THE MORMON CHURCH IN CHINA

Several people have asked me about how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints exists and functions here in China.  The church is under a great deal of restriction but members are able to meet regularly and participate in all the regular meetings and activities just as they would anywhere else.  There is no actual church building and we meet in a tall business building on the 4th floor. There are 3 congregations. The first is of members from other countries that live within Beijing. It has members from the States, England, Germay, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, Moldova, Venezuela, and other countries.  The second congregation is made up of members of the church from other countries that live further outside of Beijing in an area known as Shunyi.  The third congregation is made up of Chinese Nationals. Many of these members joined the church when they lived in other places and have now returned to China. The government prohibits the Nationals to participate in religious activities with expats so we have to make sure we are out of the building before they arrive for their services and we can't have church activities together.  Also, we are not allowed to proselyte at all with locals.  We can share the gospel with people from other countries but that is all.  People in China are free to belong to whatever religion they want to but only religions that are officially recognized by the government are allowed to be shared or discussed openly. We do have baptisms here but I haven't been able to attend any of them.  We also have an elderly couple here as service missionaries. They visit different places and do humanitarian work. They once shared a touching story of taking church donated wheelchairs to another town and they were very happy to have been a part of it but were unable to say who they were and what organization they were affiliated with because it was the church.  Christianity is not very popular here in China but it exists. Once on the bus, I saw a girl reading a small Bible. I also saw a man reading scriptures out of his Bible to people passing by and several actually stopped to listen to him. A few weeks ago a friend of mine and I went to lunch and there was a large group of young adults at a table next to us. Before they ate they joined hands and prayed to bless the food. 

The history of the church in China is very interesting. To share it all would take up a ton more blog space but here is a link of a dedicatory prayer given by President McKay.  http://www.ldschinese.com/library/dedications/CD.html

I have become acquainted with some people that have lived in this area of the world for a number of years and have witnessed the growth of the church.  There is still much that needs to happen before this area can be opened up completely but progress is always being made. The fact that the church goes to amazing lenghts to cooperate with laws and governement officials says a great deal and that alone will help open a door for more progress at a future time. I would say it is definitely an exciting time to be here!