In the 1920s and 1930s many Chinese Christians broke away from the traditional
denominations and formed their own groupings. The most successful of these was
the "Jesus Family" begun by Jing Tianying in Shandong in 1927.
Shandong is China's third most populous province with approximately 100-120
million people. The Jesus Family originated in the village of Mazhuang when
Shandong was racked by poverty and war. A man by the name of Jing Dianying
organized the villagers and established a cooperative silk factory in 1927 that
became known as the "Jesus Family". Although, it is estimated that this movement
had no more than 12,000 total believers involved in it throughout China, several
believe that this group had significant impact on the "House Church" movement in
China.
In 1942 there was a tremendous drought in northern China. Aid began to pour in
from the outside to help those people who were starving. The "Jesus Family"
refused to take the aid. They continued to feed their people--not only that, but
to give away the harvest. They worked up from 10 percent to 20 percent, and
finally they worked up to where they gave away 90 percent of what they
harvested. They supplied the food for five hundred people from forty-three acres
of land. The Communists could supply less than half that amount per acre.
Somebody asked the "Jesus Family" leader: "Why would you refuse aid when others
were starving?" He replied: "Those foreign churches would have robbed us of our
anchor. It is our financial needs that drive us to our knees and force us to cry
to Him."
Are you utterly dependent on the Lord for your resources? Today in prayer, thank
the Lord for all that He has blessed you with and give to help the needs of
others.
"The more you have the less you can give, and the less you have the more you can
give." - Mother Teresa
God's Word: "For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even
beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for
the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints." - 2 Corinthians 8:3-4
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN LUKE
pkennedy@devotional.com
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