December 1, 1999
Missionary strives to teach
Jesus as the only true God
___BEIJING, China (BP)--"Yes, I will believe in Jesus too."
___While it might seem this statement would come as good news to a missionary, it's a response Southern Baptist missionary Eve Hunt actually finds heartbreaking.
___The key is in the little word "too."
___"I will believe in Jesus too," when spoken among the Han people of China, means the speaker is willing to add Jesus to the collection of idols already on the "god shelves" in their homes, explains Hunt, whose real name cannot be used for security reasons.
___Among the Han people, she hears "no comprehension that when Jesus enters the heartof a person, there is no need, room or allowance for false gods," she explained.
IN CHINA, a man reads a book while sitting by a pillar. Southern Baptist workers in China believe many there are seeking answers for life that can be found in Christianity. (IMB photo)
___For nearly two decades, Hunt has worked among the Han people, who comprise 93 percent of China's 1.3 billion population. She wants to help them know Christ as Savior. Currently less than 5 percent do.
___Hunt routinely talks to taxi drivers, children, students and others who never have heard the name of Jesus, yet many are searching for some meaning in life. Besides atheism and Buddhism, other religions of the Han are ancestor worship, Taoism, Confucianism and materialism.
___Upon moving to East Asia, Hunt spent the first several years in language study, an investment she doesn't regret. As she progressed from "survival conversation" to fluency, she realized how closely her understanding of the people was tied to the ability to speak and comprehend their language.
___Now she prefers to sing many hymns and choruses in Chinese "because they just communicate better that way."
___Hunt, a worker with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, has fit into Chinese society so thoroughly that she routinely follows such traditions as removing her shoes before entering a home.
___Despite Hunt's love and accessibility, huge barriers prevent her adopted people from accepting the message of Christ. The largest barrier is fear, and not without cause, she said.
___Because the Chinese government is atheistic, a degree of risk is involved in public spiritual activities. (The Communist Party teaches that religion is unnecessary and that the state or government is paramount.) Even those attending registered churches may be surveyed and experience complications related to their livelihood or families. Those attending unregistered churches may feel more serious forms of persecution.
___For example, one college professor's hair turned white almost overnight from trauma after her colleagues learned she was a Christian and immediately accused her of breaching school policy, Hunt said. Although the attacks were unsubstantiated, the woman still lost her department chairmanship.
___Amazingly, bitterness never infests persecuted Christians like this woman, Hunt said. "Months later, she reflected on how much God had taught her during the ordeal."
___Although Westerners serving in China must take care not to take the initiative in sharing their faith, they may freely respond to questions posed. That makes for some "creative conversation, undergirded by prayer," that will elicit queries. Home province, family, occupation and schooling are all good conversational starting points, Hunt said.
___On a recent trip to a college campus, a woman approached Hunt and asked if she believed God exists. Sensing God's direct activity, Hunt spoke with the woman on spiritual matters for about seven minutes, sharing the plan of salvation and the difference Jesus Christ makes in her own life. Although others imposed themselves into the conversation and Hunt had to drop the dialogue, she believes the woman heard the truth and responded in that brief, one-time encounter, which is typical of many she experiences.?
___Hunt's work with the Han involves creating opportunities for volunteers who are burdened for the needs of China. She places full-time teachers and other Christian service professionals within the country.
___Hunt daily sees byproducts of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, named for Lottie Moon, Hunt's famous predecessor among the Han, who served 100 years ago in Shantung province.
___Beyond routine financial support that allows her to give herself fully to ministry, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering funds purchase evangelistic materials, build structures used for decades of ministry and fund programs that train young Chinese leaders. Recently, Hunt hand-carried relief funds into a major central China city.
___"I always feel so grateful to Southern Baptists, so desirous to represent them well and so totally accountable to the Father," she said.
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