Doing church in China

Hello everyone, Mark's travel partner here.

We had our first experience with a house church in China today. If you are not familiar with house churches, it is one of the few ways the Chinese government allows Christianity to be practiced. Chinese citizens are not allowed to meet in large groups in church buildings. The alternative is to meet in people's homes. Today, there were about 12 people attending.

This experience really made me think of the early church, and how they had to struggle against the Roman government. Despite these setbacks, the people had and energy and an attitude I have not seen very much at home, and seemed so much more willing to serve the Lord. They did not have a guitar, but they worshipped God nonetheless with a deep fervor. We take too many things for granted sometimes, like the ability to meet in a building. Really, church is about the body of believers, and that's it.

We had a very nice sermon by a man who originally came from Singapore. He spoke very eloquently in Chinese, and I really felt like the grace of God allowed me to almost fully understand the sermon. The sermon was about what it really means to know God, to pray, and to forgive. There were many points made, as it was quite a long sermon, but it was captivating at the same time. I became emotional at some parts when he talked about the real faith we can have in a Christ we cannot see or touch, versus the emphasis Buddhists place on physical idols. I really felt His presence. It gave me a real hope that Christianity not only could survive in Lhasa, but even thrive. This hope was definitely felt by the members of the church.

May God's will be done here in Tibet, as we are here and after we leave.