Has She Ever Heard of Jesus Christ?
The last day of our stay in Beijing included a tour of a personal home in the Hutong Village. We met a woman and spent about twenty minutes with her in her home. During the conversation my family experienced something we had never before encountered.
As we did in all of our conversations, we asked the interpreter to inquire if this woman had ever heard of Jesus Christ.
The interpreter was puzzled by my question, wrinkling his brow and shrugging his shoulders. At first I thought he did not understand my inquiry, so I explained it with a few more detail. Yet when I probed, I realized the interpreter himself did not know who Jesus Christ was.
This was a moment of sheer amazement for my family.
I said, “Jesus Christ, God’s son.” Still the interpreter looked puzzled.
Then I said, “God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins.” Again, the man was confused.
That is when I went into a full blown explanation of the gospel. It was not until I said the word “church” did the man have a clue. Additionally, when the woman responded she said she did “go to church.” There was no mention of Jesus Christ.
I probed deeper by asking if she believed in God.
As many people in this part of the world do when asked that question, the woman talked about her parents belief in Buddha, yet she said she did not believe in God.
As we did in all of our conversations, we asked the interpreter to inquire if this woman had ever heard of Jesus Christ.
The interpreter was puzzled by my question, wrinkling his brow and shrugging his shoulders. At first I thought he did not understand my inquiry, so I explained it with a few more detail. Yet when I probed, I realized the interpreter himself did not know who Jesus Christ was.
This was a moment of sheer amazement for my family.
I said, “Jesus Christ, God’s son.” Still the interpreter looked puzzled.
Then I said, “God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins.” Again, the man was confused.
That is when I went into a full blown explanation of the gospel. It was not until I said the word “church” did the man have a clue. Additionally, when the woman responded she said she did “go to church.” There was no mention of Jesus Christ.
I probed deeper by asking if she believed in God.
As many people in this part of the world do when asked that question, the woman talked about her parents belief in Buddha, yet she said she did not believe in God.
This is the same answer our daily tour guide gave us when we talked to him about Jesus.
Jacky said his parents worshipped Buddha, and they believed in good luck, but that he did not have time to think about God because he was so busy working. Jacky said people in their 50's and 60's usually think about God, and that maybe when he reached that age he too would think about God.
When I asked him what would happen if he died before he reached that age he said he did not know. My family spent the remainder of the week discussing the Gospel of Jesus Chris with him. The message of eternal life through Jesus Chris was obviously something Jacky never before heard or considered. Each conversation we had with him was a challenge.
Please join me in praying for Jacky, and many of the 1.4 billion people in China who have not heard of Jesus Christ.
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