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East Asian Peoples Update

january 2012

Moving to the edge of darkness

Major changes lie ahead for the East Asian
Peoples Affinity Group this year. As we seek to address the great
spiritual needs of the East Asian Peoples, extensive effort among the
Chinese, Korean and Japanese people, as well as among the ethnic
minority people groups of China will be ongoing. But there will also be
an even greater focus on reaching the neediest segments within these
broader groupings. Increased emphasis will also be given to partnering
with Asian Christians to complete the task of sharing God’s love with
the 1.3 billion East Asian people who still do not know Christ. Learn
more all year http://eastasianpeoples.imb.org/

Start the year out right

If you haven’t yet ordered your 2012
East Asian Peoples Prayer Calendar, there is no better
time than now! Order as many free copies as you think your prayer group
or church might need and join us in praying for the 1.6 billion East
Asians all year; available at the IMB Resource Center at1-800-999-3113 or http://imbresources.org/.
You can also view or download the calendar from the Resource room on
the http://eastasianpeoples.imb.org/
site.An Embracing the Ends of the Earth
conference will be held on February 4 at FBC, North Spartanburg, SC. Go
to http://eastasianpeoples.imb.org/embrace/
to find conference details or to learn how to embrace an unengaged
unreached people group (UUPG). Precious lives hang in the
balance.

Calendar now to participate in the East Asian Peoples
Day of Prayer and Fasting, held on the second Monday of
every month. Details can always be found at http://eastasianpeoples.imb.org/pray/.

Chinese New Year

The Chinese Lunar New Year is the ultimate holiday
for Chinese worldwide. In China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, it is the
one time of the year when businesses and factories close. The world’s
largest annual migration unfolds as millions return to their family
home, filling every seat on airplanes, and packing themselves into
overflowing trains, buses and cars. Red envelopes filled with cash are
exchanged and fireworks light up the night skies as families and
friends are reunited, sharing meals that include dumplings, sticky rice
and many other culinary treats.Give a giftThis year, the Chinese New Year will fall on January 23. It provides a
perfect opportunity to build friendships with Chinese people in your
community. Send a Chinese
New Year card. Read how to “get fired up” and other
suggestions at http://eastasianpeoples.imb.org.

Follow a blog

Read the posts of a 20-something Chinese man from the U.S. who will
spend the Chinese New Year holiday with his extended family in Hong
Kong; available on our sister site http://AsiaStories.com/
from January 20 to 24.

New Year prayers

Go to http://eastasianpeoples.imb.org/prayer-blog/
to read Chinese New Year requests from frontline workers.Tsunami of prayer for Japan“A giant rock that sits in the middle of a field in Iwate Prefecture,
northern Japan, is now being called the ‘tsunami rock.’ The rock, 21
feet wide, 8 feet tall and weighing an estimated 140 tons, traveled 514
yard inland during the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami. Researchers are
using the rock as a benchmark to analyze the power of the tsunami. Even
more powerful than the actual tsunami though, is the tsunami of prayer
that has reached Japan during these trying times. Thank you for your
steadfastness and faithfulness on your knees before the Solid Rock.”
From a frontline worker

Friday prayers for western China

“It’s Friday, 1:20 p.m. at the Dongguan temple in western China’s
Xining (shee-ning) city. Thousands of white skullcaps bob through the
city streets and fill the mosque courtyard. … As Muslims gather
throughout China for prayers every Friday afternoon, concerned
Christians also pause to pray.”
Read the story at http://eastasianpeoples.imb.org/explore/muslims-in-china/.

Untimely deaths

Death against choiceEight million lives are lost every year through abortions of unborn
children. More than half of those undergoing the procedure have already
had at least one previous abortion. More than 30 years after the
implementation of China’s one-child policy, many lives are snuffed out
in the wombs of women, many of whose hearts have been numbed by the
decades-long governmental ban on “excess” children, and many whose
babies are aborted against their choice. Another 300,000 children under
the age of 5 die every year, with 36 percent of the deaths taking
places in homes where there is poor access to healthcare.Death by choice

China is still the world’s most populous nation, but about one out of
every 4,000 residents commits suicide every year. The 287,000 suicides
account for about 3.6 percent of the country’s deaths. About 75 percent
of the self-inflicted deaths occur in the countryside. Suicide is the
leading cause of death for the age group of 15 to 34, and rates as the
fifth leading death cause for the country in general.

What the numbers say

23 million —
children in China under the age of 5 living apart from parents who went
to find work in the cities
48,921 — people in
China 100 years old or older as of mid-2011
157,558 — students
from China studying in U.S. colleges and universities last year