In recent years Chinese authorities have been closing off access to the international internet in China and have been restricting their people to websites and apps that are controlled by the government. This presents several challenges for Christian Chinese returning to China such as:
- Difficulty accessing Christian resources such as bibles, devotionals, study notes, Christian books, Christian music etc. Nearly all of these are blocked in China.
- Difficulty communicating with other Christians, especially overseas.The only apps available are monitored and censored.
There are options to get around these difficulties, but they need to be planned and put in place before returning to China. There are no guaranteed, risk-free solutions and the situation changes frequently, so returnees need to be flexible and adaptable.
At the time of writing this we are making the following recommendations:
- The returnee should take at least one paper copy of a Chinese Bible to China.There may come a day when digital bibles don’t work.
- The returnee should learn to use the WeDevote Bible app (see this article on Bible apps https://www.thrivingturtles.org/resource/chinese-bible-apps/) while overseas and ensure it is up to date and they have downloaded Bible texts before returning.
- On returning to China the returnee should keep the phone they used overseas.They should keep their overseas SIM card (on the cheapest package) and arrange for ongoing payments to keep it active (perhaps maintaining an overseas bank account). They should keep the phone setup with the overseas app store.
- Get a VPN service to allow the returnee to connect to the apps and services they were using overseas and to communicate securely with others.VPN use in China is very complicated; it is something you and the returnee need to understand before going ahead. This article outlines some of the issues in terms of legality and use https://www.thefoodranger.com/can-you-use-a-vpn-in-china/
- When they return to China, they should buy another phone to use for everyday life (with Chinese SIM and app store).They can take this phone outside with them but should leave the overseas phone at home and only use it at home.
- If questioned about why they have the overseas phone at home, they can say they kept their old phone to stay in touch and manage business overseas.
如何在回国前预备你的手机？
近年来，中国当局一直在封锁国内对国际互联网的访问，并限制民众仅能使用政府控制的网站和应用程序。这对返回中国的中国基督徒带来了若干挑战，例如：
- 难以获取基督教资源，如圣经、灵修资料、研经笔记、基督教书籍、基督教音乐等。这些资源几乎全部在中国被屏蔽。
- 难以与其他基督徒沟通，尤其是海外的基督徒。可用的应用程序均受到监控和审查。
虽然有办法绕过这些困难，但必须在回国前做好规划并落实相关措施。没有绝对可靠且零风险的解决方案，且形势变化频繁，因此归国者需要保持灵活和适应性。
在撰写本文时，我们提出以下建议：
- 海归基督徒应至少携带一本纸质中文圣经回国。说不定哪天电子圣经会无法使用。
- 海归基督徒应在海外期间学会使用“WeDevote”“微读圣经”应用程序（参见关于圣经应用程序的这篇文章：https://www.thrivingturtles.org/resource/chinese-bible-apps/），并确保在回国前已更新至最新版本且下载了圣经文本。
- 回国后，海归基督徒应保留在海外使用的手机。应保留海外SIM卡（选择最便宜的套餐），并安排持续缴费以保持卡片有效（例如保留海外银行账户）。应保持手机设置为使用海外应用商店。
- 请开通VPN服务，以便海归基督徒能够连接其在海外使用的应用程序和服务，并与他人进行安全通信。在中国使用VPN非常复杂；在实施之前，您和海归基督徒都需要对此有充分了解。本文概述了有关合法性和使用方面的一些问题：https://www.thefoodranger.com/can-you-use-a-vpn-in-china/
- 回国后，他们应购买另一部手机用于日常生活（配备中国SIM卡和应用程序，如微信）。他们可以随身携带这部手机外出，但应将海外手机留在家中，仅在家中使用。
- 如果被问及为何家中保留海外手机，可以回答说保留旧手机是为了保持联系并处理海外业务。