Get Ready for the Beijing Olympics. These games offer a wonderful opportunity to spread the work of God in China.

Helping Chinese people locally.

China is the most populous nation on earth, and many Chinese are seeking new life, work, or an education abroad. In 2004, 135,000 Chinese citizens travelled to the UK, mainly for business or study reasons or to visit family.

A large proportion of these are coming to the USA and (as you may have noticed) the UK, because these countries are seen to offer more career, education and job opportunities. Of those that are coming to the UK, many are students, and the UK government has recently called this phenomenon the ‘Cultural Revolution of the 21^st Century’. Last year 28,000 Chinese students came to this country, and UK universities and colleges reported numbers doubling for a second year running. Over half of these students are studying for post graduate degrees, many of them to them to return to positions of influence and authority in government or business when they go home to China.

Other Chinese, however, are looking to stay here permanently. Some are escaping religious persecution from their government. Some, who are looking to escape poverty, destroy their ID papers when they leave China, so that the Chinese authorities will not accept them back into China, and they cannot be repatriated. Chinese workers are traditionally very hard-working, and make a very significant contribution to the local economy. They can earn far higher wages and have a better standard of living here than back in China, even working in very menial jobs, and therefore coming to the UK and the USA has come to be known as the ‘Golden Dream Rush’ by many Chinese!

Many Chinese people need a lot of support and, of course, the good news of the Christian message when they get here, and this is a tremendous opportunity and opening for the church. Jane Ling, a student from Taiwan for example was met by some local Christians and has subsequently joined a church, saying “I am so thankful for how Christians have really helped me.”

Can you help? We need people to offer simple hospitality to local Chinese people by inviting them for a meal, being open to befriending them, perhaps offering practical help and advice on issues such as housing, employment etc, and of course, inviting them to church and helping them to get involved in house groups and church life. Also there is a need for financial resources to buy Chinese bibles and Christian literature. If you would like to help you can phone us on 0787 141 123, or email us on madingsarfas@hotmail.com,