Since the communist government came into power in 1949, the International Mission Board has not been authorized to send Southern Baptist missionaries to China.
During China’s disastrous Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, churches were closed, Bibles were banned and burned, and Christians were persecuted.
Vague and cryptic wording are commonplace when describing Christianity in this country.
A Southern Baptist worker who is familiar with the Shandong province was willing to speak anonymously about life in this part of the world.
“Missionaries are not allowed into the country at this time, but foreigners from all countries come to China to teach English, work in businesses, study Chinese, tour the country, etc.,” said the worker. “Christian people — including some Southern Baptists — live and work in China.”
Between 1845 and 1948 the Foreign Mission Board (now the International Mission Board) appointed more than 620 missionaries to the country and Chinese church membership reached 123,000. Shandong is the province where Lottie Moon and other Southern Baptist missionaries shared the gospel and planted churches.
“There’s a tremendous Christian heritage in this area, but also a tremendous need,” said Mark Kelly, news editor for the International Mission Board.
Today, most people in Pingdu, the city Lottie Moon called home, would not know her name, but according to the anonymous worker, her influence continues in that town through the many churches that still exist.
“In Pingdu you can still find the home where Lottie Moon once lived,” the worker said. “An elderly man and his wife live there. They still have a jewelry box and a few other small items she left behind. The elderly man’s parents moved into the house when Lottie Moon left town.”
Impacting generations
“Interestingly, an English-language tourism map of Shandong available in a major hotel showed Penglai, a coastal city, as a point of interest because it is the home of Lottie Moon’s church,” the worker said. “While Lottie Moon receives the most acclaim, there were many Southern Baptist missionaries throughout Shandong Province in those days who touched the province with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The anonymous worker said that up until a few years ago most churchgoers were older men and women who had been influenced by the work of the missionaries in the early 1900s.
“Now you can find many more middle-aged and young people who believe,” the worker said. “In Shandong Province, unlike many other provinces in China, young people who become believers will often tell you that they had a grandmother or grandfather who were Christians and this somewhat influenced their decisions to believe. The new believer will smile and tell you that he previously thought Christianity was just for old folks.”
However, there are still many Chinese who are fearful about accepting Christ and Christianity.
“Young people are sometimes resistant to the gospel, because they know that making a commitment to any religious belief will mean they won’t be allowed into the Communist Party, and the party is their ticket to a good job and great housing,” the worker said.
Although the government is resistant to Christianity and outsiders, the people in Shandong are known for their friendliness, the worker said.
“Many of them are poor farmers who lack opportunities, although the economy in Shandong has truly boomed in the past 10 years and is making a better life for the residents,” the worker said. “Foreigners are treated with great interest and are generally warmly welcomed.”
The worker said the Chinese people make a clear distinction between the government of the United States (which they usually are annoyed with in some way) and the people of the United States (with whom most are generally fascinated).
“Foreigners are treated kindly, yet differently from the Chinese. Foreigners are still viewed with a degree of suspicion,” the worker said.
Christians in China are influenced by Baptists, but China is relatively unaffected by denominationalism. Believers are known as “Christians.”
“The government church, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Church, is the only church that is allowed to exist under Communist law,” the worker said. “The unregistered house churches in China — who want to operate without [government] constraints … and sometimes suffer persecution — exist in several different organizational branches.”
Shandong has people who believe in Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, Taoism and Islam, but most people have no religious beliefs. “For the most part, it is because they have never had a chance to hear or understand the gospel message,” the worker said.
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