n China, where Christians risk their safety everyday to spread the Gospel, God is truly blessing the ministries of the faithful, like Sister Orchid, Zheng shun and Xi ming.

Sister Orchid: sowing the Word of God
There is a time to sow and a time to reap. In China, Sister Orchid knows the cycles of both sowing and reaping grain as well as the sowing of God's Word and reaping a spiritual harvest. 

She lives in a place where villages are far apart. Those villagers are farmers who support families on about $200 a year. 

“They depend on the weather for their food,” says Sister Orchid, a Bible League-trained worker. “If rain is not enough, their food may also be not enough. They often have no clean water, nor electricity. Because it is such a remote area their support from outside sources is quite limited.” 

This is where Sister Orchid helps lead 100 churches. It's dangerous work – the churches are under surveillance by police and half of the church leaders have been arrested at least once. 

“Police often come in and throw away all of a church's belongings – chairs, Bibles, everything,” she says.

Even Orchid is in danger because of her work. She has been gaoled twice and was forced to leave her home village – facing certain arrest if she returns. Yet, she continues to share the Gospel, driven by her need to unite the churches in her area and encourage them to support one another. 

“I saw that there was no connection between churches and felt this was not good. If one church is persecuted by the authorities, the others cannot come to their aid.”   

Orchid became a Christian 30 years ago, after her husband – a “very sinful man” – accepted Christ. She saw the dramatic changes in his life and wanted that too. She has the gift of sharing God’s Word and now manages a Bible League training centre for Christians, like brothers Zhengshun and Xi ming. 

Xi ming: God gives wisdom in midst of arrest
These brothers were raised by Christian parents. Yet, they did not have a passion for their faith until they were in technical college. When they casually shared the Gospel with some classmates, college officials immediately discouraged this activity. As a result, the brothers more closely examined their faith in Jesus Christ and their love for Him deepened. 

In one village, Xi ming was holding worship in a house church when police broke in and arrested 40 people. They later released 21 of them. Xi ming was one of those released but police confiscated his briefcase. Inside the briefcase was a list with the names of children who attended Sunday school. This put the entire congregation in jeopardy. In China it is illegal to spread religious superstitions and the unrecognised house churches are looked upon as cults. So Sunday schools are not permitted.  

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