News from China and the Chinese Church

by Tony Lambert

IMPORTANT SYMBOLIC CHANGES
On 14 March 2004 the Chinese National People’s Congress voted to include human rights and the protection of private property in the Chinese constitution. This was an important symbolic step forward to show that the Communist Party intends to practice the rule of law. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao made it clear that more would be done to make officials legally accountable. (Daily Telegraph 15 March) These moves may indirectly help Chinese Christians to claim their legal rights as citizens against discrimination.

CHINA’S RICH-POOR DIVIDE IS THE WORST IN THE WORLD
China now has the biggest divide between urban rich and rural poor in the world, according to the Chinese government’s own researchers.

A report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of the Communist Party’s leading research institutes, compared the country gloomily with Zimbabwe. It said that the earnings of urban residents were now more than three times those in the rural areas. If non-cash factors are taken into account—such as the fact that only urban residents receive health care and social security benefits—then the difference could be six times.

“When comparing to other countries, Zimbabwe’s income disparity may be slightly higher than China’s if we only consider nominal income,” the report concluded. “But if non-currency factors are taken into consideration, China’s rural-urban income divide is the highest in the world.”

The report, and its publication in the State media, is the latest sign of the government’s concern that China’s rapid economic reforms have left most of its rural population behind, and may even become a threat to social stability. It is torn between the knowledge that only continuing the current rates of growth (more than nine percent last year) can cure poverty, and the fact that they still rest on former leader Deng Xiaoping’s dictum “Let some get rich first!”

In line with this, the booming coastal cities have had preferential investment treatment, their populations protected from socially dangerous mass migration to the cities by a strict resident permit system.

The survey found that almost half the wealth gap in China was accounted for by the urban-rural divide. But there is also a growing gap within urban areas, between the ordinary working-class and the new middle and super-rich classes. The top five percent and ten percent of earners in China accounted for 20 percent and 32 percent of the country’s revenue in 2002, the report found.

A program of tax reduction for rural areas could alone increase farmers’ income by five percent. The government should also cover educational, health and social security costs in the countryside, the report recommended. The government is already attempting this, though critics say that they are unlikely to succeed unless they dramatically reduce the number and powers of local officials. (Daily Telegraph 27 February 2004)

A SELF-SUPPORTING TRIBAL CHURCH
Little-known Rongshui Miao Autonomous County is 240 miles from Nanning, the capital of Guangxi. Since the 1960s, more than ten Chinese films have been filmed against the backdrop of Rongshui’s lush forests and beautiful rivers. There are more than 12 different minority peoples living here, but the most numerous are the Miao, Yao and Dong.

There were only 20 Christians when meetings were again allowed, but today there are more than 1,300. This is less than some other counties in Guangxi, but there is a shortage of pastors. These believers are scattered in 12 different churches and meeting points, over an area extending for 100 miles. There are only two theological graduates teaching them along with one elder and 15 voluntary workers. A graduate from Jinling Theological Seminary was sent to the rural church here and his monthly salary is only 200 RMB with a supplement of 100 RMB from the China Christian Council and Three Self [a total of about US$40 per month.] But since June last year, he has voluntarily given up the 200 RMB given by the church and now just subsists on the 100 RMB for his living expenses. Placed in such a situation, it’s hard to know how long he can continue in church work. Rongshui County is a mountainous region and is one of the poorest counties in the entire country. The average annual income is only 800 RMB [about US$100]. But the Christians are scattered in many villages and their income is often even lower. The majority are elderly women reliant on their children and grandchildren for support. Faced with the daily struggle to clothe and feed themselves one needs little imagination to guess how much the church’s income is! A voluntary worker preaches twice a week and is also busy in sermon preparation and home-visitation. He also shares in the joys and sorrows of preparations for marriages and funerals and helps with church administration. It’s nearly a full-time job but he receives not a penny!

Between 2001 and 2003 four church workers left the church and set off to seek work in Guangdong. There is little reward for farming in the mountains. Families of five or six people struggle to find money for food, clothing, medical expenses and schooling and have little time for church work.

One church worker suddenly fell ill and was in hospital for 20 days. It cost her 2,000 RMB so she had to sell the family ox. The church was unable to help financially so she lay ill at home. Church members wondered whether or when the same thing would happen to them….

In the autumn of 2002, through a chance happening, one of Rongshui County’s church leaders went with a delegation to Shanghai, Shandong and Jiangsu. At St. Paul’s church in Qingdao, he came across wooden tablets inscribed with scripture verses, on sale for 16 RMB. He came up with an idea of using Rongshui’s rich bamboo and wood resources. So he borrowed 30,000 RMB from the bank. In March 2003 machinery was installed and a Christian workshop was set up producing a range of more than 20 different handicrafts. Thus economic self-support has helped stop the drain of church workers from the area. It has become a model of self-support for other poor rural churches. (Tianfeng February 2004)

ZEAL FOR CHRIST
“After I believed in Christ, my husband and son quickly became believers. The first reason was that they were amazed at the transformation of my personality and temperament after my conversion. Secondly, I told them that we could have eternal life when we believed in Christ and we would be together forever. Since our whole family trusted in Christ we have been living in harmony like never before. Whenever I have the opportunity I share the gospel with others and several people have already believed.”—Mrs. Chen in Jiangsu province in a letter to FEBC.
THE CONFUSION OF CULTS
“In recent years the Crying Sect and the Eastern Lightning have been more disruptive here. Even some preachers have been led astray. Lately we have a group of legalists who observe the Old Testament laws and the Sabbath. Then there is another group which worships the sun and denies Christ’s resurrection. These are obvious falsehoods but to my amazement one preacher after another accepts them. The church is now in a very pitiful state. The head shepherd has joined a cult, the sheep have scattered and some are even following the wolves.”—Letter to FEBC from Miss Dong in Jilin Province, Northeast China

Copyright 2004 by OMF International