China (MNN) — The Chinese government has issued a warning, saying it will crack down on protestors. People continue to rally against harsh COVID-19 regulations in major cities throughout China.

The protests started last week after strict lockdown measures delayed response to an apartment fire in the northwestern city of Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang region. Ten people died.

COVID-19 numbers have increased greatly throughout the country in recent weeks, surpassing 40,000 new cases per day by the end of November. Much of the population has not been exposed to COVID-19, and many elderly people have not received any vaccine.

Surveillance

Jason Woolford with Mission Cry says, “They’re threatening that if you’re caught doing this, they can arrest you. And also, even in conversations we have, whether through social media outlets or other apps, we have to speak in code as it relates to some of these things. Because they are 100 percent listening to conversations.”

“So it’s a very scary state for the people there.”

Amid threats of shutting down or limiting the internet, Woolford says hard-copy Bibles become more important than ever.

Mission Cry recently sent a container full of used Bibles and Christian books to Hong Kong. Woolford says, “It costs us about $10,000 to send a container with nearly half a million dollars worth of free Bibles. He’s asking us to send as much as possible while we have an open door. Also, pray for continued clarity for the people to see that what’s happening to them is not just. Pray for protection over them as they stand up.”

You can support these containers here.

 

The header photo shows a Mission Cry distribution in China in 2020. (Photo courtesy of Mission Cry)