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Working conditions in China

M
MaryJane

Greetings

I wanted to bring up a topic that has been on my heart for awhile now. My son who loves working with computer and electronics has been sharing with me some of the things he has learned about the working conditions in China at some of our better known electronic companies. These working conditions for some are so terrible that people are so filled with despair they are killing themselves. These workers are expected to work long hours standing in one place with little or no breaks at all. There is so much in the news about this topic that I have to believe these companies must know what is happening in them but they say nothing? Just wondering what others thoughts on this might be?

God bless
mary

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sermonindex


Thank you for caring enough to bring this up, Mary.

The business men of the US have known about the conditions the people are living in in China all along. It's not just been 'apple' but even big named christian men and 'ministries' use China to make their goods and some 'christian' men have their own manufacturing plants in China for no other purpose but to make money - period.
Our government has known the conditions in China since it went communist - yet we bow down to this country and we [the US] are now in debt to that country.
This has infuriated many of us for many decades but anger without action does nothing for them. Our anger is only good if we put it to action and we should be angry. If we're not - we're dead inside.
I watched a DVD recently that I got in the mail from the ministry that I promote and it was about China.
These people of China are so very hungry for literature that tells them about the "Hope" that can be had in Christ Jesus. They have no hope there, except to just exist - stay alive.
It's overwhelming to hear how badly they are crying out for more Scripture literature.
We need to care. GOD expects us to care. He's also provided two more ways that we can help them, besides to help get the Scripture literature in by donating to those that do. Fasting and praying for these desperate people and nations along with giving financially would be, I believe, what Christ Jesus would have us all to be doing.

Thank you again for bringing this to our eyes.

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sermonindex


I need to say more. My heart has been overwhelmed by these things and I need to release what's been in my heart because I can't keep it in anymore.

There are beautiful Saints around the world that are more than willing to go into these dangerous countries and pass out this literature - but they need OUR HELP.

If we would just give what we can to produce this Scripture Literature, they are the ones who's feet and hands are given to GOD, no matter the cost, to deliver the Good News to the people of China and elsewhere.
They need money to produce this literature and they desperately need our prayers.

A day will come when this will be all but impossible to do and while it's yet day, we need to have the Mind of Christ and His Heart for the world - or we'll stand before Him empty handed but filled with excuses of why we didn't care enough while we still could.

Seeing the faces of those people that are being helped, may redirect our focus -- off of ourselves and onto what Jesus sees.

Thank you again, Mary.

S
sermonindex

Its ironic that we get to see the true face of capitilism and those who wosrhip it, through the lense of a communist country. Just six months after students, protesting for democracy , were run over by tanks and thousands more imprisoned, George Bush senior granted China the " most favored nation status." All this while they were carrying out their one child policy and allowing little girls to die in orphanages. Now why would politicians who profess a love for " freedom," do this? Well I would think it would be pretty obvious, greed, the fuel that burns at the heart of the systems of the West. I write all of this not to promote one system over another or take away from the " freedoms,' and lifestyle that we enjoy in the west, I write it only to show the hypocrisy of those who use these very issues to get elected.

I could care less about the systems of men, my trust is in the Lord and I sleep at night because He is the solid foundation upon which I stand and that foundation cannot be moved. As aways, hypocrisy sticks in the throat of Gods children. There is an older documentry out there called "The Killing rooms,' I believe. It was not allowed to be shown in the States, but was aired in Great Britain. It shows how many young baby girls were simply left to die in state orphanages. It also showed Down Syndrome babies tied to "potty chairs,' and maddness had overtaken them and they simply rocked back and forward in these soiled chairs. I think that we can guess why this and other documentaries are not shown to the American public. There would be such an outcry about these and other conditions that these politicains who support communist China would be run out of town( hopefully that would happen) Anyway, not to worry, we will never see these documentaries. The string pullers will see to that. Our only hope lies in the Lord, as does the hope of the poor expolited Chinese, it certainly wont come from the West..........brother Frank

M
MaryJane

Thank you both for your replies. Sadly I have had my head buried to some of these things and did not realize the evils that were happening, well no more. Yes much prayer and seeking GOD on the behalf of these people is their only hope.

My son said mom if we would all just stop and offer up a quick prayer each time we use one of these devices, for the hands that made them the pleas that would be lifted up to heaven would be unending....

God Bless
mj

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sermonindex

"It's not just been 'apple' but even big named christian men and 'ministries' use China to make their goods and some 'christian' men have their own manufacturing plants in China for no other purpose but to make money - period. "

Brother or sister, do you have any proof of this. Could you email me if so?

In Christ -Jim

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sermonindex

The Cbineese have very little regard for human life. We see this reflected in their human rights violations. Particularly in their persecution of Christians. But then the U S has no regard for human life. We see this reflected in our abortion policies.

The U S does very little to raise q voice on human right issues. We have embassies in Beijing, China and Asmara, Eritrea. Two countries who persecute Christians. Yet the U S is silent. The Office of Religious Freedom in the U S Dept. of State is a joke. Secretary of State feels gays and lesbians are more important to protect than persecuted Christians.

But then the American church does little to pray for the persecuted. I would almost be cynical and say why bother. But God cares and so should we. Thus I will continue to stand and pray for the persecuted for this is my watch. Even if I stanf this watch alone this be my watch. As Luther said here I stand. I can do nothing but stand. Or something like that.

Blaine Scogin

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sermonindex

It's funny though, I asked a Chinese university student here one time, if you were to live any where in the world where would it be? Her answer surprised me, Beijing came the reply.

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sermonindex


Brother Jim, all one need do is go to any big Christian bookstore and look in the gift dept and look at the painting prints and gifts and where they're made and who's name is on them.

Those who have a history of teaching a twisted view of Luke 16:9 [about "making friends with unrighteous mammon"], have no problem with investing in an anti-Christian nation.

C
Compton

In the 1980's I grew up reading about a coming anti-christ who would be an individual who enslaves people while guided by a demonic intelligence. Now I wonder, with everyone seeking an affluent digital lifestyle of instant consumption and insatiable voyearism, if the anti-christ spirit is actually manifested in a swarm, guided by a swarm intelligence. Each one of us are in that swarm, as it moves like a locust cloud across the earth feeding itself on the lives of men, women, and children.

And like the Anti-Christ this swarm has an angelic face; a hundred million humanitarians blogging about the factory conditions in China on their iPads and smartphones.

MC

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sermonindex

A littled puzzled by your post. Are you saying technology is the abtichrist spirit. How do you explain Sermon Index since it is based on technology.

I use technology to track the persecuted church. I facilitate a con call 4 nights a week where we pray for the persecuted. This is using technology.

As I said I am puzzled by your post.

Blaine Scogin

M
MaryJane

by Compton on 2012/2/16 14:23:01

In the 1980's I grew up reading about a coming anti-christ who would be an individual who enslaves people while guided by a demonic intelligence. Now I wonder, with everyone seeking an affluent digital lifestyle of instant consumption and insatiable voyearism, if the anti-christ spirit is actually manifested in a swarm, guided by a swarm intelligence. Each one of us are in that swarm, as it moves like a locust cloud across the earth feeding itself on the lives of men, women, and children.

And like the Anti-Christ this swarm has an angelic face; a hundred million humanitarians blogging about the factory conditions in China on their iPads and smartphones.

MC
_______

I am sorry I don't understand what you were trying to convey with your post??? I am a bit slow tonight so please forgive me.

As for myself I see the need to pray for those who are suffering and I want to be faithful to do so.

God bless
mj

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sermonindex


Confused as well. I don't feel this thread is pointing directly at apple - [microsoft's competitor] - but should we not speak out for the innocent, child and slave labor, the oppressed, forced abortions and infanticide, the severely persecuted and those being unjustly used and through / because of our own greed?
As representives of Jesus - aren't we to speak out for their sake?

C
Compton

Thanks for asking for clarity. I guess I was a little cryptic!

First off let me say I find this to be a heart breaking issue. Like Frank and others here I don't really fret over Capitalism or Communism, because I don't think those things really matter anymore. The problem is consmers want cheap goods. How we fix that I really can't say. But how do you ask people to not save money at Wal-Mart?.

I'm not saying technology is an antichrist spirit. I was just noting that because of the internet, millions of people can coagulate instantly into an irresistable force for good or evil. One way they do this is with buying and selling online.

I'm also saying that the conditions in China are inseperable from our consumption lifestyles. Hundreds of millions of people shopping for bargains every minute of every day has more impact on humanity then the bureaucrats in Bejing or Washington.

So I guess I'm saying that our outcry over labor conditions in China rings hollow. I'm just being honest. I have no judgements on anyone here. We are looking for a "them", when there is no one but "us".

MC

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sermonindex


Some of us won't shop at China-mart and don't own phones or computers made in China. We do our best to not buy from them, but it's getting harder and harder for any of us to find products made elsewhere.

But - the weight of responsibility does not lay upon us, in regards to world-trade - but the weight of responsibility from GOD upon us remains the same -

Praying, fasting, supporting missionaries and Scriptural literature smuggled into these nations - before it's too late for them and for us, to stand before GOD unashamedly.

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sermonindex

"Brother Jim, all one need do is go to any big Christian bookstore and look in the gift dept "

The Lord wont let me go near those places, but I believe you regardless. God bless -Jim

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sermonindex

Dear brother Compton, I found your post thought provoking. Maybe not the last sentence, because I agree with JIG as far as speaking out for the lost and dying children wherever they are. Yet the great irony is that the solution cannot come by politics, obviously we know the solution. The politicians who at least seem to care about abortion and infanticide, are also the ones who represent big business and it is big business that set the standards in every country.

Thats why it was facinating that Ford gave his workers four or five times the going rate at the turn of the last century, unheard of on the heels of robber barons, yet he became a super rich man. I watched a show where they took a girl from India who helped make pants in a factory for Wallmart. These pants were sold for $20. This girl made 18 cents an hour. She said that if she just made 24 cents she could make it. When they took her into a Wallmart in America and she saw how much profit they made from those pants at $20, she wept.

I have yet to meet a genuine Christian who was unmoved by the plight of the poor. I am not talking about emergent churches or " social issue,' I am simply talking about the plight of the poor and how they are taken advantage off. Scripture has much to say on these subjects. Caring for the poor is not mutually exclusive to caring about their souls.........bro Frank

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sermonindex

"The problem is consmers want cheap goods. How we fix that I really can't say. But how do you ask people to not save money at Wal-Mart?."

A random thought to add to what Compton shared (not to contradict it). The driving factor is not always consumers wanting cheap goods. I work for a supplier to a major US auto manufacturer, we have two engineering offices in India and one in the US. The auto manufacturer requires that we send a certain percentage of our work to India. They also cut our contract values by 50% to ensure that we comply. Yet their cars are even more expensive than ever in history and they are turning record profits. The consumer gets nothing out of that deal. The average guy gets nothing out of it. Only the elite do. Heaping up wealth in the last days.

-Jim

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sermonindex

"I watched a show where they took a girl from India who helped make pants in a factory for Wallmart. These pants were sold for $20. This girl made 18 cents an hour."

Brother, India is a little different than China in some respects. I am responsible for training all of our engineers in India. They come out of college making about 4 dollars an hour US. A manager of my level there makes about 8 an hour. I spend a lot of time with these guys and one day a joke was made that I was a rich american. I asked to see a picture of the manager of our Indian branches house. He showed me his beautiful 2000 square foot home that he pays about 200 a month us for. I told him that I live in a 1000 squre foot townhouse. He stopped joking. There are some really poor parts of India for sure, but there is a large middle class forming who's standard of living is heading up while middle class americas is heading down.

In Christ -Jim

M
MaryJane

Greetings

Thank you for clarifying what you meant. I understand what you shared and I don't have any answers to the problem except to pray, seek GOD for these people and as the LORD leads give to those missions that work directly with helping as was mentioned.

God bless
mj

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sermonindex

Hi Jimdied,

I understand a little bit about India. There is a massive underclass of people who could only dream of $4 an hour. This caste system has been entrenched for centuries. The middle class have such a bad attitude towards those who they consider to be beneath them in India. Only God Himself can take an untouchable and transform him. Only God Himself would be interested in such an endevor. It makes my heart cry with tears of joy to know that I worship a God who looks at the inner man, who takes paupers and raises them up to be priests in a royal priesthood and is no respector of persons. All men are equal in the eyes of God, this is antithetical to the ways of the world, praise the Lord. This is an old line from a hymn, consider this..... "If salvation was a thing that money could buy, then the rich would live and the poor would die." This is so true. All the riches of the world cannot buy the gold and treasures of a Holy God who gives to all men freely through the bloody battle-field of Calvary. Can i get an amen brothers and sisters? ..... brother Frank

C
Compton

Interesting information for sure Jimdied. I guess because we are talking about the entire global economy, the dynamics can be quite varied and complex.

Frank, perhaps my last sentence was nothing more then a sigh of despair and therefore not edifying.

You know since we last talked offline, I have been given more responsibility at my company. I am seeking God daily on how to not exploit people's labor in anyway, and to make sure that everyone is treated by biblical standards, and not mere secular business ethics. Seeing even the smallest glimpse of the Kingdom of God is a reward much higher then making money.

Our spheres of influence may be small, but with the Lord's help we can be a light.

Blessings everyone,

MC

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sermonindex

Hi brother MC

I have no doubt in my mind that you would treat everyone fairly bro, praise the Lord. You are indeed His light............bro Frank

C
Compton

Bless you Frank.

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sermonindex

I in no way want to downplay the struggles of poor brethren around the world. I just wanted to share some of what I have learned. Working with Indian coworkers has also shown me first hand that a small amount of money given to support brethren there is worth much more. That $20 US becomes $100 in India. God bless - Jim

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sermonindex

I have heard of the problems in the China factories and it grieves me as I am sure it does the Spirit of God. To hear of those in need and to not do anything about it would be unbiblical and unethical. We can do our part by humbling ourselves daily before God and allow Him to use and guide us by His Spirit. “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?”

I was recently privileged to listen to a television show: "Made in America: Trend against outsourcing brings jobs back from China," please find link below. I was touched by the compassion of this business man to help his neighbor.

I have recently lost my job and I am going back to school to hopefully get a degree that will open more doors in the future. My heart is open to God to learn how to support oversees missions and recently a brother mentioned that at times, as the Spirit leads, it is better to support a native Christian Missionary in China, India, Africa, etc., then to send our U.S. missionaries. I personally have to learn how to provide for my family spiritually, physically, and materially and when there is the opportunity I want to help my neighbor.

Even though we hear of the suffering in China and other countries we must not forget the promises of God to His people that He will bless them spiritually and provide ALL their needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. I have heard more powerful testimonies coming from other poor and persecuted countries in comparison to what we are experiencing here in the states. I hear of the power of God being so strong that the lame are walking, the blind are healed, the captives are being set free, and the saints are being daily transformed into the image of Christ while bringing glory to His name. Sometimes I ponder the thought that we need missionaries from some of these countries to come here to the states to call us unto true repentance, to provide us an example of those who are truly following Christ so that we can live a crucified and abounding life in Christ. Here is the link below:

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/14/10156162-made-in-america-trend-against-outsourcing-brings-jobs-back-from-china

-Kenneth Martin

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sermonindex

The sheep and goats - David Servant.

Here is a short 30 minute or so testimony of a former AOG prosperity preacher who repented and started a wonderful ministry to poor brethren across the globe (Heavens Family).

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=16428&commentView=itemComments

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