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Are Christian missionaries now allowed in China?


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China does allow some foreigners to come in and do what would be considered missionary work by many Christians (for example, they are doing medical service and their visas say that). That doesn't mean I'd answer your question as a "yes" though. I think it's more accurate to say missionary work is still generally illegal in China.

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The LDS have some non-proselyting missionaries there. An elderly couple in my ward went and taught English.

 

:iagree: I've known some LDS missionaries that have gone there too. The LDS church does not send missionaries to places without consent of the government of that country, so it must be allowed in some context.

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It's not allowed.

 

 

If you know of a Christian in China, it's better for their safety NOT to discuss it. Many go to China and other "closed countries" for humanitarian aid purposes, and it's a risky job.

 

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree: We have friends that do this with a medical group similar to Doctors without Borders. Some of the people they work with were murdered during their last assignment. Our friends made it out safely and are currently in an area that desperately needs doctors and nurses, but is relatively safe. But, we never, ever, ever, identified them or where they are at any given time. NEVER. As a matter of fact, it's a need to know type thing and except for their closest relatives (parents and siblings) our pastor and DH and I are the ONLY people outside their organization that knows where they are. It is THAT dangerous in some areas of the world.

 

Faith

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:iagree::iagree::iagree: We have friends that do this with a medical group similar to Doctors without Borders. Some of the people they work with were murdered during their last assignment. Our friends made it out safely and are currently in an area that desperately needs doctors and nurses, but is relatively safe. But, we never, ever, ever, identified them or where they are at any given time. NEVER. As a matter of fact, it's a need to know type thing and except for their closest relatives (parents and siblings) our pastor and DH and I are the ONLY people outside their organization that knows where they are. It is THAT dangerous in some areas of the world.

 

Faith

 

The worst I have heard of happening to foreign missionaries in China is deportation. I was threatened with deportation when I had some visa problems and the officials just assumed I must be a missionary because my Chinese was too fluent.

 

Laura

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The worst I have heard of happening to foreign missionaries in China is deportation. I was threatened with deportation when I had some visa problems and the officials just assumed I must be a missionary because my Chinese was too fluent.

 

Laura

 

 

China is relatively mild compared to some other areas where torture, hanging, and beheading are normal. Deportation is what I've heard of too, from that country. Assasinations are the norm in many of the Doctors Without Borders and other medical humnitarian organizations. There are a lot of places where being Red Cross is very scary. But, the media really doesn't give too much attention to it.

 

Faith

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If you know of a Christian in China, it's better for their safety NOT to discuss it.

 

It is fine for a foreigner to be a Christian in China. No Chinese official ever asked me at any point if I was Christian. It is also fine to be a Christian person who is doing humanitarian work. It is against the law to be a Christian person who proselytises, whether or not this is accompanied by humanitarian work.

 

Laura

Edited by Laura Corin
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It is easier to do things like take Bibles into China from my understanding from others going in to China.

 

This topic is of great interest to me as my father and his family were kicked out of China in 1949. His parents were Christian Missionaries. His father was a professor at a Seminary and his mother was a Nurse at a Mission Hospital.

 

There are churches in China, but when we were there, we had to show our passport as being a foreigner in order to attend.

 

Dawn

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:iagree: I've known some LDS missionaries that have gone there too. The LDS church does not send missionaries to places without consent of the government of that country, so it must be allowed in some context.

 

BYU's Kennedy Center for International Studies sends retired LDS couples to teach at universities (they teach English and sometimes other subjects related to the fields they worked in prior to retirement), but they are not missionaries. I believe they are instructed *not* to talk about their religion with their Chinese students and friends.

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It is fine for a foreigner to be a Christian in China. No Chinese official ever asked me at any point if was Christian. It is also fine to be a Christian person who is doing humanitarian work. It is against the law to be a Christian person who proselytises, whether or not this is accompanied by humanitarian work.

 

Laura

 

 

Yes, and knowing the risk of being accused of proselytising, I'd err on the side of not mentioning names/places.:001_smile:

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Not 'ALL of us' reading this will agree with you. This board has a very mixed membership.

 

Laura

 

 

Exactly. It sounds like some of the worst kind of bigotry and ethnocentrism to invade (and yes, I used that word purposely) another person's culture/country to try to engender them to your religion. :glare:

 

"You are NOT good enough as you are. I MUST convert you to MY way of thinking!" :001_huh:

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Wow. I look at it as letting people know that there's a bus coming that will hit you and destroy you, and I love you enough to warn you so you can decide if you want to get out of the way. Even an atheist like Penn Gillette can see that if you truly believe that the bus is coming, it's unloving and cruel to not tell the one you believe is in danger about it.

 

Anyway, I didn't want this to be a big ruckus at all. Please amend my previous statement to say that my family will be praying for the Chinese and those who minister Christ to them. And anyone else who needs prayer and love.

 

Bowing out now. :)

 

Thanks for the link to the VOM site-I had forgotten about that!

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He may think it's imaginary (I admitted he's an atheist! That's the definition.) But he respects that those who believe in the bus try, and thinks it would be unloving for them not to try.

 

And I have, in the past on this board, stated that I am happy for people to mention their faith to me (once!) so long as they then leave me alone. I'm less sure about deliberately breaking the laws of another country in which you are a guest in the name of a foreign ideology.

 

For example: imagine that you have a heartfelt belief in the radical redistribution of wealth. You have grown up in a country where this has brought happiness to many people. You get a visa to go to America as a health worker, not mentioning your radical plans to the immigration officials.

 

When you arrive in spring, you travel to a remote area, where you hope your actions will be less obvious. Stealthily over the summer months you spend time with the local homeless people, bringing them over to your views under the guise of offering them health care. Then, against the American laws of trespass, you lead the homeless people into private garages all over the city as the weather turns cold.

 

And then you get all outraged when arrested and expelled from the US, and ask for international campaigns of letter writing to protest against the vile American government. Meanwhile, other health workers from your country, who work quite legitimately in the US, fall under suspicion of being lawbreakers, lose their jobs and get deported.

 

Laura

Edited by Laura Corin
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I have a family member married to a Chinese American man. For at least the last twenty years, their "jobs" have been to live in China and be Christian examples. People (in China) pay them to live as Christians among the Chinese. I always thought this sounded surreal. Apparently, so did one of their biggest sponsors, because a few years ago they had to scramble for funds when he pulled out to find his own sponsors. They've never mentioned any problems beyond that.

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  • 4 months later...

 

 

Exactly. It sounds like some of the worst kind of bigotry and ethnocentrism to invade (and yes, I used that word purposely) another person's culture/country to try to engender them to your religion. :glare:

 

"You are NOT good enough as you are. I MUST convert you to MY way of thinking!" :001_huh:

 

This assumes that every person born and raised in a religion or way of life is satisfied with it. Some are and some are not. Some would be happy to hear of another way. I know that I am very happy someone had the guts to tell me about a different way than the way I grew up. Choices are a good thing.

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Hong Kong is not mainland China, and also Taiwan is not mainland China- considers itself independent, though China does not and makes its presence known. The rules and way of life seemed more "relaxed" in Taiwan when I visited. I was in Taiwan in 2004 and participated in an event where we handed out Bible leaflets. As far as I understand, this would not have been allowed on the mainland. The set up with Hong Kong and Taiwan are kind of weird.

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Taiwan and Hong Kong are a little different. Taiwan has it's own government, money, etc but is not recognized by many foreign countries because China claims it as a territory. Hong Kong was returned to China. There are still differences in how it is ruled from the mainland but there isn't a dispute over what country it is part of.

 

Taiwan has freedom of religion written into their constitution.

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And I have, in the past on this board, stated that I am happy for people to mention their faith to me (once!) so long as they then leave me alone. I'm less sure about deliberately breaking the laws of another country in which you are a guest in the name of a foreign ideology.

 

For example: imagine that you have a heartfelt belief in the radical redistribution of wealth. You have grown up in a country where this has brought happiness to many people. You get a visa to go to America as a health worker, not mentioning your radical plans to the immigration officials.

 

When you arrive in spring, you travel to a remote area, where you hope your actions will be less obvious. Stealthily over the summer months you spend time with the local homeless people, bringing them over to your views under the guise of offering them health care. Then, against the American laws of trespass, you lead the homeless people into private garages all over the city as the weather turns cold.

 

And then you get all outraged when arrested and expelled from the US, and ask for international campaigns of letter writing to protest against the vile American government. Meanwhile, other health workers from your country, who work quite legitimately in the US, fall under suspicion of being lawbreakers, lose their jobs and get deported.

 

Laura

 

 

This is not a great example, the US allows folks to come in and do religious work in the US:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1272.html Further, I hope this kind of prosecution based on speech does not occur in the US. As far as I know it does not. I think it left with McCarthyism.

 

I consider being able to proselytize a basic human right under free speech. If a country doesn't have it, they don't have free speech and basic human rights. You can find similar beliefs at the UN: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm see articles 18 and 19.

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This is not a great example, the US allows folks to come in and do religious work in the US:

http://travel.state....types_1272.html Further, I hope this kind of prosecution based on speech does not occur in the US. As far as I know it does not. I think it left with McCarthyism.

 

 

 

I think that trespass is illegal in the US, is it not? I used an example of US laws being broken vs. Chinese laws being broken.

 

Laura

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I think that trespass is illegal in the US, is it not? I used an example of US laws being broken vs. Chinese laws being broken.

 

Laura

 

 

So compare trespass to trespass. I imagine anyone going to China and encouraging the folks there to trespass on properties where they don't belong is also illegal. ;) I can't imagine anyone who is merely sharing their faith to those who might want to know about it is encouraging trespass elsewhere.

 

ps I also agree that one should only offer to share once. If others aren't interested, quit. I actually like talking with others about what they believe - whether they agree with my beliefs or not. It helps me understand where they are coming from.

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