According to China’s first official faith survey, Christians now number over 23 million, or 1.8% of the overall population, in the communist country. The study, conducted by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), an academic unit controlled by the government, looked at the response of over 60,000 questionnaires carried out in more than 300 counties across China. The 23 million officially recognized Christians account for 73% of China’s religious population. A whopping 68.8% of respondents converted to Christianity after either they or one of their family members fell ill.

The official estimate, while significant, is drastically lower than the estimate by underground church leaders and missiologists, who believe the number, when taken into account the undocumented believers, would be in the range of the hundreds of millions. Nonetheless, the official survey is notable for being the first survey of its kind and for documenting the rise of Christianity in an increasingly modernized country.

For more, read on here.

NPR (National Public Radio) recently did a fantastic series on the rise of religion in China, which devote a significant portion to the rise of Christianity and the spread of churches in China. It is a must for anyone wanting to know more about what is happening in China today with regards to mission, religion, and religious liberty. The series is titled- “New Believers- a Religious Revolution in China.” Check it out here.

From our friends at Christian Post come another report on the plight of Christians in Indonesia- the largest Muslim country in the world: Around 300 Muslim protesters and 300 police officers surrounded members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan or HKBP) on Sunday as they worshiped in an open field in Ciketing, Bekasi, local sources said. Read more here.

The 1040 team recently dug up a fascinating article from the Christianity Today archive: This 2006 story describes the state of Christianity with respect to the working class of Taiwan- one of the key economic centers in Asia and a place where the Christian population remains under 5%. How can the preaching of the Gospel be contextualized and effectively delivered to individuals in varying cultural and social contexts? How can we be the presence of Christ to others, especially those who are not used to Western, traditional means of evangelism? This article raises some crucial questions:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/may/32.45.html

Christians regularly deal with threats and persecution in places like Indonesia. This report, about the construction of a Christian center being burned down, is only the latest example that reveal the danger Christians face in many parts of the world. Please pray for Indonesia and the persecuted church in the region.

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100505/muslims-burn-christian-center-under-construction-in-indonesia/index.html

As Christianity continues to boom in China, there is now a desperate need for trained pastors in China. According to this report, there are only about “3,700 ordained and assistant pastors in China for an estimated 40 million believers. That’s over 10,000 people to each pastor”. To learn more, read the full report. China needs our prayer and support.

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In this interview recorded for 1040, Mike Bickle, famed pastor and Founder and President of International House of Prayer (IHOP), calls what’s happening in Asia right now “the greatest move of God in human history.” Christian leaders across the board agree- Asia plays a key role in God’s movement in the world today. Watch 1040 for the full story and spread the movement!

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Christian leaders, pastors, missiologists, and theologians across the board agree- Asia plays a unique and crucial role in God’s movement in the world. The 1040 team went to Call2All, one of the largest mission conferences in the world, to hear what Christian leaders have to say about Asia and the future of world missions. Check out more interviews like this in 1040 and learn about the movement of God in Asia!

Join us at our World Premiere at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Hollywood Friday, March 12th. Get ticket now: http://caff.eventbrite.com

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The sharp decline in fertility threatens the social harmony and “sustainable development of Korean society.”  Concern over the “national crisis of super-low fertility” has prompted calls for political and cultural changes from unexpected quarters.

“Crisis” is not too strong a word. Its low fertility rate means that South Korea will soon become an aged nation. Within 25 years, Korea will go from 7 percent of its population being over 65 to 20 percent. In this respect, it will become much like its neighbor and rival Japan—a homogeneous society whose low birthrates threaten its survival.

Along the way, South Korea’s export-driven prosperity will fall prey to its demographics. As the number of working-age people declines, more and more of its economy will go to supporting its aging population. Currently, there are seven working-age people for every retiree. Within 10 years, that number will be reduced to four and a half. By the middle of this century, the ratio will be close to one-to-one—simply not sustainable.

After years of encouraging families to have only one child, the government has done an about-face. It established a “Low Fertility Rate and Aging Society Commission” under the direct control of the president.

But as Choi Seon-jeong realizes, government policies aren’t enough. He notes that attitudes “towards marriage and having children has changed a lot among the younger generation. They think more highly of relationships with their partners and are less likely to depend for fulfillment on their children.”

Choi called on “religious groups . . . to advocate respect for life, abortion prevention and positive values on marriage and parenthood, [and urge] the younger generation to form families and have children.”

This is good advice for any society. What makes it extraordinary is that Choi is the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of Korea!

Commenting on the irony, Choi says that “as the needs of Korean society have changed” his federation’s goals have changed. They are now promoting “child-bearing and child-rearing.”

“Needs of society,” promoting child-bearing and child-rearing, respect for life? You won’t hear those words from American Planned Parenthood officials. Their sole concern is personal autonomy—the “right to choose” is so sacrosanct that even talking about respect for life is seen as a threat to individual autonomy, and talking about the birth dearth is depicted as an attack on the freedom of women.

What’s happening, you see here, is that the Koreans are recognizing what Phillip Johnson, the great scholar, calls the postmodern impasse. In today’s “I’ll do it my way” relativistic society, with no over-arching moral truth, when we get what we want—that is, choice and self-gratification—we discover we can’t live with it.

Fewer kids mean that we become extinct. And their worldview, they discover, just doesn’t work.

The Koreans have come to their senses. Maybe they can get their American counterparts to face reality as well.

Source: Crosswalk – South Korea Tries to Save Its Future – By Having Babies