Monday, August 11, 2008 – Kaohsiung to Xian

Of course, my sales trip was in hopes that someone would buy the truth and sell it not! But what else can you say in a country that monitors e-mails and spends billions in their attempt to thwart the propagation of the Gospel.

The summary that follows is by no stretch the sum of it. It is a mix of natural and spiritual. I am operating on just a few hours of sleep over the last 48 hours so it may appear disjointed.

Throughout this blog, TB stands for Tom Bracken, my mentor and partner in this mission into China.

Our flight from KHH was on time and uneventful. It left us with a 2.5 hour layover in Hong Kong which we filled with walking the Hong Kong Airport from one end to the other. We were sure to visit both Starbucks that were within our terminal.

Landing in Xian meant my first true steps in China. It is my first experience ever in a Communist country. Immediately we passed through security and then on to retrieve our luggage. While waiting for our luggage we exchanged some currency. We also talked with a local business man who gave us some very good advice: Go to the taxi stand. Do not accept offers from anyone else offering “taxi service”. He also said do not negotiate a set price for the ride. Tell them you want to use the meter. His advice proved quite valuable.

Customs was easier than I thought. Really got through with only a couple of questions: Is this your first time ever in China and when are you leaving. We had filled out forms on the plane that gave them just about everything else they could need except my shoe size.

The meals on the plane were quite good and really were all we would need. From KHH to Hong Kong we had a chicken and rice type meal, with a few assorted vegetables of course. Hong Kong to Xian was a beef cubes with green linguine which was basically beef stroganoff. Of course there were plenty of things in there I didn't recognize but I closed my eyes and swallowed.

The taxi ride to the Howard Johnson Ginwa Plaza was about 50 minutes. It was about $10 per person as we split the fare. The staff is extremely friendly and most, particularly the primary host, speak English pretty well.

After checking in and settling our belongings we walked out to the street. It was dark by then. We were within a block of the South Gate on the outside of the wall. The streets were lined with people. Some were playing cards. Some were playing other sorts of Chinese games of accuracy or chance. But the entire streets were full. It is just where the Chinese spend their evenings.

Music is common. Karaoke is common. In one area immediately outside the south gate a large congregation of people had gathered with scarves and fans and danced/paraded around the area while musicians beat the drums and others played Chinese style flutes. I have good videos of this. The men dancing around with scarves was just a little overboard for my tastes….

Further on down the street was a gathering with a people taking turns singing Chinese opera while an assorted group of people played various instruments including the drums. At first thought, I would say it sounded a little like pregnant cows in labor....though I have never really heard that sound..... It was dark so the lighted city was a spectacular view particularly from our hotel window. It really was a walk through authentic Chinese culture.

Upon returning to the room, I made ready for bed. After a long day of travel and not really sleeping well in Taiwan on any of the nights, I was ready for a comfortable bed. I got half of that. It was technically a bed, but the mattress was incredibly hard. All through the night I awoke aching, quickly turning to put the pressure on another part of my body. But the room was “fairly” clean… You don’t want details.

The water from spigets is not "potable". So they leave 3 bottles of water for you. Except some of mine were opened and half empty...or half full...depending on your perspective.

The next morning upon arising, I showered and readied for the day. The mirror in the shower was kind of weird. TB and I met for breakfast at the hotel restaurant which was a nice buffet with a mix of both eastern and western food. Plenty of good stuff for Americans or Europeans to get full on.

At 8:30 we began our first official walk. We walked across the street and down to the South Gate where after buying our ticket we headed up to the wall. The set up is fascinating. First there is the mote and drawbridge around the wall. The sides of the mote alone would be incredibly difficult to penetrate. The sides to the wall are quite rugged. I suppose someone with extreme agility could attempt to climb it, but one certainly couldn’t do it quickly or without being caught.

It was raining pretty heavy this morning as we started our journey. The path is not smooth and demands constant circumspectly walking to avoid a foot being twisted. Because of the rain, it was pretty light traffic up there so this afforded more liberty than we might of otherwise had. When I say traffic I do not mean cars as those aren't permitted on the wall, but rather people walking, riding bicycles or rickshaws.

The winds blew and the rains fell hard as we walked from the South Gate to the Western gate. What an anointing as we prayed and called on the name of the Lord. The Spirit gave us utterance on how to pray. The Lord had given me the word “laser” last night which I researched quickly. Of course, TB’s Navy Seal background provided good insight as well.

We prayed against the rebellious angels and demons (principalities). We prayed against the chains that bind the liberty of doing as one pleases and the powers of judicial decisions (powers). We prayed against persons in whom darkness is visible and holds sway (rulers of the darkness of this world). And we prayed against spiritual wickedness in high places. We prayed against kingdoms of this world.

We prayed for revelation and light. We prayed for liberty. We prayed for souls, particularly individual ones that would pass by us.

At the Western Gate, still under a heavy rain shower, we descended to ground level and walked eastward toward the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower. We did not go in them, but we walk down the shopping district that led away from them. Traditional Chinese shopping as westerners might perceive it. Some shops were selling Terra Cotta replicas. Some were selling purses. Other sold Chinese instruments and odd lots. And of course plenty of them sold food. Several were roasting walnuts for sale.

The Chinese are only allowed one child. Any more than that and they lose significant benefits from the government and there is incredible peer pressure put on them. So they cherish the one child they have. You can not watch them play without feeling compassion for them. For littler ones, it is not uncommon for them not to wear underwear. They have snaps on their pants over the groin and they just unsnap them, crouch down and urinate right on to the sidewalk. That was kind of a surprise! Moral of that story is you have to watch where you walk….

In Taiwan there are temples everywhere. Buddhist and Taoist temples of every size seem to be on every street. Not so here. In fact, I have not seen them at all. TB tells me they do not have them. They set up shop so to speak in their home and worship there.

Modesty really lacks, clearly more among the men than women. Many are shirtless because of the heat, while others roll their shirt up to mid riff. Of course, the vast majority are very, very thin.

The housing is incredibly poor. You can not believe the condition that they are even habitable. Outside the city where the factories are, there are communes basically with extremely dilapidated apartment type housing that would make our inner cities look habitable. It really looked more like what I would expect in some places in the Middle East.

The smells are not as bad as I thought they might be. Some places where they are cooking actually smell quite appealing, but of course there are some places where the combination of dirt, sweat, incense and trash are pretty disagreeable.

As we journeyed from the West gate to the Bell Tower and The Drum Tower, the streets were quite modern with plenty of traffic – bicycles, taxi’s, cars, police, etc. I even saw one Subway, one McDonald’s and one Starbucks. The city is an odd mix of ancient and modern. You can go from an ultra modern shopping center to the traditional Chinese stereo typical street shopping.

Pedestrians do not have the right of way here. Right of way is determined by size and basically courage. In just one day, we have already had a couple of close calls. Just getting across the street requires a host of angels! I’m serious…Cabs, buses, pedestrians, bicycles, rickshaws all going in multiple directions, regularly cutting people off. I just closed my eyes and prayed.

The Olympics are a big deal here. They are being shown on just about every TV we pass. They have more interest in them than I.

Bro. Bracken decided on authentic Chinese for lunch so Peking duck was the choice. It was absolutely awesome.

For dinner we didn’t need much so we chose Starbucks.

In China, the only “Christian Churches” are those that are State sponsored. So please don’t be deluded when the media says Bush attends church while in China. What he really attended was a state sponsored propaganda filled religious service. God is not their agenda. The real church, of course, is completely underground. It is illegal for gatherings of more than 10 and it certainly can not be for Christian purposes. The consequences for getting caught distributing ANY type of Christian materials can be high. Also, the Chinese get rewards for reporting it to authorities. Many Christian prayer meetings are held with loud rock music blaring so as to keep anyone from hearing or suspecting that something Christian is going on.

I did OK with the food. I learned later that Bro. Bracken took a serious ride on the "D-Train" as did some of the Sisters that journeyed to one of the coastal cities.

If no soap or towels in the restrooms, no deodorant, regular nose picking and persistent spitting are not your cup of tea (no pun intended) then China is not the place for you. All of these are common as oxygen. And with the pollution issue right now, I would say they are more common.

But the hardest part is the oppression. It is all over their faces. They are blinded to truth and need deliverance and revelation. But greater is He that is in us, then he that is in the world. And truth marches on in the underground. No weapon formed against us shall prosper. We will continue to win them one by one. There is no government or military that can stop it. But the field needs laborers. And my passion to see the truth be brought to the Chinese is consuming.

The days that followed brought a mix of weather. After raining hard the first day...the whole live long day...it was hot and humid the next, followed by hazy, overcasts days the last two days. Those were the best for walking.

We did make the complete journey around the city on the wall. And perhaps upon my return, I can better express the spiritual experience of walking the walls. In the natural, the wall seemed much longer than we had read it would be. Upon finishing the journey, I have to admit, I was rather grateful that we did not have to walk the wall 13 times as they did around Jericho (once eacy day for 6 days and 7 times on the 7th day). But we would have without reservation if meant immediate deliverance for a people bound by a communist regime and intense spiritual darkness.

There is just too much to tell about Xian.

Lastly, I am not writing this in "novel" form....just thoughts and experiences along the way...hoping something I say will ignite even an ember within you to pray for the Chinese. Remember your prayers go a long way for when you pray for them you are praying for 20% of the world's population all at once!