Free Pastor Bike petition

[dolfan]

Free Pastor Bike
Sign the Petition Now!

Pastor Bike, as he is affectionately known, is considered to be one of the most outspoken evangelists in China. He is a bold believer willing to cross borders, hand out Christian literature and Bibles, share Christ with those under age 18 and lead thousands to Christ. All these actions are considered "illegal" in communist China.

On August 6, just two days before the Olympics began, Pastor Zhang "Bike" Mingxuan was arrested, along with his wife and a coworker.

In response to these arrests, The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association have launched a petition drive to free these three Christians and to let the Chinese government know that the world is aware that these Christians are being detained.

Together, our voice can make a difference. Please follow the link below to learn more, and please forward this email to your friends.

Go to FreePastorBike.com to sign the petition now.

[Pastor Gary]

I am really torn over this one...

I have a serious issue with non-Chinese citizens violating the laws of that country, even if they believe them to be unjust laws. I also have an issue with "smuggling" Bibles into China when China is the world's largest publisher of Bibles. China's Amity Press, the legal publisher of Bibles in China, is located near Nanjing and in the past 20 years they have printed and distributed 50,000,000 (fifty million!) Bibles that are the Chinese-language equivalent of the NIV.

They currently produce 600,000 Bibles annually, and are moving into a new, larger, (85,000 square meter) more modern printing facility that will allow them to increase production to one million Bibles monthly... in Atheist China. By 2010 China will legally produce 1/4 of the world's annual printing of Bibles.

[scooter]

When I saw Free and Bike and Pastor all in the same thread I was thinking something completly different.

[Full Quiver]

Me too Scooter.

[dolfan]

Ye Xiaowen, head of the State Bureau of Religious Affairs in China, and touter in chief of the Amity project, is a key player in the Falun Gong persecutions. He's a communist.

In an interview with Xinhua, he said

China's religions, as an important part of the social forces, may play an active role in helping build a harmonious society in the country if they are properly guided, a top official who is in charge of the country's religious affairs said here Friday.

Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, made the open remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the first ever in a decade since Ye took office in a country with more than 100 million faith followers.

"Religions are one of the social forces that are worth much attention in the country's social and economic construction," he said. "They can play an active yet unique role in many aspects."

Ye said the Chinese government will work to help the religions restrain their negative elements and promote their positive ones through enhancing management according to the law and adhering to the established practice of running religious affairs in an independent and self-support way.

"This is the fundamental basis on which that Chinese religions may exercise their roles," he said.

According to Ye, China's religion departments at various levels will work to help the religions to that end.

"Such work will also offer possibility to the government to undertake the religious work in a more creative manner, thus scoring more achievements," he said.
....

"all religions, including Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, can tap the positive elements in their tenets and teachings and combine them with China's current circumstances.

In other words, syncretize faith with communist policy if you're gonna have it at all. We have this man to trust as to the numbers of bibles printed and distributed by the Amity project.

[Pastor Gary]

Ye Xiaowen, head of the State Bureau of Religious Affairs in China, and touter in chief of the Amity project, is a key player in the Falun Gong persecutions. He's a communist.

In an interview with Xinhua, he said

China's religions, as an important part of the social forces, may play an active role in helping build a harmonious society in the country if they are properly guided, a top official who is in charge of the country's religious affairs said here Friday.

Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, made the open remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the first ever in a decade since Ye took office in a country with more than 100 million faith followers.

"Religions are one of the social forces that are worth much attention in the country's social and economic construction," he said. "They can play an active yet unique role in many aspects."

Ye said the Chinese government will work to help the religions restrain their negative elements and promote their positive ones through enhancing management according to the law and adhering to the established practice of running religious affairs in an independent and self-support way.

"This is the fundamental basis on which that Chinese religions may exercise their roles," he said.

According to Ye, China's religion departments at various levels will work to help the religions to that end.

"Such work will also offer possibility to the government to undertake the religious work in a more creative manner, thus scoring more achievements," he said.
....

"all religions, including Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, can tap the positive elements in their tenets and teachings and combine them with China's current circumstances.

In other words, syncretize faith with communist policy if you're gonna have it at all. We have this man to trust as to the numbers of bibles printed and distributed by the Amity project.

My stats came from a friend, Kathy Call, Executive Director of China Connection out of Pasadena California. Kathy travels extensively in China, speaks at Chinese Churches, and has visited both the old Amity printing facilities and the new one being built. My close friend, Dan Chun, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu also has visited China multiple times, has preached in Chinese Protestant Churches, and has bought a Chinese Bible in a bookstore on the streets of Beijing.

[dolfan]

Well, that's an education worth getting.

Why the big, wide, huge discrepancy between what they are reporting and what groups like China Aid report about bibles being distributed? I'd really like to know more. There's got to be more to it.

[Pastor Gary]

Well, that's an education worth getting.

Why the big, wide, huge discrepancy between what they are reporting and what groups like China Aid report about bibles being distributed? I'd really like to know more. There's got to be more to it.

Friend, I wish I had that answer. I don't think Kathy Call would object to me giving her email address: kathycall (at) juno (dot) com

She has probably answered questions like yours hundreds of times.

[pastorables]

Could there be an area of China that does persecute the Christian church? I have personal friends who went there a few years back for adoption. While there they were secretly taken to a hidden location to worship with other Christians. I will say very little about the location to protect those involved, but I do trust my friends on this. Their descriptions are very vivid.

They shared how 40 or 50 were worshipping in a hidden, cramped space. They didn't know the language, but they did recognize the tune to Amazing Grace.

Thoughts?

pa

[dolfan]

It is beyond question that China has a burgeoning church, vibrant and growing and alive and well. But, it is also a persecuted one, hence the need to hide to worship together.

My head-scratching is over these reports of persecution based on bible distribution (i.e., Pastor Bike) and a report I am totally ready to accept about these friends of Pastor Gary's who saw basically a bookstore selling bibles that are, by all accounts, dependable and not communist-edited versions that serve the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. That gap, that discrepancy, is important because of what PG pointed out: smuggling in bibles and breaking a foreign nation's laws.

Look, if it is true that bibles are more or less freely available in China (and I mean dependable ones, not state sanctioned ones that are translated to meet social-engineering ends), then it seems that smuggling them is not only unnecessary, but actually making things worse for indigenous believers. That is a theory, though, that I've never heard expressed regarding China.

So, what's the truth? Is China home to a church that depends on smuggled bibles and underground tactics to have them and use them to thrive? Or, is China home to a church that, although discouraged and scourged, can at least get Bibles without much trouble? I think that difference matters in terms of mission work to China.

[pastorables]

Pastor Bike Mingxuan and Wife Released from Detention but Prohibited from Returning to Beijing
by Staff
September 5, 2008


HENEN, China, (christiansunite.com) -- CAA has learned that House Church President Bike Zhang Mingxuan and his wife were released by PSB officials on August 29. In a direct phone call from pastor Bike to CAA President Bob Fu, Pastor Bike described the conditions and treatment since his detainment on August 6 of this year.

Zhang and his wife were on forced vacation for the past three weeks, and were forced to stay at four different resort locations throughout their detention. Zhang and his wife were accompanied by 15-16 Government officials, including high ranking PSB and RAB leaders including the head of the RAB of Henan Province.

Bob Fu was able to speak with Zhang's wife who was in excellent spirits. Mr. Fu shared with the couple that since their detention a petition to have them freed has been created and signed by over 50,000 people. Zhang and his wife were both excited and thankful to hear of the response from so many caring individuals.

Despite the circumstances of his captivity, Pastor Bike has been actively evangelizing and advocating the role of the House church to his captors since his detainment. Bike and his wife were told they were prohibited from returning to Beijing until the end of the Paralympics September 16.

CAA is thankful for the release of Zhang and his wife and for the thousands of supporters who took time to sign the petition. While Zhang and his wife have been treated well by Chinese authorities during their detention, the same can not be said of countless other individuals who continue to suffer at the hands of CPC officials who continue to prohibit the growth of true religious freedom within China. CAA plans to print and deliver the 50,000 signature petition to the Chinese Embassy in Washington , D.C. within the week.

[paul]

It is beyond question that China has a burgeoning church, vibrant and growing and alive and well. But, it is also a persecuted one, hence the need to hide to worship together.

My head-scratching is over these reports of persecution based on bible distribution (i.e., Pastor Bike) and a report I am totally ready to accept about these friends of Pastor Gary's who saw basically a bookstore selling bibles that are, by all accounts, dependable and not communist-edited versions that serve the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. That gap, that discrepancy, is important because of what PG pointed out: smuggling in bibles and breaking a foreign nation's laws.

Look, if it is true that bibles are more or less freely available in China (and I mean dependable ones, not state sanctioned ones that are translated to meet social-engineering ends), then it seems that smuggling them is not only unnecessary, but actually making things worse for indigenous believers. That is a theory, though, that I've never heard expressed regarding China.

So, what's the truth? Is China home to a church that depends on smuggled bibles and underground tactics to have them and use them to thrive? Or, is China home to a church that, although discouraged and scourged, can at least get Bibles without much trouble? I think that difference matters in terms of mission work to China.

there arre basically two different types of christian churches in China ( not referring to denominations). The first is the recognized church in China which is referred to as the THREE SELF CHURCH. then the Underground Church.

The underground church is seeing the fastest growth rate with an extimated 20,000 converets daily. It is also a very heavely persecuted church. We have aquanitiences who have been inprisioned for several years. The churches are routinely raided by the police. they are deemed a threat because they are unregistered, and not willing to come under the control of the Chineese government. The underground church is made up of mostly evangelical, charismatic and pentecostal groups.

The Three Self Church is for the most part what we would referr to as Old mainline organizations. It is registered by the government. And control;ed very much as to the teaching, and how it is administrated. This is done by the religious and cultural office. WMOF currently has one pastor in the Three Self that has been using our bible material completely oundercover.
There is a growing hunger in the Three Self Church by the youth. They arre seeking a greater role of religion in their daily lives. The three Self Church derives its name from 1. Self Supporting 2. Self governing ( within the guide lines of the religious department of China) and 3. Self propagating ( spelling) Outside witnessing and conversions are basically not allowed, or discouraged.

Although bibles are being printed by the millions, many of those in the underground are persecuted for having them. Also different areas have varing degrees of either slackness toward the underground church or hostility. Freedom of religion in China is still a myth.