16,000 revival prayer groups spring up as Taiwan Christians face belligerence from Beijing – News Block

China’s saber rattling has been intensifying for months. “Tensions are reaching their peak. Beijing’s belligerence is once again making Taipei nervous,” said a WION News report.

China’s military recently released a video showing what simulated attacks in Taiwan would look like.

“A war here in Taiwan would have catastrophic economic consequences not just for this island, but for the entire world,” SkyNews London warned in a report from Taipei.

The small island off the mainland now faces Chinese military harassment on an almost daily basis. “Taiwan is bolstering its military and training on new US weapons,” CBS News reported, as its military prepares for a possible full-scale war.

“To be clear, we do not seek conflict or confrontation, but we will not back down from intimidation or coercion,” said defiant US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

As the drums of war grow louder during the day, Taiwan’s Christians go to their knees at night.

“The united prayers and fasting prayers of the churches in Taiwan are much more than ever. It is an unprecedented prayer movement,” Brian Lu, pastor of the Shekinah House of Bread of Life in Taipei, told CBN News.

All across this island, people gather every day, 24 hours a day, to pray for revival, unity, repentance, and protection over their land.

“I think something so simple is starting to have a big impact on the people in the church and also on the people around the church,” said Gordon Huang, a prominent church leader here.

Huang pastors one of Taiwan’s best-known congregations. His church stands atop the iconic landmark known as Taipei 101 in the heart of the capital city.

He fears that a war with China is coming and wants Christians to be prepared.

“I think one thing is for sure: people are going to be very moved and want to hear the Gospel. Are you ready or are you going to be running away yourself?” Huang told CBN News.

That tremor thing took hold of Don Young two years ago. “I had heard from the Lord: ‘Time is short, the hour is urgent, it is time to pray,’” he recalls.

Young served as a US missionary in West Africa for 15 years and has traveled the world teaching Christians how to have a deeper prayer walk with the Lord.

In May 2021, Pastor Young says the Lord spoke to him and gave him the word that there was going to be a shake up in this nation. He took that message to church leaders on the island and it spawned a prayer movement that has since spread across Taiwan.

He started the Revival Prayer Group or RPG movement, made up of a handful of people in groups who took turns around the clock to pray for Taiwan.

“Prayer is the only way to get over any tremor,” said Young, who now works with the Georgia-based International Prayer College. “Jesus said everything through prayer. He didn’t do anything apart from prayer. Before it was just kind of a moment with God, we all have them, but now it was shaping up to be a movement for God. There’s a big difference between a moment and a movement.”

“Because RPG has two or three people in a group, so if a war happens one day and there are no physical buildings where people can gather, we can still pray in small groups so the church won’t be affected,” Pastor Lu said.

Peter Yang has pastored and planted churches in Taiwan since 1978 and says he has never seen the kind of unity on display now. Churches of all denominations have joined the initiative.

“What is happening today is very strange,” said the Rev. Yang, who heads the Christian Alliance of Taiwan. “Every day, every week, I join pastors from other churches, other denominations, and we pray for our cities, for our nation, for other countries. It’s amazing, clearly it’s God’s work. Unity will be the legacy of this movement.”

More than 16,000 Revival Prayer Groups have sprung up, with the participation of members of China’s underground church movement.

“We want to have 300,000 RPG groups where we also unite with churches in China, uniting, all the leaders and members, on both sides, so that we can pray to impact China as well,” Yang said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year sent chills through this island nation of 23 million, with many drawing comparisons between Putin’s obsession with taking over Ukraine and Xi Jinping’s determination to “annex” Taiwan.

Many fear that war could break out here without warning and is prompting some to seek peace amid constant threats from Beijing.

“Many people came and joined RPG because they heard testimonies of how God is answering prayer, so there are many disbelievers who join RPG, and when they open their mouths and pray, they experience the Lord, so they also come to the Lord,” Pastor Huang said.

CBN News spoke to church leaders who said a possible war between Taiwan and China would be like David facing Goliath, bringing untold devastation and loss of life.

They believe that prayer can make the difference between war and peace.

“We ask churches around the world to pray for this very dangerous place in the world today so that God’s peace can reach cross-strait relations,” Pastor Lu said. “Ethnic Chinese should not kill each other, but together we should fulfill the end-time missions movement to bring the Gospel back to Jerusalem.”