Eric's Beijing Diary

Went to dinner with James and Anne this evening. I asked them how they came to know the Lord. Anne told me about her faith, and then her husband told me that it had taken him a long time to overcome the many questions he had about God. He was a physics major, and had approached his entry into faith in a very deliberate manner.

Not unusual. Christian fellowships in China, particularly informal ones, are made up mostly of women. It is well known that their are more men than women in China, because a boy baby is preferred in traditional families, especially rural families. But the ratio among Christians is quite the other way round. This is a country where people have been told for a generation that there is no God. I have never gotten hostility from Chinese when I discuss my beliefs. The people I talk to are not hostile toward my beliefs. They just don't believe. They are not unbelievers in an obstinate sort of way. If fact, they sometimes sound like they really wish they could believe. But they don't, and men whose attention is focused on getting ahead and making their way in life, do not have time to waste on myths that are only designed to make the country people feel good. Again, they are not hostile. In fact, many Chinese men like having Christian wives. But they themselves do not believe.