Book recommendation

I recommend you add The Heavenly Man to your reading list. This is the astounding story of God's power working through a humble Chinese evangelist named Brother Yun. It reads like the book of Acts. It's a great story of the Chinese house church movement and the men and women who commit themselves to Jesus in the face of horrific persecution.

This book would be good for your teenage and college-age children and grandchildren as well.

Here's an excerpt (p. 286-287 in my copy) to whet your appetite:

"We have also come to understand that the past thirty years of suffering, persecution, and torture for the house churches in China were all part of God's training for us. The Lord has perfectly fitted us to go as missionaries to the Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu worlds.

Once I spoke in the West and a Christian told me, "I've been praying for years that the Communist government in China will collapse, so Christians can live in freedom." This is not what we pray! We never pray against our government or call down curses upon them. Instead, we have learned that God is in control of both our lives and the government we live under. Isaiah prophesied about Jesus, "And the government will be on his shoulders" Is 9:6.

God has used China's government for his own purposes, molding and shaping his children as he sees fit. Instead of focusing our prayers against any political system, we pray that regardless of what happens to us, we will be pleasing to God.

Don't pray for the persecution to stop! We shouldn't pray for a lighter load to carry, but a stronger back to endure! Then the world will see that God is with us, empowering us to live in a way that reflects his love and power. This is true freedom!"