Christmas and the Chinese Church

Greetings to all!  I have decided, in lieu of the traditional Christmas card/letter, to write a blog post about my latest year's adventures in China, and about how Christmas is celebrated here.

Last year, at about this time, I had just started working at Wuxi International Child Care, a privately owned preschool/kindergarten in Wuxi New District.  This turned out to be a providential job change for several reasons.  As it turns out, I can actually teach English to a class of about 16 pre-primary students, mostly from Chinese families.  The school has been mainly pleased with my efforts, and offered a new one-year contract at the end of this summer, which, despite some reservations about the compensation package, I accepted.

Now, it turns out that the compensation works out fine, even though the contract is a bit complicated.  Some of the management decisions, however, seem a little questionable, although not as bad as the Korean school I was forced to leave.  I still love the kids though, and they (mostly) love me, and, as a bonus, it turns out to be a great working environment for picking up Chinese.  (More on that later.)

Last year, I was seeing Sophie (Pang XinYing) as a steady girlfriend.  I later decided that our relationship was not satisfactory, for multiple reasons.  I decided to break up with her, although actually having the necessary discussion was difficult because she had moved back to her parents' hometown.  So, we've broken up, but she still wants to get back together.  She's working on improving herself, she says.  I'm not so sure about that.

Now, I have found someone who is very nice, and friendly, and doesn't seem to need much in the way of improvement to be a suitable match for me, other than improved language skills.  But that's a job for two, and my language skills are also improving.  Getting her attention, and winning her heart, may prove to be more difficult.  But no good thing comes without some difficulty.

Last year, at about this time, I spoke very little Chinese.  I could use numbers for the purposes of handling money and counting items.  I could use simple greetings and polite phrases.  For anything more complicated, I needed help from a translator or girlfriend.

At this point, I've been teaching English to Chinese kids for over a year.  Of course, they mostly speak to me in Chinese, and very simple Chinese at that.  My colleagues also speak to them in simple Chinese.  I've picked up enough from that, and from my other studies, so that I can have limited conversations in Chinese about family, food, work, clothing, health, and some other topics.  I can use different measure words (a Chinese-language grammar category not present in English) to count items, portions, pairs, items in a pair, handfuls, sheets, stick-like things, half-kilos, etc.  I can handle price negotiations and give driving directions.  I can even use some romantic language, although that has yet to be seriously tested.  :-)

So much for my personal progress.  Now, let's move on to Christmas.  This Christmas was the best Christmas I've celebrated in China, although neither have been bad.  The last two years, I had a nice dinner with my then-current girlfriend at a good western-style restaurant, and went to the Christmas Eve service at the big Chinese church downtown, where I go to church almost every Sunday.  Last year we even had a gift exchange and potluck-party on Christmas Day at the home of some friends, a family from Germany who were the leaders of our international fellowship.

This year, I don't have a girlfriend.  Our former fellowship leaders have moved back to Germany.  I chose not to go to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, because the crowds are insane.  (More on that later.)  However, our new leaders, J & M, held a potluck in their homes for fellowship members, colleagues, and friends, on Friday the 20th.  I had managed to get a can of pumpkin and a small jar of pumpkin pie spice from an online market called Tao Bao.  I purchased a small oven and some individual tart-shells from a German supermarket called Metro that has a good selection of imported foods.  I stayed up until midnight on Wednesday baking pumpkin tarts, then took them on Friday and reheated them in my friends' oven.  They were good, and well received, although they had serious competition in the dessert department, especially from the Yule log cake that Judy brought.  I still have four in the fridge.

Then, J and M invited me and some others to a party in their home on the 25th, that would be mostly family.  I had no time to order pumpkin online, and so I decided to do things from scratch.  I found a crust recipe online that uses butter, which is much easier to find here than shortening.  I bought part of a baking pumpkin from the local "wet market", in adequate quantity, on Monday.  Tuesday evening was our big Christmas performance at school, which went reasonably well.  That evening all the foreign teachers were invited (and most went) to the Millennium Hotel for their Christmas Eve buffet, paid for by my boss.  The food was excellent, the wine was a decent South African red, and the entertainment was tolerable.  I left a little early to start preparing my pie.

The crust recipe said to combine the ingredients carefully, and refrigerate up to 4 hours or overnight.  I combined them as directed, but it still seemed too dry.  I decided to see what a night in the fridge would do.

On Christmas morning, I called Mom, and we had a good hour-long talk.  I told her my plans, and she gave me some helpful advice.  After saying goodbye, I went to make the pie.  First, I prepared the pumpkin and put it in the rice-cooker steaming basket.  Then, I had breakfast, and checked the pumpkin.  Per my mother's advice, when the pumpkin seemed ready, I mashed it and put it in a strainer to drain, because I wanted to extract as much water as possible.

Then, I attempted to roll out the crust.  As it would not stay together, I decided to trust my instincts, which felt it needed more water.  Clean water of the correct temperature was duly added in small increments, until the consistency felt right.  I used my stone rolling pin (from IKEA) and my clean countertop (seamless, and, making an excellent rolling surface) to roll out the dough.  Then I remembered to flour the surfaces.  The crust appeared not to suffer from my lapse.  After a few attempts, I got enough surface in a suitable shape to fit into my pie plate, with a few patches added at the edges.  The filling was duly prepared using the proper amount of steamed pumpkin mash.

Baking required two temperature conversions and some guesswork with the imprecise oven controls, but the biggest trouble was the time.  It took longer than expected, probably due to the slightly watery pumpkin mash.  I had to check it every 5 minutes, and follow my instincts, which proved reliable yet again.  The pumpkin pie was a success, although it had competition yet again, this time in the form of cheesecake make from hand-couriered American ingredients, and I had leftovers.  That suited me just fine.

So, that was Christmas morning.  Then, I went to have tea with a girl downtown, and exchange presents.  We had a good talk, and then she took me to her apartment (to get a present for J & M's new baby), to my apartment (by her car, for the pie) and then to J & M's apartment complex.  She chose not to join me at the party, although it would have been fine.  The party was good, although the turkey was a little late.  It was mostly family of J & M, and of Sarah, a mutual friend and colleague of theirs.  A few Chinese friends were also there.  We sang Christmas songs, feasted, talked, and watched "A Christmas Carol" in the background.  It was quite good.

My mother, may God continue to bless her, sent me some great gifts.  First was a nice USB flash drive with a good variety of Christmas songs.  That did, as intended, help put me in a holiday mood.  I also shared it with friends and colleagues.  She also sent a hand-knit scarf, half silk and half wool, in a dark, versatile color, knit with a reversible cable pattern.  That does help me keep warm.  She also sent a new Kindle Paperwhite, to replace the one my sister and BIL, A&A, gave me, which has sadly died.  My father thoughtfully sent a miniature nativity set purchased in Rome, which is very nice, as it is an important part of celebrating Christmas, and I haven't seen them for sale here.

So, that was my Christmas.  Although I had no tree, I still enjoyed that of my friends.  Although I have no steady girlfriend, I still enjoyed the company of a nice and respectable girl.  Although my family is not here, I still felt their love.

Now, I'd like to talk a bit about the church here in China.  Almost everyone in America has heard that the legal church here in China is state-controlled, and true religious freedom is only to be found in the underground church.  I would like to correct some misconceptions on that score.

It is true that religion in China is officially regulated.  There are five legally recognized religions:  Protestant Christianity, Roman Catholic Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and one more that I'm not sure of.  (It could be Taoism, Confucianism, or Hinduism, perhaps.  Judaism is not recognized.)  The church property is owned by the government, the pastors are educated at government-licensed seminaries, their salaries are paid by the government, and Bible-printing is a government monopoly.  Only the approved translation may be printed.

Other restrictions include a prohibition on foreign evangelism.  Foreigners cannot preach, nor may foreign funds be donated to the church or used for religious purposes.

However, within that framework, in my observation, the church still thrives.  The Gospel is preached, there seems no restriction on sermon content, except they don't talk about government policies.  My Chinese friends do actively evangelize and share the Gospel with their friends.  (It seems, for some reason, that Chinese women more readily respond than men, which is unfortunate.)  Our international fellowship has a very unique privilege of letting an international team lead worship in English and Chinese for one service (out of  four) on Sundays, and allowing a foreigner to give an altar call (translated).  This is unusual in China, but it is fully authorized and approved, even commended, by the authorities.

On Christmas, the church puts on a major show.  The various service and study groups are invited to produce an item for the show, which could be singing, dancing, drama, or some combination thereof.  I have seen one of these shows in its entirety, and the quality is quite good.  It is in such high demand that free tickets must be issued for each show, and the police are required for crowd control on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I don't know how many of those coming are Christians, but still, the church is packed on Christmas Eve.  On a regular Sunday, in my experience, the large church is also quite full.  There is also a church construction project underway in another part of the city.

So, the rumors of the spiritual death of the legal Chinese Christian Church have been greatly exaggerated.  It's true there are some restrictions, but the only time those really affect me is when a foreigner-run church is involved.  There are international churches in the New District run by Koreans, or Americans, to which some of my friends go.  I have been to the American-run church (there is also a Filipino pastor), and I might like to take some Chinese friends, but it's not allowed because it's not part of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.  Only foreigners are allowed to attend such churches.

Then, there are the "house churches".  I know very little about these.  I once visited a friend's apartment, and it turned out his parents hosted a house church.  They seemed a little cautious, but not unduly worried about discovery.  It was good, but I didn't go back.

Now, my experience is not typical.  Elsewhere in China, most of the legal Chinese churches do not allow foreigners to participate, or have a translation of their sermon.  Most Christian expats living in China must attend an international church, for foreigners only, if they want to understand the sermon and singing.  Although my language skills are improving, I still have a long way to go before I can understand a sermon given in Chinese.

However, the Chinese brothers and sisters who attend the registered churches seem to have no problems with restrictions on religious activity, as long as it is domestic in nature.  They can even buy Bibles with English and Chinese side by side.  (NIV and ESV are both available.)  Many works of Christian literature are available in Chinese, such as Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, and Pilgrims's Progress by John Bunyan.

Now, Americans who want to support the growth of the church in China face serious difficulties.  The religious laws in China specify that religious activity must be domestic in nature.  No foreign evangelists nor foreign missions donations are allowed in the Chinese church.  I know one person who gets around the financial restrictions by owning and operating factories in China, and donating the profits from those factories directly to orphanages here.  But that sort of business is not possible for most Americans.

I won't say that the Church in China doesn't need help, because they still face serious challenges.  I would say that what they need most of all is not your money, but your prayers.  Please pray for a revival in China.  That is what they need most of all.  My post is already too long, or I would elaborate, but prayer is truly the most important thing you can do for the Church in China.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for praying.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!