Birthday Evening

Beijing, China

Tonight I was invited for a birthday party. The birthday lday is one of Evonne's and Winnie's friends from their Bible group. For that we just had to go across to another block of their compound. Most other attendees were also expats - Malaysian or Singaporean - except for a single Korean guy and a Chinese girl maybe around my age. Even the pastor had turned up for the occasion. They had ordered a huge banquet (so it seemed) including a whole fish and some Malaysian specialties. I learnt that the Korean guy was Evonne's and Winnie's neighbour and the Chinese girl worked for CCTV (the main public TV channel here).
The pastor said a prayer for the friend whose birthday we were celebrating. Then there was entertainment: Karaoke. There were several folders with songs. Great! I've always wanted to try karaoke. I don't know what kind of songs I had expected. I was naive when I first picked up a folder. There wasn't much choice. Two folders were full with Chinese songs. The third had a mixture of English songs of praise and (from my point of view) ancient pop (we're talking Roy Orbison here). The pastor himself was taking the piano. Evonne had spotted me. Did I want to sing anything? I could always ask the pastor for one. My mind went blank, then it came back with a list of songs. The list went like this:
Sympathy for the Devil - Guns'n'Roses
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Holier Than Thou - Metallica
etc.
"Go on!" The little devil on my right prodded me with his trident. "Ask her if they know any of these." I was at a Christian gathering and this was all I could come up with. The angel on my left prevailed. I declined. I didn't know any songs. Smile. I couldn't even sing. Others could and did. Songs of praise in Chinese and English.
But the evening also had a very disturbing moment. The Chinese girl was interested in Christianity. Maybe she even wanted to convert. I'm not quite sure, they spoke Chinese mostly. I got the idea that they wanted to speak a blessing for her. At some point after the birthday prayers they sat her on a chair where the birthday lady had been sitting. One lady stood behind the chair resting her hands on the girl's shoulders. Two others were standing on either side their hands extended above the girl's head in a gesture of blessing. They began to pray. It grew intense. Something like strain was showing on their faces, especially the one leading the prayer from behind the chair. The two other ladies waved their hands about. Other people started joining in the chorus. Strain now also showed on the girl's face. The words, the pleas for God's aid, blessing, whatnot seemed to grow in intensity, urgency until they finally stopped. I wonder if the girl has come out of this as a believer. She was supposed to experience the Christian God. Call me a sceptic but I believe what she experienced was much more mundane than that. What's more, the praying and chanting and waving around to me had very little of a Christian ceremony. Much rather it reminded me of an excorcism, a mass suggestion, the rites of an ancient cult. Winnie has accused me of not understanding God, that our European ideas of Christianity and God are too limited. They have a relationship with the one true living God, she says. But I refuse to believe that this is it. They say that Buddha and Tao and everything that Chinese culture has been built on for thousands of years is all supestition. Still, I can't see anyone giving her an overview of Christian beliefs or values or history or the Bible and then tell her to see a priest. The wasn't even a priest present - the pastor had left. She's impressionable maybe because she's looking for something to believe in. And all I see is that they try to collectively brainwash and indoctrinate her. Maybe this is exactly how the Church has gathered new converts over the centuries. The difference is this: the Church has always been looking for new converts who'd pay regular tithes. These women have nothing financial to gain from their new "sister". They act on conviction. They firmly believe that God is guiding them the right way, that they are wrestling her from the clutches of demons and false idols, that this is the will of God. And that sent an icy shiver down my spine. There can be such a thing as too much faith.