What Is The Lord Saying In 2026?

In 1981, when I first visited China, the Cultural Revolution had just ended and China was beginning to open up slowly. It was a new day. There were new opportunities to serve the Chinese church and its people. On that first visit, I had an opportunity to spend two evenings with a House Church leader in Shanghai. It was a very secret visit. I had been given his details by the leaders of Overseas Missionary Fellowship with whom I was then serving the Lord. During those two evenings the Lord spoke through that precious brother in ways that defined the next four decades of ministry in the work of Derek Prince Ministries in China. This brother asked me to be a voice overseas on behalf of the house churches in China. At that time, they were more or less unknown, some even seemed to deny their existence. The brother also shared about the huge need for Bible teaching, so that the many who were turning to Christ in those new days in China could be built up in the Word of God.

Those two evenings crafted a word from the Lord that defined the future of DPM:China, leading to years of publication of materials for prayer and understanding of the Chinese Church, and for the distribution across China of many millions of copies of Derek Prince's Chinese language Bible teaching books – and later massive expansion of the ministry online, carrying huge amounts of Derek's teaching material to every corner of China. The core foundation of this ministry to China was laid during those two nights in Shanghai.

But 2026 presents us with a very different day for China ministry. Two months ago in this column I shared on the numbers of Chinese leaving China, saying that “Recent analysis of emigration suggests that Christians are over‑represented among new Chinese migrants, with some estimates placing them around 15–20% of those leaving - far higher than their share of China’s population. Urban house‑church believers, including pastors, elders, and ministry leaders, form a visible segment of this wave, relocating to Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa and especially North America.” Some are leaving because of sharply intensified controls on house churches, including raids, arrests of pastors, and forced closures. Others are leaving for better education opportunities for their children or simply for a better lifestyle, given the slowdown in China's economy.

Globally, the numbers of Chinese living abroad have multiplied significantly, now reckoned to number at least 60 million - whereas in 2011, before President Xi came to power, there were reckoned to be about 40 million. For example, in 2011, there were 250,000 Chinese living in Africa. There are now 1.25 million.

Just as the Lord spoke to me through that Chinese house church pastor in Shanghai 45 years ago, so now we need to hear what the Lord is saying. In this new day, how are we to serve the church in China? Which Chinese communities should we be reaching with the Gospel—inside and outside of China? How can we serve these high numbers of Christian believers who have left China? And how can we reach the unbelievers amongst them who need to hear that their lives can begin again in step with the Lord Jesus Christ?

Ask the Lord to speak clearly so that we can know His path to serve mainland Chinese believers inside and outside of China.

Ask the Lord to raise up labourers who will seize the opportunities for this new day of China ministry.

Pray for the many believers who have left China that they would find churches where they might grow in the Lord Jesus Christ.