Dear Friends,
This month, Chinese Christian leaders will be sharing prayer updates with the ScholarLeaders Prayer Community. This week, please intercede with us for Dr. Kinyip Louie in Hong Kong.
A special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong is home to over 7.4 million people. Approximately 56% of Hong Kongers are irreligious, while 20% practice Buddhism or traditional Chinese religions, 12% are Christians, and 4% follow Islam. After 150+ years of British colonial rule following the Opium Wars, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 and maintains its own jurisdiction under the “one country, two systems” policy. Since June 2019, over a million Hong Kongers have participated in ongoing protests over encroachments upon the city’s autonomy and civil liberties, as well as police brutality and mass arrests. Christian leaders in Hong Kong and in the Chinese diaspora need wisdom as they minister to people with divided perspectives on the ongoing crisis.
Dr. Kinyip Louie is Associate Professor of Theological Studies at China Graduate School of Theology. His research interests include faith and culture, spiritual theology, and the theology of Jonathan Edwards. Kinyip has served as a volunteer minister at City One Baptist Church of Hong Kong. Learn more about Kinyip’s ministry to young people in this 2017 Bible Study Magazine feature. ScholarLeaders supported Kinyip for his doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh.
Kinyip shares the following message:
I’m a seminary professor at China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong. Our society has been in serious upheaval over the past 7 months. Though the violence has somewhat subsided recently, the underlying social tensions have not been resolved.
I have been in constant dialogue with Christians who are at the forefront in ministering to the protestors, including many who have been arrested by the police. Our society is deeply divided between those who support the protesters and those who oppose the protesters. This fissure also divides the Church, giving pastors a difficult time in maintaining the unity of the Church.
Please pray for the following:
1. That the government would listen to the demands of the people, and respond positively to the calls for reforming the police force and for promoting democracy.
2. That the protesters would not resort to desperate measures or generate further violence.
3. That people in our society, and Christians in particular, would have a genuine desire to listen to one another, without condemning harshly those with the opposite political position.
4. That God would grant His ministers humility and sensitivity to give pastoral care to Christians of all political positions, and that God would give them wisdom to preach the Word faithfully and gently in this difficult time.
5. That the Church would learn how to love and pastor the younger generation, many of whom have become disillusioned with both society and the Church. Some of them, because of their participation in the protests, have been arrested or have broken relationships with their families.
6. That this time of trial would serve to deepen the spirituality of Christians in Hong Kong, that we would learn to live out a life of faith in God, yearning for righteousness, forgiveness, and forbearance.
Thanks,
Kinyip Louie