China Compass

China Compass
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Christianity
  • Semiweekly

With more than two decades of experience in the Middle Kingdom, Ben tackles China’s toughest questions while telling captivating stories and challenging Christians to intercede for revival and reformation. Each weekend episode takes on Chinese current events with wisdom and a wealth of experience (ie, lots of stories), while the midweek podcast (aka, The Prison Pulpit) gives persecuted believers a voice, challenging Christians to pray for those in chains "as bound with them." (Heb. 13:3) Follow to stay informed on current events and evangelism efforts, missionary history, and the ongoing persecution of Christians in China.

  1. 2d ago

    Dispatches from China, Turkey, Russia, and Ethiopia on "International Religious Freedom Day"│Prison Pulpit #106

    Welcome to the weekly Prison Pulpit series here on the China Compass podcast! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city to adopt in prayer every single day. Email anytime: bfwesten AT gmail dot com And for everything else, including our ministry page, substack, books & more, please visit PrayGiveGo.us   On today’s Prison Pulpit podcast, which I am recording at the end of “International Religious Freedom Day”, we look at a handful of difficult situations involving persecution that are happening in various parts of the world today, including Turkey, China, Russia, and more, of course always “remembering” to pray!   Why the Prison Pulpit?  The goal for these past two years has been to remind Christians to pray for our persecuted brethren as Hebrews 13:3 clearly encourages us to do: “Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them.” Pastor Wang Yi, who is currently in prison, and the late Richard Wurmbrand have been our prison guides.    Two Day Raid on Underground Church https://www.vomcanada.com/cn-2026-10-01b.htm   Book of the Week:  Unbeaten: My Arrest, Interrogation, and Deportation from China: Unbeaten.vip   Pray for China Cities of the Week (Oct 26-31): https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-oct-26-31-2026   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”!

  2. 6d ago

    Is It Too Risky to Visit China? -OR-  Is the Middle Kingdom More Open Than Ever Before?

    Welcome to the China Compass Podcast on the Fight Laugh Feast Network and the Christian Podcast Community! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben. You can follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post daily reminders to pray for China (PrayforChina.us). Email any questions/comments to bfwesten at gmail dot com and find all our resources @ PrayGiveGo.us! Today’s podcast begins with a few quick comments about Malaysia’s role in smuggling oil from Iran into China, but the vast majority of our time is spent discussing the relative risks (or not) in visiting China in this day and age. (Hint: The Door is Open and the Risks are Few)   Iran’s Oil Exports to China (via Malaysia) Have Dried Up https://www.iranintl.com/en/202610222999   Americans could be detained for years in popular travel destination, officials warn Innocent travelers could face questioning or detention, US State Department advisory warns https://www.foxnews.com/travel/americans-could-detained-years-popular-travel-destination   US Department of State: Exercise Increased Caution Traveling to China (Level 2) https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel/travel-advisories/china.html   Unbeaten: Arrested, Interrogated, Deported Confronting the Lies (and Laughter) of the Chinese Communist Police Unbeaten.vip   This week's Pray for China cities (Oct 26-31) will go live on Sun, Oct 25: https://chinacall.substack.com   Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform.  Follow us on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures), and find much more @ PrayGiveGo.us Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

  3. Oct 21

    The Secret Lives of Malay Christians│Prison Pulpit #105

    Welcome to the first episode of Year 3 of the Prison Pulpit series here on the China Compass podcast! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city to adopt in prayer every single day. Email anytime: bfwesten AT gmail dot com And for everything else, including our ministry page, substack, books & more, please visit PrayGiveGo.us   Why the Prison Pulpit?  The goal for these past two years has been to remind Christians to pray for our persecuted brethren as Hebrews 13:3 clearly encourages us to do: “Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them.” Pastor Wang Yi, who is currently in prison, and the late Richard Wurmbrand have been our prison guides.    Forced Into a ‘Double Life’ as a Malay Christian https://persecution.org/2026/10/14/forced-into-a-double-life-as-a-malay-christian/   Book of the Week:  The Memoirs of William Milne  The First Missionary to Malaysia https://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-William-Milne-Missionary-1785-1822-ebook/dp/B0DJ1Q4HNR/   Pray for China Cities of the Week (Oct 19-25): https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-oct-19-25-2026   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”!

  4. Oct 17

    Abby and I Recount Our Indescribably Awful Malaysia Boat Ride + Deaf Outreach in Western China (+ more w/ Dr. Claud)

    Welcome to the China Compass Podcast on the Fight Laugh Feast Network and the Christian Podcast Community! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben. You can follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post daily reminders to pray for China (PrayforChina.us). Email any questions/comments to bfwesten at gmail dot com and find all our resources @ PrayGiveGo.us! Today’s podcast is primarily a mashup of two conversations I had exactly one (my daughter Abby) and two years ago (Dr. Claud) this week. We cover lots of ground with stories from Australia, Malaysia, and the hinterlands of China. For instance, Abby and I discussed our absolutely awful boat ride in Malaysia (no words can describe!), and Claud and I recall (among other things) nearly crashing through an icy lake in the foothills of Tibet.    Chatting with My Youngest Daughter Abby on Her Birthday Today I had a very special guest for the first half of the podcast, my lovely daughter Abby (Abriana) who just turned 18 today, although we recorded this exactly a year ago on her 17th.  Here’s how you can follow her and her artwork/photography: https://www.instagram.com/abriana.isabel_art/ And here’s the kids book that she illustrated a couple years ago: https://www.amazon.com/Snowy-Love-Story-Timothy-Yeahquo/dp/B0DJBYNP14/   Story Time with one of my best friends, “Dr. Claud” The second half of this week’s podcast is a conversation I had 2 years ago this week with my good friend, Dr. “Claud”, who among other things, describes what it was like to live in China’s Shaanxi Province (Xi’an) for the better part of a year back in 2004 and 2005, ministering primarily to the deaf community there.   Operation China (this is the book Claud and I referenced near the end of our conversation) https://www.asiaharvest.org/operation-profiles#operation-list   This week's Pray for China cities (Oct 19-25) will go live on Sun, Oct 18: https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-oct-19-25-2026   Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform.  Follow us on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures), and find much more @ PrayGiveGo.us Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

  5. Oct 14

    Wang Yi’s "Declaration of Faithful Disobedience" + Dark Clouds Over China│Prison Pulpit #104 (2 Yrs!)

    Welcome to this special 2 year anniversary edition of the Prison Pulpit on the China Compass podcast! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city to adopt in prayer every single day. Email anytime: bfwesten AT gmail dot com And for everything else, including our ministry page, substack, books & more, visit PrayGiveGo.us   Today’s anniversary episode is going to include three segments… First, Asia Harvest providentially posted a China report TODAY which will give us a glimpse into “what’s really happening in China” today.  https://www.asiaharvest.org/china-update-what-s-really-happening-in-china   Second, I want to re-read Pastor Wang Yi’s “Declaration of Faithful Disobedience”, which was shared on the China Partnership blog a number of years ago.  https://chinapartnership.org/blog/2018/12/my-declaration-of-faithful-disobedience/   Third and finally, just last night I read a testimony from Richard Wurmbrand about an experience his wife Sabina’s had during her 3 year imprisonment in a labor camp in Romania. This was only just published by their son Michael (now 80+) in a recent newsletter for his ongoing Romania ministry, Hope for Refugees.  RichardWurmbrandFoundation.org   Why the Prison Pulpit?  The goal for these past two years (hard to believe its already been that long) is to remind Christians to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters as Hebrews 13:3 clearly teaches us to do: “Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them”    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”!

  6. Oct 10

    Does Pastor Wang Yi Have Cancer? + Jetlag Travelogue: Darjeeling → New Delhi → Abu Dhabi → Atlanta (in 42 hrs)

    Welcome to the China Compass Podcast on the Fight Laugh Feast Network and the Christian Podcast Community! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben. You can follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post daily reminders to pray for China (PrayforChina.us). Email any questions/comments to bfwesten at gmail dot com and find all our resources @ PrayGiveGo.us! Today’s podcast (recorded in India and Atlanta) starts out with a travelogue of my current journey from north India to Atlanta (and eventually DFW/OKC), followed by a look at the Wang Yi cancer question, and finishing with a look at all the China cities to pray for this coming week.   ChinaAid’s Wang Yi Report https://chinaaid.org/news/chinaaid-raises-health-alarm-for-imprisoned-pastor-wang-yi-calls-for-family-access/ Read the translation of the Early Rain’s response to the Wang Yi news on my Substack… ChinaCall.Substack.com   Unbeaten: Arrested, Interrogated, Deported Confronting the Lies (and Laughter) of the Chinese Communist Police Unbeaten.vip   The list of this week's Pray for China cities (Oct 12-18) will go live on Sun, Oct 12: https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-oct-12-18-2026   Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform.  Follow us on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures), and find much more @ PrayGiveGo.us Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

  7. Oct 8

    Elderly Early Rain Church Members Arrested at Tea House (+ Inside India)│Prison Pulpit #103

    Welcome to this mid-week Prison Pulpit edition of the China Compass podcast! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city to adopt in prayer every single day. Email any questions or comments to: bfwesten AT gmail dot com. For everything else visit PrayGiveGo.us, including our ministry page, substack, and all books. On this week’s episode of the Prison Pulpit, I begin by giving a little update from India and how things are trending more like China, in a bad way. Then we look at a couple of stories out of China, including the arrest of a number of elderly folks from Early Rain Church in Chengdu.   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 bonds, as bound with them”    Elderly Early Rain Churchgoers Arrested at Tea House https://www.vomcanada.com/china/cn-2026-09-24.htm Exit Bans: China Forbids Citizens from Leaving https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqe8x6gkk250o   Book of the Week:  Unbeaten: My Arrest, Interrogation, and Deportation from China: Unbeaten.vip   Pray for China Cities of the Week (Oct 5-11): https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-oct-5-11-2026   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”!

  8. Oct 4

    N.D. Wilson is Wrong about Tibetan Yak Butter (+ Trump Troubles Taiwan)

    Welcome to the China Compass Podcast on the Fight Laugh Feast Network and the Christian Podcast Community! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben. You can follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post daily reminders to pray for China (PrayforChina.us). Email any questions/comments to bfwesten at gmail dot com and find all our resources @ PrayGiveGo.us! Today’s podcast starts out with a fun critique of ND Wilson’s opinion of Tibetan yak butter (while agreeing with his overall point about the upcoming Narnia movie). Then we discuss China’s future with Lee Kuan Yew (via proxy) on the 77th anniversary of the regime. Next, how did Trump trouble Taiwan last month? Finally, all the Chinese cities to pray for this coming week!    ND Wilson talks yak butter on “Stories are Soul Food” Glitter Bomb Narnia (25:00-30) https://open.spotify.com/episode/38WMSAOGJ3KcVWfrxRaHXa   Book of the Week: Tibet: The Roof of the World | The China Chronicles #4 (Paul Hattaway) https://www.asiaharvest.org/bookstore/Tibet-The-Roof-of-the-World-The-China-Chronicles-N%C2%BA4-p282172673   Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew with some straight talk on China https://x.com/Eureka_Bing/status/2104900364575310183   Trump's Comments Trouble Taiwan  www.bostonstar.com/news/279338243/taipei-pushes-back-on-beijing-s-world-war-ii-narrative   The list of this week's Pray for China cities (Oct 5-11) will go live on Sun, Oct 5: https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-oct-5-11-2026   Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform.  Follow us on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures), and find much more @ PrayGiveGo.us Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

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About

With more than two decades of experience in the Middle Kingdom, Ben tackles China’s toughest questions while telling captivating stories and challenging Christians to intercede for revival and reformation. Each weekend episode takes on Chinese current events with wisdom and a wealth of experience (ie, lots of stories), while the midweek podcast (aka, The Prison Pulpit) gives persecuted believers a voice, challenging Christians to pray for those in chains "as bound with them." (Heb. 13:3) Follow to stay informed on current events and evangelism efforts, missionary history, and the ongoing persecution of Christians in China.

Information

  • Creator
    China Compass
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    244
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    China Compass

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