Vol. XXII, No. 3, Summer 2012 458 S. Pasadena Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105 TEL (626) 793-3737 FAX (626) 793-3362

By Kathy Call, Founder/Director

(continued next page)

EYES WIDE OPEN! SPARKLING! EAGER! EXPECTANT!

“I’ve never seen so many people,” my translator gasps in awe! From our seats on the platform, we’re glimpsing the never-ending group of worshipers.

I. We’re here again in Huai’an, north of Nanjing. But “Shen En Church” (pictured above ) is new to us. Its worshipers are a bit charismatic, very excited about their faith. Indeed, the crowd seems to stretch on and on. We can see the huge sanctuary and balcony before us. What we can’t see is the vast crowd in the basement. How enormous! At the sight of such a multitude, I’m a bit surprised that I feel no hint of fear. God has prepared me well. After all, what’s scary about preaching to one- or two-thousand more people than I’m already used to?

After a couple of hymns and prayer, it’s time for the sermon. I begin with a couple of friendly greetings in Chinese, and I’m quickly graced with applause.

I explore with them how crucially important is our “remembering.” I cite the huge problems Jesus’ disciples face when they will not hear what Jesus tells them plainly about his upcoming death. Oh, Peter hears just enough to

scold Jesus: “No Lord! You shall never do that!”

We continue the terrible tale of the twelve who refuse to listen to their Lord and to remember, although he tells them several times about his inevitable death and resurrection on the third day.

Now, I love the disciples. I feel guilty tearing them apart when I might not have done much better. But – even after the Resurrection when Jesus bursts into their Upper Room and appears to them -- his disciples still don’t recognize him, “even when he shows them the nail-prints in his hands.”

It’s no wonder, then, that Mark’s Gospel tells us: “Jesus rebuked his disciples for their lack of faith and for their stubborn refusal to believe!”

And if the disciples can’t remember what Jesus tells them plainly about his death, then how will they recall his promise to rise the third day, as he also tells them?

If only the disciples had listened! If only they had remembered what Jesus tells them several times!

We will do well to ponder this before answering.

Finally we shift to Jesus’ final moments as he responds to a condemned criminal suffering alongside him, also on a cross. This man begs him: “Jesus! Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom!”

And Jesus graciously replies: “This day you will be with me in Paradise!”

“Jesus, remember me!” Isn’t this the cry of our own heart? How good to know that Jesus remembers us!

So, let us all choose to remember much more of what Jesus says to us. Let us also cry, “Jesus remember me!” And then let us live every day “in remembrance of him,” knowing that he always remembers you!

I can feel the entire crowd solidly with me to the very end. I can see how touched they are.

After the service, my Amity colleague comments to a mutual friend: “I will never forget that sermon!”

Just as my translator guessed, this is indeed a huge crowd of worshipers – all 6,000 of them! ____________________________________________

Christians in Jiangsu Province: 2 million

Christians in Huai’an Area: 350,000

Churches in Huai’an Area -- and Worshipers: Shen En 10,000 East Church 2,000 Huai’an Central Church 4,200 Huai’an District Church 2,000 Huaiyin Tong Xing 800 Chuzhou Church 3,000

Three more churches are under construction.

II. On the following Wednesday I give the same sermon to the weekly worship of the Jiangsu Bible School’s 300 students and faculty in Nanjing. Principal Fan rushes to tell me: “Kathy, you were born to preach!” She expresses great thanks for my sermon “that will help our students see a new way to put a sermon together. When I saw your topic and the Scripture, I wondered how you would deal with this topic. And, my goodness, what you did with it!” This reminds me of God’s words when he called me and thus, her comments mean a great deal to me.

Jiangsu Bible School is a very special place. We have helped them to upgrade their theological library so that they will soon qualify to become the Jiangsu Provincial Seminary. Their graduates generally become assistant pastors in churches all over this province, students who will soon receive copies of my second sermon-book.

(continued next page)Shen En Church, Huai’an

Then I pose the crucial question: “How much of Jesus’ teachings on earth are we, too, choosing to forget? Surely if the disciples can forget so easily, can’t you and I do some forgetting ourselves?

III. My second Sunday takes me about six hours far north in Jiangsu Province to Xuzhou. It’s the church of our former Board Chair, Dr. G. Thompson Brown and his missionary family. I had only heard about the place, and I wanted to send Tommy some new photos of his beloved old church.

Xuzhou Church is another large one. Besides the main sanctuary, there’s also a balcony and a large basement for more worshipers. Altogether, 3,000 attended. I presented to the new pastor the book Tommy wrote: Earthen Vessels and Transcendent Power. It’s about missions in China, specifically in the Xuzhou Church.

I preach the same pre-Easter sermon, and am mobbed with people afterward! People touch me, shake my hand again and again, ask for prayer, and want me to “sign” their Bibles. They are so very dear! But, in their enthusiasm, they bruise a couple of blood vessels on my left hand – it was no problem, and it does show the ‘strength’ of their appreciation.

My translator is stunned at their heartfelt reaction. I am, too! (See group of people around me, next page)

IV. After church, the pastor takes me to meet about 30 students in their Bible School. He invites me to speak to them. So I talk about 15 minutes, urging them to study well the doctrines of the church . . . and then to weave them together with the enormous love of God, his grace, mercy, forgiveness and joy. In students’ early enthusiasm to be correct in their preaching, sometimes they forget to put all this in context. It’s something I learned only in my forties.

Xuzhou Bible School

Jiangsu Bible School (continued next page)

Churches of Xuzhou

Area Population: 9,134,000Number of Christians: 370,000Churches/Meeting Points: 537Ordained Pastors: 29Local Preachers: 46Volunteer Preachers: 400Seminary and Bible School Students: 73_______________________________________________

V. My third Sunday finds me back in Nanjing at Jiangsu Lu Church where I’ve preached twice before. It’s the very tall church where one sees about 150 people in the sanctuary and

CHINA CONNECTION 458 S. Pasadena Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105 TEL (626) 793-3737 FAX (626) 793-3362

balcony . . . but knows there are about 600 more listening in the many other rooms connected by TV along the many-storied stairway. Same sermon. Same response. After the service, a woman comes for counseling.

Now, if my math is correct, the total number of those to whom I preached on this trip is slightly more than 10,000. I don’t often count, but this number is a bit unusual, so I thought you might like to know!

After one Sunday session, a dear Amity colleague asks me quizzically: “How come you get to do all this? I don’t know of any other person (i.e. foreigner) who gets to preach so often in China!”

I just shrug my shoulders and marvel to myself at what God is making possible. I’m also very grateful to the Rev. Zhang Keyun of the Jiangsu Provincial Christian Council for his gracious part in arranging all this, including his sending along my superb translator, Chen Xiangsheng.

And . . . EACH PASTOR invites me to preach again!

What a joy! And how gracious of a loving God!

Xuzhou Church

Xuzhou Church Conversations

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. . . . And they cried out in a loud voice:

‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!’” Rev. 7: 9 & 10

All taken from the CHINA DAILY newspaper.

CHINA CONNECTION458 S. Pasadena Avenue - Pasadena, CA 91105 - (626) 793-3737 www.chinaconnection.org kathycall@chinaconnection.orgmrussell@chinaconnection.org

All checks should be made out to “China Connection” for a U. S. tax deductible receipt. We reserve the right to use 5% of designated funds to maintain our viability as a service organization. 2011 Audit available.China Connection Board of Directors: Dr. Gilbert Ashor; Ms. Kathy Call (Founder/Director); Mr. Merlin W. Call; Mrs. Elizabeth R. Hulme; Mrs. Sarah (Sally) V. Morrison; Dr. William (Bill) Pannell; Rev. Frank Wang.China Connection Consultant: Dr. Philip Wickeri, former Overseas Director of the Amity Foundation.China Connection Board of Reference: Dr. G. Thompson Brown; Dr. Gary W. Demarest; Dr. Samuel H. Moffett; Dr. David K. Winter.

“What’s in a Name?” You know that China’s Great Olympic Stadium is named “The Bird’s Nest” after China’s famous soup. So what’s the name of China’s Beijing Basketball Team? Right! They’re the “Beijing (Peking) Ducks!”

“China’s Got Talent” Winner: Liu Wei plays the piano. What’s remarkable is that he has no fingers. No problem! Liu just learned to play the piano with his toes. He has published a CD of his own songs that he also sings. He has traveled to 10 countries and starred in both a film and a TV drama. Recently he started a foundation to support and educate China’s poor. He says:

“There are two paths for me: Either to die as fast as possible . . . or to live as brilliant a life as possible. There’s no rule that the piano can only be played with your hands.”

Caterpillar Grows in China: It’s President, Richard Lavin, says in an interview with China Daily that “while credit was difficult last year, China is expecting their growth to be 10 percent in 2012, while China continues to fight inflation. China’s urbanization rate is likely to increase from just 50 percent at present to about 60 percent in 2020 and 65 percent by 2030. Caterpillar will add nine more factories to its present 17, with four research and development centers in China.”

From Soap-Bars-and-a-Washboard to Liquid Detergent and Water Softeners: U. S. Unilever goes into China to meet a growing need voiced by women doing laundry. The firm’s new home base is a large production operation in Tianjin , a key port city near Beijing. [Editor: One of my “prizes” from China is the gift of a well-used red plastic washboard from a village where China Connection was working in northern Jiangsu. It now hangs over my washing machine, reminding me how fortunate I am!]

What are China’s People like, you ask? A man dubbed “Uncle Cactus,” seller of succulents, walked five kilometers with his handcart to Peking University. He was determined to return a lost purse to a student living there, a purse containing the equivalent of $110 plus credit and bank cards, plus her photo ID. The girl burst into tears when she heard of his long walk. Others, hearing of his kindness, bought many of his small green plants to thank him.

Old Chinese Proverb to Ponder: “The longer the night may last, The more dreams you may enjoy.”

SNIPPETS OF A RECENT INTERVIEW WITH PASTOR HE IN SUZHOU CHURCH IN SOUTH JIANGSU “I have observed in the last five years that the attitudes of the government toward Christianity have changed. More and more they see Christianity as part of social life in China rather than as a foreign religion.

Greater Suzhou (south of Shanghai) now has a population of 5,860,000 with 120,000 Christians and 66 churches . . . .

Our responsibility is to take care of these believers, their spiritual growth, maturity and family life. If we do all this well, it will constitute a major contribution. We should also serve the poor in our midst. Our challenge is how to do this on limited resources? . . . .

In 1985 when I studied at Nanjing Union Seminary, I often walked by the Amity office which was then located on campus. Amity was still a very small organization with very few staff. But Bishop K. H. Ting and Amity left a deep impression on me. As a young student, I did not fully understand the significance of Amity. The Church in China has perhaps benefited most from the Amity Printing Press – Bibles are much-needed.

Amity has done a lot of solid work, contributing to society. We Christians are now accepted! Amity has gained people’s trust. It has both the faith and the capacity to make social contributions in China.”