Information on International Pilgrimages with Youth

            To be on a pilgrimage is to allow God to be in charge and to be open to God’s gentle nudges and the voice of God’s Spirit in the night.  It is to slow down enough to listen, to learn, to grow, and to realize that God is gracing us with incredible gifts through the Chinese Christians we have met.

            Our guide Cathy taught us the words to “Jesus Loves Me” in Chinese, so we may sing it with our Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ.  It goes, “Zhu Jesu ai wo, Zhu Jesu ai wo, Zhu Jesu ai wo, Sheng shu shang gao su wo.”  Try it!

Today we visited the tomb of an emperor of the Ming Dynasty and were swept up in the waves of Chinese who also came to enjoy the bright sunshine and warm spring weather.  The tomb buildings were built 600 years ago and some are being restored.  Interestingly, the actual resting place of the emperor is someplace in the hillside, the exact location unknown.

For several weekends in March in the area around the tomb there is a Plum Blossom festival.  Groves of plum trees cover the hillside with pink and white flowers, sending their fragrant aroma into the air.  We walked along the stone patterned walkways, enjoying the festival which was not unlike festivals in the United States.  There were a number of vendors selling food – strawberries and watermelon, drinks, corn on the cob on a stick, and glazed fruits – typical “carnie” foods in China.  Other vendors sold trinkets and kites, which could be seen flying in open air spaces.

We were blessed to have the company there of Dr. Sam Pearson and his wife Mary, who are here in China this year. Dr. Sam Pearson is a visiting professor of church history at Nanjing Seminary. Though their home is in St. Louis, they have been here since September.  They are both dear Christian people. 

They invited us to view their spacious apartment, owned by the seminary for visiting guests.  The Pearsons explained that in comparison to most of those living in Nanjing, these were luxurious accommodations.  Nanjing has a higher standard of living than much of the rest of China, so their apartment was luxurious indeed by Chinese standards, though small by American standards.  Though the apartment has a washing machine, people in China do not have clothes dryers.  Instead they hang their wash on long bamboo poles from their balconies.  On a sunny day an apartment complex may be obscured by balcony after balcony hanging out bedding and laundry.  In rural areas, people may not be able to afford a washing machine.  We observed a woman washing clothes in a stream.  We in the United States take it for granted that we may drink water out of the faucet.  As in many other countries of the world, the cost of treating tap water is prohibitive in cost, so only bottled water is for drinking.

We enjoyed another sumptuous feast at lunch with the Pearsons.  The cuisine is excellent – we are all eating better than we would at home.  Our menu today was typical of a usual meal here.  There were three kinds of soup – chicken soup, duck soup and clam and watershield (a local grass) soup.  We were served shrimp, fish, spicy beef, pork and tofu, two platters of green vegetables, steamed rolls, rice, pig’s ear, fresh dates, and often for dessert, watermelon.  Usual beverages are green tea, beer or cola.

In the afternoon we proceeded by bus to Hefei (more about this to follow in tomorrow’s journal).  It was a time for some of us to read our copies of Bishop Ting’s book, to write in our pilgrimage journals, or to talk or even gaze out the window at the lush countryside passing by with terraced fields of rice. 

All too soon our pilgrimage will end, and we will be caught up in our usual routines of life and work.  In a sense, however, our pilgrimage will continue as we understand our very lives to be a journey of God’s planning, blessed by persons who touch our souls and set us ablaze to serve with fresh determination. Pilgrimage is many things.  It is appreciating the long history of the Chinese culture and the faith of Chinese Christians.  It is being immersed in foreign customs and cuisine and being free to experience China on its own terms and not on our own.  Pilgrimage is being in communion with our Savior who is Lord of us all, no matter where or how we live.  Pilgrimage is daring to enter the life of another to see in their eyes the eyes of God.     

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