“A China Escape” — Episode 4

Chapter 10

“Mr. Hill!” the woman exclaimed, stepping backwards to let them in. Quickly she locked the door again. “Thank you so very much for coming.” Joy radiated from her face.

“I remember you…from somewhere,” Mr. Hill said, stroking his scruffy chin thoughtfully. “What’s your name again?”

“Sa–” the woman began.

“–rah,” Mr. Hill finished. “Sarah!”

Lilly raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“And your last name has to do with the animal family? Am I right?” Mr. Hill asked.

The woman chuckled. “Had to do,” she corrected. “It was Bird.”

“Aaaahh,” Mr. Hill said, clapping his hands together. “I have a great memory!”

Lilly jabbed him lightly in his ribs with her elbow. “Dad, we’re here to help. And it’s not polite to brag,” she whispered.

“Yes. This is my daughter. She moonlights as my corrections officer,” Mr. Hill joked to Sarah.

“Lilly’s my name,” Lilly said with a warm smile while shaking Sarah’s outstretched hand.

“And a beautiful name it is,” she complimented her. “Nice to meet you!”

Right then, a young man with a worried face and slicked back hair poked his head cautiously around the corner into the room. Catching sight of Mr. Hill, he straightened and fully walked into the room.

“Mr. Hill!” he cried, throwing his arms into the air before breaking out into a lopsided grin. “Thank God you have come!”

“Manchu Carrig!” Mr. Hill said in greeting. “Is that you?”

“I am,” the man confirmed, still grinning.

“My, my, you haven’t aged a bit. How have things been going? I see you moved back to China.”

Lilly raised her eyebrows again.

“Yes,” Manchu replied. “First, I married my love, and we are coming up on our third anniversary. As you can see, we have a baby due any day now.” He looked adoringly at Sarah. “Afterward,” he continued, “we settled here in China as I said I would to start a church in my native land. We have done so and God has blessed us!”

“Excuse me,” Lilly said turning to her father. “So you all have met before?”

Mr. Hill nodded in the affirmative before introducing Lilly to Manchu.

“I’d be happy to tell you how we came to know each other,” Manchu said quickly before slapping his forehead. “Wait. Where are my manners? Please have a seat.”

“Hold on a minute,” Sarah told him as she left the room.

Lilly and Mr. Hill sat on a camel colored couch while Manchu plopped into the matching sofa opposite them. From her position, Lilly surveyed all she could of the house. Though it was sparsely furnished, the house lacked nothing of necessity. Certainly, the Carrigs had given off no signs that they were in need of help from their warm welcome. Lilly was eager to get to the bottom of the barrel and find out what they really needed.

Sarah returned with a plate of tiramisu cut into perfect squares, and placed it on the low glass table between the couch and the sofa, instantly creating a picturesque scene.

“Take one!” she urged.

Lilly did so. “Splendid,” she said after taking a bite.

Sarah smiled at her, and she smiled appreciatively every time Lilly reached for another square.

“Where should I begin?” Manchu said smoothing his arm hairs in the same direction.

“Well, the beginning is always a good place to start a story,” Lilly advised.

“Of course,” Manchu said.

Lilly leaned forward on the edge of the couch — something she always did when someone was relating a story — no matter if it was truth or tale.

“Sarah and I met your father at a cafe in California about four years ago,” Manchu began. “It wasn’t a planned meeting. The cafe was full that day, but your kind father offered to share his booth with us. We got to talking and I told him of our upcoming wedding. I remember this especially because he recommended a beautiful love song which we did dance to, by the way.”

Mr. Hill lowered his head sheepishly.

“I also told him how that I had recently graduated from USC with a degree in International Relations, but felt as if God was calling me back to China to minister to my native countrymen. As you can imagine, Sarah and I were delighted to find out that your father was a believer. He encouraged me to follow God’s leading, and at the close of our conversation, he gave me his firm’s card and his direct number so that we could contact him if the Chinese government tried to cause any problems for us. I put them in my wallet and forgot all about our meeting until just a few days ago. Well, actually, it was Sarah who reminded me.”

Manchu paused.

Lilly and Mr. Hill looked at each other. Then Mr. Hill asked, “I take it the government has been attempting to thwart your church building plans?”

“Oh, yes,” Manchu said. “At first, about a month after we arrived here and got settled in, we held services right in this house. I was amazed at our congregants’ thirst for the Gospel. Quickly our little house church exploded in numbers. This was absolutely wonderful, of course, but it did cause one problem — we needed more room. Thankfully, our church family back in the U.S. provided the money for us to rent out a building. I had the audacity to put the name of our church on the front of the building in both English and Chinese only to attract even more people to learn about Jesus. However, I quickly learned that this wasn’t a very smart move. Several officers barged in mid-service one Sunday, and asked if our church was registered with TSPM. I said no. They told us that we had to apply for a license immediately or stop holding services because we did not have permission from the government, and we were disrupting the peace by inciting citizens to rebel. I promptly told them that we were only sharing the Gospel and did not need permission from the government to do this because we had permission from God. This only infuriated them, and by the next Sunday, they had the owner of the building to kick us out for ‘breaking the sound ordinance.’ I am convinced this was just a setup.”

Before Manchu could say more, Lilly asked, “Why not register with the Three Self Patriotic Movement?”

“Simply because it is headed by the Communist Party and they control and restrict Three Party churches,” Manchu replied. “They twist the true teachings of Christianity and decide who can preach and what can be preached. For one, you cannot preach Jesus’ resurrection or His return. Neither can you give out Bibles. It would be easier for us if we submitted to their rule, but then we would serve no purpose over here. The Chinese people need the truth, just as everyone else does!”

Manchu sighed passionately.

Lilly nodded earnestly. “I see,” she said. “I totally agree.”

Manchu continued. “Anyway, after that week, Sarah, our members, and I decided to meet together at a local park and hold services. The police continued to harass us. They attacked us with batons at one point and threatened arrest. I feared for our congregants.”

“Yes!” Sarah interrupted. “The police even pushed their way into our house about three weeks ago. They confiscated our Bibles, and all our Christian literature, and my cross necklace!” She hit the sofa arm with her hand as she mentioned each item. “I wanted to fight them.”

Manchu put his arm around her as if to protect her from her own outrage.

“But our faith cannot be taken away,” he said calmly.

Chapter 11

Sarah calmed down a bit after her outburst, then she went on to explain how she had come to contact Mr. Hill. “Some time after that incident, I was reminded of our meeting and spoke with Manchu about it. Sure enough, he found Mr. Hill’s card and number still in his wallet. I called you, but could only get in a few words before our phone was strangely cut off.”

“Well, that solves that little mystery,” Mr. Hill said to Lilly. He laced his fingers together and looked satisfied. “So is the park still your place of meeting?”

“No. Not any more,” Manchu answered. “One of our congregants owns his own small restaurant and shop on the outskirts of town. We meet in the back of his building every Wednesday eve and Sunday morning. So far, so good.”

“Today’s Wednesday,” Lilly said coolly.

Manchu caught on. “Would you like to attend our service tonight?”

“Definitely,” Mr. Hill and Lilly said in unison.

Manchu was delighted. He scribbled down the directions on a sheet of paper and handed it to them. “Everyone’s to be there by 7:30. After that the doors are locked. But if you arrive later for whatever reason, just jiggle the door handles. Someone will come out and ask you for the password. It’s fish.”

Lilly quickly wrote fish on her arm with the blue marker she carried in her pocket.

“Mr. Hill,” Sarah began, “I just want to thank you and your daughter again for coming to see us. When I called you, I really wasn’t expecting a visit. I was only hoping you’d remember us and be willing to represent us from America if government officials continued to harass us and our congregants.”

“No matter,” Mr. Hill said with a wave of his hand. “Not only are we happy that we could make this trip, but I am thrilled to see you all again. Of course, I will do everything in my power to protect you from unjust attacks brought against you by anyone.”

After saying their farewells, Mr. Hill called Evan Sun to pick them up. Evan looked at them questioningly as they slid into their seats. “Everything go all right?” he asked.

“Quite well,” Mr. Hill replied. “Turns out some friends of mine may need my help.”

Sensing that he did not wish to elaborate, Evan switched the subject. “Is there any place else you wish for me to take you right now?”

“Yes, thank you,” Mr. Hill said. “I need to stop at a car rental and get a vehicle. Again, you have been very generous in offering to drive us around, but I don’t want to tie you up in case Lilly and I decide to do some sightseeing.”

After much protesting, Evan consented. Lilly helped Mr. Hill pick out a car. Afterwards, Mr. Hill and Lilly split ways with Evan Sun to do some gift shopping for Mrs. Hill, Marco, and their friends in the U.S. Lilly purchased an ornate music box for Mrs. Hill, a mirrored iPhone case for Adria, and a father-daughter robot paperweight for Mr. Hill, among other things. I already have a gift for Marco, she thought.

“Your mother is consistently baffled by how I am able to give gifts around Christmas time without going Christmas shopping,” Mr. Hill remarked as they exited the store. “I do all my holiday shopping January through October.” He chuckled good naturedly.

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me,” Lilly promised.

For a late lunch, Lilly and Mr. Hill stopped at a sushi bar. They discussed the plight of Christians in ‘foreign’ lands as they ate.

“I just don’t understand why some people feel the need to hurt those followers of Jesus and those who believe differently than they do,” Lilly sighed, pushing her tekka maki around in spicy soy sauce with a pair of chopsticks. “I mean they aren’t hurting anybody, and it’s only fair that Christians have the same freedom to believe what they want, in Who they want, and be able to share those beliefs with anybody they want. Of course, that ‘anybody’ has the freedom not to listen or accept their beliefs as his or her own. Another thing, why fight so hard against someone believing in God and His Son, when you don’t even believe they exist? It makes no sense to feel threatened by ‘fairy tales’ and ‘falsities’! Right, Dad? I mean, where’s the logic in that?” She threw her hands up, causing one of her chopsticks to back flip off her plate, bounce into the air, and prick her in the leg before falling on the tile floor. “Oww!” she exclaimed rubbing her thigh.

Mr. Hill retrieved the chopstick and handed it back to Lilly. “How I wish everyone saw things the way you do, Lilly,” Mr. Hill said. “Well, maybe not everything,” he quickly added, “or we’d all be dressed in pink, sipping cotton candy drinks — or something.”

Lilly narrowed her eyes.

Mr. Hill shuddered as if the very thought sent chills up his spine. “O.K., O.K. Maybe we wouldn’t all be doing that; perhaps something a bit more edifying,” he said before chuckling again. “Anyway, one thing’s for sure, I’d be out of a job if everyone saw things the way you and I do. Then there’d be no one to prosecute, make enemies with, roll in the mud with.” He whistled and shook his head solemnly. “The stuff of nightmares.”

“You mean the mud made up of suits, and thick books, and arm twisting? No, thank you.” Lilly wrinkled her nose. “I wonder, what would you be doing if you hadn’t decided to become a lawyer?”

“I have no idea,” Mr. Hill replied. “I burnt my bridges. Didn’t formulate a plan B.”

It was Lilly’s turn to laugh.

“Oh, I know what you would be doing,” she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Let me hear it,” Mr. Hill said apprehensively.

“You would be doing gymnastics with me!”

Mr. Hill face-palmed trying to stop the thought from registering in his head. “Oh, no!” he groaned. “Please stop!”

Lilly refused to spare him. “Just listen,” she said breathlessly. “Daddy-daughter gymnastics is just like THE best idea ever! Am I right? I know I’m right!”

“No! No. Me in one of those shiny tight outfits…Never! This is much too painful.”

“I ought to shout it from the rooftops,” Lilly teased.

“In that case, I most definitely would have to gag you with one of these large napkins,” Mr. Hill said dangling one in front of her.

It took Lilly several minutes to recover from how hard she was laughing.

At last Mr. Hill continued, “Seriously though, it would be more than nice if every one sided with me and you on issues such as religious freedom. Some of the persecutors, especially those here in China, do not wish for other people to acknowledge the existence of God because they themselves desire to be worshiped. Whenever they hear the powerful name of Jesus being praised, they feel the need to stamp it out by means of violence. However, it is not wise for us to judge them. Let’s just pray for them along with the people who they are persecuting.”

“You’re right, Dad,” Lilly agreed finishing off her drink with one long sip. “That’s what I’ll do.”

Mr. Hill smiled.

By the time they returned to the Suns’ apartment, Lilly and Mr. Hill had about three hours to spare before they left for the Carrig’s church. Lilly decided to learn more about the reality of persecution using her phone as Emmy attempted to sketch a photo of her on her drawing pad. The “portrait” turned out to look more like a lioness or a wooly haired cyborg. Emmy called it “abstract,” but Echo called it zhengning, which translates in English to “hideous.” Other than an appreciative glance, Lilly didn’t comment for she was both startled and alarmed by what she was reading.

“Lilly,” Mr. Hill said entering the living room. “We’ve got thirty minutes till. Ready to go?” He tapped his watch.

“Just need my shoes,” Lilly answered jumping up from her upside-down position on the couch.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Emmy asked.

“Hold on,” Lilly said. She followed Mr. Hill into the hallway before asking, “Is it alright if I invite the Suns to church with us?”

Mr. Hill was unsure. “I don’t know, Lilly,” he answered running his fingers through his dark silky hair. “They might be hostile to Christianity, for all we know. Perhaps it is not wise for us to push it on them so soon.”

“But they aren’t,” Lilly said. “Emmy told me they all believe in God.”

“Wonderful! In that case, I don’t see why not. Tell them to hurry though.”

Chapter 12

Eia, Echo, and Emmy seemed pleased to accept the invitation to accompany the Hills to church. However, they lost a few minutes waiting for Evan to return from his job. He, too, agreed to attend church and expressed his enthusiasm by saying, “In the door and right back out again. We haven’t been to a church in so long.”

Mr. Hill sped to the restaurant shop. With the Suns following close behind in their own vehicle, they all arrived minutes before the doors were to be locked.

“Hello! Hello!” a small man with smiling eyes greeted them from behind the fancy counter. He introduced himself as Kya Ray. It was evident that he was the owner of the shop. “You two are the Americans Pastor Manchu told me would be coming, yes?”

“Indeed,” Mr. Hill confirmed. “We took the liberty to bring some friends as well.”

Ray beamed. “Bless you,” he said. “You haven’t even been to one of our services, yet you are already inviting others!”

“It wasn’t me exactly,” Mr. Hill said crediting Lilly.

By now quite a few members had left their lukewarm cups of java and tea and sweet cakes to greet the newcomers. Although some could not speak English very well, love abounded.

“Are you sure this is a real church?” Emmy whispered to Lilly after receiving a warm hug from a great grandfather in a wheelchair. She eyed the swivel chairs reserved for customers and the pretty trinkets on sale in the other side of the shop.

“Um, yeah,” Lilly whispered back. “There’s a verse in Ephesians which says that we are members of His body. That means that a church isn’t really a building. It’s the people inside; they’re the church.”

“Oh,” Emmy replied. “I never thought of it that way. That makes sense. Totally.”

“Can I get any of you something to drink? Eat?” Ray asked them. “On Wednesday nights, everything’s free. My order!”

Mr. Hill thanked him for the free food and drink, but still gave him a tip. “I’ll take some tea,” he said. “That will suffice.”

Lilly ordered the same. “With sugar,” she said.

Out of politeness, the Suns ordered drinks also. At the end of their feasting and fellowshipping, Ray put the ‘closed’ sign in the shop window and dimmed the restaurant lights. Pulling back a sliding panel in the back wall, he led everyone into a storage room no bigger than a medium-sized garage. The congregants took their seats swiftly. It was so crowded that some people had to sit on the floor. Lilly took a spot on the floor near the front with the twins.

Everyone participated in singing a few lively hymns under the direction of Sarah. Halfway through “Jesus Loves Me”, a look of excitement flashed across her face. “My baby! It’s kicking!” she exclaimed.

“I think it’s trying to sing,” Manchu joked.

“Or dance,” Lilly added.

Joyful laughter ensued. A time of prayer followed a solo sung in Chinese by a young man with his sister playing a flute. Despite not having any of the trappings of the fine church buildings across the ocean, worship poured from each person’s heart. Manchu’s message was moving. He spoke of God’s everlasting love and encouraged everyone to cling to their faith in the face of tribulation.

“Trials are just tests. They cannot compare to the brilliance awaiting us in Heaven,” he said.

The great grandfather still in his wheelchair, cried out as he witnessed his grand-daughter’s hard heart melt at the hearing of God’s Word. Using his trembling hands, he explained that he had invited her to church many times, only to be rebuffed as she refused in anger — thanks to mistreatment she endured at the hands of her ‘religious’ stepmother. Now, after attending church for the fourth time, she was coming to Jesus.

With full hearts and each other’s blessings, everyone dispersed into the smog-filled night. Wrapped in her black trench coat, Lilly excitedly spoke of the evening’s events with Mr. Hill as they trailed the Suns’ back to their home. Once again, he agreed that a great work was being done through the efforts of Manchu and Sarah Carrig.

Unable to keep up with Emmy’s incessant chattering, sweet sleep came swiftly for Lilly after she climbed into the bunk and pulled the blanket — decorated with its mass of curls and twists — up and over her head.

The sun rose the next morning with a seemingly new-found determination to make its presence known over Beijing like an electric mohawk on a bald man’s head. Lilly looked out the window as the sun’s rays sliced through the smog. Dust particles floated past. For some reason, the whole sky scene reminded her of a dessert.

“The smog is a huge chocolate cake. The sun’s rays are butterscotch icing drizzling down its sides and the dust bits are sprinkles. What a polluted junky cake,” Lilly muttered before closing the window to dress in privacy without the attention of the wispy clouds sailing by surveying everything and everyone up in the sky.

When Marco was seven, he had told Lilly a story. (Well, he called it a theory. Lilly called it a story.) He said that the clouds were silent soldiers of the sky. They watched everyone from on high and stored up a huge amount of spy film. That’s why they became so fat. Clouds were jealous things, mad that they could not partake in people’s joyous events. So they did only what they could — watch. And sometimes one or two would ‘speak’ by striking some poor human with lightning. Then, the clouds would roar cruelly about it, and their laughter would produce thunder. Of course, Lilly tried to tell Marco the science behind the formation of clouds and lightning bolts, but Marco would have none of it.

Lilly laughed then, and she laughed now even harder upon remembering it. “I’ll have to call Mama and Marco again,” she told herself.

At the moment, this was the only thing Lilly was sure she was going to do that day, besides eating with chopsticks and having devotions. Emmy and Echo had already slipped out of the apartment for school, and would be gone until evening.

“Perhaps we can visit part of the Great Wall. It would be a dream come true if Dad and I could camp out there before heading back home,” Lilly mused. “One thing’s for sure. This marvelous day will not go to waste!” she resolved.

After dressing, Lilly stretched before brushing her hair as she pattered about the room. In a few minutes, a firm knock came on the outside of the door.

“Lilly, are you up in there? Dressed?” It was Mr. Hill’s voice.

“Double yes!” Lilly answered. “I was just waiting on you.”

Mr. Hill opened the door. “Good morning, Lilly! Looks like an emergency has come up. Sarah just called and notified me that Manchu is missing! I hope you have a triple ‘yes’ for this question: Ready to go?”