The Church in China

Two years ago, I was flying from Chicago to Raleigh-Durham (RDU). Five Chinese were seated around me, including one man who sat next to me and was eager to practice his English speaking skills. I asked him what he did and found out why he was so eager to practice. He was involved in communications technology and was on his way to pitch his product to a company in Cary, NC.

He then asked me what I did. I said that I was a pastor. This confused him, so he used his electronic, English-Chinese lexicon but still drew a blank. So I said things like “teacher” and “church” and he got the picture. In fact, he told me that his mother was a Christian, living in some city I cannot now recall.

Having read “The Voice of the Martyrs” newsletter for a year or so, I knew enough to ask him if she was a member of a state sanctioned congregation or one of the underground churches that house the 12,000,000+ annual converts in China. He completely clammed up. He did not speak to me for the rest of the trip, though I apologized for any offense and tried a few times to make small talk.