China (MNN)—As Christian ministries and believers in China continue to see stricter laws and regulations limiting their freedoms, the church has remained resilient.

“(President) Xi Jinping is playing this narrative of making China great again or making it more Chinese, less dependent on foreigners—and of course, that natural outcome is that you have a more restrictive attitude toward any foreign organization that tries to work in China, and that’s why many missionaries and Christian leaders from foreign organizations have left China,” explains Erik Burklin of China Partner. “But by far, the majority of believers and Christian leaders and Bible schools are still operating very open and legally, in spite of it. Every Sunday they’re preaching, with people coming to faith.”

Burklin notes China Partner is still in contact with fellow Christians in China on a regular basis, and that the ministry has been invited back in October to do pastoral trainings in three different provinces; there are Christians quietly working within the Chinese government; and young people in their 20s are continuing to sign up for Bible school, both with registered churches and with unregistered house churches.

(Photo courtesy of China Partner)

“The unregistered churches usually are much more in danger, and yet they’re signing up, they’re coming, they’re being educated, they’re being trained. Many of these teachers and older pastors who are actually teaching have that perspective of how their parents were persecuted under Mao when communism took over.”

Burklin recalls from his own perspective how much of what the church in China is experiencing has been seen before. His own grandparents, while ministering in China, were kicked out of the country when Mao Zedong took over. Burklin’s family feared this was the end of the Gospel in China.

“And yet, when my father did go back in the early ’80s, the churches had exploded—thousands and thousands of churches—and that’s exactly what we’re seeing even now,” he says. “Jesus Christ is the head of the church, and he is continuing to build it like he promised. So, no matter what Xi Jinping or Mao Zedong or all these other regimes are trying to do, His church will survive.”

What gives the church in China the resilience they’ve demonstrated? Burklin attributes it to a “Kingdom perspective.”

(Photo courtesy China Partner)

“They have an eternal perspective. They don’t necessarily just go with the news of the day and the current restrictions and the problems that they’re faced with, but they look at what their calling is, and Jesus Christ has called them to be salt and light in their community, within their system. Even though it’s very frustrating, they’re staying faithful, with people being baptized.”

He urges believers around the world to have this same mentality, focusing on eternal values and being intentional in their own personal faith, learning from fellow believers in China what it means to have a commitment to Jesus Christ, no matter what.

“Everything is not a surprise to God, and we need to line ourselves up with that truth. Rather than listening to all these media outlets and get so depressed, let us help. Let us be believers who think about eternity and about the eternal life that is coming for us—and that motivates us to share our faith with those who still don’t know Him yet. That should be our motive, and that’s what we can learn from the Chinese Church.”

Header photo courtesy of China Partner