China Diary #6 The Foreigner
After a poor sleep we ate millet samp, deep fried beef and a boiled egg in the hotel breakfast buffet.
Brother G and I spoke often today about what God was doing in his life and in mine. We talked about the prospects for a new mission agency and what God taught me through the stages of planting Calvary Grace.
We are always uneasy when we walk to the office building and stand waiting for the crowded elevator. Brother G and I have decided we need to be careful not to speak since our English attracts immediate attention when my presence does not.
When we got to the top floor office without incident we found that the conference room was locked. This wouldn’t matter normally, but as I stood outside the office, I could see other workers, not Christians who were noticing me.
The thoughts went through my mind:
Do they know I’m a Christian?
Are they passing info to the PSB?
Are they mostly indifferent?
Pastor Y had told us that recently the PSB had been posting lookouts on the streets nearby watching who enters and exits the office building.
In the end I simply waited for the door to be unlocked and carried on with my work, trusting in the Lord’s provision.
China Diary #7 The Lasting Work of the One Legged Man
After seeing the work in the city and hearing about other “W. people” and their church networks in other parts of China, the question for me was:
Where did this Chinese Jerusalem come from?
After the Boxer rebellion that was anti-missionary and the Maoist victory that enforced cultural Marxism, how could this city become the hub for zealous, capitalistic, Calvinists?
The answer can only be found in heaven. Paul could say that in his ministry in Greece, he planted, another watered, but God gave the growth.
But under heaven, who laid the foundations for this Zion of the East?
The foundation-layer was an unlikely candidate, the one-legged man, George Stott.
Stott was a Free Church Presbyterian from Scotland who joined Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission. Stott said famously:
“ I do not see those with two legs going, so I must”
George Stott
Stott laboured among the W. people with the gospel because Christ loved him and loved them. This was ample motivation to leave Scotland, even with his physical disability, and bring the gospel to the regions beyond (see Romans 15:14-21).
Only God could have known how he would use the W. people as gospel workers. They are known as being the centre of mathematics in China. And it is no surprise that with their skill in numbers they are famous for their ability to make money! In fact W. is called the birthplace of captialism in China.
Today estimates say that in a population of 6 million in W., 600,000 are Christians. And of this 10% of the population, most would be what we would describe as Calvinists who practice baptism of believers only.
Now George Stott knows as he is in known ( 1 Cor 13:12) and can testify clearly what Psalm 40:5 tells us:
“You have multiplied O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.”
