Amity Easter Tour: Christianity and Rural Development
by Beate Engelen
The dry, wind-beaten plains of Inner Mongolia are no common tourist destination. It took some courage on the side of this year’s Easter Tour participants to join the trip to one of the lesser known provinces of China. For most group members from nine different countries, this was their first trip to China, even though there were a few “old China hands” too, like Ed Hobart, Catherine Coleman and May Chung, who had served as teachers in China before.
Participants of the 2008 Amity Easter Tour on the Great Wall
The differences in climate we experienced during these ten days were almost as great as those in the living standards of people we met. There was warm spring weather in Beijing and snow in Inner Mongolia; we saw imposing places like the Great Wall, the Bird’s Nest and the Forbidden City, but we also visited farmers living in mud huts, who have to toil to make a living. When we arrived in April, Beijing was just receiving the finishing touches to make it a national showcase for the Olympic Games. On the plains of Inner Mongolia a few days later, we found ourselves in the backyard of a country struggling hard with modernization and with a long way to go before it will become a more equal society.
The tour had two main themes: Christianity and environmentally friendly rural development. It was a memorable experience to meet with scientists and with representatives of different religious institutions to discuss freedom of religion, the current registration laws for churches, theological education and the reasons why more women than men are active in the church. It was no less meaningful to worship with believers in churches in Beijing and Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia. James Shum and Blute Thaw had brought some church music from America and Burma, which we practiced to sing on the bus and, later, “performed” in the sanctuary of a church in front of an enthusiastic congregation. Local churches in Inner Mongolia, we could easily see, had become much more willing and better equipped to accept their social responsibility than in the past. Since the government started not long ago to encourage churches to play a more active role in maintaining social stability, congregations have begun to reach out to needy people beyond the circle of believers. They have, for example, set up homes for the elderly, conducted AIDS-awareness programs and held literacy courses. Many such activities are still in a pioneering stage but they have already shown some results. During a chat with the residents of a church-run nursing home in Baotou, a former coal miner even told us that he was much happier than he had been before he moved here.
We were also eager to learn how farmers and herdsmen in Inner Mongolia may be able to survive without damaging the environment. Several group members had brought copies of “Wolf Totem” with them, a recently published novel about the lives of Inner Mongolian herdsmen and their struggle against wolves. Although we did not encounter any wolves we still caught a glimpse of the harsh environment of Inner Mongolia described in the book – including a sandstorm which almost prevented us from returning to Beijing on schedule.
In Wulate Middle Banner, a remote county in the vast grasslands, we were welcomed according to the Mongolian tradition: blue scarves were put around our necks and a cup of liquor was served to each of us. We were introduced to local farmers and found out about the sheep-raising, crop-growing and irrigation methods they use in this semi-arid climate.
It was impressive to visit a peasant cooperative which is run in a democratic way – something seldom seen in China: the “Potato Association”. In the past, farmers were unable to get fair prices for their potatoes because a middleman, who arranges all the business transactions between the farmers and the factory, kept prices of potatoes very low. He negotiated with farmers individually, which made sure that farmers in effect outbid each other. The situation changed when the farmers, encouraged by Amity, decided to form the “Potato Association”, whose leader is elected by the members. Acting together, the farmers have a much stronger position in price negotiations.
This project has given the farmers a chance to open up to the outside world, too. “Our visit here is really something special,” says Zhou Liting, who is responsible for Amity’s projects in Inner Mongolia. “Not long ago, these farmers were too shy to speak even with me, a fellow Chinese – and now, they can receive foreigners as guests.” She was right! In spite of language problems much intercultural exchange took place. Not all communication depends on language anyway: when a group performed a traditional Chinese dance for our group, many of us were happy to accept the invitation to join in and dance with the farmers, cheered on by bystanders. Probably more than anybody else, Benedict Kyei enjoyed this little treat: he had started to suffer from dance deprivation, he explained, after a few days of being away from Ghana, his home country.
Those ten days in Beijing and Inner Mongolia have given us an impression of how diverse life is in today’s China. “The Worship with the people and the ‘close-up’ moments with churches, seminaries and Bible schools was extremely insightful and a joyful experience,” said Carl Anderson, a pastor from California at the end of the trip. Others like Barbara Kelly from Canada found that “the time in Inner Mongolia, the up-close farming experience and the festive gathering of local people” meant a lot to them. We enjoyed staying in good hotels and sometimes dining at courtyard-sized tables: but this also made us aware that we were part of China’s contrasting worlds. In contrast to the farmers we had just visited, we were unmistakably counted with the rich and privileged.
