In Reply to: Re: Sending missionaries to China? posted by Alan on July 03, 2004 at 14:42:12:
Old Timer,
Your suggestion to simply send Chinese Christians money might seem like an efficient means of helping, but is in reality unworkable. The money would most likely never reach the intended recipient, since it would either be stolen or confiscated. Even if the money did manage to reach them, where do you think they would go to buy a Chinese Bible or Christian books? The local Christian book store? Such stores don't exist in China. Yes, they could use the money to buy food or other necessities, but what Chinese Christians are asking for is the word of God. They may be poor, but they are not starving for physical food.
No, we are talking about China, which in spite of its experimentation with a limited form of capitalism, is still a very repressive, atheistic, communist society, where religious freedom does not exist. China allows state-controlled churches, but precious little of the Gospel of Christ is heard from these pulpits, because all sermons must first be approved by the government censors. Pastors in these state-run churches are forbidden to read from or even possess many sections of the Bible.
The real and growing Christian church in China must operate underground, and its pastors, teachers, and members are starving for Chinese Bibles and other Christian instructional materials. Such items are forbidden, and the only way to get it to them is by travelling to China and bringing those items in your luggage. Groups and individuals have been able to get these items past Chinese customs, and get them into the hands of their contacts in the underground church.
We must not underestimate the huge impact of getting just one Chinese Bible into the hands of an underground pastor. That one Bible will be shared by many others in his network. They will often tear out pages or whole chapters, and those scraps of God's word are treated as a priceless treasure by the recipient. Members will also create hand-written copies of chapters, which are then passed along to others.
It would be nice and convenient if American Christians could just send money to the underground church in China, but that's not a realistic option. I am certain that those few Christians who are willing to make the effort to deliver the Gospel to China have a special reward awaiting them in eternity.