Jesus in China

There are just so many things Victoria and I would like to write and journal about our recent trip to China. The blog posts just cannot do it justice, just as the written word of any kind cannot fully capture anyone’s experiences regardless of how simple they might be. What we really wanted to write about while there couldn’t be written out of concern that it might compromise some remarkably miraculous activities orchestrated by what we’re confident is activity from the Spirit of the Living God. When in China, encounters with true Christianity (salvation found in Jesus alone) through Christians must be sought out, and even then they’re not as easy to find and identify as in America (although one might argue, perhaps accurately so, that they’re hard to find and identify here too). I will not elaborate on all of the reasons why as there are many speculations as well as first-hand experiences that give testimony to what’s known as governmentally endorsed churches and also the “underground” church. (It's important to remember that China is also a very large territory, and diversity abounds.) Victoria and I have experienced both in China, and are amazed, simply amazed by what the Lord is doing to enlarge His Kingdom in this expansive foreign land on the other side of the globe.

Never dreaming that we would travel to China this time and encounter any Christians at all, we came with our Bibles ready to read in our hotel rooms, with our spirits ready to worship wherever we were, and with our minds ready to pray together at times when alone. The beauty of prayer, the beauty of the Bible stored in the caverns of your heart and mind, and the beauty of the Spirit of the Living God residing in your soul is that it travels with you wherever you are, and no one, absolutely no one can steal that from you.

Our American-framed Christian paradigms about China were first shattered on that premier day we encountered Xiao Qian. After our initial, and somewhat awkward and emotional meeting in the Civil Affairs Office in Guangzhou, Xiao Qian pulled out one of a few photo albums in her possession and carefully pointed to and named each person in each photograph. Surprisingly, there were some foreigners in the photographs, which we initially thought was a bit unusual. Our guide/translator watchfully listened to Xiao Qian’s descriptions and then communicated their names back to us. About half way through one of the photo albums, he said that one of the individuals was her Bible teacher. He was certain this was a mistake, and even told us as much. He then asked Xiao Qian to clarify what she said, and he repeated what she originally stated. “She says this person (pointing with his finger) is her Bible teacher. I don’t think that is right because we do not have in China.” We thought she must be wrong too and sort of blindly concurred with our guide’s assessment. This sort of registered in our minds however, among a myriad of other things transpiring all at the same time (too much for the brain to apprehend), and we just stored it there along with our Bible verses I referenced earlier.

The next very unusual Chinese Christian experience we had was when we got back to the hotel room and started to unpack Xiao Qian’s things from her backpack. After pulling out few origami crafts, some chicken feet snacks, and a couple of gifts, she then pulled out a book that looked all too familiar to us, her Bible (or so we thought it was a Bible because it was all written in Chinese characters which we obviously cannot read). I believe I posted about this while in China, but wanted to write it down again here so I have full record of it, and to also provide you with a full context of what transpired that day. This was the second exposure to Jesus in China while on our mission to adopt Xiao Qian, an exposure that simply blew us away.

The next blow away is the event that almost literally took our breath away, and it’s the moment the light bulb about Xiao Qian’s past really started to glimmer. I’ve briefly posted about it before, and will now wait until another post to journal it again. For now, I must go to bed as I’m having a very difficult time keeping my eyes open.

Few pictures this time, but thanks for reading,