Ministry Provides China's Persecuted Christians With Teaching Materials For Youth
by Allie Martin
April 2, 2004
(AgapePress) - An international ministry to the persecuted Church has a goal of providing one million pieces of Christian children's literature to China this year.Open Doors International will provide and help deliver the Christian teaching materials to house churches throughout China. Although the Communist Chinese government does not allow anyone under the age of 18 to receive Christian literature, Open Doors spokesman Jerry Dykstra says the demand for Christian material for children is at an all-time high.
"In the house churches, they're teaching the kids and they need resources. We have so many requests from all over China, especially in the countryside house churches, requesting these materials. And now we're planning to send out special materials for teenagers, too," Dykstra says.
China's communist government does not allow its so-called "official" churches to teach young people about Jesus, and of course, all unofficial church activity is outlawed. Anyone caught teaching Christianity to youth under 18 can face fines, beatings, imprisonment, torture and interrogation.
But Open Doors is committed to helping China's persecuted Christians raise young people in the faith. The ministry's spokesman says getting Christian materials into the hands of children in China will eventually have nationwide impact. "When they receive these materials, and they turn to Christ, it's going to affect the whole fabric of Chinese society for years to come," he says.
Dykstra says China's population includes 500 million youth, which represents nearly half of the country's entire population.
