Eric's Beijing Diary

Had lunch today with some students from John Brown University. They are in China on a visitation as port of their MBA program. A local house church pastor was also at the dinner. This house church is composed of ladies who sell Mary Kay cosmetics. The pastor said his wife really liked Mary Kay cosmetics. One of the Americans from John Brown asked him if his wife had a pink cadillac. He said her original goal had been to get one by the time she was 35, but she had changed that to 50, because she was busy with children. She and her husband both come from one child families, so they are allowed to have two children. They had an additional child in Hong Kong, and are planning to go to the States to have their fourth. I have heard of this church before because Davhen has been going there. The official name of this church is "Xile (Joy)," but they call it the "Mary Kay" church, because so many ladies in this church sell Mary Kay. The pastor said that a member of the Religious Affairs Bureau had recently had lunch with him and told him that he favored the rise of Christianity in China. I am hearing more and more reports like this. People in positions of leadership are recognizing the value of Chrisitianity in China. Another issue mentioned by this pastor was the relationship between the house churhes and the Three-Self (official) churches. He said that he recognized Christians in both churches as doing God's work. This was encouraging to hear, because I have often heard house church believers speak disparagingly about the Three-Self church. In fact, they both have important roles to play in the exponential growth of Christianity in this country. After the lunch, I went back to Haidian Church for the afternoon baptismal service. It struck me that one could not find a better example of why the Three-Self churches are important in today's China. Danny is a good example of the large crop of young Chinese intellectuals who have and are continuing to embrace Christianity in ever increasing numbers.