One of the most obvious statistics to look at is of course the religious affiliation of Chinese people in the South. Here is the breakdown (click on the pie chart for a larger image):


A number of observations & reflections:

1. 50% of Chinese people identify themselves as having no religion. That's not surprising given the background of communist China.
   
2. But from my experience, these Chinese people are not atheists (certainly nothing like Richard Dawkins). They don't necessarily believe in no god(s). They just don't subscribe to an established religion. I find that they are a mix of Taoist beliefs, Confucius mindset and Chinese mythology/animism.
   
3. Although 24% of Chinese people identify themselves as Christians, you can see that this is a very broad category that includes cults like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.
   
4. If we leave out the cults, and separate the Catholics into a separate category (for reasons I'll leave for discussion at another time), we are left with 4,620 Christians (13.77%).
   
5. From my contact with churches in the area, I estimate that there are around 2,500 Chinese people who regularly meet with Christians on a weekly basis. Of course, that includes non-Christians and nominal Christians. So I would say that a more realistic estimate is probably around 7% Christians.

Pray for the many who are trapped in Taoism, Confucianism and animism, that the gospel will break through these barriers and speak into their lives.

Pray for the Christians in the South that we may be active in reaching out with the gospel, and also live in such a way that makes people take notice.