Baru baca koran pagi ini.
Ada 1 artikel yang menarik nih... Klik aja kalo mo baca :)
Bersyukur, China yang terkenal sebagai negara komunis dan juga terkenal akan penyiksaannya terhadap orang-orang Kristen, sekarang malah bagi-bagi Alkitab!
Dulu... waktu masih kecil, masih sempat diputarin film tentang penyiksaan orang Kristen disana. Mereka mau beribadah, harus diam-diam. Makanya ada gereja underground. Dan ada cerita tentang orang Kristen yang harus menyangkal Tuhan Yesus. Di film itu, ceritanya ada cewe Kristen. Dia lagi hamil tua. Dia ditangkap n disuruh menyangkal Yesus. Tapi dia ga mau. Waah.. dia disiksa sampai perutnya ditendang-tendang segala!! Padahal dia hamil tua!! Kejam banget...
Di RS, cewe ini ga langsung ditangani karena dokternya masih urus pasien lain. Jadi dia harus nunggu giliran dia, ngantri gtuh (bari ngantri 13 pasien didepan dia). Ya ampun... apa ga ada UGD gtu ya -_-!!
Hehe... ketemu clipnya pas bagian dia disiksa seperti yang saya gambarkan diatas...
Akhirnya sih happy end, yaitu ketika cewe ini + suami n anak-anaknya keluar dari perbatasan China -_-!
Sekarang.. kata Wolfie sih China masih belum begitu terbuka ama kekristenan. Emang, disana ada gereja, tapi ya.. gereja pemerintah. Jadi, materi apa pun yang disampaikan harus disensor dulu ama pemerintah. Umumnya mereka hanya mengajarkan etika.
Tapi ya... cukup beresiko juga. Kalau ketahuan, bisa-bisa ditangkap! Soalnya di China ada peraturan kalau ngadain perkumpulan, maksimal berapa orang gtuh (lupa :P).
Deceitful Mask of Freedom
If you were vacationing in China, you might be surprised to see Christians openly worshipping in churches without fear of punishment. You might be puzzled to learn that the government, infamous for its religious restrictions, recognizes 17 million Christians. You might even conclude that religious freedom exists in communist China. But you would be mistaken.
“I will build my church”
The real number of believers is probably four times what the Chinese government claims. That’s because many Christians won’t obey the mandate to register with the government-authorized church: the “Three Self Patriotic Movement.” They don’t want to join a church that’s controlled—and censured—by the Communist Party. Instead, believers worship in a network of underground house churches—small congregations that secretly gather in the living rooms of believers.
But the Chinese government is cracking down: Recently, the National People’s Congress launched a “Strike Hard” campaign against all “unauthorized” groups. That’s when they declared unregistered churches “illegal cults.” To enforce the campaign, Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers may at any time disrupt a house church, close it down, and arrest its leaders.
Saya juga dapat artikel tentang church's persecution in China.
Artikel berikut saya dapat dari: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/221145.aspx
Udah agak lama sih :P
More Arrests in China's Underground Church
CBNNews.com
August 28, 2007
CBNNews.com
August 28, 2007
CBNNews.com - Christians leaders across China are facing arrest or have been arrested, as government officials crack down on 'religious activities,' a U.S.-based monitoring group reports.
Arrests of Christians have increased following a directive from the Chinese government issued last month, China Aid Association CAA reported. At least 15 underground church leaders have been arrested in recent days.
Last month, the Chinese government ordered local leaders to "strike hard against illegal religious and evil cult activity" in a one-month campaign to eliminate the political instability in the countryside.
"The Chinese church believers are faithful peace-makers in building a stable moral society in China," said Rev. Bob Fu, President of CAA. "We call upon the Chinese government to correct this grave misunderstanding by allowing these faithful to contribute more social service without fear of arrest and retribution."
CAA says some church leaders were arrested while leading worship or vacation Bible camps. A Christian businessman was arrested while picking up an order of Bibles at a bus station.
"Zhou Heng has been under criminal detention since August 3. He was arrested when he tried to pick up two tons of Bibles at a bus station sent by someone from another province to distribute to local believers," the report said.
He could face up to 15 years imprisonment if convicted.
Some Christians are still being detained for receiving Bibles, while some had their water and electricity cut off by the government for hosting Sunday schools at home.
Kong Lingrong must now provide a written statement guaranteeing that she will no longer preach the Gospel or gather in meetings.
"Otherwise, whoever contacts her will be regarded as having a meeting with her and they will stop the water and electricity services to whoever has contact with her," the report said.
Reports indicate arrests have occurred in at least eight provinces, including Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and Anhui.
Sources: China Aid Association, The Associated Press
Gereja saya di Indo punya pelayanan misi di China juga. Dan kadang-kadang, beberapa orang dari tim misinya bakal berkunjung ke China. Mereka bawa Alkitab or CD / VCD khotbah. Waktu mau lewat petugas bea cukainya, wiiih... ngeri dhe! Benar-benar keringat dingin n berdoa supaya ga ketahuan.
Kalau dipikir-pikir... Gile ya. Mereka kok masih mau bertahan dalam iman mereka sementara mereka tau resiko apa yang akan mereka hadapi. Artikel dibawah ini bagus juga untuk bisa kasih gambaran tentang keadaan kekristenan disana. Artikelnya lumayan lama juga, diambil dari http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7150613.stm
By James Reynolds BBC News, Beijing
25 December 2007
At an underground church service in China, you pray as quickly as you can - and hope the police do not come running in.
At an underground church service in China, you pray as quickly as you can - and hope the police do not come running in.
At the end of an alleyway in the north of Beijing, 40 Chinese Christians gather in a small classroom. At the beginning of the service, they bow their heads and pray.
Their priest, Zhang Minxuan, stands in front of them. Twenty years ago he was a barber with no interest in religion. Then he got into trouble with the Communist Party and was jailed. After that he became a Christian.
Since then he has led an underground church and been detained a dozen times.
"One day, God will bring our church out of the darkness and into the light," he tells his followers in the classroom. Their eyes shine back at him.
"One day, God will bring our church out of the darkness and into the light," he tells his followers in the classroom. Their eyes shine back at him.
"I will pray for the government no matter how much they persecute me," Mr Zhang says.
"In the end I believe that God will convert them. I will never give up my relationship with God - no matter what happens."
"In the end I believe that God will convert them. I will never give up my relationship with God - no matter what happens."
Underground Christians make the Chinese Communist Party nervous.
There are millions of them in this country. They worship wherever they can - often in private homes.
There are millions of them in this country. They worship wherever they can - often in private homes.
They do not want to be controlled by Beijing, so they refuse to sign up to the state-sanctioned church.
The party is wary of any organisation that does not pledge its loyalty to the state.
Jail sentence
At his home in Beijing, Cai Zhuohua reads from the Old Testament.
In his sitting room, next to an old television set, there is a stack of bibles.
Mr Cai is another leader in China's underground Christian movement.
He is too nervous to allow us to meet his congregation - in case the police identify them from our reports.
In his sitting room, next to an old television set, there is a stack of bibles.
Mr Cai is another leader in China's underground Christian movement.
He is too nervous to allow us to meet his congregation - in case the police identify them from our reports.
Cai Zhuohua has been a Christian since he was a teenager.
A few years ago he had 10,000 bibles printed and delivered to fellow underground Christians. For this, the Communist Party jailed him for three years.
"I need to spread Christianity," he says, "and I need to print the Bible and distribute it to fellow believers - but I'm stopped from doing this."
A few years ago he had 10,000 bibles printed and delivered to fellow underground Christians. For this, the Communist Party jailed him for three years.
"I need to spread Christianity," he says, "and I need to print the Bible and distribute it to fellow believers - but I'm stopped from doing this."
Bible factory
So that makes what we find in the southern city of Nanjing quite a surprise.
China has its own thriving bible makers - the Amity Printing Company.
Every day the firm prints off around 9,000 bibles. But the factory is only allowed to supply bibles to the official state-approved church - not to the underground church.
China has its own thriving bible makers - the Amity Printing Company.
Every day the firm prints off around 9,000 bibles. But the factory is only allowed to supply bibles to the official state-approved church - not to the underground church.
The pages coming out of the presses do not seem to have much of an effect on the workers.
"I haven't read the Bible and I don't believe in Christianity," says Zhang Guohong, who's been working at the factory for 14 years.
"I haven't read the Bible and I don't believe in Christianity," says Zhang Guohong, who's been working at the factory for 14 years.
"I have flipped through the book, but I am here to work. There is no time for me to read it."
Amity printed its first Chinese bible in 1987. Since then the company has been getting bigger and bigger.
In February 2008, Amity will move to a new site which will be able to make a million bibles a month. That may make it the world's largest bible factory.
That is quite something for the godless, Communist state.
"Perhaps it's God's humour," says Peter Dean, Amity's production advisor, "but we are printing millions of bibles here.
That is quite something for the godless, Communist state.
"Perhaps it's God's humour," says Peter Dean, Amity's production advisor, "but we are printing millions of bibles here.
"We have printed 41 million bibles for the churches in China, they are distributed out through this gate, and into the networks of churches in China."
Official church
Some of the bibles end up at the Xishiku Catholic Church in Beijing.
This church is part of China's official, state-sanctioned religious establishment.
In the Catholic church, the bishops are chosen by Beijing, not the Vatican.
Everyone here answers to the Communist Party - no one has to hide or worry about getting arrested.
In the Catholic church, the bishops are chosen by Beijing, not the Vatican.
Everyone here answers to the Communist Party - no one has to hide or worry about getting arrested.
On Sundays hundreds of worshippers come to celebrate early morning mass. Three services are held - there are no spare seats at any of them.
This is the kind of official Christianity that the Chinese government tolerates.
The rule is simple: if you are loyal to the Communist Party, you can pray and you can worship as much as you like.
This is the kind of official Christianity that the Chinese government tolerates.
The rule is simple: if you are loyal to the Communist Party, you can pray and you can worship as much as you like.
The government wants its Christians in the state-approved church where it can see them and control them.
But Christianity is growing beyond its control. One day soon, Christians may even outnumber Communists.
But Christianity is growing beyond its control. One day soon, Christians may even outnumber Communists.
Kalau di China, dimana keadaan disana cukup 'sulit' bagi orang Kristen aja bisa membuahkan orang-orang percaya yang beriman teguh dan setia.... Apalagi kita di Indo or SG yang mungkin keadaannya lebih 'mudah' daripada mereka. Well... paling ngga, kita masih bisa beribadah dengan bebas dan juga mudah mendapatkan Alkitab. Jangan sampai deh kita keenakan n malah take it for granted..
No comments:
Post a Comment