Last Sunday I had my first experience at church in China, an experience that I've been looking forward to since I decided to go on this program. I never was and still am not concerned for my safety here as a Christian and although persecution certainly exists here, it has not and probably will not directly effect me during this stay. Before I came I did lots of research on what I should expect. All of this information should be accurate, since it comes from many different sources and I presented this information as a class project this semester. This is some of what I have learned:
1) The Communist Party of China is an atheist organization and has been in power since 1949. It still regulates the practice of religion. It has become gradually more tolerant over the past 20 years and recognizes and "protects" (to some extent and at their discretion) only five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism (the Chinese Catholic Church, not the Roman Catholic Church).
2) Protestantism is very broad and protection of "Protestantism" does NOT mean that Baptists, Methodists, Evangelical Christians, etc. are free to meet and worship. The Chinese government protects what is called the "Three-Self Patriotic Movement" and you must be over the age of 18 to be involved in these meetings. But what if you're a Christian but do not agree with the theology of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or even if you DO agree with this theology but want your children that are under the age of 18 to be engaged in activities in the church?
3) I'm sure you've heard of Chinese "house churches" or "underground churches." Just like the names suggest, these are illegal gatherings and the people that are involved in them are risking the possibility of severe punishment, from fines to torture to imprisonment, and in some cases death (but this all depends on where you live in China; some places are more open than others and some officers pick other battles to enforce).
4) Enforcement of the policies are largely subjective. Officers of the law may turn a blind eye, let people off with a warning, or punish as harshly as the law allows.
5) China is actually the third largest Christian nation in the world, after the United States and Brazil. The church in China is actually growing and cities such as Beijing are generally more tolerant than other areas of China, since they are in the international spotlight, hosting a constant influx of businesspeople and tourists with which the government wants to maintain positive relations.
The church that we went to this past Sunday was for non-citizens of China. There were people there from all over the world and the service was in English. To enter the service you must show a copy of your passport to prove that you are not a Chinese citizen. Chinese citizens would not be allowed to enter. I was really taken aback by this policy but it is in place so that we can worship with less regulations as the other churches in China.
A Chinese person visiting the United States told me and some others "there is no God in China." That statement is seared in my mind and I thought: how could anyone say such a bold statement, knowing that not everyone in China feels that way. And if there IS a God, then He doesn't just exist in my little community in the USA, but everywhere, including China. When I studied abroad in Costa Rica I grew so much spiritually. I was on my own and I saw how God worked in my life, from the very simplest things to the big things. Literally EVERYWHERE I went I had little hints of His presence: as small as a man walking past me whistling "Te alabaré" (English: I will praise you) in the bus station (one of my favorite praise songs that I learned in Costa Rica) to my grandpa dying on the very day that I flew home, after I had been praying throughout the semester abroad that he wouldn't die while I was gone so that I could attend and sing at his funeral. My friend called it "Christian radar" but I saw little hints of my family in Christ everywhere I went and I thanked God for surrounding me and showing me that He is with me no matter where in the world I go.
I expected and looked forward to experiencing the same thing in China, but I have to say that during these two weeks here, I have not felt normal spiritually. I felt like a chunk of me was missing. I'm I talked to my mom on the phone on Thursday night and we prayed together that I would feel God's presence with me here, that I had just not been feeling. I tell you, our prayer was answered the very next day. As I was walking around in school, I saw a student with a Bible. I even asked him if that's what it was and he said yes it was and that he hopes that more will be manufactured in China. After school that day, our group went exploring on the subway and a woman walked onto the subway through the door directly across from me and began to read the Bible. It was very unusual for this to happen, let alone twice in one day after 2 weeks of no signs of other Christians, AND the very next day after praying about it! I was just beside myself.
What I miss most about America is the openness to talk about religious matters, bringing up God in casual conversations, seeing churches as I'm driving down the road, going to Ratio Christi and church, all of those reminders that I'm not the only one. I'm actually used to being in situations in which I'm a minority, with my core group of friends in high school all being people of different faiths than me, I'm used to having long, interesting discussions about God in college with people that don't share my beliefs, and I've put on several programs as an RA that allowed us to explore religious and moral matters in a respectful, academic setting. Growing up, I did not belong to a church (unable to find a place where I and my family felt comfortable) but continued to grow in my faith on my own wrestling with questions, through my life experiences, and through Bible study. All of these experiences have caused me to grow in being able to stand firm (but always respectful) in my beliefs, even when I feel like I'm the only one, and not compromise my founded beliefs to fit what the majority wants me to do. That pretty much sums up my whole life, actually! In short, I find it interesting that I still feel out of sorts and actually, now that I'm reflecting on it, I think that it's not that I feel lonely that I'm a minority or that I'm missing my Christian community back home, but that I just feel suppressed in talking about matters of faith compared to what I'm used to. (Blogging is a really great way to organize your thoughts. I've been bothered trying to find an answer to why I feel the way I do this whole trip, but I think that's it, I feel suppressed).
So, like I said, I arranged our group trip to church this past Sunday and after a slow bus ride and getting a little bit lost, we arrived 50 minutes late. The instant I walked into the church I felt at peace, at home. The minute we sat down in the sanctuary I began to cry and didn't stop throughout the whole sermon. The sermon was not that strong but that's not what affected me. I'm not someone who shows my emotions much, but over the past few years, I've begun to cry when I feel God's presence and when I pray, which is something that has strengthened my faith; it also shows that I felt God in that place. When I looked out at the attendees of all different ages and races, I praised God for the freedom that we have in the United States and as international tourists abroad to worship freely and was saddened for my brothers and sisters all over the world that do not have this basic freedom.
I learned something else that was interesting. One of my NC State peers here told me that her Chinese mentor teacher was trying to explain a Chinese character to her and said "let me just explain it in religious terms: Jesus came down from Heaven... (and drew a line down)" and continued using a Christian analogy. I mentioned it to one of my friends here who is Chinese American and he said "Oh yeah, a lot of the Chinese characters are based on Christianity." That shocked me so I went online and sure enough, several of the characters do appear to have Judeo-Christian origin, which is really interesting to me! There are theories as to why this may be the case, but I don't know much about it so I can't defend it one way or the other. You can look into it if it interests you! I also can't claim that correlation between these characters and the Biblical stories means causation, but it looks like there must be something to it, since it's not just one but several characters. Look at the examples below (and don't judge my first attempt at drawing Chinese characters! :)