Women Taking a Leadership Role in Churches in China

No matter where we travel in the world, we try hard not to miss the Sunday service on Sundays. We looked up the closest church and went to a Sunday service in the Hai Zhu area at 12pm. I was glad J. came with us. Unfortunately, J. couldn't understand much of the sermon in Mandarin but he was patient enough to sit through the entire service. We have been in China for more than three weeks now and attended three Sunday services. I noticed three interesting things: 1. This was the third church we attended and it was the third women minister preaching. Women leadership seemed to be prominent in Chinese churches in China! 2. We went to a Cantonese service. The songs were shorter and the choir was less energetic than the minority group church services we attended. 3. Not a lot of young people attending the Sunday services. It was mostly old folks and we didn't see any children at all.

I never expected there seemed to be more women ministers than men in China. The women minsters we met on this trip were confident, articulate and they delivered inspiring messages to their congregations. I do hope that the church will grow in China adn that more Chinese will be able to hear the gospel and be saved within mainland China! But at leaast from what we saw, people were free to attend church service if they wanted to in China. We were never questioned or harrassed while attending any Sunday S ervice on this trip to China. .

After church, J. took us to his usual lunch place for lunch before his soccer game. I remembered my mom always mentioned her most favourite food in Guangzhou - fried fish skins. I ordered that and it was delicious! After our delicious local lunch, we went to watch J. playing his weekly soccer game practice and we met his soccer teammates. I was glad to see that J. took part in a organized sport game regularly.

We stayed and watched for a little while and went to Shamian, not far from the soccer field.Shamian is a beautiful place with many well kept old buildings with European architectural designs. Many buildings used to be occupied by Europeans and used as their ambassy offices and business addresses in China. Nowadays, the buildings have been turned into modern , upscale shops, cafes and restaurants.

We Went into a coffee shop operated within a 100 year old buulding. Young girls dressed in their various costumes waited patiently for a spot to have their pictures taken by professional photographers. The owners of the coffee shop had rules clearly posted on the wall prohibiting professional pictures being taken within the premise as this would interfere with the operation of the business. However, we saw a few groups of people just doing that. Girls donned their period costumes with the professional photographers taking their time and occupying a number of spots in the cafe creating lineups for other people. I kind of told a group taking commercial pictures off as it was not allowed. It was the teacher in me that acted up again. Rules are rules and we need to follow them. We ordered a coffee n watched the actions all around us. RT, Shamian, China 08202023