Yesterday I attended a small luncheon with the president of Fuller Seminary and the president of the China Christian Council. She visited Fuller with several of her colleagues and a watchful member of the Communist party.
The China Christian Council is an umbrella organization that serves all Protestant Christians in China. It aims "to unite all Chinese Christians who believe in the heavenly Father and who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior" and "advocates mutual respect in matters of faith and worship". It is part of the Three-Self Patriotic Church, or the part of the Chinese church that the government acknowledges and accepts. According to rough estimates, there are more than 12,000 church buildings open for public worship in China, and new ones are being opened at a rate of three every two days. Additionally, some 25,000 groups of Protestant Christians are meeting in private homes.(www.amityfoundation.org/ANS/AboutCCC.htm)
Since 1980, more than 2,700 seminarians have completed their training at the 18 theological schools operated by the China Christian Council and regional/provincial Christian councils, and over 20 million Bibles have been printed and distributed within the country (www.amityfoundation.org/ANS/AboutCCC.htm).
The president of the organization is a petite elderly woman (yes, woman) who speaks with authority. She is one of the leading theologians in China and has a kind, gracious way of being. She is the matriarch of a nation's church. One of the members of her team told of what it felt like to watch her church re-open in 1980 after the cultural revolution ended. During the cultural revolution all forms of religion were banned. Churches were locked or destroyed, many Christians hid their beliefs. Now there is religious tolerance and even a state-sponsored (monitored) church. Chinese Christians have been through a tremendously difficult history.
It was interesting to meet an official communist. The representative (yes, also a woman) was friendly and seemed to be a genuinely accepted part of the delegation. I am curious about how she came to go on the trip - was she sent? was she invited?
2 comments:
Thanks for info. It holds true w/ what I was told on the phone by Jim R. There are still Christians in prison and persecution of believers. What a privilege for you to meet these Chinese people.
These 'Chinese' people as you referred to are those who are 'approved' by the Communist party while those who are in jail are not, so I am not sure whether we should be 'privilege' in meeting them.
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