Open Doors is not only committed to training of leaders and house church members in the Word, but also supporting their families and marriages. As a result, Open Doors will conduct even more marriage and family conferences. Open Doors is praying that the Lord will continue to use these conferences to transform and heal marriages, families and, sometimes, even an entire house church network.

The following is the testimony of a pastor from central China following a marriage course he conducted.

“We had just completed the marriage course for 60 couples in our community. These couples became interested in the course after they had seen the transformation of marriages in our church. Many of them previously thought that the church only talked about heaven, hell and earth, but when they saw how loving the couples in our church had become, they too wanted to learn the “secret” to a happy marriage. I told them there was no secret, just teachings from the Bible. They were amazed.

“At the end of the course, we organized a wedding ceremony. The couples invited all their relatives to come and witness the ceremony. Many of these relatives were divorced and were very concerned about the couples’ deteriorating marriages, so they all came.

“I have never seen such a scene: extended family members surrounding each couple who had been on the verge of a breakup but now were restored; everybody supporting the couples was in tears and singing praises; children were talking to their parents again; grandparents were giving their blessing; whole families were coming together. It simply turned the entire community around.

“The ceremony was a simple one – usually just a flower given to express one’s love after exchanging their vows. Then bowing three times to their guests (as a form of honoring them). In the West, this might be a time for renewing marriage vows but for these Chinese couples, it was the first time they had something official like this as there is no practice or culture of exchanging marriage vows in Communist China.

“Then came the picture-taking. Everybody loves to take pictures. Many churches have a whole wall filled with the photographs of the couples who have gone through the marriage course and wedding ceremony. Curious neighbors would wonder what’s happening inside and enter to look at the photographs and ask questions.

“One man had a DVD made of his exchange of vows. Apart from showing it to his family and friends, he would also pull anybody that was passing by on the street into his house and make them watch! He simply couldn’t contain his excitement over how the marriage course had renewed his marriage; he just wanted everyone else to share it, too.”

Prayer Requests/Praise:

* Thank God for the way He is using Open Doors’ marriage courses to build stronger Christian marriages and families as well as restore broken ones.
* Pray for our team of in-country trainers as they multiply the training beyond the second level and until it reaches the grassroots. May God’s love sweep over China through marriages as He intended them to be.
* Open Doors has decided to videotape the exchange of vows and multiply the DVDs for the couples who attend the marriage courses so that they can be shared with family and friends. As it doesn’t contain anything political in nature, they can be freely shared. Pray that God will use these renewed couples as His “salt” and “light” in their communities.

Campaign Targets 2008 Olympic Games in China

The eyes of the world will be on China in the year leading up to the Olympic Games which will be held Aug. 8-24, 2008, in Beijing. To help believers unite in prayer for their Chinese brothers and sisters in the faith, Open Doors USA is sponsoring a special prayer campaign called “One Minute/One Year/One Country.” Christians are asked to pray for at least one minute each day; if possible at 8 p.m. Beijing time. The current time in Beijing, as well as a countdown clock to the start of the Olympics, is featured on the Open Doors USA Website (www.OpenDoorsUSA.org). 

An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (888-524-2535) or go to our USA website at www.OpenDoorsUSA.org. 

(For more information or to set up an interview, contact Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117 or email jerryd@odusa.org).