From Wendell Martin’s GO NOW Ch 22 “The First Bible Courier Trip.”
The good news about the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world so that all nations will hear it and the then the end will come. Matthew 24:14 (NLT)
Last evening the future blog post pantry was bare. I did not despair. This morning after our intense separate hour walk (currently, l can’t begin to keep up with Loretta’s & Angel’s pace), so after listening to the book of James and prayer, when I returned home, I read these words to Loretta from Go Now. I was compelled to share. Enjoy. And DO COUNT Your Blessings! merlin
“One of the most outstanding things about Hong Kong is how crowded it is. It was almost impossible to escape the multitudes of people once stepping outside our tiny apartment. The border area that links Hong Kong and China is no exception. Over 250,000 people process through immigration customs every day as they walk the short distance from the train terminals to cross between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China.
In December 1978, just a little over two years after the death of Maul Zedong, the founder of China’s Communist Party, his successor Deng Xiaoping, had announced a new open-door policy paving the way for foreign businesses to once again do business in China. For 30 years, China’s government had imposed self-isolation from the rest of the world as Mao Zedong had elevated himself to the status of a god. He wielded his power to create a new socialist China using radical and merciless tactics that left the nation in ruin, at the terrible cost of an estimated 60 to 80 million Chinese lives.
Many things that happened under Mao Zedong’s control were disastrous for the people of China; however, there were some good things too. One of the great accomplishments under his regime was a new form of writing called the “simplified script.” With this, Chairman Mao was able to educate a mostly illiterate nation how to read.
With a literate nation, Mao Zedong was able to unify, indoctrinate, and control the population through propaganda and his famous Little Red Book, which was full of quotations from his speeches and writings. It became almost mandatory for every Chinese citizen to own, read, and carry the book so they could easily refer to it for guidance and inspiration. Tens of millions of copies were published. Failures produce a copy when requested would result in punishment which varied from verbal harassment and beatings to a prison sentence. At the same time, classic literature and modern works were destroyed so the Chinese citizens could only read the Little Red Book. In spite of the horrific aftermath of Chairman Mao’s policies, the nation still exalted and worshiped him some out of blind loyalty and others out of sheer terror.
With very little approved literature available. it is easy to understand that China developed a deep hunger for anything in writing. This included the Bible! With a spiritual vacuum and a hunger for the written word, God’s Word was eagerly sought after by a nation disillusioned by empty government promises and heavy-handed control.
In those early days, every Bible brought into China was a treasure that purportedly resulted in at least 100 people coming to faith in Jesus. The Chinese told us once that they had a Bible, it was passed from one hungry person to another without ever being put down. Its treasured pages were hand-copied and large portions were committed to memory. God’s word was like gasoline poured on a smoldering fire. The move of God in China exploded as thousands upon thousands of people found new life hope and purpose and salvation through Jesus. They found freedom from the grip of sin and the spiritual vacuum left in the wake of communist ideology.
As China began opening to the rest of the world, Christian tourists visiting China began crossing the borders in the China carrying Bibles hidden in their luggage. Although Bibles carried into China from outside were not specifically listed as contraband, it was illegal for Chinese citizens to receive a Bible from outside China.
While many of these Bibles were confiscated at the border, some were allowed to slip through. China had a delicate dance to perform on the world stage on which they now found themselves. On the one hand, they did not want to be seen by the international community as being totally intolerant of Christianity. Doing so could impede the inflow of Western wealth that China so desperately needed. On the other hand, they also needed to maintain thought control and squelch the unsettling move of God sweeping across China. Jesus was drawing millions of people into a unified grassroots movement. This posed a serious threat to a system of government that could not fully function with people answering to a higher power than their government leaders.
While the Chinese custom officials made every effort to control the number of Bibles coming over their border, the reality was that God was working on the behalf of his people. Over the years as China opened to the West, millions of Bibles were carefully carried into China by couriers making two and three trips across the border every day with their precious cargo.
NEXT UP: Not Yet Revealed. No Rush. His Timing!