Monday, July 01, 2013

Nervous

We are friends here with a preacher of a "home church".  Basically, that means that his church has not been approved by the government, so they meet secretly.  It is a Christian church, and doesn't have any subversive motives, so they shouldn't be a threat, but the government is always worried.  We don't really talk religion much with them because we aren't allowed to, but we both know that the other is religious and Christian.

He has a daughter who is really special, and quite out-going.  She was the one that initialized the friendship with us, and she comes over occasionally to visit.  She has tried to get my son to go out running with her and her friends, or to go play ping pong.  He is a little socially awkward, so hasn't accepted her invitations, but she keeps trying.  Her English is very good; one of the best I have heard here in China.  So although my son doesn't speak Chinese, she can communicate with him.  Maybe one of these days she will get through to him.

Her English is so good in fact that she has been in some English competitions recently.  She came over and had us proofread her speech for her.  She also had my husband (who is very dramatic) read the speech for her while she recorded it so that she could get some ideas of how to say it. 

The thing that makes me nervous is that her father, who helps her write her speeches, continues to choose religious topics.  The speeches are quite good, and very moving.  But I worry that she, or he might get in trouble for preaching.  I know that in general, Christianity is allowed, but I worry that there will be investigations if she continues to preach in every speech. 

I'm hoping that they understand the government better than we do.  I'm hoping that they know what is allowed, and aren't doing anything that would put them in jeopardy.  They are a very nice family, and I would hate to see any problems come to them.

3 comments:

Max Coutinho said...

Hi D,

I utterly comprehend your concern (a valid one indeed). They should be careful.

All you can do is pray for them.

Cheers

Rummuser said...

I presume that they are native Chinese. If so, they should know how far they can push the envelope!

Looney said...

My suspicion is that the government will always find it convenient to keep the laws on the books, even if they aren't enforced 99% of the time. A few Western countries have done a fantastic job of demonstrating why freedom of religion doesn't work.