Source: www.ChinaAid.org
Date: April 20, 2022
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Several Mayflower members, including Pastor Pan, outside an airport |
Urged by the Holy Spirit to leave China
"And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt. For it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves." (Exodus 12:39)
On April 13, 2022, Haitao Liu, the director of the Department of Border Inspection Management of the Chinese Immigration Bureau, said, "China will be strict in approving the issuing of passports for citizens entering and leaving the country, and will not issue passports for non-essential and non-emergency reasons.” In fact, China closed its borders since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020, and today government officials made the first official announcement of it out of the blue.
Are the days over when Chinese citizens could enter and exit the country with a passport?
Think back to our church leaving China in exile to Jeju Island, South Korea in November 2019-January 2020. All the people were urged by the Holy Spirit and strongly moved in their hearts—we must leave China, the sooner the better. Other church members asked: Why are you in such a hurry? Why do they act so recklessly? Why have you not made any preparations? We had no reason to explain it clearly. More than two years later, we now know: those two months were the last two months when ordinary Chinese people could leave the country with their passports.
More than two years into the pandemic, countries have now opened their borders. Only China has closed its borders and stopped issuing passports to its citizens. The last time China closed its borders completely and stopped issuing passports was in 1949.
In the book of Exodus, the Israelites were persecuted in Egypt and they cried out to God. God sent Moses to bring down ten plagues on Egypt, to keep the Passover, and to lead them out of Egypt. The day of departure came: "And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt. For it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves." (Exodus 12:39)
The spirit urging us to leave is wondrous salvation. God's leadership during these two years of exile from China has become our "Exodus" and our "New Mayflower".
What will God's will be for us as a people in the future? We are convinced that God's care not only extends to all of creation but also to His Church in a special way; God cares for His Church through His care, so that all things work together for the good of the Church. Amen!
Pastor Pan
April 14, 2022
To read previous entries, visit the Pilgrim's Progress page.
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