sofasurfers

Words you never thought I’d say (though probably never cared enough to
wonder): “May I come to church with you?”
This was no religious quest, but cultural - how is it to be a Chinese
Christian, I’d pondered - since my host is one. Hard…
“The head of our family church doesn’t think it would be a good idea
for you to come: the government is very touchy about Christianity.” Oh
that’s a shame. “But we are meeting for lunch afterwards - you are
welcome.”
And so each one introduced themselves to me: “My name’s… I’m a
Christian”… and together explained how the family church works. They
meet at one of the “brothers’ and sisters’” houses, where they take
turns to lead the teachings - there’s no priest, there’s no church,
just good faith and the bible. “You have to register with the
government at official churches,” one says. “I read on the internet
there are three times as many family church-goers as official
church-goers,” says my host. “NO PHOTOS!” says this week’s hostess.
“It is a real burden to protect the brothers and sisters,” says
another, in defence.

And yet, all around the dark heart of capitalism, Christmas carols are
being played full blast, there are Christmas trees at every turn, glad
tidings festooned around all shops, and all the other commercial
urgings of Christmas. In fact, there’s such a disconnect with
Christianity and Christmas that when I asked my host how he would be
celebrating, he just said, “Oh we don’t celebrate Christmas - we are a
typical Chinese family…”