An Enviable Problem

We were so excited.

We had learned of a new church which would perfectly suit our needs.  It meets near our home, and within our general community.  It meets in the morning, meaning no interruption for naps or meals - a standard 11:00am start time.  They speak English.

We tried it upon arrival, and enjoyed the service.  The worship leader was strong, the song choices were good, and everyone sang robustly.  The preacher was fine, and we both got something out of the service.

But this church had only 1 room for nursery - and that nursery takes children up to age 4, with a limit of 4 children.  Our first Sunday, I estimate 75-100 children were in the service.

Last Sunday we tried again, with the assumption that we would stay through worship with our girls and then leave once the message began.  Worship lasts an hour, and this seemed like a strong compromise.

We walked in 15 minutes late, to be met by a sign in front of the door.  The service is full.  Please join us at the Hengshan Lu location at 2:00pm.  Turned away from a church riled us up a bit, so we asked if we could enter the standing room only crowd.  With permission we filed in, but could hardly find a place for the 4 of us to stand.  This room was filled with people - the children under 4 easily surpassed 125 and the room certainly exceeded the fire code.  Were a fire to erupt in the room, there is no way everyone would have escaped.

And what a wonderful problem - many church in America would be green with envy.  Unfortunately, I worry that we may be one of the casualties.  I am particularly aware of my family's safety while in China, where rules and regulations meant to keep people out of harm are rarely enforced.  But even if the building does not catch fire, standing room worship meant that we couldn't read the words for the songs and that we constantly worried about our children being stepped on by the constant flow of newcomers.  

China runs an aetheist state, and only allows houses of worship under strict control of the Chinese government.  The state has sanctioned plenty of Protestant churches in the Chinese language, which we are welcome to attend.  But the state has only sanctioned 4 Protestant worship sites in the entire city - and remember, this is a city larger than Los Angeles in population and area.  Clearly, the English speaking Christians of the city are crying out for more church homes and too many people are being left unfed.  

If the church continues to grow, we may not find ourselves able to return.  But I hope we will persevere - what a sad reason to leave!