China Part III

After Arriving back in Hong Kong on the 14th of July we spent a number of days visiting the places we had yet to see there.

We visited the Hong Kong seminary and a number of Hong Kong churches including their cathedral. We made a stop at the downtown Catholic center. To my surprise they have almost every book you would hope to find at a Catholic book store in the United States. The churches like almost all that I have seen in my visit were of Gothic architecture. It was interesting to see the European influence. I don't remember seeing a distinctly Chinese church except for maybe the Hong Kong Seminary's chapel. And there have been little to none of what we would call modern church architecture.

Human Rights Group

On Monday the 19th, we visited with a few people who work at the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. This group is a non-governmental organization which helps lawyers in China in various ways. They help them with funding and advice in order to bring their case through the courts. They also get the word out, mostly through email and blogs, about injustices going on throughout China. This, slowly but surely, puts pressure on the govt to give a little bit by bit. Because China has signed the United Nations Human Rights Accord, this group does what they can to hold China to what they agreed to. This has been the most successful method of putting pressure on China, using this accord that China has agreed to.

Later that afternoon, I found my way to the shipping yard which is just Ginormous! I really enjoy seeing the big ships come in and out. These are different than the ships that come to Duluth. These are container ships rather than iron ore or grain ships. I'm not sure how much business is done through the Hong Kong port but whenever I look out the window of the retreat house there are at least five huge container ships passing by. I haven't done any research but I have a lot of respect for the guy who invented the idea of the container, who standardize shipping in that way. They can be moved by train, tractor-trailer, or ship. It makes it really efficient. I appreciate efficiency. Remember, I am also a business major.

Dinner with a Communist

On the 20th of July, we took a ferry back to the mainland where we met a few priests, one who was elected bishop and is now waiting approval from the Vatican. The highlight of the day was our dinner with a woman who was taught English by a Maryknoll priest and has a relationship with other Maryknoll priests and brothers. The catch is that she and her husband are members of the Communist party. After dinner, she took us seminarians for a walk and to a tea-shop. That was really cool to see how they do tea. It is a science/art and something I can really appreciate. Anyways during the tea, we learned that she was a Communist and we got talking about how and why we wanted to become priests. We mentioned how we want to help people and I in particular mentioned how I want to share the hope and peace that I have from knowing Christ and living a Christian life. She said that our beliefs coincide with what she desires as well. But I had to point out that our hope lies in the life to come not what is here on earth. This is a big difference even here on earth. If you believe in God and the life to come you aren't going to be as concerned with squeezing every ounce of enjoyment out of life. In this way you are free to sacrifice for others. However, if you believe this is all there is, you will tend to take advantage of this life and others in a negative way. We also talked about other realities of life such as death, suffering, and the meaning in life. It was a great blessing to actually talk to a Communist and actually get a sense of what they believe, how they think, their philosophy on life.

Leprosarium

The following day, the 21st of July was one that I will never forget. We visited a leprosarium in the rural part of Southern China. Like everything in China, they have a director from the Communist party but there is an Italian Salesian priest, a lay Italian woman and four sisters that help run things around there. And I mean "help" run things around there because the people with Hansen's disease are given a lot of responsibility and are able to do a lot for themselves. It is a self sustaining community. They have a few men who make shoes for the community. These shoes are very important because with Hansen's disease the person's nerve endings are destroyed and so they don't feel pain when they over use their feet walking. So these shoes are modified to lessen the pressure in particular places where there are sores developing. There are also men there who fabricate prosthetics there. They had some very nice equipment brought in from Germany so that they can make them right on site. The sisters help with the clinic where they change the bandages every morning of the people there.

There is a blind woman there named Maria who when the priests and sisters were kicked out during the Cultural Revolution, kept the faith going by leading prayers daily until the Church was allowed back in around '79.

The World Health Organization pays fully for the medicine to treat Hansen's disease. The catch is that the person must be registered through the govt, and because leprosy makes a region look bad and affects the economy, they are reluctant to register the people.

But this medicine if taken correctly for two years will make a patient noncontagious and stop the disease from killing more nerve endings. Even with an active case of Hansen's disease, only 3%-5% of the world's population is susceptible to the disease. Therefore, there was no risk at all touching and loving these people. In fact, this was what I enjoyed most about being there. Most of the guys said they could see Christ in these people very easily. I agree, but I also felt like I could be Christ to them. They were so joyful and just wanted to touch and love on you. They didn't want any money,just your attention. In that way I was able to give them what they wanted, I was able to love them as Christ does, which was a true blessing for me.

We celebrated mass with them. There is no pre-requisite of being catholic to live there, but 99% of them are catholic. The organist has one hand that works normally, but one hand that suffers from contraction which is a symptom of Hansen's disease. So in his right hand he puts a chopstick in order to push the keys.

The following day we stopped in Macau on our way back to Hong Kong. Macau is a small Island which used to be a Portuguese colony but was given to China in much of the same way Hong Kong was. We visited a nursing home for elderly men and celebrated mass with them. It is such a joy to see the faith of these men. Some blind, some not being able to do much, yet they are singing and vociferously saying the prayers.

Unfortunately Macau is becoming the Las Vegas of the Orient. Gambling and prostitution and drugs are becoming more and more prevalent. The more I see of the world the more I realize how much we need Christ!