China: The Growing Church

I've been putting off trying to summarize my final thoughts about China and about the movement of the church there. It's been over 3 weeks since I returned, and I find it increasingly difficult to put it all into words. So, I'll just tell stories of other Believers that I met on the last day:

On the last day of my trip, my brother told me he was going to take me to the location of a house church. This was one of the big reasons why I had come...I had read about the house church movement, but I had no idea what it really looked like.

As we approached the home, my brother and I had to make sure that we didn't look too conspicuous, and we even attempted to disguise our appearances. The home itself was comfortable--it convicted my own faith to just sit in the same room where Chinese Christians risked their lives by talking about their faith in Jesus Christ.

Despite the security precautions that were hanging over us, our time with this couple was really enjoyable. The wife let us help in preparing lunch, and the husband chatted with us later while the food was being served. They treated us like family, and we appreciated their generosity. At one point, my brother leaned over to me and said, "This is one of the only places where I really feel at home." Truly. I wondered how many other people had felt God's love via the hospitality that filled now this home.

The wife kindly told us that she decided not to cook the food that we had "helped" to prepare. She was afraid it was going to fall apart in the pot.

Over lunch, the couple shared about some of their struggles in hosting a church. I would have assumed that their biggest hardship would have been the inevitable imprisonment that awaited those who instructed other people about Jesus. Not so. Their fight was not against something so ordinary, rather, they were wondering if they were "good enough" to continue this ministry. The doubt that they felt was something that was very familiar with me. I had felt it so many times when I was involved in college ministry. We prayed for them--trying to bolster their faith and encouraging them that they were doing the right thing.

After the meal, my brother and I slipped back out into the bustling streets. We went to his apartment, where I took a nap and packed my bags. We waited for some friends of his to arrive, and we went out for my "farewell dinner".

The two friends were both men that my brother had introduced to Christ about a year prior. As we chatted over dinner, one of them asked a question that was so typical of a young Chinese Christian. He said, "I don't understand what the Bible is saying in John 3:1-21. Can you explain it to me?"

My brother looked at me. It was embarassingly obvious that neither of us remembered what the passage was about. Fortunately, my Bible was nearby, so I grabbed it and read through the story of Nicodemus and his questioning Jesus on the meaning of the phrase "Born Again". I explained a little bit of the background of the encounter, talking about the role of the Pharisees in the church. While I was talking, he stopped eating at listened intently, like I was some big-name Bible scholar. At the end, he looked back at me and said, "Verse 16 (John 3:16) is very good. It helps to explain the rest of the Bible."

"That's right," I said, "That is a very good verse. It would be good for you to memorize it."

We finished our meal and they dropped me off at the train station. My brother was able to ride the train part-way with me, and he convinced everyone in my cabin to take care of me for the rest of the ride--which they did. Thirty-one hours later, I officially ended my journey by kissing my wife at the Manila airport and wondering how this trip into China would now effect my ministry in the Philippines.