In the past, we had a small, specialized role in several short-term trips to China. We supported Christian workers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe doing business in China. These Christian professionals were a gospel influence on their co-workers, the Chinese staff members, and their neighbors in the high-rise apartments where they lived.
Some had lived in China for many years, spoke the language, and knew their Chinese neighbors well. Others were newly arrived, finding their way in a new job and a new country. Our role was to offer counseling support to foreign and national staff—Al as a psychologist and June as a pastoral counselor. There are always stresses when living in a foreign country, and those living long-term in China and raising their families there encountered many. They wanted to share their Christian faith. Yet, that had to be done in quiet, relational ways, one person at a time, so they would draw no attention.
Chinese staff who sought us out wanted counseling about marriages, families, and workplace relationships—the same concerns we all face. They often spoke about how they had become Christians, about their house churches and the risk they all felt, about how family members had come to faith. One even shared her grandparents’ harrowing stories and experiences during the Cultural Revolution.
Most Sunday mornings, unable to worship with Chinese believers, we went to an approved international church where police stood outside the doors to check passports so only foreigners could enter. But one Sunday morning we were in a hotel waiting for an evening flight home with two colleagues, one of them Chinese. She suggested we share an informal worship service in the hotel lobby. First, we separated for 30 minutes of private Bible reading. Then, as we sat together at a table for four, we each shared our reading and reflections. Finally, we prayed together without bowing our heads or indicating that we were in prayer. We will never forget the sweetness of that worship time together.
Our abiding sense of our Chinese Christian brothers and sisters is twofold: They are just like us, with the same joys and troubles. But they are unlike us in that their faith is held with determination despite risks that we do not face. They inspired us then and still do today.
by Dr. Al & Pastor June Barrow
