In spite of the fact that some prominent companies have decided to exit from China because of the disappointment with China’s lack of openness, China is really much more open to the world today than it has ever been in its 5000 year history.
Cafe in bookstore
Every time I visit China, I can sense a new openness to the world. I can still remember my first visit to China about 20 years ago. It was then a land of dull blue Mao suits and millions of identical bicycles. I had to change my dollars for certificates to buy “luxury” goods – all of which today even a poor migrant worker to the city will own. I remember having to “smuggle” my Bible in my luggage. This time, in my luggage as I came home from China, was a beautifully bound, gilt-edged Chinese-English Bible given to me by a brother that is printed and freely sold in state-run Three-self churches. A similar Bible in my country would cost me about 5-6 times more!
On my recent trip to China, I visited several Christian bookshops run by dear brethren. Over the past five years, I’ve watched the quality of the merchandise (books and Christian gifts items) improve by leaps and bounds. In my rough estimation, the number of Christian books translated into Chinese has doubled yearly for the past five years. All these translations are legal – with the own Chinese ISBN numbers. All the bookstores that I’ve visited are legal businesses run by Chinese citizens as “private enterprises.”
Christian books for sale
Most bookstores have a little café attached. These little cafes also serve as a nice clean meeting place for people seeking a place that is free from smoke, alcohol and other undesirable influences. It is a wonderful place for them to get the right influences from the books and the people in the store!
I thank God for touching the hearts of China’s leaders to open the doors to Christian bookstores in China. Though some may lament China’s lack of openness, I am thankful that China has opened its door to, what I believe are, the really important things!
Dear Family and Friends,
As always, time goes by so quick. The spring semester flew by and now I am in the process of moving to a new city. After the whirlwind of activities over the last few months, I finally have a few minutes to catch my breath before summer camp starts so I thought I’d take a moment to update you on how He is working… Read More....
School has begun! I started teaching on Monday of this week. I am teaching in the English department of my school and am very excited to be working with my students. I have loved all my students from year one to now but because these kids are English majors their English is a little better so we can discuss more in-depth topics and get to know each other a little… Read More....
Over the last week I was privileged to take a couple trips to other places of interest in the northeast. As we drove across the land to our destination, I looked out upon miles and miles of well-manicured corn rows. No land is wasted; every square inch is used to grow something that is useful for living; very little if any land is left to grow just plain grass. Everything… Read More....
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