Bethany Well

 

[This post was written on 2/24.   I have been traveling and am just getting around to posting this update.]

I’m writing you from a coffee bar at the Peking International Airport while drinking a much needed cup of coffee.  Coffee + free internet + comfortable chair = everything I need to kill another hour before I board TG 615 to head to Bangkok.  I wish I could subtract the somber, sappy Chinese music playing in the background, but in some odd way it sorta completes the image.

It’s my first time in Terminal 3 of PEK, the new terminal built just before the Olympics.  All the hype did nothing to minimize the shock of how massive it is!  I felt so miniscule when I set foot into the terminal to check-in.  Second to its colossal size, T3 is famous for having the only Burger King in Beijing (to Americans at least)!  I’m not even a huge BK fan, but I figured I should get some when I have the chance…I wasn’t hungry but as I rode up the escalator to stop by, I was beginning to crave a Whopper… but it was CLOSED!  What are the odds! 

Here are some updates:
“Spiritual Life” Seminar”
On 2/14, Stuart and Jill Briscoe, prominent speakers  and authors, came to the church I attend for a one-day conference on Spiritual Life.  I had actually never heard of them until their seminar was mentioned during announcements, but I’m glad I took the initiative to go. I was so blessed by their messages. http://www.tellingthetruth.org/

Let is Snow!
On 2/17, Beijing saw its first snow fall this winter!  But it wasn’t just any kind of snow…read on:

Let it snow in Beijing – via seeding (February 17, 2009, Reuters)
China took credit Tuesday for the first snowfall of the winter in Beijing, saying it fired sticks of chemicals into the sky to seed clouds in a bid to end a persistent drought. Snow fell in the capital Tuesday morning, dusting the gabled roofs of the ancient alleyways and settling briefly, only the second “precipitation” this winter following artificially induced rain Thursday, Xinhua news agency said. Zhang Qiang, deputy director of the Beijing Weather Modification Command Center, was quoted as saying it had fired 426 cigarette-size sticks of silver iodide to seed the clouds from 28 “weather rocket launch bases” in the city.

Christians in China
I reunited with an old friend from Highrock here in Beijing.  She’s a native Chinese girl who was studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and she’s now working in Shenzhen in urban planning.  We met outside our church as we were waiting for the bus at church to head back home.  That was probably back in May or June 2007.  I’m glad I was able to catch her while she was in Beijing for the weekend.  It was also pretty encouraging because she reminded me that even back then, nearly 2 years ago, I had expressed a desire to return to China for an extended period of time.  I know that I’m out here by choice, but her words served as a welcomed reminder that my choice to come out here was not a rash, hasty decision, but the result of a steady, unrelenting, long-lived desire.

I was, however, disheartened to hear that she hasn’t been able to attend church because she hasn’t been able to find any churches in Shenzhen.  Shenzhen is a special economic zone in China that is developing rapidly.  It is a transient city that is predominantly filled with business people.  Perhaps that accounts for the shortage, or absence, of churches?  My friend is trying to move back to Beijing, for professional and personal reasons, including family, friends, and a better church community.

This scenario isn’t limited to Shenzhen.  In one of my many interviews with students, I met a girl from Dalian Provice and she wasn’t a Christian, but she had been introduced to a church for the first time during her visit to Houston, TX for a competition.  She said she wanted to go to church because she liked the atmosphere but was very sad because there weren’t any in her vicinity.

Sadder still are those who meet Christ only to be cast away by their family.  Several weeks ago I met a Christian male who attempted to tell his Buddhist family about his newfound faith.  In his words, “Before I could even get 2 sentences out, they told me to stop and started to beat me.”

Let’s end this topic on a positive note:
By God’s grace, I crossed paths with a Chinese Christian named Eva through a tutoring opportunity.  This was a job I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to take and on her end, I wasn’t really the best fit because I’d be away for 2 weeks, but somehow, despite the odds, we decided to give it a shot.  Mid-way through our first lesson, she mentioned that she was a Christian!  She attend a TSPM church and sings in the choir, but she describes both herself and her husband as “very young Christians.”  She is eager to join a community where she can grow, something that church for 1.5 hours on Sunday is not providing.  I plan on plugging her into a local HC when I return from my trip.  What even more encouraging is that this “young Christian” is still so eager to witness.   She said she frequently invites her coworkers to church.

Churches in China
Back in May or June 2008, Evan Osnos, the Beijing Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune, partnered with PBS’ Frontline to produce a documentary called “Jesus in China.”  It was insightful and this recently posted photo slide show gives you a glimpse of his coverage: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-080620–jesus-china-church-htmlpage,0,5206434.htmlpage

But there’s always two sides of the story , right?  Christianity is indeed sweeping through China but the government and police is doing what it can to repress it.

Evangelical church leaders detained in China (February 18, 2009, AP)
Police raided a private evangelical seminar in central China and detained more than 60 worshippers, with four of them still in custody a week after the roundup, a U.S.-based Christian group said Wednesday. More than 30 police office broke into the gathering Feb. 11 in Nanyang city in central Henan province, the China Aid Association said in a statement. The participants came from four provinces for the event at which two South Korean pastors had been invited to speak, China Aid said. The Christians were escorted to a hotel in Nanyang by police, where their personal belongings were taken. They were registered, fined and released, the group said. It was not clear how much they had to pay. The two South Korean pastors were expelled from China on Feb. 14 for “engaging in illegal religious activities,” the group said. They were also banned from re-entering China for five years. Two Chinese church leaders were released two days later, but at least four remain in custody, China Aid said.

Critique on China
On that note, I should mention that the Well website has  been blocked!  I still haven’t figured out if it’s because of my “incendiary” comments or simply because it’s a church website or a blog, or because of some “offensive” comments that someone else posted, or maybe just some enduring technical glitch… but in any case, I haven’t been able to access the website for the past 4 days and still cannot.  It won’t stop me from blogging, because even tech-novices like me can find ways around it. 

However, it, or the very thought of it, which is a reality for many here in China, offended me in a way that I haven’t felt in a while.  I live my life in China more or less impervious to the threats, precautions, and regulations you may hear about, but in the instant that a freedom I expected was abruptly taken from me, I felt deeply violated.  I felt intruded upon and the breach gave way to a disproportionate paranoia.  I began to wonder what else had been compromised.  Was my phone or my apartment bugged?  Was someone tailing me? Would I get stopped at the airport?  

Overly paranoid?  Probably.  Out of the question?  Don’t be naïve.
This discovery was oddly timed.  I had just started reading China Wakes by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, which had caused me to start critically assessing China’s present in a historical context, in a way that I hadn’t in a long time.  My first summer in China I was wary of just about everything…but over time and months in China to evidence that perhaps those concerns aren’t necessary, I’ve let those worries fall to the wayside.   But they’ve started to creep back.

(Time-out for a pitch: For one who professes to be a huge Kristof fan, and a former East Asian Studies major, it’s pretty sad that I’m just getting around to reading this award-winning book on China’s modern history.  I’m only about 100 pages in right now, but if anyone is interested in China, this is a must-read.  Their insights and unique experience as reporters covering Beijing during the late 1980s to early 1990s- a pivotal juncture in its history, both in terms of democratic reform and economic progress- have afforded them the remarkable ability to express the complex emotions any foreigner who spends extended time in China inevitably develops.) 

I’m convinced that any foreigner who spends extended time in China and chooses to return, for whatever reason, does so because they have developed an unexplainable affection for its people, its culture, its history, and its unique role in the global community.  But that affection and fascination is tempered by an inevitable exasperation that stems from conflicting customs, ideologies, and well, the inefficiencies that come with trying to govern a country with over a billion people!

Here’s some examples: 
Earlier in the post, I mentioned that it snowed in Beijing.  The total amount of snow that stuck to the ground was probably about an inch.  Yet in the morning, as I was walking to the subway stop, I saw about 30 apartment guards working to clear a walkway, each diligently scraping away a sheet of snow from one corning of the path. 

The subway system in Beijing is quite new, clean, and user-friendly.  Like most cities, it could use a few more lines to reach more destinations, but it’s a work in progress.  They also take extensive measures to ensure safety…or just employ people.  At the head of each subway, there are 3 people in the control booth – 1 driving the subway, 1 sitting down and watching, and another person standing up behind them supervising.  At all normal hours of subway operation, there’s also a 1-2 subway guards for every 3-4 subway carts dutifully monitoring the flow of passengers as they get on and get off the subway.  During rush hour, they hold megaphones and yell, “Slow down!  Be careful!  Slow down!”  After the last possible passenger has shoved him/herself onto the subway and the doors shut, they then turn that megaphone to those waiting on the platform, instructing them to stand behind the yellow line.  [See picture]

Now these are both examples I chose because I find them amusing.  I also recognize that this is, to some extent, what needs to happen when a Communist-state needs to provide jobs for its 1.6B citizens.

But on a more serious note is the matter of government control. The genuine fascination many Chinese have towards foreigners coupled with their almost unctuous kindness make it hard to remember that China’s rise to power has come at a dear cost and that much of what you see and hear is an illusion, carefully cast by a governing power that is desperately trying to maintain control.

America has its problems, but at the end of the day, I’m proud to be an American.  I’ve been richly blessed and fortunate enough to grow up in a clean, safe, quiet suburb.  But when asked how I like my hometown, I would never ever respond by saying “I love my hometown very much.  It’s very very beautiful and all the people are very friendly.  I love ________ very much.”  Maybe you would, but it’d be hard to find 60 random Americans from all across the country who would respond with such unequivocal love for their hometown.  But that, or some variation of that, is what I got here in China when I interviewed nearly 60 random college students from all across this country.  They also added, without any prompting, “And I love Beijing.  As you know it is our nation’s capital and it is a very special place.  It makes me so proud to be in city that makes our country so strong.”
As you may have heard, China has blocked off Tibet and the surrounding provinces through the month of March to protect foreigners from potential protests/riots celebrating the 50th anniversary of the unsuccessful movement for independence.  While that may be true, it is also to protect China from the news that will come forth when foreigners witness individuals boycotting the celebration of their most beloved holiday and the strict regulations enforced by the Chinese government to quell or preempt any rumblings of protest.
Do not be fooled.  The predominant rationale for much of China’s laws boils down to image-control. 

When you look past the sugar-coated, often disingenuous comments, and the impressive (but often manipulated) numbers citing % growths or % improvements, you realize that the illusion, though not entirely fabricated, is just sort of off.  On the surface it looks like a masterpiece, but further examination shows that this illusion is loosely held together by empty words that betray fervent emotions, and the latter is bound to win the battle.  The illusion will eventually crumble.

This is still a land where journalists will get tagged, prisoners can still get tortured, women will suffer forced abortions (if they violate the 1-child policy), and churches will be shut down.  Despite my watchful eye on religion and broader human rights developments in China, I don’t really live my daily life here dwelling on these happenings.  To do so beckons a maddening paranoia, a distrust that begins to dictate your attitude and your actions.  I don’t have much at stake here in China so I’m able to turn a blind eye.  But having the Well site blocked caused me to revisit these issues and made me think about so many others in this country who do have a lot at stake.

(Note: I did have one experience where I did exercise extreme “caution.”  After I mentioned plugging Evan into a HC, I suddenly went back to our conversations and replayed our entire conversation.  How religion came up, why she mentioned it, how she reacted to things I say.  The thought of mistakenly bringing someone who is a “spy” into a place of worship and endangering my friends was a very real, palpable fear I had to examine.)

It’s complicated though.  For every rallying cry denouncing human rights violations and calling for democratic reform, there are 10,000 declaring how wonderful their life in China is and how much they approve of the government.  And you can’t possibly claim that all 10,000 were brainwashed.  To China’s credit, the country has come a looong way and if gauged in monetary progress, which is the case here for many Chinese, China’s rapid success is truly amazing.  So what is the real china? I have my thoughts and at some point I’ll try to put them in words, mostly for my benefit, but for now (1) I got a plane to catch and (2) I trust that Pulitzer Prize winner, Nicholas D. Kristof, after 5 years of China-watching for the Times, has probably done a better job explaining than I ever could.  His book is 500 pages long, but I’m 100 pages in and I guarantee you, it’s worth the read!

Okay, time to board!  I’ll be in Laos and Thailand from 2/24 to 3/6.  I look forward to sharing God’s stories when I return.