Zhongshan － YingTak China Trip
On Monday, December 12th Richard
Cheng, Andrew Pang and I took a ferry from Hong Kong to Zhongshan
China. We took a taxi to our hotel where we were met by Sherwin, one of
the co-workers with Fountainhead. Daniel Lau, the founder of
Fountainhead, and his wife Gretel took an afternoon boat and met us for
dinner. We went out to "yamcha" with Sherwin and another co-worker -
Kim Yu, who lives in Zhongshan and works in their center.
After
"yamcha"they took us around to visit
some churches in Zhongshan area. We first went to the Canaan retreat
center next to the Man Lam Church. This church was built 85 years ago
by a Rev. Lam Man Leung. He left China for America years before.
While in the US he became a Christian and later returns to his home
village and built a church. More recently a sister from Hong Kong
(Miss Cheung) donated money to build a very nice retreat center on
the property. The center is only available to Three Self churches.
To the right are pictures of the church and retreat centre. Rev. Lam is pictured below.
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Later on we went for an afternoon
snack ($10 for french toast and Brazilian coffee.) We know what is
important. :-) After coffee, we went to the Siu Lam
district and visited a kindegarten. This Christian kindegarten is run
by the Zhongshan Christian Church, but they may NOT talk about Christ
to the children. They may, however, arrange other meetngs at the
church for this purpose. This kindegarten is a bit unique because it
is located in a historical landmark, an old mansion of sorts. This
mansion once belonged to missionaries and was confiscated after the
revolution. The government has a policy of giving back confiscated
church properties (provided they aren't too valuable or strategic),
so the local church applied for and received the property. The
kindegartens we saw were all very well run and had the highest safety
standards.
I was worried about the chair holding up, but the kids were wonderful. We were able to take some pictures from the roof and you can see (below) the picture of Jesus with the children on the front of kindegarten. Too bad they can't tell the kids about the Lord during school hours. It is, on the other hand, considered to be a public school.
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On the way to the main church we passed
many high power wires. I have never seen so many power lines
criss-crossing a country. Even next to our dams in the US we won't
have so many power lines. To my amazement, I looked out the van
window and saw a man, at least 100 feet in the air walking on one of
the lines, as if it were a rope bridge.  | The Zhongshan Christian Church meets in
a fabulous facility. They have seating for 1500 but currently
run around 500. They have grown to 500 from 100 in the last few
years. Attached to the church is a 5 story building which serves as a
kindegarten and training center run by Fountainhead foundation.
Fountainhead works with the church to provide adult job related education,
such as computer training and English classes. They are an openly
Christian foundation, but do not promote their faith during their
classes. They are free to do on their own time in more casual
settings. Pictured below is the training centre next to the church, and a computer class in progress. The students come from all over China and live in a dormitory run by Fountainhead.
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On Monday evening we went out to dinner
with Daniel and Gretel and then went shopping. Zhongshan has some
wonderful shopping. They have a piaza area which reminds me of Macau.
The buildings are 3-4 story European style overlooking a bright and
clean, well lit plaza. The place is definitely designed to attract
young people. It is not 1/100 as crowded as MongKok which makes
shopping there a great experience for Hong Kong people. Afterwards, we took
bicycle carts back to the hotel.
On Tuesday we rose early, ate breakfast
(coffee for me) and were taken to the bus depot where we caught a bus
(4 hours) to Ching Yuen City. We were met by John Chu from the local
church. Their church's driver took us in a van (2-1/2 hours) over
some very rough roads to YingDak city. There are dams nearby and they have a
long Roman style working aquaduct carrying water to who knows where.
(Below) Pastor Ko and (lower right) students pour out of the local high school.
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Our first stop was a church in a small
industrial town. The pastor, Mr. Go has been serving as the lay
leader of the church. He has the church devided up by districts and
seems to have a grasp of cell church principles, though he wasn't
talking too much about that.
He took us to the local high school
where we were met by the history teacher, a Mr. ??. This school has
1200 students. They come to the school from the surrounding mountain
villages and towns, and live in dormitories during the week. On the
weekends they go home. What amazed me is that the students run the
dormitories without adult supervision. Food is provided, but the
older students must lead and organize dorm life.
This school is very open to an outside
English speaker as a teacher. The candidate would have to be properly
qualified and credentialed, but the school would apply for the
necessary permissions. Food and housing would be provided, but the
teacher would have to raise a small amount for living expenses. They
could live in the church dormitory and would help the church relate
to, and minister to the students (outside of school time of course).
I really want to pray that God will open up this door for us.
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We stayed overnight in the YingDak
church. They run a kindegarten with 100 students. The teachers are
fine young women. They have a hard time keeping teachers, because
they can go to bigger cities and earn a bigger salary. There is a
definite skills drain drawing people from the small towns to the
bigger cities. As I watched the children arrive for school the next
morning, it appeared that most were brought by their grandmas and
grandpas. I suspect that many of their parents are working in the
factories in the bigger towns.
This church is actively planting
churches in nearby villages. A village may service a population of
30000 to 60000 people. The government has actually been helpful by
laying down the criterion needed to apply to build a church building.
You need to have a designated co-worker assigned to an village or
town, and have regular meetings at a set time, with an average
attendance of 25-30 people. If you meet these conditions you can
apply to purchase land and build a church. The YingDak church is
doing this and many people are coming to Chist. They now have 3
church buildings and many meeting points going.
The key workers are Elder Jyu, Mr. To,
Miss Jyu and Miss Lei Bik Guen. Our HK YanLam church is sending teams
to encourage and work together with them. Miss Jyu told me that they
used to lock the doors and move the sofas in front of the door before
they prayed, but now they can preach the gospel openly. I spoke at their 8 am prayer meeting.
This church has a prayer meeting from 8-9 every day of the year
except for the first and second day of the Chinese New Year. The
meeting is attended by around 30 elderly. They are warriors in
disguise and one of the main reasons behind the growth of the church
here. In this area they don't say "amen" at the end of
their prayers, but rather "with a true heart I wish it so".
Wednesday morning was market day when
the farmers bring their produce into town to sell. We strolled down
the main street. At one point we had to move out of the way as a
funeral procession came through. Some youth walked ahead of the
procession setting off firecrackers all along the route to scare off
evil spirits. Then came a truck with the coffin on it, followed by
the grieving relatives all dressed in white. After the family came
the professional mourners beating drums and shaking tamborines. It
reminded me of the the funeral for the widow of Nain's son. After the
procession, I saw a woman carrying a bed. Her bed was made from 4
pieces of bamboo fitted together to make a frame. In the middle of
the frame was stretched a piece of stiff cloth. Put it on some bricks
to get it off of the floor and it would be a comfortable and portable
bed. She disappeared before I could get a picture. Again, I thought
of Jesus "take up your bed and walk".
We spent the afternoon visiting
churches and attending a noontime meeting point where Andrew Pang
preached. Before the meeting we visited a small village where
everyone is a Christian. The ancestor hall is now an empty room
where they store a threshing machine.
At the noon meeting there were some
teens there who later talked to me. They don't go to school until 2
pm, so they are able to attend noon church. 
A Market Scene in Ying Tak
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Allan speaks to the faithful at the 8 a.m. prayer meeting
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Gospel village - everyone living here is a follower of Christ.
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Pastor Andrew speaks at a noon time worship service.
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G
We were driven back to Ching Yuen over
the same very bumpy road.
10:48:01 PM 
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