Eric's Beijing Diary

Last time I was in Fuzhou, I went to a Saturday night church service with one of my students. For some reason, he dropped the class, and I haven't seen him since that night, so I wasn't exactly sure how to get to church this morning. But I am a churchman, and this is the Lord's Day, so I walked out into the street, got into a cab, and told the cab driver that I wanted to go to church. He dropped me off in front of a religious looking building, which happened to be a Catholic church. A beggar woman was the first to greet me as I got out of my taxi, so I gave her some money, and then started talking to one of the friendly parishioners who happened to be standing there. I am not a Roman Catholic, but I am always open to finding fellowship in a place where I might meet those among the faithful. But Mass was over. I mentioned the name of a shopping area that I had remembered being near the church I had gone to last time. He picked up right away on what I was getting at. "Jidu-jiao," he kept saying. Jidu-jiao is the term used for Protestants in China. But Jidu-jiao does not mean "Protestant." It means "Christian teaching." This is why people in China always ask me, "Are you Catholic or Christian?" Religion in China is controlled by the government, of course, and within the greater realm of Christianity, the government recognizes two "normal" faiths, Catholicism and Protestantism. But for some reason, they never use the word "Protestant." In fact, I don't even know if there is a word for Protestant. I like this, actually, because I have never liked the term. I don't want to be known as someone who protests the Catholic Church, I want to be known as someone who protests sin and darkness and injustice.

Anyway, I started walking in the direction he had pointed out to me. Fortunately, it was close by. The beggar woman had followed me, and she told me that she was a believer, and she could show me how to get there. Coincidentally (I should say Providentially), I got there just as they were doing the "Do Re Mi" thing. It's something that goes on in Chinese churches every Sunday as sort of a warm up for the service. The song leader helps the congregation practice all the hymns before the service. It's actually a clever way to deal with the restlessness that often characterizes Sunday morning "getting ready to get started" time.

I like this church. It has a warm, upbeat atmosphere. I asked a young lady afterwards if there were lots of churches in Fuzhou. She said that there were, but for some reason, this one was quite popular. It's a picture of what is going on all over China. The really committed Christians are coming back to church, and the Three Self Movement, which many felt was designed to facilitate the eventual elimination of religion from society, is being taken over by the "true believers." Modern young people who don't know the history, do not always appreciate this. But for me, it is absolutely amazing to see what is happening in this country. Surely God has extended His hand of mercy. God is giving China a second chance.