China's feeling the global recession (CNN) at least as much as anyone, and those who feel the pinch the most are always the poor, they have the least margin.

Twenty million Chinese migrant workers have lost their jobs in the past few weeks as global demand for products has taken a dive.

Looking at just one province: Chinese authorities say that 60 percent of Sichuan's 87 million residents are poor and live in the countryside. Millions of migrant workers who have lost jobs are returning to these rural homes and families, where the only alternative for many appears to be subsistence agriculture.

These very homes and families previously depended on funds from one or more family workers who migrated to the city for factory jobs - jobs that are disappearing fast as 70,000 factories so far have closed in recent months.

This is bad news. Like most, I would like some way to respond to this news. The most immediate response I can think of is to pray diligently for the church in China to rise to this occasion. When stability (even if it is a fragile stability) is pulled out from under us, the human response is to turn to God for help and hope.

God can and does use hard times for good, to remind us WHO we are and WHOSE we are, and to help us live lives of worship whatever the context. I pray this will be especially true in China during these challenging days.

As a consumer, one with an awareness of how many incidental things we purchase and use which are "made in China," behind these physical objects these are individual families and jobs and livelihoods.

We also need to pray for China's leaders. These economic challenges may also accelerate political changes.