Source: Asia Harvest, March 16, 2024
Hainan is a small tropical island province situated off China’s southern coast. Once nicknamed “The Gateway to Hell,” Hainan had few Christians until the 1990s, when God sent a powerful revival which touched every part of society there. Today, Hainan is home to more than 600,000 vibrant Christians.
Uniquely, the instrument the Lord used to impact the island was not a Chinese church leader, but a humble American Baptist missionary family, who implemented God-given strategies that resulted in a revival so powerful that house church leaders from other parts of China traveled to the island to learn from it.
The growth of the Church in Hainan did not come without intense struggle, with many believers suffering for their faith.
The fire of the Holy Spirit fell here with great power, and subsequently [we have heard] numerous firsthand accounts of “power encounters” against the forces of darkness which transformed entire communities.
Read more about God’s work in Hainan and consider picking up a copy of Paul Hattaway’s new book on the topic, the eighth volume of the China Chronicles, a province-by-province account of what the author calls the greatest revival in history. I (Marti) just got my copy.
See also Christianity in Post-Pandemic China: Navigating the Shifting Landscape (ChinaSource).
In news from another country that’s often a religious battle ground, read Indian State Moves to Criminalize Praying for the Sick (Christianity Today).