Spreading the word in China
2008-01/28

BEIJING, Jan. 28 -- Chen Yixian is like any other 23-year-old university student and enjoys South Korean and Japanese TV dramas, fashion and stuffed toys. She was raised as an atheist but later became the first Christian in her family. Today, she wants to be a pastor.

Although they do not believe in God, Chen's parents respect their only daughter's faith. They think the church environment is a good influence on her. They worry about the competitiveness of life today and see church as a haven.

Christianity is on the rise in China, and the number of Christians has rocketed to more than 16 million from 700,000 in 1949, statistics show. the rest