Sherri, Daniel, Jr., Elizabeth and I have spent the past 16 days in Beijing, Guangzhou and Dongguan. We traveled to China to adopt our 26 month-old daughter, Esther Miao Ausbun. I haven't been out of the U.S. since a mission trip to Indonesia in January 2004 and Sherri hasn't been abroad since a mission trip to Belize in September 2003. We'd become "rusty" with our international travel.
Here are six lessons from sixteen days in China:
1). China is filled with orphanages. Every city here has abandoned and unwanted children housed in social welfare institutes. This country needs Christians to adopt. A believer we met in Beijing told us children raised in orphanages "at best" become construction workers. There's not much of a future for Chinese orphans. Family heritage is highly valued and being an orphan is a social stigma.
2). There's a need for churches in China. In 16 days in three massive cities, I've heard of four churches and seen three of them. No wonder there's an underground church movement in China, the believers have no other options.
3). I haven't heard or seen any signs of a Chinese revival. We haven't met ten Chinese Christians. Nearly all the believers we've met were foreigners. No Bibles, no churches, no signs of spiritual vitality. China needs Jesus. This place is an enormous mission field. Sherri and I were sharing Christ with one lady and she replied, "Chinese people don't talk about religion."
4). There are people everywhere. I've been to New York City - cities here blow away the Big Apple. 1.4 billion people - four times as many people as the U.S. Even in the rural villages - there were people all over the place. You're never alone.
5). Americans are associated with President Obama. Most Chinese don't know English, but if they do, they'll tell you how much they love Obama. One man asked me if I lived near the President.
6). The Chinese have no rights. Facebook, Twitter and Google are blocked. I read a newspaper article about how great North Korea is. No religious freedom. No elections. No land ownership (only 70 years). Guns aren't permitted. One man told me the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 was "Western propaganda." Yes, there's economic opportunities - but democracy and human rights are non-existent.
Chinese people are polite, kind and will go above and beyond to help you. Napoleon once described China as a "sleeping giant." One out of five people on earth are Chinese - and now one lives in Moreland, Georgia.
Here are six lessons from sixteen days in China:
1). China is filled with orphanages. Every city here has abandoned and unwanted children housed in social welfare institutes. This country needs Christians to adopt. A believer we met in Beijing told us children raised in orphanages "at best" become construction workers. There's not much of a future for Chinese orphans. Family heritage is highly valued and being an orphan is a social stigma.
2). There's a need for churches in China. In 16 days in three massive cities, I've heard of four churches and seen three of them. No wonder there's an underground church movement in China, the believers have no other options.
3). I haven't heard or seen any signs of a Chinese revival. We haven't met ten Chinese Christians. Nearly all the believers we've met were foreigners. No Bibles, no churches, no signs of spiritual vitality. China needs Jesus. This place is an enormous mission field. Sherri and I were sharing Christ with one lady and she replied, "Chinese people don't talk about religion."
4). There are people everywhere. I've been to New York City - cities here blow away the Big Apple. 1.4 billion people - four times as many people as the U.S. Even in the rural villages - there were people all over the place. You're never alone.
5). Americans are associated with President Obama. Most Chinese don't know English, but if they do, they'll tell you how much they love Obama. One man asked me if I lived near the President.
6). The Chinese have no rights. Facebook, Twitter and Google are blocked. I read a newspaper article about how great North Korea is. No religious freedom. No elections. No land ownership (only 70 years). Guns aren't permitted. One man told me the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 was "Western propaganda." Yes, there's economic opportunities - but democracy and human rights are non-existent.
Chinese people are polite, kind and will go above and beyond to help you. Napoleon once described China as a "sleeping giant." One out of five people on earth are Chinese - and now one lives in Moreland, Georgia.
Guangzhou from the Canton Tower
We think this is a Buddhist Temple in Guangzhou
Chen Family Temple (a place of ancestral worship)
Our "group" at The Garden Hotel in Guangzhou
A Chinese wedding on Shamian Island
The Dongguan Social Welfare Institute
Wal-Mart in Dongguan
A Taoist Temple (and coffee shop) in Beijing
The Great Wall of China
The Forbidden City in Beijing
The Summer Palace in Beijing (Buddhist Temple behind it)
A Mongolian performance in Beijing
A Buddhist altar inside a home in Beijing (I left them a Bible next to it)
This was being sold everywhere
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