It’s simple: seek the kingdom first

I love old people.  They’re like treasures waiting to be discovered.  Sure it’s true that they can move slowly, tend to forget things or seem like they’re stuck in their own ways.  But they can also have such an uncomplicated way of looking at things.  It makes their wisdom clear and simple.  The long years of their lives have shown them what is important, and nothing sways them from their course.

When survival is your life

I was waiting for my brother-in-law the other day.  He was at a money exchange counter, converting Hong Kong dollars into Chinese yuan. 

A young, hip Chinese couple came down the escalator of the mall we were at, their hands full of shopping bags, and the guy wanted to ask the money exchange clerk a question.  Without batting an eye he walked up to the counter and butted my brother-in-law aside, who was still in the middle of his transaction.  Not seeming to notice someone else was there, the guy started leaning into the counter and speaking with the clerk.  My brother-in-law, a Canadian-born Chinese, in true ice hockey style, glided back into his spot assertively and blocked the man completely from accessing the clerk. 

How to become a Christian in an atheist nation (pt 2)

Here is another believer’s story.

Mike* is a computer engineer from Guangzhou in Guangdong province.  Guangzhou is the third largest city in China.

“I came to the Lord in 1988,” says Mike.  “[Before that] if somebody told me that so and so had become a Christian I thought that they were idiots.  So God didn’t really use anyone to share the Good News with me.  He used a dog.”

How to become a Christian in an atheist nation (pt 1)

Growing up to immigrant parents in Canada, my mom and dad would often tell my siblings and me “how lucky you are” not to be born in China.  They were part of the wave that went to North America in the early 1950s.  “China is poor,” they would say.  “There’s not enough food.  There are no nice houses with heating or hot water like here, no separate bedrooms for each one of you.  You go to the washroom outside, in a hole in the ground, and maybe you take a bath once a week.  If you go to school—if you even can—you have to walk for miles to get there.”  To us, it sounded like an awful place to live.

Welcome

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.  - Revelation 12:11 

Welcome to still red.  This blog is inspired by the book and we, the authors of the book, hope to extend the themes originally raised by providing further reflections on living the life of faith from the perspective of Christians in China.  As you read each post, may you be encouraged in your own journey, reassured that we are all bound by our common humanity, and moved to make a difference wherever you are.