(Xinhua) — Some 7,550 people living on boats in Hunan Province have recently been persuaded leave behind life on the lake and to live on the land.
Mr. Xiao, 36, moved his family from their fishing boat to a 75-square-meter apartment at the end of last year.  “It’s the first warm winter we’ve ever spent. It’s like a dream,” Xiao said sitting beside an electric heater with his wife and son in the three-bedroom apartment in Yueyang County, Dongting Lake region.
“Before, we spent every day in an 8-square-meter houseboat for fishing. I thought I would live like this for the rest of my life,” Xiao said.  The couple suffered serious rheumatism and schistosomiasis like many other fishing people in the region.
Dongting Lake, China’s second largest freshwater lake, has been home to thousands of fishing households unable to afford life on the land.
Many of them suffer waterborne diseases and are not able to enjoy social welfare services or preferential policies for farmers.
So far, about 7,550 people in 2,322 households of Yueyang, Yiyang and Changde cities in the Dongting Lake region have been relocated to apartments on land.

Please pray for the ‘grass roots’ people of Yueyang, those who are NOT caught up in the race to own the biggest apartment and the most expensive new car.  Pray for those who struggle just to provide the basics for their families.

Yesterday was a prime example as, it appears, someone decided to light a bus on fire in an attempt to kill and injure passengers traveling from the airport into Changsha, Hunan’s capital city.

There are more than 70 million people in Hunan, most with no hope of salvation and no opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel along with an invitation to respond.  Yueyang is located in the northeast corner of Hunan Province and consists of about 5.5 million of Hunan’s 70 million strong population.

Please take a moment to pray that the gospel message would spread rapidly and effectively across the entire province, for the sake of the salvation of the Hunanese people and for the glory of God, who desires men to know Him!

(Xinhua, July 22, 2010)  At least two people were killed and over ten injured when an airport shuttle bus in Changsha, capital city of central China’s Hunan Province, caught fire Wednesday, police said.

The bus caught fire near an expressway tollgate as it traveled from Changsha’s Huanghua International Airport to the city proper at about 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

The injured were rushed to a local hospital.

It is not known how many people were aboard the bus.

The front of the bus was completely destroyed and many parts of the cabin were burnt. The bus’s windows were shattered and glass shards lay scattered on the road, according to Xinhua reporters at the scene. The pungent smell of gasoline still lingered in the air hours after the blaze.

Police have cordoned off the area and tightened airport security, including by searching passengers boarding shuttle buses.

The cause of the fire is being investigated. But some witnesses told Xinhua they believe it was arson.

(Xinhua)  According to Beijing Evening News, an online survey found that 86 percent of college graduates would like to work in second-tier cities. Responding to the question of what would make them “flee” first-tier big cities, some 67 percent put the blame squarely on excessive living costs. Other factors included cut-throat competition in employment, high pressure in work and life, and hukou issues. In another survey, targeting the happiness index of middle-income families, those living in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, displayed below average levels of happiness. Contributing factors included high housing prices, heavy workload, poor traffic situation, and less time with their families. Among those surveyed, about 67 percent believed they might be happier in smaller cities.

Please pray for the college graduates of Yueyang.  Many are about to enter into the hopeless chase of materialism that China has embraced enthusiastically in the past couple of decades.  Ask that many of these students would find real hope and real fulfillment that is only found in Christ – not money, power or influence!

The annual holiday is the most important of the year in China, with families expected to welcome in the New Year at midnight Saturday with a roar of fireworks that will last for hours.

It is the only time in the year when China’s massive army of migrant workers, who work on building sites and in factories in major cities, get a chance to return home to see their families.

China calls the holiday the biggest annual movement of people in the world. The Ministry of Railways has estimated that 210 million passengers — more than Russia’s population — will ride the rails during the 40-day New Year travel season, up 10 percent from last year. The holiday officially lasts six days, but many workers take up to a month off.
Police around the country tightened security for the holiday period. A notice on the Web site of the Ministry of Public Security said police would increase checks on fireworks displays, lantern shows and temple fairs.

Last year, an illegal fireworks display at the headquarters of China’s state broadcaster in Beijing caused a massive fire at a newly built 44-story hotel. On Friday, three firefighters died while fighting a building fire triggered by fireworks in central Hunan province, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

The holiday period is an annual test of China’s overburdened transportation system. Tickets are difficult to buy, and this year authorities are cracking down on scalpers who hoard tickets to resell at higher prices. Passengers will have to show their identification cards when buying tickets for trains out of southern Guangdong province, home to tens of thousands of factories employing migrant labor.

China’s national meteorological bureau warned Saturday of possible traffic problems caused by rain in the south of China and snow in the north.

By SCOTT McDONALD (AP)  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jfoZqqQau5zICT9rp5LW-2O4fJ7AD9DR2LR80

In February, China will celebrate “Spring Festival”, also known as “Chinese New Year (正月.)”   The Chinese New Year is determined by the lunar calendar, and almost always falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. This year, it just happens that Chinese New Year’s Day falls on Valentine’s Day! February 14, 2010, will usher in the Year of the Tiger (虎.)

In the weeks prior to the holiday, people who are from Yueyang who live and work all over China (mostly in southern China) will battle the huge crowds of people and stand in line for hours at train and bus ticket counters, hoping to find affordable tickets to return home to Yueyang before they are all sold out. (There are some who crowd into Yueyang’s various transportation hubs in order to go other places, but the general tide of people is definitely flowing INTO Yueyang, not away from it.)  Getting home to share a special meal with family on Chinese New Year is the goal of almost every Chinese person.

Traditionally, the New Year holiday lasts for 15 days, with the 15th day being the Lantern Festival (元宵节) . Shops are often closed for st least the first three days of the holiday – often longer. Schools are closed for a month, or more, at this time of year.

The numerous traditions associated with the festival all have a special significance or superstition attached to them. Although modern Chinese will be quick to tell you that they do not believe all these superstitions to be truth, they nonetheless carry on the traditions as part of their Chinese culture; it also keeps their childhood memories alive as they pass them down to younger generations.

Many Chinese people work far from home, with only one opportunity to see their extended family members during the year, on Chinese New Year. For Chinese people who have become Christians during the previous year, Chinese New Year affords them their first opportunity to return to their hometowns, talk to their families about their new faith, and share with childhood friends. For new believers, this can be both joyful and stressful. In a country closed to the Gospel, their news of salvation is not always met with enthusiasm or acceptance.

Many young adults in China have grueling work hours with no free time; they work 16 hours a day, seven days a week; they live at the factories where they work. Chinese New Year is one of the few times during the year that they are able to mingle with people outside their workplace. Chinese New Year is an opportune time for many of them to freely interact with those who can share the Gospel with them.

For some Chinese, appeasing the “kitchen god,” praying in a temple, and scaring away evil spirits by setting off firecrackers are very important rituals. For these people, the holidays are a time of fear, stress and bondage to evil spirits.

• Pray for new Christians who are returning to Yueyang and who will be facing family and friends for the first time since becoming a Christian.  Ask that they would have boldness to share the hope that now is within them!
• Pray for the lost of Yueyang who may encounter the Gospel over the New Year holiday, ask that they would have soft hearts and that those sharing with them will share with clarity and compassion.

If keeping track of the Pray4Yueyang blog is not very convenient for you, and you’d prefer to receive prayer updates delivered to your Email inbox, you can subscribe by giving us your Email address (use the box on the right hand column of this blog’s main page.) If you have any questions, just ask.

Prayer makes a difference. Thanks for being involved!

The Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至 Pinyin: Dōng zhì), is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the dongzhi solar term when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest.

The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in.

The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the character 復 (fù – “Returning”). Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One activity that occurs during these get togethers is the making and eating of Tangyuan (湯圓, as pronounced in Mandarin Pinyin: Tāng Yuán) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion.

I know that for most of you living in the West, today is not special in any way, it’s just another Tuesday. However, for the people of Yueyang, China, today has significance.

Much of today’s celebrations will be benign and harmless with no spiritual or demonic elements whatsoever. However, the philosophy behind today’s holiday reflect a flawed world view that blinds and confuses many Chinese who seek truth.

Would you remember the people of Yueyang today as they celebrate “Dōng zhì” today (December 22) Ask that as families get together to celebrate and to eat “Tang Yuan” that conversations will turn to eternal things. Pray for Christian family members to be courageous and bold to share the Good News with their families. Pray for those families with no witness, ask that someone will be obedient to share the gospel with them so that they might “return” to their creator who loves them and desperately desires to have a relationship with them!

China needs to adjust its one-child family planning policy to fight a worsening gender imbalance and an aging population with too few children, experts said.

China has 33.31 million more men than women among the population born during 1980-2000. The ratio of males to females at birth has kept rising since the 1980s. The normal range worldwide is 103 to 107 males born for every 100 females born. In China, that ratio reached 120.56 last year, Yuan said.
Only Tibet has a normal male/female birth ratio. The ration in all other provinces and regions is skewed, and is most serious in Jiangxi, Anhui and Shaanxi provinces, he said.

“This gender gap is unprecedented in the history of the populous countries in the world, and will continue to widen in the short term,” he said.

China launched its nationwide, one-child family planning policy in the 1970s. Though it prevented 400 million births, it has been criticized for leading to gender imbalance, a large elderly population and a scarcity of working-age people.

“The country has successfully achieved the goal to prevent its population from growing too fast, which was set in its first population policy advocating ‘one child for one couple’,” Hu Angang, one of China’s leading policy advisers, said in an article he published on the Economic Information Daily on Thursday.

“From now on, we should launch a new population policy advocating ‘two children for one couple’, with the objective of preventing a rapidly aging population with too few children in the future.”

Zhai Zhenwu, director of population and sociological studies at Renmin University in Beijing, agreed that the 30-year-old policy needs adjustment. The central government has already begun researching and drafting a new population policy, he said.

Source: China Daily

The December Prayer Calendar for the people of Yueyang, China is available for viewing and download. Please take a minute to download this month’s calendar and to print it out and post somewhere where you will be reminded daily to pray for the people of Yueyang!

December is a busy month for most people and it’s easy to let life’s daily demands steal the time you would normally spend in prayer for the lost around the world.  We want you to know how much we appreciate every minute of prayer you spend on behalf of the people of Yueyang!  We know it’s not easy and we greatly value the time you invest.

This month is not only a busy time for you, it’s a busy time for believers in China as well.  The people of Yueyang do not officially celebrate Christmas, but they are aware that much of the world is celebrating.  This provides a great opportunity for Christians all across the city to naturally share their faith with their family, friends and co-workers.  As you might expect, this also means that spiritual warfare gets stepped up at the same time, the evil one is NOT happy when Christians obediently and boldly share their faith.

Please pray for believers in Yueyang during the month of December!  Eternity is at stake for 1.5 million lost souls.

If keeping track of the Pray4Yueyang blog is not very convenient for you, and you’d prefer to receive prayer updates delivered to your Email inbox, you can subscribe by giving us your Email address (use the box on the right hand column of this blog’s main page.) If you have any questions, just ask.

Prayer makes a difference. Thanks for being involved!

Tears In The Saints from Rob Stevens on Vimeo.

If you are one of our regular prayer warriors, faithfully standing in the gap for the lost and perishing of Yueyang, China, thank you.  Thank you for giving up those few minutes every morning before waking the kids for school or before leaving for work.  Thank you for sharing with your small group or those at your Wednesday night prayer meeting about your burden for a struggling house church leader or for unbelieving spouses that seem very far from God.

Thank you!