A Smuggler

At the age of sweet 16, I embraced an opportunity, with no looking back, with no regard for leaving my family of parents and siblings and church family.  For this missionary heart of mine, embedded in me, along beside the sincere desire of being a wife and mother, urged and pulled me to embark a journey of a lifetime.

My parental grandparents, missionaries of the Philippines Island – where I visited at the tender, young age of 14 and left my heart there because I fell in love with the people and the Island – stationed in Hong Kong for six months, overseeing a church of individuals from the Philippines working there and teaching at a local Bible School.

I step into the airplane that will take me to Hong Kong, with my bags tuck in the belly of the plane that contained my clothes, toiletries, and school books — homeschooled for most of my middle and high school years.  As I sat in my seat where I will be planted in for the next 14 hours,  I was overwhelmed with mix emotions of being nervous, the reality of the first time being away from family this length of time, and the excitement of the adventure that awaits for me.

When I exit the airplane and walk on the grounds of Hong Kong, I readily received with open arms,  participating every detail the adventure that awaited for me to live for the next six weeks, planting in my heart memories to cherish in the years to come.

So many beautiful memories developed doing those six weeks, and I wish to share them all, but I am only going to focus on one of those memories — a memory of an experience that branded on my heart for life.

A memory is causing me to appreciate my freedom to be able to hold something of most value in my hands. Feel the texture, and smell the scent, and look upon the letters it presents to me in words form — something I cherish daily and keep it close to my heart dearly, our Creator’s precious Words, God’s Holy Word, my Bible.

Embracing my journey of adventure in Hong Kong, experiencing a different culture first hand, being beside my grandparents and participating in their daily routine life, visiting various churches, and sitting in Bible School listening to my grandfather teach to these hungry souls who have desires to live their lives as servants to shepherd others.

Receiving knowledge of my grandparents smuggling Bibles into China, started sparking an interest, developing into a desire transpiring in my heart; asking if I may smuggle Bibles into China. My request is granted to me, making my heart ecstatic.  The decision made of my grandmother and I would go for a day since my grandfather was busy with previous commitments.

I am in awe knowing that I am taking God’s precious word to these precious people who don’t have the right or the freedom to hold God’s word in their own hands whenever they want without having to look behind their back.

At the time this took place in 1990, China didn’t operate under religious freedom, and there’s a restriction on what can be said, believed, read, and taught.  Which first took place in 1949 when China became a communist country, and there is still some restriction that is still in effect today, in 2018, at the time of this writing.

There are underground churches in China who are covering their religious beliefs from the government of China and the restriction.  Meeting secretly with very few or only parts of the bibles as some has separated bibles from distributing pages of the Bibles to different ones. Those who do have a Bible are hiding them in secret places hoping not to be found by the authorities of China as there is the severe penalty for having a bible not approved by the government in one possession.

Applying for my visa, I am approval to go into China, then headed to a church that was started by an American pastor whose heart is full of love for the Chines people. Walking into one of the rooms of the church, there are tables loaded with all different types and sizes of clothes, Bibles, tracks, and duffel bags.   Gathering all that we can carry, then headed back to our flat to stuff the duffle bags.

It’s much safer for a foreigner to take the Bibles over the border to the designated place, and a Chinese individual picks up the bibles from the appointed place and takes them to the underground church.

If a Chinese individual tried to take Bibles over the border through customs and caught, they could end up in prison. As if a foreigner found, they take the Bibles away, and the foreigner would be escorted back over the border.

If a foreigner takes the bibles to the underground church, because they stick out among the Chinese people, communist soldiers could follow them, unknowing to the foreigner, to the underground church where Chinese individuals would blend in with other Chinese and have a more chance to get the bibles safety to the underground churches.

Spending the evening before our departure, wrapping all 50 bibles – minus the one I kept on my nightstand to take on my person when we leave – in the clothes and empty chip containers, stuffing it all in two duffel bags.  While preparing the bibles, as an experiment, I put my fanny pack on, filling it with Bibles, hiding it under my shirt, making myself look like a pregnant woman. I stand before the mirror looking at my fake pregnant stomach, deciding against the idea as I become nervous about what could happen if they were to feel my person while we go through custom, realizing my stomach feels harder than a typical pregnant belly feels.

Leaving early on our departure morning, we gather both of the duffel bags filled with bibles and our proper visa papers and head toward the train station, getting on to the train that will take us over the border from Hong Kong into Guangzhou, China.

We settle in our seats, and while the train is moving, a level of excitement starts rising and continues to increase as I listen to the train wheels glide faster and faster on the tracks.

As the train crossed over into China, I can already see and feel the differences between Hong Kong and it’s former’s mother country, China.  England was the mother country of the time of this taking place.  In Hong Kong, they drove on the left side like England, as China drove on the right side like the United States.

While the momentum of the train was taking us to our destination, we pass by communist soldiers.  The first time for my unlearn eyes to lay upon men in communist uniforms in training as they were doing their martial arts.  These soldiers enforce the strict rules of what can and can’t be done regarding religious freedom, taking away the rights to read a Bible.

Our train stops at our destination in Guangzhou, and as we were getting off the train, grandmother instructs me to stay close to her and not to make eye contact with the communist soldiers. To try not to draw any more attention to ourselves as we already are, being foreigners.

As we approach customs, my heart was flipping from nervousness.  We place the duffel bag on the conveyor belt to go through an X-ray machine — our person not being search, a blessing indeed.

Grabbing the bags quickly and sighting with a relief of the Bibles being safely back in our hands while walking away in the hope of being done with customs.

Just as we are starting to relax from the tension of going through customs and moving away from custom, they stopped us.   A custom security guard asked us to come back to where we just left.

Turning back, we see several securities guard, and one of them ask us the dreadful question.  The question that we didn’t want to answer while we were in China.  The topic we wanted to avoid at all possible while we were in China.

He asks, “Do you have bibles?”  My heart starts racing, and at that moment for the first and so far the only time in my life, I knew what the statement “I wish the ground would open up and swallow me” meant, and I want it to do so at this moment.  I immediately start praying as my heart is racing faster as I watch and listen to my grandmother respond to them with an honest answer, “Yes, we have Bibles for friends.”   Then I start praying in the heavenly language as I don’t know what to pray in English at this very moment while my heart starts racing even faster, wanting the ground to swallow me up.

Praying and listening to the security guards and watching my grandmother as they ask for the key of the locks on the duffel bags and my grandmother complying by giving them the key.

Seeing one of the security guards unlock one of the duffel bags and taking out one of the Bibles and flipping through the pages while at the same time looking at me, then noticing the other security guards were also watching me, more so than paying attention to the contents that are in the duffel bags. My heart starts pounding, feeling as though they can hear the pounding of my heart and will see it beat right out of my chest.

I held my breath for a moment as I watch the security guard place the bible back into the bag while keeping his eyes on me as the others were still watching me too, and then, he said the sweetest words I could ever hear at that moment.  “You are free to go.”  What? I start breathing again. We are free!

Grandmother quickly grabs one of the bags as I instantly grab the other one, and we proceed with haste out of custom, not looking back.

Walking out of the train station, filled with communist soldiers, a strong, confident start rising inside of me, knowing that God will take care of the bibles that we were caring,  delivered to our dearest brothers and sisters in Christ.

Getting into a taxi cab, grandmother showed the driver a paper with Chinese writing on it – we received when we picked up the bibles at the church in Hong Kong – with the name of the hotel we are to deliver the bibles to.

We arrive at the hotel, check the bags in at the front desk and receive a pickup receipt, for us to deliver back to the church in Hong Kong with the keys of the duffel bags. Then they will give the items to a Chinese individual who will go to the hotel and pick up the bags and take the precious bible to the underground churches to our dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

Grandmother and I took this opportunity of being in China to do some sight-seeing. I enjoy every moment of it.  I bought coke in a glass coke bottle with Chinese writing on it to drink, but instead of drinking it, I decide, since I smuggled Bibles into China, I am going to smuggle this coke out of China. I secretly hid my coke bottle in my purse and smuggled it out.

When you buy a coke bottle in China, you are supposed to give the empty bottle back after drinking the fluids.

Sitting at the bench at the train station – after the sightseeing – to head back into Hong Kong.  My heart starts to have compassion for the communist soldiers as I am watching them wanting to reach out to them.   I leaned over to my grandmother and said,  and I want to give the bible I have on my person to one of the soldiers.  She said, “No.”  I reply with I want to lay down my life.

I am no longer having regard to my dreams of being a wife and a mother someday and enjoy a full future ahead of myself, as I only have lived 16 sweet years at the time.  In my young mind, I am ready to lay my life down at that moment in time, with confident that can’t be explained or understood.

My grandmother responded again by saying, “You can lay your life down with your dad, not with me. I need to get you home to your parents.”

Getting ready to exit the train that brought us back to Hong Kong, I place the Bible that is on my person and put it behind the curtain of the window by the seat I am now leaving.  I know I am on the Hong Kong side and not in China as I left the Bible, but just maybe, that bible will make it back into China and blessed a hungry soul or even a communist soldier.

I left China and Hong Kong with a new appreciation and love for my bible, and I do not take it for granted that I can keep my precious Bible close to me without fear of looking over my back, to read anytime I desire so and when I sense the Lord leading me to do so.

Years later,  I still have the coke bottle filled with coke, sitting in my cupboard as a reminder of the day I smuggled Bibles into China.