The Church Seeks a New Place in China

In the three months since the massacre in Tiananmen Square, China watchers have sifted anxiously through the scraps of information leaking from the country, searching for any reliable news of the fate of the church in China. While Communist hard-liners purge the government and campuses of “counterrevolutionaries,” observers continue to fear that leaders will eventually turn their attention to Christians (see CT, July 14, 1989, p. 40).

Tony Lambert, a 20-year veteran of China affairs, told Christianity Today that he has received only two reliable reports of arrests of house-church leaders, one from Inner Mongolia in the North and one from South China. The arrests by leftist cadres were no doubt prompted by the political atmosphere that has reigned since Tiananmen, he said, though the believers were not necessarily connected with the demonstrations.

Christian participation in the prodemocracy movement may have been much more extensive than first believed, Lambert said. Notes and poems from some students indicate the faith of many demonstrators. And with as many as 10,000 arrests nationwide, some believers very likely have been taken into custody, he said.

A widely circulated story that police entered Nanjing Theological Seminary and beat students who had taken part in the prodemocracy demonstrations is false, according to the Amity Foundation, which publishes Bibles and other Christian literature, and promotes social-service projects. However, officials from the government Religious Affairs Bureau did talk with students on campus.

Three-Self Endorses Party

After weeks of noticeable silence, Chinese Protestant leaders backed the actions of the Communist Party Central Committee. In a statement dated June 27, the China Christian Council (CCC) and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), China’s government-approved church, “resolutely endorsed” the policies described in a June 9 speech by leader Deng Xiaoping. In May, the two groups had supported student protesters’ demands for government reform.

Chinese Catholics, Buddhists, Taoists, and Muslims issued statements of their support for the government soon after Deng’s speech. Observers interpret the Protestants’ delay and the careful wording of their statement as evidence of the resistance of Bishop K. H. Ting and other Three-Self leaders to the party line and as evidence also of a struggle within the groups.

Bishop Ting, who is a member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, had been especially outspoken in his support of the prodemocracy movement, and had signed a petition calling for an emergency meeting of the committee in May to consider the crisis.

At a meeting of the standing committee in early July, signers of the petition were severely criticized. In his most recent public statements, Ting focused his comments on government efforts to oppose corruption and avoided speaking directly to the events that took place in Tiananmen Square.

Now that Ting has adhered to the government position, he will probably be allowed to carry on in his position as leader of the CCC and TSPM, Lambert said. Other developments include the defection of a prominent churchman, Zhao Fusan, who sought political asylum in France in June. A respected intellectual and high-ranking leader in the TSPM, Zhao has been active in calling for greater religious tolerance in China. He apparently defected after giving a speech to a United Nations gathering in Paris.

Chinese authorities have enacted stiff penalties for listening to shortwave radio broadcasts. Designed to block news broadcasts from outside the country, the measures also specifically prohibit listening to Christian broadcasts. The signals of Far East Broadcasting and Trans World Radio, however, have not been jammed. Both continue to receive mail responses from China to their programming.

Also, house-church leaders have reported that many Chinese, especially students, are turning to Christianity. One house church in the coastal city of Xiamen baptized 60 new converts. “We Christians have become a curiosity,” the leader of this house church told a News Network International correspondent. He added, “We are the only group in this society that still has hope for the future.” Believers attribute the increased interest in the Christian faith to evangelistic efforts conducted among students during the height of the prodemocracy movement.

Chinese Students: Alone in America

Joseph Chen, like most of the 40,000 Chinese students and scholars in this country, is apprehensive about his future. Though he attends Biola University on scholarship, the 30-year-old Chen must find private donations to cover his living expenses, as do about half the Chinese students abroad. His sponsors in China have dropped their support; his visa does not allow him to work in this country.

Chen, from Beijing, would like to return to China to teach and perhaps open a Christian school. (Only a small percentage of Chinese students in the U.S. attend evangelical institutions.) But completing his undergraduate and master’s degrees could take several more years—time he may not have. Even though the U.S. government has extended the visas of Chinese students to June 1990, the Chinese government could recall them at any time.

Nearly one-fifth of the Chinese students in the U.S. were due to return to China by this fall. But given the current political situation at home, few are eager to leave. Many fear government reprisal for their support of the prodemocracy movement.

Thousands could lose financial support from the Chinese government, making it impossible for them to take advantage of their scholarships. To remain in the U.S. legally would then require a change in their visas and, in most cases, steady employment.

The needs of Chinese students present Christians in North America with a great opportunity for ministry in their own front yard, missions leaders agree. But churches, they say, have been slow to recognize the needs and respond.

There are, however, a few exceptions. Soon after the Tiananmen massacre, International Students Incorporated (ISI) established a Chinese Student Emergency Fund to offer financial assistance to Chinese scholars and students for living expenses, medical care, and legal aid. By mid-August, the fund held $17,000 and had provided checks to about 10 people, according to project coordinator Joshua Zhong. Zhong, himself a visiting student at Denver Seminary, said he has received about 30 applications for help, which is provided regardless of applicants’ religious beliefs.

Though names of and information on the applicants are confidential, many students are reluctant to apply for fear of the Chinese government, Zhong said.

“Most [Chinese scholars in America] say they want to return home,” Zhong says. “But not right now. Their family and friends are in China, but they want to see what will happen first.”

A few individual churches, especially Chinese congregations, have responded to the needs of students. At Queens Christian Reformed Church in New York City, for example, the annual “Summerfest” Christian arts festival this year focused on China. A Chinese artist was commissioned to paint a scene of Tiananmen Square for the festival. The church also has provided financial and legal aid to some students in recent months.

What Chinese students need most right now, said the church’s pastor, Paul Szto, is the support and encouragement of a friend. “Being here [in the U.S.] can be a very lonely experience, unless someone takes the time to show he cares.”

Teachers Return

Christian agencies that send teachers and other professionals into China are once again allowing their people to enter the country. In the turmoil of early June, most Americans left, but as the Chinese government has sought both to restore order and to re-establish relations with the West, Western Christians are eagerly but cautiously returning.

One group is actually sending a larger contingent of teachers—about 140—than it sent last spring. Only a few of the American teachers did not want to return. “Their reason for going is even greater now,” said a spokesman, who did not want his organization identified. “They love their students and want to support them.”

Other programs will continue on a limited basis. Foreign teachers assigned to the Amity Foundation will be reduced from 85 to about 50, according to Franklin Woo, director of the National Council of Churches China Program.

Westerners going back must expect tighter restrictions, said representatives from several agencies. “Our purpose is not to present political information,” said one representative. “Avoiding the topic will be difficult, but the well-being of [the Chinese] depends upon our sensitivity and discretion.”

By Ken Sidey.

WORLD SCENE

JAPAN

Christian Campus Opens

Tokyo Christian Institute, Japan’s largest evangelical training center, dedicated its new 20-acre campus in July, the first step toward the anticipated 1990 opening of Tokyo Christian University.

Facilities include new administrative and academic buildings, a library, dormitories for single and married students, and a chapel designed by the noted Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Some of Japan’s leading construction companies erected the buildings virtually at cost because they regard the new campus as a showpiece. Buildings and land are valued at over $50 million.

Tokyo Christian Institute formed in 1980 through a merger of Japan Christian Theological Seminary, Tokyo Christian College, and Kyoritsu Christian Institute for Theological Studies and Mission. Present enrollment is over 200; 90 percent of the students are Japanese.

SOVIET UNION

Baptists Report Numbers

The Union of Evangelical Christians—Baptists in the Soviet Union has released detailed membership statistics for the first time in its 45-year history. The denomination’s Information Bulletin reports 260,000 believers in evangelical churches in the Soviet Union. The total includes 15,000 in unregistered churches and 8,000 in independently registered churches outside the Union.

In addition, the Union reports 40,000 Pentecostals, evenly divided between unregistered and independently registered, and 2,000 Mennonite Brethren in independent congregations. The Union includes 2,531 congregations, while there are 871 unregistered and 293 independently registered churches outside the Union.

According to Keston College, the British center for the study of religion under communism, figures reported for the past 20 years by Soviet Baptists to the Baptist World Alliance have been more than double those published by the Union. The new figures, however, may not include groups with under 20 members that are not registered as congregations. Previously reported figures for unregistered Baptists and Pentecostals have also been higher, but have very likely included children and other family members who attend services.

INDONESIA

Quake Forces Evacuation

An earthquake and landslides struck the Grand Baliem area of Irian Jaya, an Indonesian province on the island of New Guinea, killing more than 100, destroying several villages, and wiping out crops and fields. Buildings at an RBMU International (formerly Regions Beyond Missionary Union) compound, including a medical clinic and classroom buildings, were damaged in the village of Soba, which was close to the epicenter of the quake. RBMU missionary Sue Trenier, the only foreign national known to be in the area, reported the disaster by shortwave radio soon after it occurred on the morning of August 1.

According to David Martin, executive director of RBMU, two Mission Aviation Fellowship helicopters helped evacuate injured and moved survivors to safer ground in the isolated area, which is populated by 8,000–10,000. The Christian and Missionary Alliance, which also ministers there, and Tear Fund of England provided funds to begin initial relief work. The area, however, may have to be abandoned and its population resettled, Martin said, because of the destruction of the gardens and the loss of topsoil in the landslides.

ISRAEL

Scrolls Remain a Mystery

For 2,000 years the leather scrolls rested hidden in caves near the Dead Sea. Now, more than 40 years after their discovery, many of the Dead Sea Scrolls still remain hidden from the archaeological community, and biblical experts are growing impatient for their complete publication.

An article in the July/August issue of Biblical Archeology Review denounces a “conspiracy of silence and obstruction” that has forced biblical scholars to “feed on the crumbs of others’ work.” Academic convention gives exclusive control of a discovered text to a scholar assigned to publish it. But while some scrolls owned by Hebrew University in Jerusalem have been published, others assigned to scholar Joseph Milik have not. Scholars who have requested access to these scrolls have been ignored, they say, and they are now threatening to take the matter to court.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Briefly Noted

Granted: To Mercy Corps, permission to ship an ambulance to the Gaza Strip. The Christian relief group purchased the ambulance last fall, but had been denied an import license by the Israeli government (CT, May 12, 1989, p. 58).

Preaching: In the Soviet Union, evangelist Luis Palau. He is scheduled to speak in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, and Riga during the first part of September.

Growing: The world population, to almost three times its current number by the end of the next century. New projections from the United Nations Population Fund say the world’s population, currently 5.2 billion, could reach 14.2 billion by 2100. Previous estimates had predicted growth could level off at 8 to 10 billion.

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