- Oct 22, 2011
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Message to me today from a family member in China. (City and names withheld by me)
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Hi there, In my last update I described some startling signs of the continuing strangulation of freedoms both in China generally and here in (City name) in particular. I ended by asking for prayer as (wife) and I discussed what the implications of this creeping control would be for us.
After a tortuous week-long Easter break, in which I spent most of the time prayerfully considering our situation, (wife) and I eventually came to the conclusion - on April 5th - that after 13 years being based in China, we should strategically relocate to the UK.
We intend to return there sometime in July. I will give you details about all that we hope and expect to be moving into in my next update, next weekend.
While the worsening security situation here in China is only one of many factors that led us to this difficult decision it is proving to be an increasingly significant one. Leading up to the Easter break, our school director appeared to be in a state of near paranoia.
Our innocuous Monday morning staff small group prayer meetings were suddenly ended, and some Easter activities organised by elementary teachers were cancelled at the last minute. Further events over the last seven days have made it crystal clear that our decision to leave China now is definitely the right one. We really were hearing God’s voice accurately.
Last Monday, we heard rumours - later confirmed by our director - that two smaller schools very near our school were being shut down by the police. One is an A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education) school, which, as you would expect by the name, is very much centred around the Christian faith.
The other school also employs foreign Christian teachers. Then a few days later, I heard (now confirmed) that police had unexpectedly turned up at some foreigners’ apartments in another part of ( City) and closely searched through their belongings, especially their books, which the police reportedly went through with a fine-tooth comb. The closing of schools and searching of foreigners’ apartments is unheard of in City.
The vindication of our decision to leave City culminated two days ago in a special Friday after-school meeting. Our director informed us all that she would be letting go of eight locally-hired foreign staff, adding that if I and some others had not already decided to leave, we would have been let go as well.
I suspect that the motivation for her letting these staff go is somewhere between fear/paranoia and government pressure. To a far greater degree, staff hired directly from the USA limit their ministry to what they can do within the context of teaching and school life (and what they can do is being severely restricted).
In contrast, locally-hired foreign staff and/or their spouses tend to have other ministry work going on. With the government cracking down, it’s quite possible that they have warned our director that she will be held accountable should any staff member or their spouse be found to be doing any outside religious activity.
As you know, I do ministry in Russia. Some of those being let go have spouses who have been deeply involved in ministry locally or nationally. For example, a Taiwanese staff member being let go has been much involved with her husband in leading a local house church. This church has just been shut down.
So, it’s definitely time for us to go. We are so glad that our going is our own decision, and that we are not just moving away, but moving on, to good, new things. More about that next time.
Please pray for us as face the big, costly, and faith-stretching shift of our base from here to the UK.
====================
===============
Hi there, In my last update I described some startling signs of the continuing strangulation of freedoms both in China generally and here in (City name) in particular. I ended by asking for prayer as (wife) and I discussed what the implications of this creeping control would be for us.
After a tortuous week-long Easter break, in which I spent most of the time prayerfully considering our situation, (wife) and I eventually came to the conclusion - on April 5th - that after 13 years being based in China, we should strategically relocate to the UK.
We intend to return there sometime in July. I will give you details about all that we hope and expect to be moving into in my next update, next weekend.
While the worsening security situation here in China is only one of many factors that led us to this difficult decision it is proving to be an increasingly significant one. Leading up to the Easter break, our school director appeared to be in a state of near paranoia.
Our innocuous Monday morning staff small group prayer meetings were suddenly ended, and some Easter activities organised by elementary teachers were cancelled at the last minute. Further events over the last seven days have made it crystal clear that our decision to leave China now is definitely the right one. We really were hearing God’s voice accurately.
Last Monday, we heard rumours - later confirmed by our director - that two smaller schools very near our school were being shut down by the police. One is an A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education) school, which, as you would expect by the name, is very much centred around the Christian faith.
The other school also employs foreign Christian teachers. Then a few days later, I heard (now confirmed) that police had unexpectedly turned up at some foreigners’ apartments in another part of ( City) and closely searched through their belongings, especially their books, which the police reportedly went through with a fine-tooth comb. The closing of schools and searching of foreigners’ apartments is unheard of in City.
The vindication of our decision to leave City culminated two days ago in a special Friday after-school meeting. Our director informed us all that she would be letting go of eight locally-hired foreign staff, adding that if I and some others had not already decided to leave, we would have been let go as well.
I suspect that the motivation for her letting these staff go is somewhere between fear/paranoia and government pressure. To a far greater degree, staff hired directly from the USA limit their ministry to what they can do within the context of teaching and school life (and what they can do is being severely restricted).
In contrast, locally-hired foreign staff and/or their spouses tend to have other ministry work going on. With the government cracking down, it’s quite possible that they have warned our director that she will be held accountable should any staff member or their spouse be found to be doing any outside religious activity.
As you know, I do ministry in Russia. Some of those being let go have spouses who have been deeply involved in ministry locally or nationally. For example, a Taiwanese staff member being let go has been much involved with her husband in leading a local house church. This church has just been shut down.
So, it’s definitely time for us to go. We are so glad that our going is our own decision, and that we are not just moving away, but moving on, to good, new things. More about that next time.
Please pray for us as face the big, costly, and faith-stretching shift of our base from here to the UK.
====================
