In China: children cannot become Christians until they are 18 so missionaries in the communist country are having to get creative to still reach young people.
China’s recent crackdown on Christianity has led to intensified enforcement of a law already on the books: children and youth cannot convert to the faith until they’re 18.
Churches across China are canceling Sunday School classes for children in light of the new clampdown, according to Mission Network News.
Erik Burklin of China Partner told Mission Network News – before the crackdown “parents were having their children come to church and many churches started what we would call Sunday School classes.
They would use that time to teach children Bible verses and teach them Christian songs.”
Now, though, many churches “have been notified” by China’s “Religious Affairs Bureau” that “you can no longer conduct Sunday School classes in your churches.”
Burklin said – “They even put signage up in the entrance of some churches to indicate that,”
Mission Network News reported that the result is China Partner’s YouthServe ministry – aimed at teaching church leaders how to conduct ministry for teens ages 13 to 18 – is “problematic.”
The crackdown has forced Churches in China to be creative if they are to reach children and teens with the gospel.
One of the ways they are reaching young people is through the parents. Missionaries have started marriage retreats and couples’ counseling sessions, as a way to influence teenagers in the home.