CEE Story From The Mission Field
Chinese in the Crossroads
January 2003
A Megacity People Segment in Crisis
The Chinese living in Budapest, Hungary, are facing a difficult decision: stay, move further west, or return to China. The 20,000 - strong Chinese population of Hungary's capital city primarily make their living in a place known to locals as the "Chinese Market" in District VIII - the heart of inner-city Budapest. Here, ethnic Chinese conduct trading businesses in small 6 x 8 meter booths from dawn til dusk seven days of the week: rain, sun, snow or shine.
The vast majority of these vendors have not obtained the necessary license required to conduct business in Hungary, yet the government has traditionally chosen to "look the other way" since the market is needed to sustain the local economy. Yet with accession to the European Union (EU) weighing heavy on the hearts of both politicians and legal adminstrators in Budapest, a deadline has been unofficially set for February 1, 2004, by which each vendor must make a decision. The choice: either re-locate the business to the new and legitimate Asia Center in Budapest (where rent is more expensive, business owners must have proper licensing to conduct business, and the location is a bit more remote), or simply close down shop altogether. Word-of-mouth among the Chinese in the city is that most are seriously considering returning to their homeland. To this end, a short 14 months remains.
These circumstances have created an all-new sense of strategic urgency among the Budapest Megacity Team, to increase their efforts in targeting the Chinese population of their city with the message of Jesus Christ. Partnering with a local group of Chinese believers, the IMB team in Budapest has committed to getting the Gospel into every Chinese home by February, 2004. The desire of the IMB team in Budapest regarding the Chinese is simple: gather them, win them and send them back to the mainland--not only as businessmen and professionals - but as evangelists sowing the seed of the Gospel message among their own people in their own language - and playing a part of what perhaps will be the greatest spiritual awakening of the 21st century.
Part of this special emphasis recently involved an evangelistic project focusing on the Chinese college student population of Budapest. A three-day sports outreach was held using former NCAA basketball players from the state of North Carolina. The team consisted of 10 enthusiastic Christian men and women from all over the United States who came together to form one team in order to use basketball as a platform for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. The goal was not to enlarge the existing church, but to start at least one baseline small group in each University - and see the multiplication begin from there.
Throughout the course of the three-day emphasis, over 100 Chinese students heard the Gospel message clearly and loudly in basketball gymnasiums, college classrooms and street markets. The three day event started on Sunday night at the Chinese Christian Church in District VIII, with team players sharing stories and testimonies of how Jesus Christ changed their lives by taking them from a life of idolizing basketball (along with the "gods" that play the sport) to giving them a life of peace, joy and fulfillment found only in true community and relationship with Jesus Christ. Monday consisted a clinic/training camp followed by an official, real-time game on Tuesday. At halftime of the game, one of the basketball players shared his testimony with the crowd along with a clear presentation of the Gospel.
In the past 9 months, twenty Chinese students have given their life to Christ and chosen to follow Him and Him alone - eight of these students making this decision during the recent basketball project. To that end, Chinese student leaders have been trained by the IMB team in Chronological Bible Storying to continue the propogation of the pure Gospel message in the Mandarin language.
Following the concentrated outreach, one IMB team member made this statement, "The vision is growing in the minds of the Chinese here in Budapest. They are becoming more confident in sharing their faith. They are seeing that Jesus really is the answer. We are seeing that the students are open to change. The world has fed them everything else. They are ready for the meat of the truth."