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The Legacy of Faith
August 2, 2006
We walked into the young person’s meeting at the local registered
church, filled with between 40 and 50 people, mostly students.
They slowly trickled into the building from the darkened, nearly
abandoned road outside the church. Sitting on the edge of the most
recent development of the city, readying itself to be torn down
in the coming year, the church serves as the only official meeting
place in the city of eight hundred. Members sadly told us of the
five to seven hundred believers who meet at the church each Sunday,
painfully aware of the small number of believers in the city.
Holy mountains—attracting worshippers from surrounding provinces
to burn incense to Buddha—a strong tradition of ancestor worship,
and the 20-year period of not meeting due to the Cultural Revolution have
left a void of a strong Christian presence in the city. Yet at this meeting,
we heard testimonies giving glory to the Father. One, an orphan adopted
into a believing family. Another, a student at university, studying while
also serving at the church. And even a non-believer, invited to this meeting
by his co-worker who has been sharing with him about God.
One boy stood up towards the end of the meeting to introduce himself. His
hair was bleached a blondish, reddish color, and he spoke in a
slow, even voice. He began to tell everyone of how his parents
had faced trouble and abandoned him when he was a teenager. His
grandmother took him in, and that is where he met Sister Li*. He looked
upwards and his voice broke as his eyes began to get the glassy look that
comes from keeping your tears from streaking down your face. He told us
how six years ago this faithful sister shared the Gospel with him, and how
he, at 17-years-old, had believed in God.
He stopped for a moment until the lump in his throat subsided. He continued
to tell the group how this same sister had gone home to be with our Father
that afternoon, her battle with cancer finally ended. I found myself thinking
of my friend sitting next to me, so far away from her family, facing the
death of her grandmother whose battle with cancer had also ended the day
before.
My friend and this boy—one serving in this country because of her
love for the Chinese people, one serving as a leader for a young person’s
meeting so that more students can be equipped to spread the Gospel—dealing
with their sadness and joy. These two sisters—one on this side of
the ocean, known because she told every person she knew about Jesus, and
the other on that side of the ocean, remembered for telling every nurse
and doctor about Jesus—meeting together, seeing the legacy of their
faith continue to live on in their spiritual descendents in this dark city.
* Name changed
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