Dear readers: I did not make a posting to this Blog last week. That is because I went to China to visit my daughter who is serving Christ there. She is teaching English at a Chinese university. It was a small act of courage on my part to go to a country halfway around the world. It is a bigger act of courage for my daughter to give up the comparative luxuries of an American home to live in less than desirable surroundings. It is an incredible act of courage for the Chinese women who give up family and freedom in order to follow Christ.
I had the inestimable privilege of meeting some dear sisters in Christ while traveling in China. They said that they were blessed and honored to have a visitor in their homes, but I was also richly blessed to have spent time with them.
Some very interesting things came up during the course of our conversations. I had to take several steps back and really think hard about some of the ideas that I have taken for granted as an American Christian. I would like to share those ideas and I hope that I get some responses from you.
1. We were able to rejoice in our common belief in Christ. It is so wonderful to know that I have sisters all over the world. As we gathered in a quiet place to tell of our Christian experiences it was so thrilling to know how powerful God is. No matter that there was a language barrier; the Holy Spirit’s presence in each of us made us recognize each other. 
As Jonathan Edwards said, “There is a spiritual light imparted to the soul by God, which is different from anything that is obtained by natural means.” All Christians, no matter where they are in the world, have this light. He went on, “There is nothing so powerful as this, to support persons in affliction, and to give the mind peace in this stormy and dark world. . . It causes the soul to give itself up entirely to Christ.” We praised God as we could see this spiritual light in our new Christian friends.
As we were talking, the subject of “denominations” came up. My new friends were frankly confused. They thought that there was only one true religion – Christianity. They did not understand what I meant when I asked them which kind of church they were patterned after. “Baptist”, “Methodist”, and “Episcopalian” had no meaning for them. As I tried to explain about the Reformation and the subsequent splitting of the churches in the West, they were surprised and upset.
Of course, I reminded myself, the Reformation is Western history. They would most likely only know Chinese history. I could understand that easily enough. But what really made me stop and think was the part about, “Why do you have so many different churches? Why don’t you get along?”
Why don’t we all get along? Why are we so ready to have a church split over whether or not we “sprinkle or dunk”? Why are there women who won’t speak to each other ever again when their choice of the color of the church carpet was rejected? Why are there so many seminary students spending countless thousands of hours trying to prove that their own theological ideas and perspectives are the correct ones? Are we really supposed to be figuring out how many Angels are dancing on the head of a pin while thousands or millions of souls are dying without Christ?
2. While trying to get around the city, we did encounter some prejudice against foreigners. Taxi drivers would not stop for us. Finally, we asked my daughter’s Chinese friend to get the taxi while we stood a few yards at a distance. When she had engaged it and was holding open the door, we ran and scrambled in. The drivers would scowl at us, but would not make trouble and they took us where we wanted to go.
By contrast, we were treated especially well by our new Chinese friends when they learned that we were sisters in Christ. They treat each other like family. They go out of their way to help each other. It is enough that one is a believer in Christ. They don’t have time for the petty differences that we argue over here in America. After all, they risk fines or arrest if they are caught meeting without a government permit. They need to cling to each other. I understand that. Somehow, though, I don’t think that our comparative freedom should give us an excuse to mistreat each other the way we do. I know that their circumstances are extreme, but must we have persecution before we will love each other as Christ commanded us?
3. On the day that we visited the Great Wall, we had beautiful weather. The sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the sky, and it was 20 degrees C. (68 F) We had a marvelous time and took about a hundred pictures! We visited a nearby park where there was a statue of Chairman Mao. The Chinese revere him very much. Even my Christian sister wanted us to have a picture with him. I stalled for a while, but finally decided to be in the picture with her. She knows only what history she has been taught. I did not think it my place to start a discussion with her on the millions of deaths and the hardships that have been caused by the government they inherited from Mao Zedong.
Standing in the shade of the statue, I began to think about our own history. How much do I really know about the events that have shaped our American culture? In the last few years, for instance, I learned that Franklin D. Roosevelt knew about the bombing of Pearl Harbor before it happened. He wanted to be involved in the war, but the American people did not. He allowed for the bombing of the ships in Pearl Harbor so that the American people would be outraged enough to go to war. There are also many myths surrounding the 16th president. If I am really concerned about the truth of history, perhaps I should begin by studying our own. Perhaps I will just pray that as I want to earnestly seek truth, because it pleases God, my sisters in China will seek truth also. And I pray that my American sisters will seek the truth. The courageous woman will seek the truth no matter what it costs.
One of the reasons that I started this Blog was to post stories of women who may be little known to us. I wanted to show just how many courageous women have lived. How many of us know about Anne Askew, or Sophie Scholl, or Esther Ahn Kim? One of the reasons that I want to tell their stories is so that we can be better informed about our history. Knowing what happened to any of these women tells you something about the times in which they lived. How many people know just how badly the Japanese treated the Koreans? This is a very real, but forgotten, part of history.
Learning our history, our real history, helps us better understand ourselves. Reading the stories of the many great women who lived gives us courage to face our own circumstances. I pray that you will not shy away from seeking truth, even if it causes you to change some of your cherished beliefs.
And, pray for our sisters in China.
Reflections from China
Dear readers: I did not make a posting to this Blog last week. That is because I went to China to visit my daughter who is serving Christ there. She is teaching English at a Chinese university. It was a small act of courage on my part to go to a country halfway around the world. It is a bigger act of courage for my daughter to give up the comparative luxuries of an American home to live in less than desirable surroundings. It is an incredible act of courage for the Chinese women who give up family and freedom in order to follow Christ.
I had the inestimable privilege of meeting some dear sisters in Christ while traveling in China. They said that they were blessed and honored to have a visitor in their homes, but I was also richly blessed to have spent time with them.
Some very interesting things came up during the course of our conversations. I had to take several steps back and really think hard about some of the ideas that I have taken for granted as an American Christian. I would like to share those ideas and I hope that I get some responses from you.
1. We were able to rejoice in our common belief in Christ. It is so wonderful to know that I have sisters all over the world. As we gathered in a quiet place to tell of our Christian experiences it was so thrilling to know how powerful God is. No matter that there was a language barrier; the Holy Spirit’s presence in each of us made us recognize each other.
As Jonathan Edwards said, “There is a spiritual light imparted to the soul by God, which is different from anything that is obtained by natural means.” All Christians, no matter where they are in the world, have this light. He went on, “There is nothing so powerful as this, to support persons in affliction, and to give the mind peace in this stormy and dark world. . . It causes the soul to give itself up entirely to Christ.” We praised God as we could see this spiritual light in our new Christian friends.
As we were talking, the subject of “denominations” came up. My new friends were frankly confused. They thought that there was only one true religion – Christianity. They did not understand what I meant when I asked them which kind of church they were patterned after. “Baptist”, “Methodist”, and “Episcopalian” had no meaning for them. As I tried to explain about the Reformation and the subsequent splitting of the churches in the West, they were surprised and upset.
Of course, I reminded myself, the Reformation is Western history. They would most likely only know Chinese history. I could understand that easily enough. But what really made me stop and think was the part about, “Why do you have so many different churches? Why don’t you get along?”
Why don’t we all get along? Why are we so ready to have a church split over whether or not we “sprinkle or dunk”? Why are there women who won’t speak to each other ever again when their choice of the color of the church carpet was rejected? Why are there so many seminary students spending countless thousands of hours trying to prove that their own theological ideas and perspectives are the correct ones? Are we really supposed to be figuring out how many Angels are dancing on the head of a pin while thousands or millions of souls are dying without Christ?
2. While trying to get around the city, we did encounter some prejudice against foreigners. Taxi drivers would not stop for us. Finally, we asked my daughter’s Chinese friend to get the taxi while we stood a few yards at a distance. When she had engaged it and was holding open the door, we ran and scrambled in. The drivers would scowl at us, but would not make trouble and they took us where we wanted to go.
By contrast, we were treated especially well by our new Chinese friends when they learned that we were sisters in Christ. They treat each other like family. They go out of their way to help each other. It is enough that one is a believer in Christ. They don’t have time for the petty differences that we argue over here in America. After all, they risk fines or arrest if they are caught meeting without a government permit. They need to cling to each other. I understand that. Somehow, though, I don’t think that our comparative freedom should give us an excuse to mistreat each other the way we do. I know that their circumstances are extreme, but must we have persecution before we will love each other as Christ commanded us?
3. On the day that we visited the Great Wall, we had beautiful weather. The sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the sky, and it was 20 degrees C. (68 F) We had a marvelous time and took about a hundred pictures! We visited a nearby park where there was a statue of Chairman Mao. The Chinese revere him very much. Even my Christian sister wanted us to have a picture with him. I stalled for a while, but finally decided to be in the picture with her. She knows only what history she has been taught. I did not think it my place to start a discussion with her on the millions of deaths and the hardships that have been caused by the government they inherited from Mao Zedong.
Standing in the shade of the statue, I began to think about our own history. How much do I really know about the events that have shaped our American culture? In the last few years, for instance, I learned that Franklin D. Roosevelt knew about the bombing of Pearl Harbor before it happened. He wanted to be involved in the war, but the American people did not. He allowed for the bombing of the ships in Pearl Harbor so that the American people would be outraged enough to go to war. There are also many myths surrounding the 16th president. If I am really concerned about the truth of history, perhaps I should begin by studying our own. Perhaps I will just pray that as I want to earnestly seek truth, because it pleases God, my sisters in China will seek truth also. And I pray that my American sisters will seek the truth. The courageous woman will seek the truth no matter what it costs.
One of the reasons that I started this Blog was to post stories of women who may be little known to us. I wanted to show just how many courageous women have lived. How many of us know about Anne Askew, or Sophie Scholl, or Esther Ahn Kim? One of the reasons that I want to tell their stories is so that we can be better informed about our history. Knowing what happened to any of these women tells you something about the times in which they lived. How many people know just how badly the Japanese treated the Koreans? This is a very real, but forgotten, part of history.
Learning our history, our real history, helps us better understand ourselves. Reading the stories of the many great women who lived gives us courage to face our own circumstances. I pray that you will not shy away from seeking truth, even if it causes you to change some of your cherished beliefs.
And, pray for our sisters in China.
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I don’t face any particular problems as a women president because I have been a professional for a long time. I keep telling people: I am a technocrat who happens to be a woman.
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