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The word "overwhelmed" may have lost some of its meaning through indiscriminate use, but it is the word that best describes how I was affected during my five week visit to China.
In Hong Kong I was a guest in an apartment overlooking the construction site of what will soon be a terminal station of the fast train between Hong Kong and mainland China. The site occupies a number of city blocks and was covered with heavy machinery that emitted a steady roar from 7:00a.m. to sunset every day. Even so, the station complex is not due to go into service until 2015.
As I moved into China I experienced the accuracy of the adage, "Seeing is believing."
I was struck by the size and number of new airport terminals, multi-platform railway stations, track for fast trains, wide freeways, modern bridges, innumerable construction sites and huge numbers of people in all public places.
The question thus arises: In what ways might a small enterprise such as ours be relevant to the coming of God's Kingdom in this enormous, complex and rapidly evolving country?
The Catholic Church has been steadily developing in China for just over 400 years, a basic historical fact that I needed to integrate into the lens through which I consider the work of my colleagues in various parts of this huge country that is home to one fifth of the world's population.
Columbans in China are not trail blazers in the spirit of Matteo Ricci who, with his companions, did the foundational work long ago. They support the local Chinese Church in a variety of ways and offer those they meet in the course of their missionary endeavors the opportunity to speak with a Catholic missionary about life issues. There are, however, some initiatives that fall outside a narrow Church perspective and are worked out in partnership with others in the secular sphere for the poor and disadvantaged.
Discovering a way to be in China can be difficult, as foreigners may not lead Chinese public religious celebrations, nor may they directly evangelize.
If a Chinese person approaches a Columban to request instruction in the Catholic faith, he or she may talk about their personal experience of being a Catholic but, for the formal instruction, the enquirer would be referred to a Chinese priest. Due to the restrictions imposed by the government, the Columbans continue to develop unique approaches to their work. I was impressed by my colleagues' ingenuity in being present to others within the scope available to them.
The Church in China is relatively quite small, perhaps in some ways akin to the Church during the early centuries in the Mediterranean Basin. There is division in the Church, but all parties insist that there is only one Church in China; there has been no schism. Working for the unity that Jesus prayed for at the Last Supper continues to challenge all involved.
Fr Peter Woodruff SSC first went to Peru in 1968 and is now based in Australia.