I found that I did not mention a most interesting opportunity that the choir had. The choir had been invited to sing with a Christian congregation in Xian. Christian definitely a minority in China. The church that we met with was formed in 1994. I did not ever find out what branch, if any, of Christianity they belonged to, and was prohibited from asking. I assume that they are allowed to meet and gather as they are either part of a large sect that had been established in China prior to the Cultural Revolution, such as Baptist or Lutheran, or because they are a local, independent church, not controlled by any organization outside of China. We meet in their meeting house. Their choir sang a few hymns from the stage. I was fortunate enough to be sitting by someone who speaks Mandarin, show she told me what some of the songs were about. Our choir then sang a few songs. After that, there were about 5 ladies who did a dance, in order to praise God not just in song, but also in dance. Then one young man sang Amazing Grace in Mandarin, and his voice was just amazing! We were fortunate enough to have someone from their church who helped announce things, who is fluent in both languages. She obviously learned to speak English by spending some time abroad. Many of our choir members brought shirts to give as gifts, and our choir received a beautiful gift, which was a very long scroll with, as I recall, art work on it. It was really a wonderful and uplifting experience, to have two groups of people separated by language, culture and the distance of the great oceans, to be united in the worship and remembrance of the Savior. After it was over, they said we were allowed to mingle, but it is very difficult to mingle when there is such a language barrier. People can say “hello” in English, and everyone on our trip had learned to say “ni hao” (hello), but after that, all you can really do is smile and nod to each other. As a result, most people just went to get on the bus. I was headed in that direction, but then opted to make a loop around the inside of the building, and shake peoples’ hand, while looking them in the eye and smiling. I also told the congregational leader there that the program was very wonderful and uplifting, all the while knowing, of course, that he couldn’t understand a single word I said. After we boarded the buses, the church parishioners stood outside and waived at us until we drove off.
Photo: A not very good photo, taken through the bus window, of the Christian church members waving at us as the buses departed.
As to religion, the Chinese people are allowed a great degree of religious freedom in that they are allowed to meet and to worship. However, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not an officially recognized religion in China. LDS foreigners living in China are allowed to meet and worship. We have several branches in China, but Chinese nationalists are not allowed to come meet with us or be included. And foreigners are not allowed to discuss religion with others, especially us, being members of a non recognized faith. The Shanghai Arts group that invited the choir was very concerned about the issue, as was the Christian church where the choir sang, because if we were to have caused any problems by asking about religion or comparing religious practices, then it would also be a problem for both of those organizations. It would also set back any progress that might have been made for our Church in China. When we went to the church meeting, although we were allowed to mingle, we were expressly prohibited from exchanging phone numbers or email addresses in order to avoid the slightest possibility of being viewed as promoting an outside religion. The issue is so serious, especially in light of the Choir being about 98% LDS and the mission statement of the Choir, that we were reminded about the issue of not being a church choir and not speaking of religion and not asking questions about religion, and so forth, on at least half a dozen occasions. Some day that will change, of that I have no doubt, and I feel that many of the Christians will be quickly drawn to the Gospel once the Church is allowed to operate in China.
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