Today, we can identify the people groups that remain untouched by the Gospel. For the first time, it is conceivable that all people groups can be reached in the coming years with a Gospel presence. According to IMB’s 2009 statistical data* there were 506,019 baptisms, 204,192 churches. Church membership overseas was at 10.7 million, and there were 24,650 new churches.

Yes, there is still a long way to go, but progress is being made every day.

Now is the time to also take a fresh look at the challenges ahead and be ready to finish the task. With 45,560 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, there is much work to be done.

Here’s a global snapshot of the work ahead of us:

4,743 people groups are not engaged at all with the Gospel
6,426 unreached people groups (those with less than 2 percent of people who profess to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ)
1.7 billion with little or no access to the Gospel
1.5 billion Muslims – 22 percent of the world’s population
950 million Hindus in the world
Christian witness among China cities less than 1 percent
3 percent evangelical believers among Ethiopia’s 82 million people
355 million in South America do not know Christ
Less than 1 percent Christian among more than 270 million living in the Central Asia region
650,000 Lezghi in the Causcasus Mountains fear evil spirits
97 percent of all Palestinians are Muslim
89 percent of North African and Middle Eastern people groups are unreached
311 people groups in India have no known evangelical believers
Only 1,600 believers among 1.6 million Muong of Northern Vietnam

A little overwhelming isn’t it?

The task is doable, but it will take all of us – our churches, our missionaries, our national partners, our Great Commission partners.

Are we there yet? Not quite. But we’re on our way.

Chinese fear aging process: Survey

Rob — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 05:41:44 +0000

(China Daily)People in China are among the most fearful of getting old, a new global survey suggests. According to Bupa, a British healthcare organization, which asked 12,262 people in 12 countries about their attitudes toward aging, 28 percent of the Chinese polled said they feel depressed when they think about getting old. About 30 percent of Chinese respondents said they worry about who will look after them in later years, while 91 percent agreed the government of the world’s most populous nation should improve care for the elderly. About one third of Chinese respondents – more than double the global average – said they have put money aside for retirement, while 46 percent have taken out insurance, the poll showed.

As China moves into the next couple of decades, it is entering uncharted territory. It is safe to say that the traditional system from China’s past of children caring for their elderly parents is rapidly eroding. Many feel the government is not prepared, nor adequately concerned, about the gravity of this social shift.

Please pray for Yueyang’s older citizens. Ask that men and women who are followers of Christ will step-up and help meet the needs of this recently neglected part of Chinese society. Pray that expressions of self-less and Christlike love will help draw men and women of all ages to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ!

“Red-collar” jobs most sought after in China

Rob — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 02:03:29 +0000

For nearly 20 years, white-collar jobs have been the most prized in China since the 1990s. However, times change and now more people are hoping to trade their white collars for red ones. So-called “red-collar” workers refer to civil servants in China. China has about 50 million civil servants now, and more people are planning to enter this class through public entrance examinations. Because of its stable income, security and the promise of promotions, more and more people are aspiring to be civil servants.

Often young professionals who are seeking civil servant jobs mistakenly believe that they cannot also pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ. Leaving them with a ‘cost counting’ mentality where they feel they must choose between having a career as a civil servant or having faith in Christ. While we don’t deny that radical obedience to Christ can often result in various levels of persecution in China, the reality is a bit more complex. There are many obedient followers of Christ who are also Chinese civil servants in China today.

Please pray that the gospel would be shared far and wide across Yueyang and that men and women at all levels of society and government would have an active and obedient faith in Christ!

Boat residents in Yueyang settle on land

Rob — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:30:29 +0000

Yueyang is located on the shore of China’s second largest lake, the Dongting Lake, and many aspects of life from ancient times till today are affected by this dominating geographical feature. In fact, the very name of the province Yueyang in located in, Hunan, literally means “south of the lake”. For those who live and work on the lake, life is not always wonderful. Recently, the government has been trying to persuade families that live on boats on the lake to move to the land in an effort to improve the lives of these residents who are among the most poor and the most vulnerable in northeast Hunan province.

(Xinhua) — Some 7,550 people living on boats in Hunan Province have recently been persuaded leave behind life on the lake and to live on the land.
Mr. Xiao, 36, moved his family from their fishing boat to a 75-square-meter apartment at the end of last year. “It’s the first warm winter we’ve ever spent. It’s like a dream,” Xiao said sitting beside an electric heater with his wife and son in the three-bedroom apartment in Yueyang County, Dongting Lake region.
“Before, we spent every day in an 8-square-meter houseboat for fishing. I thought I would live like this for the rest of my life,” Xiao said. The couple suffered serious rheumatism and schistosomiasis like many other fishing people in the region.
Dongting Lake, China’s second largest freshwater lake, has been home to thousands of fishing households unable to afford life on the land.
Many of them suffer waterborne diseases and are not able to enjoy social welfare services or preferential policies for farmers.
So far, about 7,550 people in 2,322 households of Yueyang, Yiyang and Changde cities in the Dongting Lake region have been relocated to apartments on land.

Please pray for the ‘grass roots’ people of Yueyang, those who are NOT caught up in the race to own the biggest apartment and the most expensive new car. Pray for those who struggle just to provide the basics for their families.

Pray For Hunan

Rob — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:06:35 +0000

Hunan Province is not the first place you’d think about when you hear about a terrorism attack. Stereotypically, we tend to think of a completely different part of the world for those types of headlines. However, as long as Satan reins in this fallen world, no place is immune from the murderous evil that lurks in the hearts of men.

Yesterday was a prime example as, it appears, someone decided to light a bus on fire in an attempt to kill and injure passengers traveling from the airport into Changsha, Hunan’s capital city.

There are more than 70 million people in Hunan, most with no hope of salvation and no opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel along with an invitation to respond. Yueyang is located in the northeast corner of Hunan Province and consists of about 5.5 million of Hunan’s 70 million strong population.

Please take a moment to pray that the gospel message would spread rapidly and effectively across the entire province, for the sake of the salvation of the Hunanese people and for the glory of God, who desires men to know Him!

(Xinhua, July 22, 2010) At least two people were killed and over ten injured when an airport shuttle bus in Changsha, capital city of central China’s Hunan Province, caught fire Wednesday, police said.

The bus caught fire near an expressway tollgate as it traveled from Changsha’s Huanghua International Airport to the city proper at about 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

The injured were rushed to a local hospital.

It is not known how many people were aboard the bus.

The front of the bus was completely destroyed and many parts of the cabin were burnt. The bus’s windows were shattered and glass shards lay scattered on the road, according to Xinhua reporters at the scene. The pungent smell of gasoline still lingered in the air hours after the blaze.

Police have cordoned off the area and tightened airport security, including by searching passengers boarding shuttle buses.

The cause of the fire is being investigated. But some witnesses told Xinhua they believe it was arson.

College grads looking to smaller cities for better lives

Rob — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 05:12:08 +0000

It’s that time of the year again, when university and college students are graduating and having to make decisions about where they are going to live and work. In Yueyang, this almost always means that the best and brightest pack up their things and head for the ‘greener pastures’ of China’s big urban areas (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou). According to recent surveys, that trend may be starting to change.

(Xinhua) According to Beijing Evening News, an online survey found that 86 percent of college graduates would like to work in second-tier cities. Responding to the question of what would make them “flee” first-tier big cities, some 67 percent put the blame squarely on excessive living costs. Other factors included cut-throat competition in employment, high pressure in work and life, and hukou issues. In another survey, targeting the happiness index of middle-income families, those living in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, displayed below average levels of happiness. Contributing factors included high housing prices, heavy workload, poor traffic situation, and less time with their families. Among those surveyed, about 67 percent believed they might be happier in smaller cities.

Please pray for the college graduates of Yueyang. Many are about to enter into the hopeless chase of materialism that China has embraced enthusiastically in the past couple of decades. Ask that many of these students would find real hope and real fulfillment that is only found in Christ – not money, power or influence!

April Pray4Yueyang Calendar

Rob — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:30:59 +0000

The April Prayer Calendar for the people of Yueyang, China is available for viewing and download. Please take a minute to download this month’s calendar and to print it out and post somewhere where you will be reminded daily to pray for the people of Yueyang!

As you pray;

Remember those who have yet to hear the Good News of Christ’s death and resurrection. Pray that obedient Christians will share this life changing news boldly and broadly!
Remember Christians worshiping in ‘underground’ or unregistered house churches. Pray that leaders of those churches will faithfully lead their fellowships to grow and multiply.
Pray that people of peace will be revealed during the month of April, advancing the breadth of the influence of the Gospel in Yueyang.

If keeping track of the Pray4Yueyang blog is not very convenient for you, and you’d prefer to receive prayer updates delivered to your Email inbox, you can subscribe by giving us your Email address (use the box on the right hand column of this blog’s main page.) If you have any questions, just ask.

Prayer makes a difference. Thanks for being involved!

Millions on the move in China for Lunar New Year

Rob — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:27:36 +0000

Train and bus stations overflowed and airports were packed Saturday as tens of millions of Chinese rushed home to be with their families for the start of the Lunar New Year holiday and the Year of the Tiger.

The annual holiday is the most important of the year in China, with families expected to welcome in the New Year at midnight Saturday with a roar of fireworks that will last for hours.

It is the only time in the year when China’s massive army of migrant workers, who work on building sites and in factories in major cities, get a chance to return home to see their families.

China calls the holiday the biggest annual movement of people in the world. The Ministry of Railways has estimated that 210 million passengers — more than Russia’s population — will ride the rails during the 40-day New Year travel season, up 10 percent from last year. The holiday officially lasts six days, but many workers take up to a month off.
Police around the country tightened security for the holiday period. A notice on the Web site of the Ministry of Public Security said police would increase checks on fireworks displays, lantern shows and temple fairs.

Last year, an illegal fireworks display at the headquarters of China’s state broadcaster in Beijing caused a massive fire at a newly built 44-story hotel. On Friday, three firefighters died while fighting a building fire triggered by fireworks in central Hunan province, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

The holiday period is an annual test of China’s overburdened transportation system. Tickets are difficult to buy, and this year authorities are cracking down on scalpers who hoard tickets to resell at higher prices. Passengers will have to show their identification cards when buying tickets for trains out of southern Guangdong province, home to tens of thousands of factories employing migrant labor.

China’s national meteorological bureau warned Saturday of possible traffic problems caused by rain in the south of China and snow in the north.

By SCOTT McDONALD (AP) http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jfoZqqQau5zICT9rp5LW-2O4fJ7AD9DR2LR80