On this week’s China Compass podcast, I sit down with long-time friend, Pastor Dan, to discuss his family's rich Missionary Legacy in Asia (China + Malaysia), their relationship with Hudson Taylor, and much more...

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

Recommended Resources:

His Life For Mine: A Missionary’s Story (The Life and Legacy of Joy Bausum)

https://a.co/d/gY0Huyp

Hudson Taylor (and China's Open Century): If I Had a Thousand Lives (Book III)

https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Hudson-Taylor-Chinas-Century/dp/0340323922/

PLEASE: Check out which Chinese province your state is praying for @ PrayforChina.us! 

PLUS: Donate to help us fund a conference for underground Chinese Church leaders in Malaysia this fall, where Pastor Dan and I both will be teaching: MCI3.org (for security, nothing is mentioned on the site directly about the conference). 

Mentioned on Today's Podcast + Previously on China Compass: 

Guilin Mountain Chief: “I Don’t Want Your Jesus”

https://pubtv.flfnetwork.com/tabs/audio/podcasts/30293/episodes/47

“I Don’t Want Your Jesus”: Evangelism in the Mysterious Mountains of Guilin

https://chinacall.substack.com/p/i-dont-want-your-jesus

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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”!

On this week’s Prison Pulpit I talk to my good friend, Pastor Dan, about the death of his adult daughter on the mission field, and how to pray for others who go through similarly devastating circumstances. 

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

Recommended Resources:

His Life For Mine: A Missionary’s Story (The Life and Legacy of Joy Bausum)

https://a.co/d/gY0Huyp

Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary

www.BordenofYale.com

The Memoirs of William Milne (Foreword by Dan Bausum)

https://a.co/d/bALLtAf

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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”!

In honor of my good friend Brent P, who teaches rhetoric at New St. Andrews in Moscow, Idaho, and along with his lovely wife is expecting their first baby any day now, I am re-sharing this lightly edited episode (from 2024) in which we discussed a wide range of topics, including:

Here are links to the John Piper sermon that God used to introduce Brent and I almost 15 years ago...

You can follow me on Twitter, @chinaadventures, where I post daily reminders to pray for China (PrayforChina.us). You can also email me any questions or comments @ bfwesten at gmail dot com… And if you want to learn more about our missions projects or get one of my books, visit PrayGiveGo.us.

This week’s episode of the Prison Pulpit begins with a few thoughts about the ongoing situation in Venezuela, as well as the lesser-known persecution in India, before taking a deeper look at the current situation for Christians in China, and how things have continued to worsen since around the time of the pandemic in 2020.

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

How Has China (Fuyang, especially) Changed in the Past Five Years?

https://chinapartnership.org/blog/2026/06/fuyang-with-god-in-the-storm/

Give to Upcoming Venezuela Outreach (also, India, China, Pakistan, etc)

MCI3.org 

Unbeaten: My Arrest, Interrogation, and Deportation from China

Unbeaten.vip

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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”!

I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben, recording today from Lima, Peru…

I’m in a bit of a hurry today, but wanted to touch on a few different things. First, I wanted to mention the tragic earthquake that happened in Venezuela the other day and what I know. Second, every time the World Cup rolls around I remember my first World Cup viewing experience, which took place 20 years ago in a little dodgy hotel in the Tibetan Outback (2006). I also remember the second most unique viewing experience, which was 8 years later, and also in the foothills of Tibet. (I also remember playing in our little Tibetan World Cup at 13,000 ft!)

After the World Cup recollections, we look at a new article published by an old American friend who has decades of experience in China….

The Church in China: Learning to Fly in a Birdcage

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-church-in-china

Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post new China city prayer profiles every day. Email me anytime with notes, questions, or comments: chinacompass at privacyport dot com. Learn more about our ministry, including my missionary biographies, at PrayGiveGo.us!

The China Compass Podcast is brought to you by Pray for China (PrayforChina.us):

If you want to join us all this week, here are all the Chinese cities to pray for... 

Pray for China (6/29-7/5): https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-june-29-july-5-2026

To Give towards our future outreach in Venezuela and China, visit: MCI3.org

Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.

Luke 10, vs. 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

Today’s episode is a lightly edited version of an interview I did with Ray Comfort* one year ago this week. We spoke via Zoom from my hotel on the China border (Ray was at his office in LA) about my deportation and attempts to re-enter China, the dangers of being arrested as a spy, Ray's early memories of  "starving China", preaching amidst persecution, and more. I also took some time to explain to Ray that his adopted home state of California is matched up with Xinjiang Province for prayer in our Pray for China scheme. 

*Ray Comfort, the founder of Living Waters Publications, has been faithfully equipping Christians in biblical evangelism for decades, and his message, Hell’s Best Kept Secret, had a huge impact on me as a teenager way back in 1999.

Welcome to China Compass on the Fight Laugh Feast Network! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben. Follow and/or message me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I post daily reminders to pray for China.You can also email me @ bfwesten at gmail dot com. 

Living Waters exists to inspire and equip Christians to fulfill the Great Commission by training believers in the principles of biblical evangelism and providing practical tools to proclaim the gospel.

The Living Waters Podcast: The Roots of Communism and Why It’s Unbiblical

Follow or subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Don’t forget: Follow @chinaadventures on X, and find everything else @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few!

Today I'm sharing a lightly edited version of a conversation I first had with my two daughters exactly one year ago this week, on Father's Day. I personally enjoyed listening to it again, and even learned a few things that I had forgotten (lol), even though I am one of the actors in the story. Thank you for listening and please join our family in praying for China!

I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben. Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post daily reminders to pray for China. X is also the best way to contact me. Just follow and send a DM. You can also email me @ bfwesten at gmail dot com

The China Compass Podcast is brought to you by Pray for China (PrayforChina.us):

Sat, June 20 - Pray for Mangshi City in western Yunnan’s picturesque and peak-filled Dehong Prefecture, along the Myanmar border: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangshi

Home to myriad mountains and minorities, Yunnan is paired with Arkansas and Louisiana for prayer. For more info: https://prayforchina.us/index.php/yunnan/

*Remember that today in China, thousands of pastors will be detained/harassed/persecuted for faithfully leading their flocks. (Heb. 13:3)*

Sun, June 21 - Pray for Changxing County in northern Zhejiang’s Huzhou Prefecture, on the south shore of Lake Tai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changxing_County

Zhejiang Province is aptly paired with North Carolina for prayer. Learn more about both Zhejiang and Hudson Taylor here: https://prayforchina.us/index.php/zhejiang/

Mon, June 22 - Pray for Tingri County in Tibet’s most populous prefecture, Shigatse, in central Tibet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tingri_County

Tibet is paired for prayer with the mountain states of MT, ID, WY, (northern) UT & (northern) CO. Visits by Westerners are mostly forbidden and the vast majority have never heard the Gospel: https://prayforchina.us/index.php/tibet/

If you want to join us all this week, here are all the Chinese cities to pray for from now til June 28... 

https://open.substack.com/pub/chinacall/p/pray-for-china-june-22-28-2026

Who is Missionary Ben?

I haven’t done this in a long time, but every now and then I am reminded I should probably give a little bit more of my background (and my China bonafides). Now I can’t divulge very much, for security reasons, but here are the basics: moved to China at the age of 19, in the early 2000s, taught myself to speak (and read) Chinese. Lived there w/ my family til I was deported in 2018. 

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

Over those nearly 15 years, I set foot in every province, and visited hundreds of cities, towns, and villages. Alongside our evangelistic work, I helped manage a leather factory in a Muslim town, opened a yak burger/pizza restaurant on the Tibetan Plateau, served as a guide and Tibetan taxi driver, and taught English to elementary kids, high schoolers, and young adults. 

How I Taught Myself Mandarin (And How You Can Learn Too, But Won’t) https://chinacall.substack.com/p/how-i-taught-myself-mandarin 

Follow or subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Don’t forget: Follow @chinaadventures on X, and find everything else @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few!

This week’s episode of the Prison Pulpit once again gives us the opportunity to talk about Wang Yi’s Early Rain Church in Sichuan, China. The church was forcibly closed down in December of 2018, which is when Wang Yi went to Prison. The remaining congregation has continued to be harassed all these years.

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

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

Orthodox Christians killed and historic church destroyed in Ethiopia

https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/ethiopia-attack-orthodox-christians-killed/

Boko Haram Hostages Released

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8j0jn4xjgo

China detains two leaders of Early Rain, an influential underground church

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9582vlm83o

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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”!

I recently sat down with the Campus Preacher, Keith Darrell, to discuss a variety of topics, including his "favorite" bar in Butte, Montana, Chinese racists and feminists, and getting heckled (and shut down) while preaching Down Under. 

Campus Preacher Podcast: https://pubtv.flfnetwork.com/tabs/audio/podcasts/8304

Campus Preacher Website: https://www.campuspreacher.com/

Campus Preacher Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KeithDarrell

Campus Preacher Instagram: @campuspreacher

Pray for China Weekly (6/15-21): https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-june-15-21-2026

Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.

Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post new China city prayer profiles every day.

Email me anytime with notes, questions, or comments: chinacompass at privacyport dot com.

Learn more about our ministry, including my missionary biographies, at PrayGiveGo.us!

Welcome to the weekly “Prison Pulpit” series on the China Compass podcast! 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). To learn more about our ministry endeavors or get one of my missionary biographies, visit www.PrayGiveGo.us!

Why the Prison Pulpit?

I record this weekly Prison Pulpit series to encourage you to pray for Pastor Wang Yi (and others like him) as Hebrews 13:3 teaches, by sharing his own words and sermons, as well as many stories and sermons from within prison walls by the late Richard Wurmbrand, which is where we will focus today… 

For more info: 

Wurmbrand's Current Ministry: HelpforRefugees.com

Free Books and More: RichardWurmbrandFoundation.org

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Follow or subscribe to China Compass wherever you are listening. You can also send any questions or comments via comment or DM on X: @chinaadventures. Hebrews 13:3