At the usual Sunday afternoon study and discussion at the 3-self church, I and a couple ladies talked about "yang2 jiao4" (Western religion, as Christianity is looked upon). They said that many locals choose to believe because it is associated with the West. They see how it has made Western society successful and so they want to emulate it. I sought to clarify whether these two ladies accepted Christ for the same reasons...they didn't seem to deny that they did, which was a bit disconcerting. It almost seemed natural to do so. Much of Western culture is referred to this way, by placing "yang2" in front of whatever Chinese wished to distinguish as something with a unique, admired Western quality, be it cars, soap, clothes, religion, etc. I asked if I was considered a "yang ren"; they said no. Their enchantment with all things foreign amazed me.
"HL" and I later got into a lively discussion about the Iraq war. We had differing viewpoints on it, but it was amicable. It was especially nice to discover how I could actually communicate with someone in Chinese about these topics. I didn't think I had it in me, vocabulary-wise. It sure beats always limiting topics to just the weather and family.
This evening was also our last men's study on the main campus. We talked about Thomas, it was a good way to end our time together. A lot of sharing took place. We took pictures and exchanged email addresses.
