A day of shopping and an evening with the FaithHopeLove church

The Silk Market. Wow! Earlier this week Peggy had taken me to this shopping mecca to introduce me to its craziness and to scope out gift ideas. One hour just about did me in. On this day, we endured four hours of persistent sales people (and that's putting it mildly) and an occasional grab of the arm. I didn't intend to do Christmas shopping but I couldn't resist the great deals. I think there were at least 5 floors and I read there are over 1500 stalls. For a person who hates shopping, this definitely stretched my limits. Peggy was helpful in helping me barter. It was weird - I tried to be polite and kind and rude at the same time. Don't make eye contact. Ignore their sales pitch. Smile. And say, "Not today. So sorry. Not interested." BTW, it's required that they understand English.

Of course, if I can't get all these gift into my bags, the extra baggage fees may not be worth the hard work of bartering and running through the gauntlet. Peggy assures me we will get it home somehow without the fees.

I really wanted a Chinese t-shirt - most everyone dresses quite casual here. I finally found one I liked and got the price down to a reasonable one. Then it was a matter of trying to find the right size. This is where it got depressing. The Chinese are so thin and petite that the size I ended up with was an XXXL! And even this size was tighter than what I like around my midsection. I am definitely less inclined to buy clothes in China.

Getting to the Market and getting back proved to be a challenge. The traffic was horrible! It took us twice as long to get there. I had to close my eyes as vehicles came within an inch or two of the taxi. I'm not exaggerating! The driver made the ride to the Market a little more enjoyable however. He really wanted us to understand his attempts to communicate. He was so dramatic. ^_^ He kept looking back at us though after Peggy explained in broken Chinese that we were from America. He kept pointing to what I thought was his ear. Then it dawned on us what he was trying to say. He had been pointing to his hair. He was perplexed that I had hair like the Chinese but could not speak Chinese while Peggy, obviously a foreigner, was doing a fair job communicating in the language. I get looks like this all the time. Peggy thinks I may have less trouble attending a house church on Sunday than she because of my Asian look (we had been asked to avoid them on Sunday morning because of recent incidences).

The attempt to find a taxi to get us to our evening meeting also proved to be difficult. As a result we were over a half hour late. But the group of young people were so patient and grateful that we had come. The church is called FaithHopeLove. It is a church plant from another that was started by Hope, an employee and translator for Global Partners. She and her roommates had just moved to a new apartment two weeks earlier and were still in the process of moving their new church there. The location was in the outskirts of Beijing and it took a while to even find the apartment complex located within a gated community.

Most of the 4 men and 5 women, not including Fangfang our translator, were ones we had met before in previous meetings. The topic was "How to be a good husband." Peggy was bit perplexed at the topic because there were women present. But Hope insisted that Peggy focus on the men because the women often heard talks on how to be good wives but the men did not hear as much about being a good husband. It also gave the women an opportunity to learn what to look for in a husband. Peggy took the lead on this topic since she had already prepared a talk (she and her husband who is arriving into Beijing as I write this post will be speaking on marriage tomorrow morning). She had to tweak it a bit to focus on the guys. After a couple of the guys had to leave to catch the last subway, I interjected a few brief thoughts for the women about what warning signs to pay attention to when deciding on who to marry. It was a really fun evening. I love the Chinese young people! They are so sincere about their faith and really love their church community!

Tomorrow (Saturday) will be a long day. Peggy and Jon (yes, her husband's name is Jon too and he likes to wear a fanny pack just like my Jon!) will be speaking on marriage for the whole morning. Then I have  all afternoon to cover the book of Habakkuk, the theme being Hab. 2:4 - "The righteous will live by faith." Again, we appreciate your prayers! If you haven't figured it out by now, China is 15 hours ahead of Portland. So I'll be starting my session about 10:30 pm Friday night, PST.

BTW, I finally see blue sky in Beijing today! It's typically hazy because of pollution (though it's not too bad) and yesterday it actually sprinkled and cooled down from the 80's into the 70's. The rain cleared the air for us today.

Blessings to you all and thank you for your prayers!

Mana house church

Tonight's small Bible study group was my introduction to Mana house church which is a community of around 50 believers. With Peggy's help I presented some concepts of discipleship and mentoring to the 3 women and 5 men gathered in a fairly large apartment-turned-church. I will be returning Sunday afternoon to this church to teach on the theology of sexuality and then next Wednesday to teach on God's rest. This is one group that knows Peggy well and loves to have her teams come and teach.

It was a great time because I made time for their responses and questions throughout the presentation. The leader indicated that this was a hot topic and by their questions, I believed him. They were so engaged and fun to be with. Their questions were challenging and revealed they were tracking with the concepts I presented. I soon discovered that my attempts to keep to the big picture was difficult for them to grasp. I wanted to share principles and qualities, not present a whole programs or steps to accomplishing discipleship. They kept wanting the details and we kept wanting to avoid them. But one thing is for sure. They are desiring to be faithful followers of Christ and they have a burden to disciple well the growing number of Chinese that are responding to the gospel.

I'm looking forward to going back again especially to meet more of their members. Thanks for praying for me! Tomorrow is shopping day at the Silk Market and then in the evening we'll be at another house church. Peggy will be leading this one on the topic of "how to be a good husband" and I'll certainly tell them how wonderful mine is! ^_^

Sidebar: Traffic in China is really scary!

Two urban house churches

The last two evenings have been spent in two of the urban house churches I described in a previous post. Monday evening was group of 14 young people including 2 couples. Last night there were 10 women, all in their twenties, led by a young couple. The husband was an architect who was leading this new, month-old church.  I spoke on God’s rest in the second group. Peggy spoke on balancing faith, work and family in both churches.

We had a Q&A session in the first church that was really fun. The more I get to know the Chinese believers, the more I am amazed at how similar their questions are to young people in America and how similar their issues are. One of the husbands whose name means “Little Bear” (to the left of the cross in a blue t-shirt) asked the two main questions of the evening. The first was a confession of feeling great pressure to be successful and make a lot of money. The Chinese men certainly feel this pressure, either from their society in general or specifically from potential mates. In last Saturday’s workshop I spent some time in a conversation with a single woman who had just been asked by a man to be his girlfriend. She had said yes but was confessing to me her doubts because he did not make a very large income as an elementary school teacher.

Peggy confirmed that the women here put a lot of pressure on men to succeed. A master’s degree is not enough; they have to have a Ph.D. The pressure on women is also great. Plastic surgery is often performed on women’s faces and breasts in order to attract the attention of successful men or to gain a good job. The ideals of beauty are a big issue and the “western” look is highly valued here.

Little Bear’s second question was even more surprising though related to the first. He asked what men should do if their wives make more money than they. It appears that the struggle with insecurity and relationships is universal, or at least common to consumer-driven societies. Capitalism is certainly having an impact in Beijing. I walk around the city or have a wild ride in a taxi through rush hour traffic, and I see young men and women who would fit easily in the Portland cityscape. What’s new to Chinese Christians is the tension of finding jobs and supporting themselves in the city where housing is so expensive, and yet walking faithfully and obediently to Christ.

Last night, Jeremiah, the architect/church leader, gave me an example. He said that the Chinese do not wait patiently in lines nor do they follow rules. They like to make their own rules. So any attempt to form lines do not work because inevitably many will rush to the front and try to get in first. But as a Christian who is taught to respect the rules and be courteous and patient in lines, this creates a dilemma. You would never get in. ^_^ (This is a Chinese version of a smiley face!)

My encounter with Jeremiah (back row, first on left) with the second house church was a new experience. First of all the location was in the outskirts of Beijing. I rode my first subway, a brand new line that reminded me of Portland’s MAX trains. Jeremiah treated us to a wonderful noodle restaurant that was a fraction of the cost compared to where the hotel is located. People stared at us more because foreigners are rare there. Second Jeremiah did some preaching in his church, but they also used videos of well-known preachers. I wonder if China will someday develop satellite churches in order to spread the resources.

Lastly it was great to get to know Jeremiah (he's modeling a knit hat that he won in a drawing - a stateside group called the KnitWits knits shawls and hats for Peggy to give to the Chinese people). Only 26 yrs old, he was very grounded in Bible and theology. A professor from the university he graduated from (who also went to his church) did a fantastic job of mentoring and discipling Christian leaders. The church supported his training by giving the young leaders a platform for developing leadership skills including leading Bible studies, doing evangelism, and preaching. He moved to Beijing and found a job with an engineering company and so did some of his friends from the university. They kept meeting together and then started growing in numbers until they officially started the house church a month ago.

This was my first real observation of how significant it is to train leaders in China. The need for biblically, theologically trained leaders is huge as the church here experiences such phenomenal growth. The need is even more keenly felt in the cities. With expansion of freedom in the cities, this open door for ministry is an exciting one.

I spent the morning yesterday preparing a new topic (discipleship and mentoring) while Peggy was away speaking to a group of 30 Mary Kay consultants. Peggy had been a director for many years before retiring. She returned to the hotel blessed by the honest responses to God’s truth and excited that 2 women had received Christ as Savior. You can read her blog on the link I have posted on my page.

Then in the afternoon, a woman came to our hotel room for personal counsel. I had met her Saturday and had connected with her when she identified with my story of feeling abandoned by God. We listened and learned more about her story, and as I shared more about my own story, she identified with the deep questions of the heart that I had had during those dark years. Her story is not much different than ones we would hear in America – busy schedule with young children, lonely days while children are in school (non-working housewives are a small minority here), a non-believing husband who is not easy to live with, and frustrations with feeling worth and having something important to do.

We prayed with her, gave her words of encouragement, especially to re-engage herself in a church community, and suggested some practical things towards seeking Christ in relationship. One was to pray through the Psalms rewriting the words into her own prayer in a journal. I then thought of a devotional I had brought, Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling, and gave it to her. BTW, she spoke excellent English and would be able to read the devotional on her own.

I was so grateful to God for the opportunity to see Christ calling this woman back to him. I was grateful for my own story, as painful as it has been at times, that connected with hers. And I was reminded that any transformation of the heart is a work of the Holy Spirit. All I am to do is faithfully tell God’s story and my own, then trust him for his work of transformation in another, especially since I don’t know if I’ll be back to Beijing.

Tonight (Wed. 4-6 a.m. PST) Peggy and I will be doing a joint presentation on discipleship and mentoring.  Thanks for your prayers!

Churches in China

On Sunday, Peggy and I had "hotel" church. This is certainly not an attempt to create a new movement in China, but I want to take some time to briefly describe what the "church" looks like in this country. It might help explain why I can be so open with my faith here when we mostly hear other stories. And whatever stories you hear, it's probably true somewhere in China.

There are three current major church movements in China. First, there are the underground, unregistered churches that remain as such. Second, there are the official, registered ones called the "Three to Self" Churches. They used to be political, but an increasing number of them are actually preaching truth. Third, the establishment of urban professional house churches is the most recent development in the large cities of China. The number of urban churches is exploding throughout Beijing and other cities. This category is also mix of the first and second types of churches - the church may be unregistered while the pastor is registered.

These house churches are basically left alone. Christian bookstores and tea houses are allowed. The Saturday afternoon workshop was held in one of these bookstores. There is even a Christian bistro called the "Upper Room" that has worship every evening starting at 8 p.m. The first song is always "How Great Thou Art."






Because of a strong connection to a government official, Global Partners is able to teach Christian business and leadership principles, though some care may need to be exercised depending on the venue. In the venues we have scheduled, Peggy and I are free to share Biblical truths and the gospel.


As I mentioned, the number of urban house churches is growing exponentially. There is a huge need for leaders to be identified and trained. It's an amazing opportunity and I am excited to be a small part of what God is doing here.

Next up: Tuesday evening (Monday morning, 4-6 am, PST) is my next scheduled talk on "God's Rest." I appreciate your prayers!

My First Full Presentation: Idols We Worship

The seats in the small conference room located on the second floor above the Christian bookstore were filled well before our session was scheduled to begin. Thirty women, mostly young twenty-somethings, gathered to listen and learn.

Peggy was up first with her topic, “Not trusting the plan but the One who made the plan.” As she exhorted the women to trust God when His plan did not make sense or when He felt absent, I sat there in amazement, knowing that neither one of us knew what the other was going to say. What I had prepared for my talk on idolatry would be a perfect follow up to Peggy’s presentation! Not only that, it dawned on me that God had granted my desire to receive a special word for the women I was yet to meet. Last weekend before my departure on Wednesday I had spent several hours in solitude and prayer.

I wanted to create space for God to give me a message, if He had one to give me, before I got to China. This had happened once before when I went to Uganda in 2002. A complete sermon had come to my mind as I was praying about going. I don’t claim any prophetic gifting, but it wasn’t until the last day of the conference that I saw the relevancy of that sermon. Without going into detail, it was not an easy message to give because of the disturbing things I saw in the African churches. And instead of the normal morning attendance of around 200 people, my last sermon ended up being to an evening crowd of nearly 600-800 people.

When I spent the time last week seeking God with a listening heart, my intent was not to demand a similar experience, but to provide the opportunity if God so desired to give me a special message. If not, I was content to just pray for the women and for the talks I had prepared. Again, I don’t say with confidence that I “heard” from God, but one line kept going through my mind over and over again. The line was actually one spoken to me by a friend who had come to my house for coffee just a few days prior. Gena told me how she felt prompted to write a personal note to a woman that was new to our large church. The only thing the note said was, “I see you.”

“I see you.” That sentence kept flashing in my mind as I prayed for the Chinese people. Though I wasn’t sure this message was from God, I could imagine that in the midst of 1.3 billion Chinese, each woman and individual heart needed to know that God did see her. But like I said, I wasn’t sure. That’s why I didn’t say anything previously. I figured if I was wrong, you wouldn’t know. If short message was relevant, I could tell you after it was confirmed. I’m being honest here. I suffer from a lack of confidence.

So this is what happened this afternoon in that small conference room. My talk in its final form was finalized just yesterday. As I shared in an earlier blog, I told the story of that dark time in my life when I doubted I was still a Christian (despite my Bible school once-saved-always-saved indoctrination). I shared that my idol was success and it had come between God and me. I then told the story of Israel’s first test after their deliverance from Egypt – the making of the golden calf while God and Moses were absent (Exodus 32). I explained that an idol (the Hebrew word means “image) is an attempt to make visible what is meant to remain invisible. However, before Israel made the decision to create a visible god, they had already made a fatal mistake which opened themselves to that sin. This mistake is exposed in Exo. 20:18. The Israelites refused to come near to God. Instead they responded to the presence of God on Mt. Sinai with a fear that was not one of awe but of unbelief, and they ended up distancing themselves from Him. Consequently the space created by this distance was filled with the golden calf. Inevitably any space created by unbelief will be filled with idols.

Eventually I took them to Hebrews 11:1, faith “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And then we read Hebrews 12:18-25 where the Exodus experience at Mt. Sinai was transformed into a experience of godly fear that drew one toward worshiping God, not away from Him. This was all possible because of Jesus and the blood that was shed. Jesus’ incarnation was the one time in history that the invisible God became visible.

The words above are a summary of what I presented. I concluded with an exhortation to expose and reject any idols that might be stealing their affections and to trust the invisible God by fixing their eyes on Jesus, the only visible representation of God’s being (Hebrews 1:3). It was at this point the words from Gena pressed into my spirit and demanded to be spoken.

I told the women what I had done last weekend. I told them I had prayed for them – they gasped and their eyes responded with appreciation. Then I took a breath and told them I believed God had given me a special message for them. I said, “Though we trust a God who is invisible, you are not invisible to Him. He sees you!” My heart swelled and my eyes filled with tears at the depth of that truth, even for me and certainly for each woman sitting in front of me. I felt the air thick with the presence of God. It was a profound moment for me. I then closed with a passage from 1 Peter 1:3-9 as a prayer for them.

Peggy concluded the afternoon with a wonderful presentation on becoming beautiful to God. During the breaks between sessions and after everyone was dismissed, I was able to have significant conversations with three women who confessed struggles with specific idols. There is one I would like to ask you to pray for as she may call sometime to meet privately with Peggy and me while we’re still in the city. She revealed her anger at God and described her spiritual state as being similar to what I described at the beginning of my talk.

I’m exhausted but happy right now. I definitely see Jesus on the face of these beautiful women. I see desire to follow Jesus faithfully. I see questions wanting to be asked (I did have another difficult question thrown at me today: If Jesus is the only “son” of God, why does Genesis 6 say that the “sons of God” married daughters of men?). I also see pain and longing for hope.

Thank you for all your prayers for me today. I felt them and I saw God use them. Keep it up! Tomorrow Peggy and I have a free day. We have been advised to avoid the house churches for now because of some recent trouble between the Chinese government and a specific local church. I think Peggy and I may conduct our first “hotel” church.

My Blog Name

Here's an interesting "coincidence." After meeting Peggy face to face for the first time at the SFO airport, I mentioned to her that I had started a blog to record my experiences in China. I explained to her the meaning of my chosen blog name - the story or journey of my life often being characterized as being "in the middle." For example, half Japanese and half American. Having a female body but being raised by my father to think like a man. Trying to maintain tension between competing theological issues.

Peggy then laughed and asked I knew what the name "China" meant. I answered in the negative. She explained that "China" literally means "center country." Wow! Here I am again - a story in the middle...

First Friday in Beijing

Beijing is an amazing, bustling, modern city. It is full of young people and all of them would blend into Portland quite easily if measured by jeans, heels and cell phones. The traffic is a different story. There is no such thing as braking distance between cars and taxis. Today’s venture outside the hotel was quite an experience.

And if today’s gathering is any indication of what these two weeks here will be like, I am in for quite a time. This morning Peggy and I met in a coffee shop with a small group of women who work together for an insurance company. One was a Buddhist, the rest were Christians. Peggy was the scheduled speaker with the topic, “How to deal with worries.” I was so glad to have an opportunity to listen to and observe Peggy before my first speaking session. Fangfang was our interpreter.

Peggy was wonderful and creative as she wove together stories, biblical principles and faith in Christ. The women sat attentively. Though there were occasional nods of heads or laughter at Peggy’s insertions of humor, it was still difficult to gauge their level of engagement. But it became clear afterwards that these women had done some serious thinking in response to her talk. According to Peggy, the Q&A was a first for her.

It opened with one of the women openly sharing that she had questions about what heaven was like. She confessed that even though she had been a Christian for 10 years, she feared that she was not going to end up in heaven. She went on to share a fear that her family would not be in heaven either. Another woman questioned whether one could actually experience God’s peace and joy. She had been taught that it was more spiritual to have a broken heart and to pray with tears all the time, like Jeremiah. She was also taught that only a certain number of people would get into heaven. If you didn’t get to heaven or get sent to hell, you would end up in a holding place. A third woman posed a question about infant baptism.

At the beginning of the Q&A, Peggy invited me to contribute responses to the questions. It was fun, challenging and satisfying to be a part of a dialogue with these seeking hearts. I felt one with Peggy, as I prayed for wisdom and searched for verses that would help answer the theological questions, which Peggy said was a first in all her teaching experiences in China. It was an exhilarating morning! The women could not have known that I had theological training. It seemed clear to both of us that the Spirit had created an environment of safety for them to express their deep spiritual struggles and I felt encouraged that God had brought me here to participate with Peggy in this conversation.

The women were so kind and generous with their time and food gifts (they treated us to lots of coffee treats and a big lunch). I have a feeling that the hardest part of this trip will be to say goodbye and to wonder if there will be another opportunity to see them again. For now, this small step today was a huge blessing.

Tomorrow (about Friday, 11:30 p.m. PST) I have my first scheduled session. Topic: Idols We Worship. If you’re a night owl, I appreciate your prayers. Or you can pray for me before you tuck yourself in for the night.