More about China

I thought we should describe a little more about what China is like, since we Americans have trouble understanding a Communist country. China is big, and where we were was southern China, so it may be different in different places, but this is how it was where we were.
For the most part, China looked like any other country we’ve been to. The people seem friendly, the transportation systems work well, and the buildings seem to be in good condition. We didn’t see any areas of terrible poverty. We didn’t ever feel threatened by crazy looking locals. It was a nice place to visit (except the public restrooms). But, as we talked to people we realized that it is a little different than most countries.

Religious Freedom: The people are free to believe whatever they want, but not free to worship however they want. It is okay to be a Christian in China. Chinese Bibles are sold at many bookstores. It is okay to have one, but not okay to give out. There are even Christian churches occasionally. But, the pastors of the churches are controlled by the government. They are only allowed to preach on certain subjects, and Christians are not allowed to worship God publicly or talk to their friends about God. Christians are only allowed to meet in these churches on Sundays. Most of these churches do not grow and have become religious ceremonies.
Because of this, many Christians have begun to meet in home churches even though it is illegal to gather without the government’s permission. If the police find a group of Christians meeting in a home, they can arrest the leaders of the meeting. It is okay to tell someone what you believe if they ask you, but it is not okay to “preach” or “witness” to people. Missionaries and missionary organizations are also not allowed in China. Therefore, missionaries either study in school, teach in school, or start businesses. This gives them a reason to be in the country so they can get a visa. We met several businessmen in China who have been there for a long time and enjoy the work they do.
We also met a few Chinese believers who are involved in home church. They had an amazing faith to meet with other Christians for fellowship with the possibility of getting arrested. The areas we were are not too closely watched by the government for illegal meetings, but people were still very guarded about talking about many things. There are stories of "spies" who try to find out where home churches meet and who the leaders are, so people are guarded about what they say. A week later, we still find ourselves looking around before we say anything about Jesus or prayer or church.
The other lack of freedoms we saw was that the Chinese are not allowed to travel as tourists alone. They must be part of a tour group to go outside the country for tourism. The Chinese are only allowed to have 1 child per family. If they have a 2nd, they must pay a big fine that only the rich can afford.

This week
This week was good. We talked about having a clean conscience, before God and man. Basically, it was about the importance of taking responsibility for your mistakes and sins.

Loi Kratthong
Today is the Loi Kratthong festival in Thailand. It is a Buddhist holiday where they send there hopes, dreams, and regrets to god by writing them down and attaching it to a mini hot air balloon. They also float prayers down the river in little floats they make. There will be some parades and also a lot of fireworks shot off. People everywhere are putting up decorations and preparing food for this holiday. I don't really know the origin of it, but we are in Chiang Mai today to see what happens.