Beijing, August 7, 2008

House Churches Ready to Welcome Brother Bush;

Deeply Disappointed in his Visit to the TSPM [Three-Self church]

Reporter: [Name deleted for his protection]

As the grand opening ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games approaches, many house churches in Beijing are getting ready to welcome President Bush. There is a widespread concern among the house churches when the news came that President Bush will visit Kuanjie Protestant Church in Beijing. The 2008 Beijing Olympics are around the corner and many house churches in Beijing have said they have made preparations for the visit of Brother President Bush who has traveled long distances all the way from the United States.

Many brothers and sisters in the house churches of Beijing hoped that they could receive this brother of theirs whom they love and respect. They also hoped that they could worship God, read the Bible, pray and share God’s blessings on the Chinese house churches together with President Bush.

President Bush’s piety for God, his concern for the house churches in China and his devotion to the Chinese people have won widespread love and respect for him among the Christians from house churches in China. When Christians from house churches learned that President Bush will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, they made all the preparations for receiving this sincere brother of theirs within the Lord in their house churches.

A sister named Ma Da is famous for the dumplings she makes at home and she hoped she could treat this guest from afar with her home-made dumplings.

When the news came that President Bush will visit Kuanjie Protestant Church of the TSPM that serves the Chinese government, it caused widespread concern among the house churches. They believe that the Chinese rulers have been consistently cheating and ridiculing their guests from overseas by winning popularity through misleading the public and by mixing the false with the genuine. Through these means, they intensify their persecution on the house churches.

President Bush’s visit to the TSPM’s Kuanjie Protestant Church will certainly be utilized by the Chinese Communists. Brother Jia Le, one of the Christian leaders active in churches in Beijing, said with much disappointment: “One of the most important means with which the Chinese Communists persecute the churches in China is strengthening the TSPM churches that it establishes and controls. Bush’s visit to the TSPM will surely give out a wrong signal that President Bush endorses the TSPM churches.”

According to sources, the White House was told that Kuanjie Protestant Church has incorporated several house churches within their system. The fact is that Kuanjie’s supposed inclusion of house churches is nothing more than a system set up by the Chinese Government where TSPM appointed leaders are assigned “house groups” where they can learn outside of the TSPM building. The system is set up for TSPM “house cells”, which are obliged to obey the same rules as the Government sanctioned church and are in no way free to practice true religious freedom. However, in order to appear tolerant of religious freedom, the CPC has lied to the White House and the World by manipulating its perception in order to appear tolerant.

According to informed sources, the reason why President Bush agreed to visit the TSPM Kuanjie Protestant Church is because the Chinese Government told him that Kuanjie Protestant Church has a training class designed for the purpose of training missionaries for house churches. In fact, the “missionary training” is nothing more than a training course for leaders of TSPM cell house cell groups.

However, President Bush hopes that he can express his support for the house churches through his visit. For this, Pastor [name deleted for his protection] who specializes on the study of Chinese churches, points out:

“This has happened when some people confuse the two entirely different concepts of house church and house gathering. A house church is a resistance movement in which the churches in China oppose the Chinese Communists in their persecution of Christian churches and boycott the TSPM puppet churches fabricated by the Chinese Communists.

"In the early stage of the house church movement, the various churches that oppose the persecution by the Chinese Communists were forced to give up the church buildings illegally occupied by the Communists and adopted the house gathering. That is how the name “house church” came about. The essence of house churches is fighting the persecution by the Chinese Communists and boycotting the TSPM puppet church and it is not whether they should gather in the official church buildings or in the private residences of believers.

"For the TSPM puppet church, its head of state is the Chinese Communists whom they serve, not Jesus Christ. A house church and a TSPM church are entirely different in nature and they are absolutely not compatible with each other."

Both TSPM churches and house churches can have a house gathering at a private residence. In recent years, the TSPM churches actively cooperate with the Chinese Communists in their persecution against the house churches. By means of violent threats from the religious administrative authorities and the police, the TSPM have incorporated some weak house churches through threats and bribes and through sticks and carrots. As a result of that, the puppet church has now more house gathering sites.

This is a clear proof that the TSPM is involved in the persecution against house churches in China. The so-called training class specially designed for house church missionaries at Kuanjie Protestant Church is the training class for training key members for the TSPM puppet church’s house gathering sites.

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"...we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed... perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed  —  always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." 2 Corinthians 4:7-10