International evangelist Luis Palau launched what he is calling "the first crusade of the new China" Thursday night in Hong Kong. Rallies at Hong Kong Stadium continue through Sunday.
The Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union invited Palau to proclaim the Gospel at Hong Kong's last united crusade before the British colony becomes a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China at midnight June 30. "They invited us to come do the last crusade of old Hong Kong," Palau says. "We call it the first crusade of the new China."
Under the principle of "one country, two systems," China has pledged to allow Hong Kong to operate as a free market economically. Christians in Hong Kong, however, fear China's administration may restrict religious freedom. Approximately one in four Hong Kong Christians has either left the territory or holds a foreign passport. Most of Hong Kong's estimated 1,200 churches are guided by a new generation of pastors under the age of 30.
"Those who have stayed have chosen to do so because of a sense that God wants them to," Palau says. "There is a sense of anticipation, that the future could mean salvation spiritually for millions of Chinese."
Crusade organizers estimated attendance at 10,000 on opening night, about the same number that attended the first rally of Palau's Hong Kong crusade 10 years ago. That crusade closed before a crowd of more than 40,000 people.