A Victorious Failure in China (by T. Sollid)

“O to be delivered from half-hearted missionaries! Don’t come if you mean to turn aside for anything- for the ‘claims of society’ in the treaty ports and stations. Don’t come if you haven’t made up your mind for one thing- the winning of souls.” -Amy Carmichael

God has laid on my heart a burden for the Chinese people. In March of 2007 I went on my first mission trip to China. It was so amazing! We brought and distributed many thousand gospel tracts. In 2009 I was able to bring my wife Hannah and 6 month-old son Hudson with me for a 3 week mission trip there. God then opened the doors for me to go to China again this year.

I brought over 200 lbs. of gospel tracts and Bibles with me. God allowed me to get all of it through customs and into the country. I delivered the Bibles to a permanent missionary and then left on a 30+ hour train ride with my fellow workers, D and G, for ***** Province. The plan was to travel to 12 different towns in 14 days via bus or train, to witness to any English-speaking people God brought into our paths, and then to distribute gospel tracts at night in each town before leaving for the next.

I was going solo for my first towns.

The following points are some highlights from my trip:

Town # 1:

In my first scheduled town God brought me into contact with a private-school English teacher. He asked me to come speak to his class. As I was praying and asking God what I should speak about, He brought to my mind that the holiday at hand was Easter. I shared with the children the history of Easter (i.e. gospel message!) and sang them the song “Because He lives.” Later that evening I went to supper with Jackson, the teacher, and we talked for two hours about spiritual matters. Please prayer for Jackson’s conversion. That night I distributed around 500 tracts (on doorsteps, in front of businesses, and anywhere else someone might find them later). In the morning I caught a bus to town #2.

Town #2:

In this town I was able to share with an elderly Chinese lady and give her a Chinese New Testament. That night I again distributed around 800 tracts. Then in the morning I left for town # 3.

Town # 3:

I caught a taxi from my hotel to the bus stop for town # 3-*Fantan. The driver dropped me off on the side of the road with 4 other Chinese guys and made me understand that the bus would pick us up on its way. A person surely has to trust God in a foreign country with a foreign language! I arrived at *Fantan and checked into my hotel. As I was resting in my room, two men knocked on the door, wanting to come in. Since I don’t speak Chinese I didn’t let them. They left, only to come back later with a translator and 4 police. They confiscated my tracts and took my passport. The translator acted polite about it- she asked if the police could take my tracts. So I asked her if I had a choice. She said no!

It is “illegal” to have or distribute religious information in China without going through an official organization. I was interviewed, hand-printed, and finger-printed multiple times over the next couple of days.

Here is a quote from my journal:

“Well, that was an interesting experience. The police came back [again] and finger printed me. I really am a criminal. Alleluia! A criminal for Jesus!”

I was confined to *Fantan for almost a week. Without my passport I couldn’t leave, and I had the police checking on me every little bit. I was finally escorted by 3 police officers to Beijing and flown to San Francisco. God worked in my life during this time and gave me some great witnessing opportunities.

A Victorious Failure:

I thought I knew what persecution was until God allowed me to go through a kind of persecution I was totally not expecting. To be confined when my heart and mind were prepared to be going like crazy was hard. I doubted my place in God’s will during this time. Did I screw things up? Was I not careful enough? What are the police going to do? Questions like these plagued me. I had with me Elisabeth Elliot’s biography on Amy Carmichael. One quote out of it spoke to me during this time:

“Divine sovereignty permits mistakes.”

I was in God’s hands. I was seeking to honor Him, and He was (as He always is) in complete control.

Here is another entry from my journal:

“If I were to compare what path is harder, lit-dropping for weeks or this, I would say this. Persecution is not at all what I thought it was. The psychological battles are the hardest. It is easier to have one goal and focus on that. Where here, there is nothing but time to think– on what I did wrong and what I should do now. The devil really hits you hard. It takes everything you have to hold onto the encouragement God gives you through it. In my case, staying hopeful and upbeat in all of this for those around you. So I can show them Christ through my actions. I don’t know if I have done this, but I’ve tried. By the grace of God I have. I thank Him for all that He has done.“

Providential Protection:

I only lost about 4 ½ boxes of tracts (2200) because the rest of them were with a fellow brother, C, who was staying in China for a length of time. C was going to meet me in *Fantan to resupply and help me for a few towns, but he wasn’t able to catch a bus there. Isn’t it amazing how God saved the remainder of my tracts and protected C from police arrest?! I was also thankful that I wasn’t incarcerated for sharing the gospel in China like our native brothers and sisters are.

“When the interpreter told me I had to stay here [in *Fantan] for 3 more days so they can change my visa, I said, ‘I don’t want to stay here for 3 days.’ He tells me, ‘This is light, some people have to pay and some have to go to prison.’ If that is what they do to foreigners, what do they do to their own people?!”

Witnessing Opportunities:

God gave me some wonderful chances to share Him with the people I was with during my arrest. One opportunity occurred the day after I had my things taken. The police thought I should still have a “good” time in China; so they took me on a tour of some local Buddhist temples. My tour guide and translator was a lady named Sarah. We were able to talk extensively on religion and Christianity. I even got to give her one of the Chinese New Testaments that the police had overlooked when they confiscated my tracts.

Another good time of sharing was with one of my police escorts named Jim. One evening we visited for a couple of hours about truth and religion.

One more providential witnessing opportunity happened when I was being brought to Beijing. We (my police escorts and I) went out to supper with the province’s directors of foreign affairs one evening. After the meal I was told to approach the hosts and thank them for the meal and give a kind word or blessing of some sort. God told me to speak of Him. I thanked the hosts for the meal and told them that the greatest blessing I could give them was a blessing in the name of my God, Jehovah. They thanked me (through my interpreter), but told me not to do in China what I had done again!

The Ethics of Smuggling:

I don’t take lightly doing “illegal” Christian work. I don’t take trips like these for thrills.

It is a very serious matter to engage in Bible and tract smuggling.

Then why do I do it? The Bible says that we ought to obey the authority over us, except when that authority is acting in disobedience to God. Our Lord Jesus commanded us to go into ALL the world (not just the parts that allow or accept us) and preach the gospel.

As Peter and the other apostles said in Acts 5:29,

“We must obey God rather than men.”

There are millions in China who have never heard of the saving work of Christ Jesus. They are dying in their sins, and Christians have the only message that will save their souls. Also, our fellow Christian brothers and sisters long to have God’s Word. Can you imagine not owning your own Bible? Or not being able to purchase one if you so desire? Another reason for me as a foreigner to spread the gospel in China is to remove some danger from the Chinese Christians. It is far less dangerous for me to distribute gospel material there than for them to. If God calls them to do so, then they had better obey; but if God calls me I surely had better obey too!

Final Thoughts:

When I returned home, I visited with D on the phone. His trip went well, and he and G distributed many gospel tracts. As we discussed our trips, D mentioned something that encouraged me greatly. He said God might have brought me to China specifically to share the gospel in the towns and with the people I did. I have thought of this since then. God truly is concerned with the individual. I don’t think we can judge how effective a trip is by mere numbers reached but by how faithful we are to share with those God brings into our path.

My trip to China this year ended 5 days earlier than planned. I was not given a deportation visa (as I was told I would be); therefore my passport is not redlined to enter China again. I am planning, if it be God’s will, to go again.

I want to thank all of you who faithfully upheld me in prayer during my trip. I don’t know what I would have done without you!