Filed under: North Korea | Tags: government, human rights, Kim Jong Il, missile, money, North Korea, nuclear, United States
North Korea is being more provoking and belligerent than ever recently. They’ve threatened:
“If the US and its followers infringe upon our republic’s sovereignty even a bit, our military and people will launch a one hundred or one thousandfold retaliation with [a] merciless military strike,”
Pretty intense! Their current missiles have the theoretical capability of reaching Alaska. According to an interview in the article below, it would be a couple of years before North Korea could be a real threat to the West Coast of America.
Filed under: China | Tags: arrested, China, christianity, christians, church, human rights, money, pastors, police, prison, PSB, raid, religion, underground
Via China Aid (website), this morning I heard about 18 Christians who were arrested in the province of Henan, China. Apparently they were having a communion service at a house church, when the PSB (China’s police) conducted a raid of the meeting. The Christians and leaders were taken down to the local police station and fined 1000yuan each. That is only $150. But in China, that is one month’s salary for your average car mechanic or hotel receptionist. It is two months salary for your average baker. (world salaries)
Also, we have to remember. For a lot of underground church pastors, their only job is being a pastor. They make little to no money, because of the demand for pastors. I was in China a few years ago listening to an underground pastor talk about his experience. He said:
“6 days a week we have church in this apartment. sometimes up to 10 or 11 services per day. all different congregations.”
Of course, apartments only hold 10-30 people sometimes, but…doing the math that could be hundreds of people coming through there per day! Whether or not this is representative of China as a whole when it comes to the underground church, I don’t know. But for this pastor…leading his congregation(s!) was more than a full time job. So for a pastor to be fined $150 can be devastating. Hopefully church members and friends come together at that point and help out.
The worst part is that 16 of these Christians and pastors are still imprisoned. With China’s human rights laws, it is impossible to know how they are being treated. Please pray for them and their families.
Filed under: China, culture | Tags: business, China, culture, envelope, friends, gift, giving, money, traditional
I solicited some help from a Chinese guy to do a voiceover in Chinese for a video I happened to be making at the time. This was a young Chinese guy, soon to be married, and living on next to no income. He spent about an hour and a half, maybe more, with me. We recorded, re-recorded, and then recorded again. He was really patient with me as I was rewinding, listening to his pronunciation, and doing re-takes. After the process was over, I thanked him immensely and then handed him a small brown, unmarked envelope that had 200 yuan (worth about USD$20 at the time) in it. I knew he didn’t have much money, and had helped me a lot. He literally shoved the envelope back in my hand and said “NO, NO, NO, NO“.
I tried again and again to give him the envelope, insisting as strong as I possibly could that he take it, that he did a great job, and that I wanted it to be sort of a wedding present as well. He absolutely refused. In fact, he literally kept pushing me back as I tried to follow him out of the room! He got out of the door, kept his arm inside to fend me off, and shut me in the room! It was one of the most confusing things I’ve ever experienced!
GIVING A GIFT IN CHINA
Whether it is a business contact, a first-time meeting with someone important, or seeing a friend you haven’t seen in a while, gift-giving in China is a fascinating game.
Traditionally in China, whether you are giving or receiving a gift, it is done 3 times (although not in my story!). If you are giving a gift to somebody, expect it to be refused 3 times before finally being accepted. If you are receiving a gift, prepare to find 3 creative ways to refuse the gift before finally caving!
Once a gift is received, the game isn’t over though! Gifts are usually wrapped, and not opened right away. One big cultural phenomenon in China is the concept of “face”. To give or receive “face” is an important thing. So by not opening a present, the person receiving is not given the added burden of needing to ‘like’ the gift. Any outward sign of disapproval of a gift would be a devastating blow to a relationship, especially a newly created one.
Between friends these rules bend and break. But generally, this is one of the customary ways to give and receive gifts in China. It’s a really interesting thing to observe.
Although in some instances, people will refuse a gift altogether…the reason? I have no idea!
