I recently received the weekly prayer list from our church. Each week we pray for a different nation of the world. This particular week we were to pray for China.
“China is one of the most complicated countries in the world…” began the prayer item.
“That’s an understatement,” I said under my breath as I continued reading a description that was as confusing as it was enlightening.
How should we pray for a nation as complex as China?
Chengdu pastor Wang Yi answered this question in a message to his congregation that was translated in a recent Chinese Church Voices post.
On the occasion of his church’s annual month of prayer for the nation, Wang Yi took his congregation through the Ten Commandments. His purpose was not so much to teach them about God’s law as it was to provide a reference point for praying for their country. Wang linked each commandment to a specific issue in Chinese society requiring prayer.
Wang’s sermon provides a valuable guide to those wondering how to get their arms around “China” as they lift up the nation and its 1.4 billion inhabitants.
The abundant statistics Wang listed off in his message open a window into the lives of China’s people. Here are the hopes and dreams, the concerns and fears that are top of mind for hundreds of millions on any given day. These often sobering facts also provide insight into the challenges facing China’s leaders, suggesting how they might be lifted up in prayer as well.
Here are a few snapshots from Wang Yi’s wide-ranging survey of the issues facing China:
- 120 million people believe in the existence of gods, Buddha or ghosts, and 206 million believe in the existence of ancestral spirits.
- In the past three years family disputes have made up approximately 30% of all civil and commercial cases; of these more than 80% are divorce cases.
- Every year approximately 20 million babies are born and more than 13 million fetuses are aborted. Among Chinese women 20-29 years old, 62% have had an abortion.
- Homosexuals make up two to three percent of China’s population.
- Nationwide approximately 64.3 million households have had their land requisitioned or homes or building demolished as part of China’s ongoing building boom.
- In 2011 there were 593,000 cases of financial disputes, 526,000 cases of business contract disputes, and 22,000 cases involving foreign-related commercial and maritime businesses.
Yes, China is a complicated country. As Wang Yi says in the opening remarks of his message, “May the law of love call us to lament for the sins of our nation, and continually call our nation to rely on the precious blood of Christ.”
Brent Fulton
Brent Fulton is the founder of ChinaSource. Dr. Fulton served as the first president of ChinaSource until 2019. Prior to his service with ChinaSource, he served from 1995 to 2000 as the managing director of the Institute for Chinese Studies at Wheaton College. From 1987 to 1995 he served as founding …View Full Bio
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