AsiaStories

Chinese New Year is a time of festivity, but also a time of pagan worship. Pray for Chinese Christians and for people to come to Christ. Read more on AsiaStories.

It’s Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one. And like these American holidays, Chinese New Year is all about family — it’s a time to reconnect with loved ones. This year, T.Y Po, a Chinese-American, is joining the traveling masses to celebrate the holiday with his aunts, uncles and cousins in Hong Kong and inviting AsiaStories to come along for the four-day celebration.

Join Po on this journey through temples, the wishing tree and much more by viewing daily posts on AsiaStories.

The AsiaStories coverage of Chinese New Year begins January 20th, 2012.

The men and women who work in this massage parlor had never heard about the true meaning of Christmas. Christmases for these men and women weren’t filled with advent calendars, gingerbread men and presents. There weren’t any links in paper chains to rip off to show how many days were left until Christmas.

In India, the devadasi (day-vah-dah-see) system, a Hindu practice of temple prostitution, has existed for more than 5,000 years. In the state of Karnataka in southern India, starving families dedicate hundreds of girls each year to the goddess Yellamma. The children are forced to begin a life of prostitution at age 11 or 12.

Yada Chaipetch* and Maliwan Wongsurin* are prisoners at a Juvenile Detention Center in Thailand. Because they have little education and few job skills, they are at-risk for trafficking and prostitution upon their release from prison. These are their stories.

Nicole Dell and her friends from America never pictured themselves singing Karaoke in a Thai bar, but they threw caution to the wind when they realized it was the easiest way to have uninterrupted conversations with the bar’s sex workers.

Kathleen Jones* visits India’s brothels five days a week to share Christ’s love with the women working here. She is 69 years old and has been working in the red light districts of India for over three years. With four children, 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren at home in the United States, coming to India was not an easy decision, but Jones says she knew it was what God called her to do.

The young Chinese woman steps from a back room into the soft, pink light of a small brothel. She adjusts her short dress and black stockings. A middle-aged Chinese man follows a few steps behind, handing her the equivalent of $60 U.S. Transactions like this happen every day in brothels throughout China, a Christian worker says. By praying and sharing, she hopes to bring the Gospel to China’s commercially exploited women.

It’s been an eventful year in Asia. From Japan’s tsunami to making Christmas ornaments in Thailand, AsiaStories has taken you there to experience how God is working among His people. Take a glance through our 10 most popular stories of the year. Then, cast a vote for your AsiaStories 2011 favorites. We want your opinion!

Yupha Hanuman came to Thai Country Trim eight years ago as a widow looking for work. Like most Thais, Hanuman was a Buddhist. When her daughter caught dengue fever, Hanuman’s Christian coworkers covered her in prayer. God healed her daughter and at a Christmas party Hanuman chose to believe the message behind the ornaments she made.

Christmas isn’t celebrated in Ponpit Sayom’s home with ornament-laden Christmas trees, cookies or carolers, but she prays that one day her family will listen to the story represented in the ornaments she makes.

The neighbor shook her finger at the pastor and I and verbally abused us and told how I tried to convert the kids by giving them biscuits. She went on and on, but shut up when it was pointed out that she feeds the dogs the same biscuits I feed the poor children. She never thought to give biscuits to the kids.

Twenty-eight adults stood for Christ that day as we shared the story of Christmas. Some of these, the pastor and I had already been sharing with and answering questions.

Every district looks the same: construction sites, cheap restaurants, factories, factories and more factories. Southern Baptist worker David Rice* sees this city through different eyes. His mental map of Dongguan is a labyrinth of ministry possibilities — a medical clinic here, management training classes over there and maybe a Christian coffee shop in the heart of a red light district.

Southern Baptist worker David Rice* challenges you to make an eternal impact on this city that “supplies the world.” He’s looking for partners to adopt each of the 32 districts in Dongguan, China.

Join Southern Baptists in praying for Dongguan, China and other factory cities during Week of Prayer, Dec. 4 – 11.

Sharing the Gospel “cold turkey” in this factory environment doesn’t always work. Most have never even heard the name of Jesus. Sometimes, it’s better to slowly introduce the Gospel. Hsing does this by gaining trust and respect through experiencing the same daily challenges.

Takahashi is one of the 4,000 homeless living in Tokyo and no stranger to distribution lines. He spends part of each day waiting for food donations or other supplies. He isn’t on this side of the line very often — giving, instead of receiving. So when the chance comes to leave his sidewalk “bed” outside of Shinjuku train station to volunteer more than 240 miles away, in one of the hardest hit tsunami areas with Tokyo Baptist Church, Takahashi takes it.

Kiyoshi Sugioka and his team made billions for the Japanese investment company where he worked. The bubble burst when one of Sugioka’s employees made a risky investment resulting in a huge loss of money. When Sugioka chose to repay the company from his personal wealth, he became a Japanese government statistic, joining an estimated 4,000 people sleeping on the streets of Tokyo.

It’s an unlikely group sitting around the table searching through the Scriptures. Until a few months ago, all but one of the men was homeless, living under interstate bridges and in local parks. Now, they are blossoming house church leaders, understanding in a way only the homeless can that “house” is not essential to “house church.”