With God's Help

Psalm 108 says in part,

Have you rejected us, O God?
    Will you no longer march with our armies?
Oh, please help us against our enemies,
    for all human help is useless.
With God’s help we will do mighty things,
    for he will trample down our foes.

The mournful cry of people asking if God has rejected them sometimes resonates for us in places like Canada, America, and Britain. We long to see the miracles of ages past and see the church grow at a rate where thousands are added to the faith daily. Having recently spent time with rapidly growing house-churches in Cuba and hearing the stories of miraculous breakthroughs in people’s lives, I am hungry to see church multiplication and stories of new spiritual birth here in my own country. 

The churches I worked with in Cuba are barely tolerated by the Communist Party. Occasionally, the authorities have stepped in and shut down a house-church and, in at least one case, tore down the structure in which the church met. Since the Revolution in Cuba, church that happens in pre-existing church buildings is allowed to persist but is highly regulated. If a program begins to have success in the community around the church and appears to be gaining evangelistic traction, a party member may report the program to a higher authority and the rules surrounding such events may be enforced making it more difficult to continue. House-churches have a particularly difficult time in this culture. They are even more subject to the enforcement of regulations about public assembly and are viewed with suspicion. See the following website for a greater explanation of the predicament of churches in Cuba.

In this context, we learned of God’s love for and strengthening of the people of God. I was able to preach in a church that had been closed down just a few months before (and their temporary shed torn down). The people had bravely reopened a service in a nearby apartment and sang praises out into the streets. These people were hungry for God’s word and discussed the sermon with joy in the midst of the service.

In another church, one woman spoke of her spiritual journey from “wild child” to follower of Jesus. She told us she previously drank excessively, went with several men, and was in a self-destructive mode. She had learned English and was hired by a pastor to do some translation work. One night, while she was drunk, she had a vision of herself dying and having to pass through the cross of Jesus to get to “the other side.” The vision scared her, she investigated the claims of Christ, and became a Christian. The week I was there, she was translating for one of the pastors from our team as he preached in a house-church.

Most of the people are extremely poor, yet happy as they serve the Lord Jesus. In one house-church they bring a box each week into which they place things like toilet-paper or food that they have in excess. At an appropriate time, they have a “lottery” to see who gets to keep the contents of the box believing that Jesus is guiding the process. Sometimes the recipient redistributes again to others in the community.

Psalm 108 also says,

My heart is confident in you, O God;
    no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!
Wake up, lyre and harp!
    I will wake the dawn with my song.
I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.
    I will sing your praises among the nations.
For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens.
    Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.
    May your glory shine over all the earth.

Where is my confidence? My confidence is in “you, O God” and in your only Son, Jesus, who has shown us how to live. By God’s grace and “with God’s help, we will do mighty things.” My joy and confidence are growing as I think of how Jesus will work here in Canada. I will continue to trust in God’s help even as I pray for these dear followers of Jesus in Cuba.

Twenty Six Haircuts

When Maureen and I moved to Vancouver we were intentional about looking for local shops at which to do our business. Since Historic Chinatown is close we have purchased our car insurance at Jack Chow insurance, we sometimes buy fresh produce at the Keefer Street Chinatown Supermarket, and I get my haircut at Second Beauty Salon on Main Street. I have previously blogged about the amazing life of the woman who has now been cutting my hair since we moved here. You can reread her story here. Today I am thinking about how thankful I am that I took the chance to walk into that shop over three years ago.

There is always a certain amount of apprehension about first time cross-cultural experiences. I remember walking into the salon for the first time and wondering if I would be able to understand the accent of the person cutting my hair. I wondered if they would be able to understand what I was asking for in a haircut or would I come out with a different hairstyle than I had planned. But the cultural risk was certainly worth it. It allowed me to meet this amazing woman with her real life story of escaping from China in the 1970s. As I spoke with her yesterday I discovered that I had misunderstood some of the story of her escape. But correcting the details of the story only serve to make her story more amazing.

I previously reported that "she swam from China to Hong Kong with two sisters and two brothers." But the true story is that her seven siblings had all escaped before she did. Through a series of attempts, all of her brothers and sisters were already out of the country by the time she made her escape. They had all hired boats to take them across the narrow channel to escape. Some had to make multiple attempts and some spent time in jail for trying to escape. Being the youngest in her family, Becky*, was left behind and was alone with her parents by the time she made her escape. She swam for ten hours across shark-infested waters with one friend. The portion of the channel at which they swam had oyster beds on the bottom of the sea. They had to keep their legs up as they swam for fear of cutting themselves on the razor-sharp shells. Becky often speaks of how "lucky" she was. Her friend did get badly cut by the oyster beds during the long swim. When they arrived  in Hong Kong some farmers came to their aid and took them to the hospital to treat her friend's legs. Becky had been lucky because someone had given her two pairs of pants and she wore both pairs while she swam and this protected her from any cuts. For several years, when she returned to China to visit her mother, she would go to visit those farmers and thank them for rescuing her and her friend. She told me that all of those farmers have now passed away because of the long period of time that has passed. Becky also says that when she thinks back to this time in her life she can hardly believe she did this. She realizes what a proficient swimmer she was back then. She jokes that she could have probably qualified for the Olympics.

After her friend had been treated at the hospital the Hong Kong police gave them a bit of money and told them to go downtown and get a bus. They spent the first few months after their escape living with relatives. Becky also considers this very lucky for she says that within about three or four years of her escape the policy changed and Hong Kong began sending all escapees back to China. There, they would be thrown in jail for their crime. Sometimes the parents of the escapees would also be jailed.

As she finished cutting my hair I thanked Becky for the haircut and for telling me her story. I told her that I always learn things from her. I am thankful that I took the chance of getting a haircut in Chinatown.

*"Becky" is not her real name.

Haircuts

Becky* has been cutting my hair every four to six weeks for the past two years. She works at one of the many beauty salons in Historic Chinatown just five blocks from my home. Although her English is good she is fairly quiet and does not say much about herself. Over the two years I have learned that she lives in an outlying suburb with her two sons who she thinks will never get married or move out. They say, "Momma, it is too expensive to get married and buy a house." She has told me a few other things about herself as well. She was born in China, took schooling in Hong Kong and eventually travelled to Canada. She is now a Canadian citizen. I used to pay ten dollars for my haircuts and give her a five dollar tip. Recently, the price went up. I now pay eleven dollars for the cut and still give her the five dollar tip.

Today, Becky told me an amazing story. She told me that when she was fifteen years old she swam from China to Hong Kong. I asked her how far that was. She could not work out how to explain the distance in English. She spoke to her co-worker in Cantonese but he did not know either. She said it took her ten hours to swim.

I asked Becky if she was part of a team or if she was on her own. I thought perhaps it had been a competition or an endurance record. She told me that she swam it with two sisters and two brothers but that her one brother had been taken out of the water by the government. It slowly became clear to me that she had escaped from China by swimming from the mainland to Hong Kong. I have since looked it up, the distance is around twenty-seven kilometres. With this kind of athletic ability she could have probably qualified for the Olympic team.

Becky told me that at that time, the government in China was not good. There were no jobs for young people. There were many who were poor and the prospects for her future were bleak. For weeks leading up to the day of their escape they swam for eight hours a day. They were training because their lives depended upon it. Her father was a journalist who worked for the government. They never told their father or mother of their plan. If the parents had known they would have been arrested after the escape.

She made it to Hong Kong then travelled to Canada. She worked hard and eventually got her Canadian citizenship. It took ten years before she could travel back to China to see her family. Her mother will soon be ninety years old and still lives in China. Becky plans to take a trip there this year to celebrate with her. She feels that the Chinese government is much better now and her mother has a good life in China. "Things have changed a lot."

Becky's attitude is amazing. I have immense respect for her. She says that, "Canada is a great country. If you work you will get a job and make money. It is a fair place." I wonder if I should tip a little more.

*Not her real name.