Revival in Anhui Province
During the winter of 1989 a revival began in the Anhui Province. Believers from northern Zhejian Province were the initiators of that revival.

What Happened
Churches in Zhejian heard about the planning for a dedication ritual for an idol on the top of a mountain in Anhui, where masses of people were to be present to participate in that dedication. To counteract that superstitious practice, the Zhejian believers sought God in prayer, and following His leading, they sent several dozen workers to spread out and share the Gospel with the crowds that were to assemble for the dedication of that idol.

Statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva at Jiuhan Shan

Preaching to the Crowds
While the crowds of people were present on the mountain, the evangelists from Zhejian began to boldly share the Gospel with anyone who would listen, using various means:
► Singing
► Playing music
► Distributing illustrated tracts (literature)

While the dedication of the idol was in progress:

A great shaking took place just then on the mountain and its surroundings. Many people repented and believed in Jesus. The crowd then stomped on the incense and joss sticks they had brought for the idols.

Temple at Mount Jiuhua

Persecution of Christians
The leaders of the idol worshiping cult reported the Christians’ activities to the Public Security Bureau, who immediately arrested all the Christians.

After four days of interrogation, the PSB didn’t find any laws the Christians had broken, so the Zhejian evangelists were released, and they continued with their work.

Example of an idol being offered bacon, butter, eggs, peas, pineapple, and cash (not an idol associated with this revival account)

Revival in Southern Shandong Province
By the 1980s the churches of southern Shandong Province, with roots in Presbyterianism, were very dry and formal. To their credit they had remained true to the Word of God, but their spiritual vitality had been depleted.

In the spring of 1989, two preachers from the Zhejiang province traveled north into Shandong to share what God was doing in many other areas of China at that time.

The ministers of Shandong, hearing of their arrival, convened a meeting to discuss if they should grant the Zhejiang preachers permission to speak in their churches. The ministers asked what they were going to speak about if granted permission, and they said that they would share about:
► How revival has broken out throughout China.
► That it was the Holy Spirit’s power that was bringing this revival.
► That each person needs to receive the Holy Spirit’s power.

Having made those statements, one of the young Shandong ministers rose to his feet and said:

“We need the filling of the Holy Spirit. I have desired this for a long time, but didn’t have the courage to say so.” … He had barely finished when another brother jumped up and declared, “In my heart I am so bored. The church is boring me to death. We must have a revival meeting!”

The sentiment of those two ministers was carried by many congregational members, so a revival meeting was scheduled for the next day, in which more than 100 preachers were in attendance.

Planned Revival Meeting
The meeting on the first day began at 6 a.m., and the two preachers from Zhejiang taught on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and testified as to what God had been doing in other parts of China. That afternoon the teaching was on the relationship of praise and the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Even with the hearts of the 100 assembled ministers being moved by what they had heard, they were still not fully opened to the Pentecostal teaching coming from the Zhejiang preachers.

That evening the two preachers from Zhejiang spent the night in prayer, interceding specifically for the meeting to be held the next day.

On the following morning, during the early morning prayer meeting, the two preachers prayed for a 13-year-old girl, and she immediately stood up and said:

Lord, I ask you to have mercy on us!

As soon as the words left her lips, the meeting place was shaken and each and every one began to weep loudly, some of them beating their chests and confessing their sins. Many wept bitterly for the lukewarm, backslidden, churches in south Shandong.

The teaching transitioned into how to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, as well as on praise and worship, and the result of this teaching was that:

Ninety percent of them were filled with the Spirit, and began to fervently clap their hands and praise out loud. The whole meeting place was shaken as their shouts were like thunder.

On the final day of the planned meetings, those assembled asked the two preachers to lay hands on them and pray for them.

As they did so several people saw a dove hovering above their hands.

One man, who had suffered from arthritis for many years, and was not able to move his hands, was immediately healed.

Association of Praise and Revival
After the Zhejiang preachers left there was a noticeable difference among the churches as it related to their reception of the teaching on praise, as well as their practice of it. There were four categories of churches identified:

1. Churches that wholeheartedly received the teaching on praise, practiced it during their services, and placed a strong emphasis on it.

2. Churches that were reserved in their release of praise.

3. A minority of churches did not practice praise at all, being fearful of criticism if they did so.

4. One church totally opposed praise, and during the previous meetings with the Zhejiang preachers, the elder of this one church even got up and angrily walked out during the teaching, declaring that “This is the work of evil spirits.”

Results of Attitude toward Praise
Several months later the value of praise during church services was made evident through the evangelistic success that was achieved through the churches that embraced and practiced that teaching.

Churches that Embraced Praise
In just a few months, in one village, the number of believers grew to four-fifths of the population. Out of 600 people, 400 became Christians. In some villages the government officials even became believers.

Churches that Were Reserved in Their Praise
In the churches that cautiously approached praise, they saw some growth, but not as much as the first group.

Churches that Did not Incorporate Praise
For the churches that did not engage in praise, there was zero growth.

The Singular Church that Was Opposed to Praise
For the one church that strongly opposed praise, their church’s attendance decreased from “90 to 10 old people.” Those who were younger left that church to join the others that were filled with the Spirit.

Revival Continued
From the spring of 1989 till the spring of 1991, churches from Zhejiang Province sent many people to work with the churches of southern Shandong. One exciting result of the continual revival was that the elder who walked out of the meeting during the revival services conducted by the two Zhejiang preachers in the spring of 1989, and who had declared, “This is the work of evil spirits,” repented, became filled with the Holy Spirit, and led his congregation in praise. This resulted in revival coming to that church.

Signs and Wonders Continued
In March 1991, more workers from Zhejiang arrived to preach in Shandong churches, and during one of the meetings, a 22-year-old paralytic man, covered with filth and extremely unkempt, was carried into the meeting.

The brethren laid hands on him and in the name of the Lord commanded the spirit of paralysis to leave the young man. It left at once. The next day, the believers brought a handsome, clean, young man. Nobody recognized him as the paralyzed man who was carried in the day before.

The revival in Shandong continued through teams of young believers who took the Gospel to surrounding counties and cities, the Lord working through them confirming their word with signs following.

Sources
► Lilies Amongst Thorns by Danyun
► Shandong by Paul Hattaway

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Chet & Phyllis Swearingen:
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