Eleven persons were detained because of rioting amid a strike involving thousand taxi drivers in Yueyang City in central China’s Hunan Province, police said on Saturday.

The strike began on Friday when dozens of drivers parked their taxies in front of the Yueyang municipal government’s building, demanding to reduce the amount of money they should pay to their taxi companies monthly, police said.

More drivers joined the strike on Saturday, police said.

Some people rioted during the strike as they stopped some taxis and forced the drivers to join the strike, police said.

The rioters smashed some cabs and hit the drivers, police said.

Police detained eight rioters on Friday and three on Saturday.

A special investigation team had been founded by the municipal government to solve the problem, said Han Jianguo, vice mayor of Yueyang.

Please pray for the people of Yueyang.  Most do not have much worldly wealth, but almost all are consumed in the pursuit of it!  Pray that people all across the city will hear the Good News of Jesus’ FREE gift of salvation and that a movement of people sharing this simple truth will spread rapidly across the entire city and province!

China has become the most imbalanced country in gender ratio of newborn babies in the world. This period of imbalance is also the longest time in the world. In 2005, the ratio between newborn girls and boys was 100:118.88, far from the average ratio of 100 to 104-107. In Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Anhui and Hunan provinces, the ratio is even higher- 100:130.

Yueyang’s social structure is facing challenges from many different sources, the imbalance of male to female children is just one of them. Please pray for the people of Yueyang as they struggle to deal with these difficult problems. Pray that through these challenges, many will open their hearts to the hope found in the gospel.

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Here in Yueyang, the Word of God is like a glass of water to a thirsty traveler in the desert. When people open their hearts and minds to the gospel, it penetrates and brings JOY and HOPE that cannot be found in anything or anywhere else.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will soften hearts and open eyes to the Good News this week.

Psalm 19:7-9
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.

The national college entrance examination, or “gaokao” in Chinese, will last for two days for students in Hunan Province.

China is in the grips of summer “gaokao” madness. Success in the gaokao can play a huge role in a students future options for higher education and ultimately future employment.

The Ministry of Education said earlier that a record 10.1 million people had applied to take the exam this year, but only 5.67 million would be able to enter college.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the restoration of the national college entrance examination. Chinese universities stopped enrolling students from 1966 to 1976, due to the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.

Over the past three decades, almost 60 million Chinese have taken part in gaokao, with 10 million enrolled at universities.

Environmental experts say the Dongting Lake, China’s second largest freshwater lake, is facing an ecological crisis due to drought, excessive fishing and serious pollution.

Hunan is in the midst of it’s worst drought, some say, in over 100 years. The drought is disrupting shipping, leaving millions of people and livestock without drinking water and costing more than $US1.1 billion in economic losses so far.

People need water for life. People in Yueyang desperately need rain to replenish the Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River.

Even more than the need for water is the people’s need for God’s redeeming love. Pray that God would “send His Rain”, that His Kingdom would come among the people of Yueyang, China.

There is a battle for the hearts and minds of the people of Yueyang and the enemy is playing for ‘keeps’!

Quite often in the West, people tend to ‘demonize’ China. Most don’t do it on purpose, it’s just kinda happened over the years. I’m amazed at how many people in the West seem incapable of referring to China without saying “Communist China”. It’s a not-so-subtle propaganda that many don’t even seem to notice anymore.

Why qualify your reference to China with it’s form of government? Does it change the fact that the people of China (and of Yueyang) need a relationship with their Creator God just like the people of America or England or Australia? Does it imply that the people of China are any more sinful than others? Or that they are in some way not worthy of your time and prayers?

Yes, there is a battle. Satan loves it when Christians in the West make ‘villans’ out of those “Red Chinese”. Because when they do, they don’t seem to pray for their salvation, their hearts don’t break for their lostness, and they certainly don’t do anything about bringing the gospel to the wonderful people of Yueyang or of China.

Please pray for the hearts and minds of the people of Yueyang, that they would be soft and open to the hope of the gospel. Also, pray for the hearts and minds of Christians in the West, ask that they would look at the Chinese like CHRIST does, and not be manipulated by propaganda!

I went for a walk in a park here in Yueyang the other day. The park was full of people from all walks of life, enjoying the break in the cold weather and some nice warm sunshine.

I spotted this gentleman, by himself, taking a break to sit on a bench and it made me think about some things. Is he lonely or just alone? Has he ever heard of Jesus? Where does this man’s hope come from?

I had the opportunity to share a small part of the gospel with this man, but as I walked away, I couldn’t help but think about the thousands of others just like him. How will THEY hear about Jesus? Who will tell them?

Please pray that the Lord will call out faithful people who will be burdened to share the good news of the gospel with men like this one.

The Chinese New Year Celebrations have arrived and the entire city of Yueyang is celebrating along with over a billion other Chinese across China.

Leading up to the new year, the demolition of old buildings and the construction of new ones goes at a blinding pace all across the city. In the city’s quest to improve and modernize, the divide between the old and the new and the “haves” and the “have nots” gets wider and wider.

Pray for the people of Yueyang who are caught in the trap of materialism. Ask that many will be delivered from this slavery through a relationship with Jesus Christ. For it is only through Him that anyone can find true fulfillment and peace!

Sometimes those that are called to bring the gospel to the ends of the Earth can grow weary along the way. Sometimes the burden of lostness, in almost incomprehensible amounts, can make one feel tired and tempted to give up.

However, we do not give up, we do not quit our task of bringing the Good News to those who need to hear it. We do not allow ourselves to become overwhelmed thinking the task is on OUR shoulders. After all, we know that God loves the people in Yueyang MORE than we do. It is His calling that has brought us here, but He does not need us. We simply get to share the joy and blessing of being a part of what He is doing and is going to do here.

Please pray for those who are not from Yueyang, but have been called by God, and sent by their home churches, to bring the gospel to the people of Yueyang. Some are Chinese from other parts of the country, some are Asians from other parts of the region, some are sent from far-away Western countries. We all share the same calling and the same heart-brake for the lost of Yueyang.