Kids of Courage

(Source: The May 2021 The Voice of the Martyrs magazine)
[Photo: Reading the Bible in China]

“You know that [Jesus] appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).

The Communist Party that rules China plans to change the Bible to make it agree with their non-Christian beliefs. As you read below, their version will not be true.

Story from the Bible
John 8:7-11
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Chinese Communist Version
Jesus once said to the angry crowd who was trying to stone a woman who had sinned, “He who is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her.” When his words came to their ears, they stopped moving forward. When everyone went out, Jesus stoned the woman himself, and said, “I am also a sinner.”

To Talk About
*What are the mistakes in the Chinese Communist version of the story?
*Did Jesus sin? (See 1 John 3:5.)
*Why do you think the Chinese Communist version says He sinned?

Hudson Taylor served as a missionary to China in the 1800s. Many of his listeners had never heard the gospel, so Taylor used the characters in Chinese writing to teach Bible stories.

Taylor illustrated the story of Christ’s death on the cross with the Chinese character for the word “come.” The character has a cross in the middle. Jesus was crucified between two men. On either side of the cross in “come,” there is a character for the word “man.” Can you see the characters?

Source: The Torchlighters Ultimate Activity Book, available here.

Parents and Teachers

The May 2021 issue of The Voice of the Martyrs magazine features stories and photos from China, where in recent years restrictive religious regulations and persecution have increased significantly. You can share with your children any stories and photos from the magazine that are appropriate for their level of maturity and understanding, then pray with them for the people in the stories. Enter “China” in the search box of this site to find additional stories of Chinese Christians and related activities.

China has the largest population of any country in the world. About 130 million people in China are Christians, but that’s less than 10 percent of the population. Many are nonreligious. Find more facts about China in The Voice of the Martyrs Global Prayer Guide.

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