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Home / Resources / Current News Stories / Revival - Chinese Style
November 19, 2009
by John M. Lindner, D.Miss.
Recently two stories have come to me highlighting the revivals that have occurred among China’s people. These stores are published in public venues, and you may have already read one or both of them. Even so, I felt compelled to share them with you. I have also added a section on Chinese Bible schools at the end, as well as several incidents of the continued saga of ongoing persecution. Jonathan Goforth of China  The first story appeared in Paul Hattaway’s Asian Harvest newsletter, and is an adaptation from his latest book in the “Fire and Blood” series, Henan: The Galilee of China. And this is a further condensation of that article. Jonathan Goforth was the seventh of eleven children of a farm family in Ontario, Canada. After hearing a veteran missionary speak Jonathan committed his life to serve Christ as a missionary. He met Rosalind in 1885 and later that year asked her, “Will you join your life with mine for China? And will you give me your promise that always you will allow me to put my Lord and His work first, even before you?” She immediately replied, “Yes, I will always.” She then got the first taste of his commitment when he told her the money he otherwise would have spent on an engagement ring was instead used to purchase Christian literature. Home in Henan  Jonathan and Rosalind arrived in China and settled in northern Henan Province. Jonathan almost died in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Bandits hacked his back, neck and head with swords and was left barely clinging to life. Jonathan managed to escape, and the Goforths left China to recover from their ordeal. Jonathan returned to China a year later a changed man. Grieved by the lukewarm Christianity he had seen at home and abroad, he turned to his Bible for an answer, and was also impressed by the writings of Charles Finney. This led him to believe that revival would be poured out on any servants who confessed their sins, repented, and obeyed the Holy Spirit. The first expression of revival came in a meeting where Jonathan was speaking. In the middle of the message, the Holy Spirit prompted him to go and be reconciled with a Christian brother. At first Jonathan argued that it was the other man’s fault, but when he finally consented in his spirit to visit the man as soon as the meeting was over, the whole atmosphere of the meeting changed. People flocked to the altar with tearful confessions. Jonathan witnessed the same thing happen at every meeting in the coming months. In the next decade Jonathan preached to crowds of up to 25,000 often eight hours a day. Thousands of sinners experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and multitudes of Christians awakened to a more vital relationship with God. Heaven in Anyang  The Goforths arranged a series of revival meetings in Anyang, the town he had made his home. The power of God became manifest, and attendees rushed back to their villages to bring others to the event. On at least one occasion the crowd was so large it overflowed the large pavilion that had been constructed to host the meetings. Many were gripped with fear of God, confessed their sins, and experineced the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. Visitors told of experiencing the power of God as they drew near the city, and many people knelt on the street or in their rooms, confessing their sins and getting right with God. On the seventh evening, a missionary who had opposed Jonathan and had told others that reports of the meetings were fabricated, asked Jonathan to forgive him, and then turned and asked the crowd to forgive him. Some, feeling the meetings were becoming too intense, decided to quit the meetings and return home. But half way home the conviction of God caused them to turn around. Before the revival there were hardly 100 believers in Anyang, a city of 250,000; 1 in 2,500 were believers. Today, according to Hattaway, Anyang is a city of 2+ million with some 200,000 believers; nearly 1 in 10 are Christians!  In 1918 Jonathan led revival meetings among Chinese soldiers under the command of General Feng Yuxiang. In two weeks of meetings, 5,000 officers and soldiers consecrated themselves to Christ. Jonathan wrote: “As General Feng prayed, the tears rolled down his face until there was a pool where he knelt on the platform. While he was praying, officers all over the place were crying and confessing their sins.” Return to Canada Jonathan’s eyesight began to fail in the early 1930s. In 1934 Jonathan became totally blind and the Goforths returned to Canada. He went to his eternal reward two years later at the age of 76. Rosalind had been his faithful partner for nearly 50 years. They buried five of their eleven children on Chinese soil. Revival in Heilongjiang The second story I want to share with you comes from Dennis Balcombe’s newsletter, The Challenge of China, 2009 Issue 2.  Heilongjiang is located in the very northeast tip of China and borders Russia. Its capital, Harbin, is home to the world-famous ice sculptures and Grand Expo. The province covers 460,000 sq. km. (177,500 sq. mi.), slightly more area than all the New England states plus New York and Pennsylvania combined. Its population of nearly 39 million includes some one million believers. According to Balcombe, the current revival began when believers from Henan came to evangelize in 1991. For over a decade churches in Heilongjiang sent out gospel teams that brought over 100,000 souls into the kingdom. One brother served a church for eight years. During that time the church opened 168 house groups or meeting points. In January 2008 they decided to open a Bible school to train new workers. The first year 21 students showed up. How could the church feed and take care of them for a year with only the equivalent of $440 they had on hand? God touched people’s hearts, and they donated food and quilts. Nothing but Bible Another problem: They lacked teachers. The students did not know how to begin their study. 37 Someone suggested, “Let’s just study the Bible.” So they began reading the Bible, inviting the Holy Spirit to be their teacher. As they studied chapter by chapter, they decided to commit each chapter to memory. At first this was difficult; after one month they had made little progress. So they decided to fast and pray, believing Jesus’ words, “For mortals it is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). After fasting and prayer, they found they could memorize a chapter of the Bible in two days. And the more they memorized the faster they could memorize. Soon they were committing 15 to 20 chapters a day to memory. The students rose each day at 3:30 a.m. They studied, prayed and memorized Scriptures until 11:30 at night. They persevered despite the frigid temperatures of -35∘Celsus (-37∘F.). They then decided that only students who memorized the entire Bible would graduate. Amazingly, all graduated, even the 61-year-old man. “All have become a walking Bible, packed with the 66 books from Genesis to Revelation,” Balcombe said. You can learn more about Dennis Balcombe and Revival Chinese Ministries International at www.rcmi.ac Need for training This tremendous revival sharply increases the need for trained leaders. Many ministries have understood this and contribute to the training of Chinese pastors and workers. Christian Aid, a ministry I worked with for 25 years, is now assisting up to 139 Bible schools, including at least one in every province of China. Christian Aid’s China director, whom I will not name for security reasons, says these Bible schools fall into three classifications. The first of these are the officially recognized Bible schools operated by “three-self” churches. He says though they are registered with the government, they do include some true believers and ministers. A second or “middle ground” category of schools are registered with the government, but avoid Communist control over their teaching. Local officials tolerate their activities, though they sometimes impose restrictions. One such school in Hebei province trains 120 students and has added a fifth floor to their building to accommodate them all. A third classification of Bible schools is those of the underground churches, also called house churches. Most of the schools helped fall into this category, so details cannot be disclosed. Some schools offer one-year training, with eight months of classes and four months of field training. More advanced schools offer four years of training that includes one year of field training. Some schools also offer short-term training for leaders during holidays. Students are from tribal groups in some areas. In major cities they include college students and professionals. Teachers in these schools include those with masters or higher degrees, and some even come from overseas. Persecution continues But too much of a good thing seems threatening to the Chinese authorities. About 5,000 believers of the 50,000-member Linfen Christian Church met regularly at the Good News Cloth Shoes Factory in Linfen City, Fushan, for worship. Around 3 a.m. on September 13 a mob of about 400 in police uniforms stormed the factory where believers were sleeping and beat them with bricks, bats, bars, picks, and shovels. Many were treated at the local hospital, and the unconscious were admitted. Bulldozers finished destroying the complex. According to the China Aid Association, the attack was authorized by Beijing. Twelve days later nine church leaders on their way to petition the central government with grievances were kidnapped by Shanxi authorities. Pastor Yang was arrested because her church “sent missionaries, appointed pastors, ...organized large conferences, ...and besieged government officials with requests.” These “illegal” activities “disturbed the social order and are vary harmful to social stability.” The church also “illegally shared the gospel with the young ...which violated the Constitution” and other regulations. On Sunday, November 2, Shanghai’s 2000-member Wanbang Missionary Church was ordered to close. When believers continued to meet, they were interrogated, fingerprinted, and seven of their pastors were declared criminals. Authorities ordered them not to meet on Sunday, November 15, the day President Obama was to be in Shanghai. In Beijing, the Shouwang congregation lost its place of worship in Huajie Plaza. After 800 members gathered in the park and worshiped in the snow for two hours, authorities provided the congregation with a university auditorium on November 15, but placed its preachers under house arrest. Most of these persecution details were gleaned from the Religious Liberty Commission’s Prayer Bulletin 031 by Eliz. Kendal.
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