China (MNN) – Church leaders in China struggle with tithing as the government cracks down on “financial fraud”.

Non-Existent Organizations

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA recently recorded a podcast with Chinese pastor, Brother Enfu*. He offered some insights on this unique concern of the underground church.

Nettleton says, “Every single church leader that has been charged in the last two years has been charged with financial crimes charges. They’ve been charged with fraud. They’ve been charged with so-called illegal business practices. And what it comes down to is the government comes in and says, ‘Hey, you’re collecting donations for an organization that doesn’t exist. That’s fraud.’”

Pastors facing this charge have very little chance at a defense. They cannot admit to having parishioners since that would require a legal church. The trials have been short and there is little chance for outside help since China says the arrests are for fraud not religious persecution.

(Image courtesy of Jacob Bentzinger on Unsplash)

Nettleton says that for Brother Enfu and other church leaders this poses a serious problem. Tithing, paying a pastor, and even providing healthcare or insurance for the pastor have become increasingly difficult.

“You can’t start a checking account for something that doesn’t legally exist. And the Chinese government is certainly monitoring financial transactions. They’re watching what’s going on. He talked about the fact that people bring their offerings in cash because they don’t want it tracked through some kind of electronic transaction, and the church doesn’t have a checking account where they could deposit checks. So people bring their money, their offerings, in cash. Then in his church they divided it up among the elders of the church,” Nettleton says.

Once the elders have the money, there still must be a legitimate reason for them to have it. So many church leaders have found themselves attending to these practical concerns while they struggle to find time to prepare to preach.

Smaller Churches, No Outside Training

Additionally, the crackdown in this way has forced larger underground churches to break up into smaller units. They need more leaders, but the avenues to train and pay them are fewer and more dangerous than in the past.

One area of increased concern is with outside training from foreigners. Brother Enfu noted that the government has cracked down on outsiders sharing the Gospel.

(Image courtesy of Zhang Kaiyv on Unsplash)

Nettleton says, “Not just in front of a crowd of people, but literally even in a one-on-one conversation, for a foreigner to talk about religion is now against the law in China. And so the need for Chinese leaders to be raised up, and Chinese leaders to stay and to train the next generation of leaders, that is something that is certainly on Brother Enfu’s heart. He encouraged us to pray for that as well.”

As a result of these new and creative means of persecution, Chinese parents are preparing their children for oppression and imprisonment. Nettleton says, “He talked about literally sitting around his own dinner table and talking with his own children about, ‘What will happen when I get arrested? Yeah, that that’s a strong possibility. But more importantly, what will happen when you get arrested my children? When you go to prison? Because that’s what it looks like to follow Jesus in China.’”

Please pray that God would continue to grow the church in China despite persecution.

If you want to listen to Brother Enfu’s interview in full, click here.

*Pseudonym

Header image courtesy of Ye Jinghan via Unsplash