My time in China left me with a greater heart for the underground church and all they go through to worship God. Let me explain.
Have you heard the song Somebody’s Watching Me? The lyrics say I always feel like somebody watching me. Well, this song became more than a song to me – it became a reality when visiting one of the cities in China!
When we arrived at our assigned city in China, we were welcomed by a group of Military Officers and Policemen! About 18 to be exact, who escorted us to the police station. Our “hosts” provided us with bread and water as they entered our passport information into their system; then sent us on our way to find a place to stay.
Once we found a place to stay, we realized it was going to be hard to “creatively engage” with the community (our vision for the month). The reason – every step we took, we were asked “Why are you here?” or “What are you doing?” This started with the police on the train, which we rode into the city.
In the days that followed, we noticed that we were being watched and followed by the police. In fact, we realized that the people who approached us acting as if they wanted to be our friends were really undercover police officers asking us the same questions over and over again. The police even stayed in rooms at the same hotel and on the same floor as we stayed on. It seemed there was always about 20 people around us at all times monitoring what we were doing.
At first, it was hard to deal with and a bit unnerving. We even began to think our rooms could be bugged so we played music all the time. Then Heidi gave a really good perspective of the situation. She compared it to when Paul was in prison and how he was always ministering to the people that had to watch (guard) him. So we decided we were going to love the police so that they would see our Father’s love through our actions. We also continued to pray for the residents of the city.
At first, they did not talk much, however, as time went on they really became our friends. We went from feeling restricted to enjoying the time we had to hang out with our new friends. At first, everything we did was controlled – for example, we could not leave without someone following us, but by the last couple of days, we were actually allowed to walk around without an escort.
We had a cool opportunity to engage with the community through a calligraphy class. Heidi wrote her name in Chinese and the instructor made a sign that said ‘Love is Unconditional’. The rest of us each picked a fruit of the Spirit to be placed on our signs. They posted our picture in the shop so now if people look up why we choose those words, we believe it will lead them to God.
Each night, older people of the community come to the town square to dance. This was probably one of my favorite things we did with the community and I wish Americans did this too.
We eventually found out, this city had not had any visitors for a really long time. It was like a forgotten city and God used us to open a door so that it would be normal for people to come there again. We believe God used us to plow the field in prayer for more people to come after us – for believers who speak their language. We did meet someone who believes as we do and we were able to share the love of God with that person.
I left this city amazed of what the Lord had done in such a short amount of time with our friends and a greater heart for what the underground church goes though daily. I am thankful that I was allowed to be apart of this trip. I have a greater heart for the country and the people there. To say this month changed me is an understatement. I left with an appreciation of the freedom we enjoy and a strong desire that our friends will come to know God.
Please join with me and set aside some time to thank God for the freedom we have to worship Him in America and to pray for the underground church.
1. Pray for their protection
2. Pray that they would feel an extra amount of God’s love today
3. Pray for more strength to endure the challenges they face
4. Pray that the church will continue to thrive and not be hindered by the government
