By Emily Stockton, IMB Communications
WESTERN CHINA – A four-lane expressway has replaced the ancient Silk Road I half-expected to see.
I travel southward down this road in western China, and in the beginning I feel strangely at home. The pristine air and gorgeous mountain scenery allow me to pretend I’m passing through Colorado and New Mexico until the sun reflecting off of something catches my eye. Minarets atop bright metal domes come into view.
Mosque after mosque, as ubiquitous as little country churches in the Bible belt of the southern USA, dot the countryside, causing me to sit up and pay attention. I’m in western China’s Gansu Province, a place largely unchanged by the Gospel of Jesus Christ because, like most places in western China, it has been largely overlooked by the Christian community.
Quite a few of the cities and pathways along my western journey were part of the ancient Silk Road, and Jesuits carried the Gospel to these areas 400 years ago. But as trade routes changed, the people became more isolated. Access to outside cultures became more limited. Most of the people who live here today have never had opportunity to hear of Jesus Christ’s offer of salvation.
Even though in 1999 the Chinese government undertook a plan to develop western China’s infrastructure, the Christian community has not similarly focused on spiritual development in the vast lands on the western end of China. Pioneer workers willing to go to hard places have been there for years, but reinforcements have been slow to come alongside them.