SHANDONG PROVINCE

CHALLENGES FOR PRAYER

1 Shandong was the birthplace and home of Confucius, whose philosophy and writings have deeply moulded Chinese culture to this day

2 Tai'an is near one of China's most 'holy' mountains, Taishan

3 The Jesus Family, a remarkable form of communal Christianity, began in this province

SHANGHAI MUNICIPALITY

CHALLENGES FOR PRAYER

1 In 1950 there was a varied and effective church life with 256 churches, but all was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution

2 The economic growth has been a magnet for up to 3 million poor, rural work-seekers from all over China who eagerly take up the dangerous and menial jobs

3 For years Shanghai has been a base for Christian outreach to the whole country

SHANXI PROVINCE

CHALLENGES FOR PRAYER

1 The CIM did much work here before 1949. In 1950 there were 26,000 Protestants

2 The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 led to many martyrs – thousands of Chinese as well as 159 missionaries and 46 children in Shanxi alone

3 Datong has a low percentage of Christians and is, historically, a major Buddhist centre

SICHUAN PROVINCE

CHALLENGES FOR PRAYER

1 Sichuan had the lowest Christian percentage of the Han-majority provinces until recently

2 Chengdu with over 5m people is a key city for the whole of western China, but there are officially only two large TSPM churches and 3,000 Protestant Christians

3 Ethnic minorities indigenous to Sichuan total 4m in 44 peoples, but 33 of them have no Christians and no known outreach to them

a) The major groups with no witness;

b) The Nosu who are a particular challenge

c) The small Christian groups among them to become strong, effective witnesses

d) Ethnic minorities in Yunnan and elsewhere with large Christian communities to become missionaries to these peoples

e) Bible translators

TIANJIN MUNICIPALITY

CHALLENGES FOR PRAYER

1 The Church is almost as tightly controlled as in nearby Beijing, and church growth has been more limited

Geography - Shandong Province

Area 153,300 sq.km. Northern coastal province on the Shandong Peninsula in the Yellow Sea.

Population 90,928,000; 593 people/sq.km.

Capital Jinan 4.79m.

Peoples - Shandong Province

Han Chinese 99.6%, speaking Putonghua.

Hui 0.4%.

Religion - Shandong Province

Muslim 0.4%. Christian 3%: House churches 1.7%, TSPM 1%, all Catholics 0.3%.

Geography - Shanghai Municipality

Area 6,200 sq.km. China's largest and most wealthy city (after Hong Kong) and an industrial hub for the country with a large international seaport.

Population 14,773,000; 2,382 people/sq.km.

Peoples - Shanghai Municipality

Han Chinese 99.6%, speaking Wu and Subei.

Other 0.4%.

Religion - Shanghai Municipality

Muslim 0.4%. Christian 9.6%: House churches 5.7%, all Catholics 2.8%,TSPM 1.1%.

Geography - Shanxi Province

Area 157,100 sq.km.

Population 32,251,000; 205 people/sq.km.

Capital Taiyuan 2.76m.

Peoples - Shanxi Province

Han Chinese 99.7%, speaking Putonghua and Jin.

Other 0.3%:

Religion - Shanxi Province

Muslim 0.2%. Christian 3.4%: House churches 2.1%, TSPM 0.7%, all Catholics 0.6%.

Geography - Sichuan Province

Area 426,000 sq.km.

Population 87,681,000; 205 people/sq.km.

Capital Chengdu 5.3m.

Peoples - Sichuan Province

Han Chinese 95.4%,

Sino-Tibetan 4.6%:

Tibetan E. Khampa 1.25m,

Yi Nosu(4) 1.83m;

Hmong-Mien 0.8%.

Religion - Sichuan Province

Lamaistic Buddhist 4%. Among Tibetans, Jiarong, Mosuo, Chrame. Animist, polytheist among Nosu, Bai Ma, Qiang, Miao. Christian 1.4%: House churches 0.7%, all Catholics 0.5%, TSPM 0.2%.

Geography - Tianjin Municipality

Area 11,300 sq.km. The port city of Beijing.

Population 9,883,000; 875 people/sq.km.

Peoples - Tianjin Municipality

Han Chinese 97.8%, speaking Putonghua.

Hui 1.8%.

Other 0.4%.

Religion - Tianjin Municipality

Muslim 1.8%. Christian 2.3%: All Catholics 1.7%, house churches 0.4%, TSPM 0.2%.

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