Persecution

Xi Jinping Ramps Up Religious Persecution - National Review 
The National Review reports: "Over the past decade, rash optimism that China was finally moving past the era of former Communist dictator Mao Tse-tung’s influence has given way to president Xi Jinping’s reconsolidating his power. One of the major ways he’s done that: persecuting religious believers. [...] Chinese policy dictates that anyone holding religious activities outside of a church will be arrested. That means no church camps, no Bible studies, no youth groups, no orphanages, no Church-run health clinics, and since 2017, police have begun disrupting funerals for any faith, including native Taoists, Catholic News Agency reported."

Comment: It's very hard to grasp the scale of repression that is possible in China. Modern technology has created the tools for massive surveillance and enforcement of a police state that we in the West can scarcely imagine.  Our notions of privacy, personal rights and freedom of religion simply don't exist. Please join me in praying for the persecuted church in China, that they will endure persecution with perseverance, faith and the kind of love that wins over their oppressors.