This week I had a conversation with an old buddy of mine from South Africa who nearly died (froze to death) with me 20 years ago this week. We talked through what happened, recounting the difficulties, but glorifying God for his providence.

Welcome to China Compass on the Fight Laugh Feast network! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city or county to pray for every single day. Feel free to write anytime: chinacompass@privacyport.com. All my books, substack, patreon, and everything else can be easily found at PrayGiveGo.us!

The Autobiography of John G. Paton (JohnGPaton.com)

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com)

Unbeaten: Arrested, Interrogated, and Deported from China (Unbeaten.vip)

The Memoirs of William Milne: First Protestant Missionary to Malaysia (PrayGiveGo.us)

A Mission in the Mountains of Tibet (Mar 28, 2006)

https://chinacall.substack.com/p/into-hidden-valleys

Runaway Van in Tibet @ 14,700 Feet (Dec 29, 2010)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/146773358

This coming week's Pray for China (PrayforChina.us) cities… https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-apr-5-11-2026

Thank you for listening! Subscribe + leave a review on your preferred podcast platform! If you’d like to support our China ministry, that, and everything else can be found @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, vs 2: the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, so let's ask the Lord for more!

I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben, at home in Malaysia. Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city to pray for every single day. Feel free to email anytime: chinacompass @ privacyport.com. Check out PrayGiveGo.us for everything else, incl. Patreon, Substack & books…

The Memoirs of William Milne (PrayGiveGo.us)

The Autobiography of John G. Paton (JohnGPaton.com)

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com)

Unbeaten: My Arrest, Interrogation, and Deportation from China (Unbeaten.vip)

Why the Prison Pulpit?

The goal is to remind people to pray for persecuted believers as Hebrews 13:3 teaches: “Remember those who are in prison, as bound with them.” We’ve looked at Wang Yi and Early Rain Church’s writings in the aftermath of their arrest and attack in 2018, but I’ve also regularly turned to other persecuted ministers who have gone before, such as Richard Wurmbrand, to give us a voice literally from prison.

(Here are some free PDF books from Richard Wurmbrand: https://richardwurmbrandfoundation.org/)

Nigeria Back in the News (Church Attacks)

https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/stories/Palm-Sunday-Attack-Shakes-Nigerian-Community/

Kidnapped Pilot in Niger Still Missing (Kevin Rideout)

https://www.christianpost.com/news/kidnapped-missionary-kevin-rideout-remains-missing.html

The Savior’s Thirst + A Reminder to Remember Kidnapped Kevin Rideout

https://chinacall.substack.com/p/the-saviors-thirst

How to Give? MCI3.org

We have a major project this year to help the missionary arm of China's underground church. $50k need!

Follow China Compass

Thank you for listening! Subscribe & leave a review on your preferred podcast platform! And don’t forget to visit PrayGiveGo.us for books + Heb. 13:3: Remember those who are in prison, “as bound with them”!

After a few personal updates from these past couple of days since returning to Malaysia, I begin by talking about the new Hong Kong security law that empowers gov’t to search phones and other devices, and why this isn’t quite the big deal as some want to make it seem. Also, I talk about Canada’s search of my phone. (7:54). Next, we take a few minutes for a fascinating look at global gasoline prices (22:05). Then, we look at the REALITY of China’s energy consumption (Hint: its not as Green as it seems)(26:50). Another well-written article from India provides a helpful take on the two things China lacks as it attempts to grow into a world superpower (32:19). Next to last, we work through an eye-opening take by a Chinese writer for a Japanese newspaper, comparing China’s current economic state to Japan’s back before the real-estate bubble burst 30+ years ago (38:50). Last but not least, while looking briefly at this week’s Pray for China cities, I tell the story of the one and only time I was caught red-handed smuggling Christian literature from Hong Kong into China (47:04).

Welcome to China Compass on the Fight Laugh Feast network! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city or county to pray for every single day. Feel free to write anytime: chinacompass@privacyport.com. All my books, substack, patreon, and everything else can be easily found at PrayGiveGo.us!

The Autobiography of John G. Paton (JohnGPaton.com)

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com)

Unbeaten: Arrested, Interrogated, and Deported from China (Unbeaten.vip)

China may have all the attributes of a superpower—but it lacks two things

https://www.theweek.in/columns/prasannan/2026/03/21/china-a-sleeping-kumbhakarna.html

China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/07/06/world/chinas-housing-crisis-is-worse-than-it-seems/

Now let's take a look at this coming week's Pray for China (PrayforChina.us) cities…

https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-mar-29-apr-4-2026

Thank you for listening! Subscribe + leave a review on your preferred podcast platform! If you’d like to support our China ministry, that, and everything else can be found @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, vs 2: the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, so let's ask the Lord for more!

I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben, finally back home with my family in Malaysia. Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city to pray for every single day. Feel free to email anytime: chinacompass @ privacyport.com. Check out PrayGiveGo.us for everything else, incl. Patreon, Substack & books…

The Memoirs of William Milne (PrayGiveGo.us)

The Autobiography of John G. Paton (JohnGPaton.com)

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com)

Unbeaten: My Arrest, Interrogation, and Deportation from China (Unbeaten.vip)

Why the Prison Pulpit?

The goal is to remind people to pray for persecuted believers as Hebrews 13:3 teaches: “Remember those who are in prison, as bound with them.” We’ve looked at Wang Yi and Early Rain Church’s writings in the aftermath of their arrest and attack in 2018, but I’ve also regularly turned to other persecuted ministers who have gone before, such as Richard Wurmbrand, to give us a voice literally from prison.

Richard Wurmbrand’s birthday was yesterday, March 24th (1909).

Today we will look at some of his “birthday writings” from prison…

Richard Wurmbrand Remembers Birthdays in Communist Romania

https://chinacall.substack.com/p/a-pastors-prison-birthday

And find out more about Michael Wurmbrand’s ongoing ministry (and free books!)...

https://richardwurmbrandfoundation.org/

How to Give? MCI3.org ($50k need!)

We have a major project later this year to help the missionary arm of China's underground church.

Follow China Compass

Thank you for listening! Subscribe & leave a review on your preferred podcast platform! And don’t forget to visit PrayGiveGo.us for books + Heb. 13:3: Remember those who are in prison, “as bound with them”!

Today’s podcast begins back home in Malaysia, then picks up in Calcutta (3:58), followed by dispatches from both Agartala (12:22) and later Siliguri. After making fun of North Korea and China’s national “elections” (15:50), we take a deeper look at China and India’s relationship (25:52), followed by China’s efforts to (literally) silence the languages of the minorities in China (43:51). Lastly, our brief look at this week’s Pray for China cities happens to include (without prior planning) a call to pray for Tibet (55:17).

Welcome to China Compass on the Fight Laugh Feast network! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city or county to pray for every single day. Feel free to write anytime: chinacompass@privacyport.com. All my books, substack, patreon, and everything else can be easily found at PrayGiveGo.us!

The Autobiography of John G. Paton (JohnGPaton.com)

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com)

Unbeaten: Arrested, Interrogated, and Deported from China (Unbeaten.vip)

Who Won North Korea’s Recent “Elections”?

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/kim-jong-un-wins-99-93-votes-in-north-korea-parliamentary-elections-remaining-0-07-went-to-11236508

China’s dispute with India over Arunachal Pradesh

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/china-s-dispute-india-over-arunachal-pradesh

Tibet in India’s China Calculus

https://www.orfonline.org/research/tibet-in-india-s-china-calculus

China’s new language law could prove fatal for minority tongues

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-putonghua-china-common-language-law/

China Requires Minorities to Learn Mandarin

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9meeek051o

Now let's take a look at this coming week's Pray for China (PrayforChina.us) cities…

https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-mar-22-28-2026

Thank you for listening! Subscribe + leave a review on your preferred podcast platform! If you’d like to support our China ministry, that, and everything else can be found @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, vs 2: the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, so let's ask the Lord for more!

I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben, recording today in downtown Dhaka, the overcrowded capital of Bangladesh. Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city to pray for every single day. Feel free to email anytime: chinacompass @ privacyport.com. Check out PrayGiveGo.us for everything else, incl. Patreon, Substack & books…

The Memoirs of William Milne (PrayGiveGo.us)

The Autobiography of John G. Paton (JohnGPaton.com)

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com)

Unbeaten: Arrested, Interrogated, and Deported from China (Unbeaten.vip)

Why the Prison Pulpit?

The goal is to remind people to pray for persecuted believers as Hebrews 13:3 teaches: “Remember those who are in prison, as bound with them.” We’ve looked at Wang Yi and Early Rain Church’s writings in the aftermath of their arrest and attack in 2018, but I’ve also regularly turned to other persecuted ministers who have gone before, such as Richard Wurmbrand, to give us a voice literally from prison.

Thoughts on Bangladesh and How to Pray…

When I first started learning about Bangladesh in 2002, there were only about 130+ million people. Today that number is closer to 180! Let me help you with an example of just how crowded it is… similar in size to Georgia, Iowa, and Alabama, but with 15 or 25x more people!s

**Bangladesh is the most densely populated sovereign nation larger than 1,000 square miles**

- It has a population density of roughly 3,538 per sq. mile (1400/km)!

- Virtually all higher-density entries are tiny city-states, territories, or micro-nations far below 1,000 square miles, including: Macau (~33 km², ~22,000/km²), Monaco (~2 km², ~19,000/km²), Singapore (~710 km², ~8,225/km²), and Hong Kong (~1,100 km², ~7,000/km²).

- Among sovereign countries (or comparable large entities) exceeding the size threshold, no other nation surpasses Bangladesh. Next in line for larger countries include places like Taiwan (~636/km²), the Netherlands (~548/km²), and South Korea (~529/km²).

• Islam growing faster than anything else
• Christians converted from Islam are growing, but still a tiny minority (200k)
• Pray for more laborers, open doors, boldness, and protection from the evil one
• As always, put yourself “in their shoes” as you pray…

How to Give? MCI3.org ($50k need!)

We have a major project later this year to help the missionary arm of China's underground church.

Follow China Compass

Thank you for listening! Subscribe & leave a review on your preferred podcast platform! And don’t forget to visit PrayGiveGo.us for books + Heb. 13:3: Remember those who are in prison, “as bound with them”!

This week we start by looking at Rocket Man’s latest missile launch, and why China lets him stay around, followed by more thoughts on China and Iran, and then China’s attempts to hack Starlink. Lastly, this week’s Pray for China cities includes a ton of stories and memories.

Welcome to China Compass on the Fight Laugh Feast network! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city or county to pray for every single day. Feel free to write anytime: chinacompass@privacyport.com. All my books, substack, patreon, and everything else can be easily found at PrayGiveGo.us!

The Autobiography of John G. Paton (JohnGPaton.com)

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com)

Unbeaten: Arrested, Interrogated, and Deported from China (Unbeaten.vip)

North Korea Launches Missiles Towards Japan

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/10-launches-raise-alarm-all-about-north-korea-ballistic-missile-firings-towards-the-sea-of-japan-101773476107021.html

Xi Torn Between Iran and US

https://asia.nikkei.com/editor-s-picks/china-up-close/analysis-xi-torn-between-long-ties-with-khameneis-and-us-relations

Starlink Creates Hurdles In China’s Plans to Someday Overwhelm Taiwan

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/starlinks-role-in-ukraine-war-set-the-chinese-thinking-about-hurdles-to-its-possible-seizure-of

Now let's take a look at this coming week's Pray for China (PrayforChina.us) cities…

https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-mar-15-21-2026

Thank you for listening! Subscribe + leave a review on your preferred podcast platform! If you’d like to support our China ministry, that, and everything else can be found @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, vs 2: the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, so let's ask the Lord for more!

I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben.

Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city or county to pray for every single day of the week.

Feel free to email anytime: chinacompass @ privacyport.com. Visit PrayGiveGo.us for Patreon, Substack, Books & everything else!

The Memoirs of William Milne (PrayGiveGo.us)

The Autobiography of John G. Paton (JohnGPaton.com)

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com)

Unbeaten: Arrested, Interrogated & Deported from China (Unbeaten.vip)

Why the Prison Pulpit? To remind people to pray for persecuted believers as Hebrews 13:3 teaches: “Remember those who are in prison, as bound with them.” We’ve looked at Wang Yi and Early Rain Church’s writings in the aftermath of their arest in 2018, but I’ve also regularly turned to other persecuted ministers who have gone before, such as Richard Wurmbrand, to give us a voice literally from prison.

Let me recommend a little book (Return of the Raider/The Amazing Story of Sergeant Jacob Deshazer), that I was tempted to cover in a full Prison Pulpit episode: https://jacobdeshazer.com/return-of-the-raider

The Middle East continues to be in the spotlight this week. There is obviously much we do know to pray for, but I want to remind you that there is also so much we DO NOT KNOW. For instance, Iran’s regime-induced internet blackout keeps us from hearing much at all from the majority of Iranians who are cheering on the potential fall of the Islamic regime. Let’s not forget them. My guess is if communication were functioning normally, we’d be inundated with positive messages from within Iran. One report I saw estimated that in Iran it's more like 95% against the Ayatollahs and 5% for. But we really just don’t know.

Finally, we come to our topic of the day, Chinese Christians in Exile and Serving Abroad…

I have to be careful here. I simply cannot give up too much info about the folks I’m going to mention, so bear with me as I search for the right words…

- Chinese missionaries are being sent to most of western China, almost all of Asia (sans India), and much of the Middle East, and they “fit in” much better than Westerners in many of these places

- They are being trained in much the same way Western missionaries are trained to work cross-culturally, not in a matter of days, but years, in strategic places both inside and outside of China

- Some of them struggle to leave China (passports confiscated), but others cannot return, as they will be arrested upon arrival with their passports confiscated for the foreseeable future

- We have a major project later this year to help the missionary arm of the Chinese Underground Church

Strategic Opportunity to Give: MCI3.org ($50,000 need!)

Follow China Compass

Thank you for listening! Subscribe & leave a review on your preferred podcast platform! And don’t forget to visit PrayGiveGo.us for books +. Heb. 13:3: Remember those who are in prison, “as bound with them”!