Ecumenism at Work
Christian-Muslim Cooperation Brings Piped Water to Cave Homes
Theresa Cariño
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A cave home in Lantian county (Shaanxi province) |
It is hard to imagine that people still live in cave homes only five hours by car from Xian, the provincial capital of Shaanxi province. Participants in this year's Amity Easter Tour were shocked and moved by this unexpected scene when they visited a Muslim village in Lantian County. Members of the rural community which had been struggling to cope with dwindling water resources welcomed us with drums and gongs, hope shining in their eyes. As we trekked up the hillside, we were shown the only water reserve of the village, a small well with water trickling from a remote mountain source that was obviously drying up. This precious drinking water was kept locked and carefully rationed to community members. Washing was reduced to an absolute minimum here. Xiao Ma, a young man in his thirties, confessed that he had not taken a bath since Chinese New Year and that bathing was a luxury only few people could afford more than once or twice a year. Despite his youth, his legs, affected by heavy fluoride in the water, were beginning to ache like those of many people in the village.
Crowding into the roughly 100 square foot cave home Ahmed shared with his brother and his elderly father, we felt transported back to the biblical scene of the nativity. Poorly ventilated by a small window, dimly lit, with soot-blackened ceiling and dirt floor, Ahmed's home was furnished with a small wooden bed, tattered beddings, cooking pots and hay for the family's prized possessions - two cows that slept indoors at night. Family income depended on farming but drought and the lack of money for fertilisers meant low crop yields, which kept the family living below the poverty line.
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Villagers and participants of the Easter Tour in Lantian county |
Ahmed's neighbour was only a little better off, with a slightly larger cave home and two more cows. The entire village was among the poorest in the county and village leaders were hoping that with some support from Amity, the village could tap into a more adequate water source with pipes. It was a project that would be managed by the village and monitored by the Shaanxi Christian Council that had been working closely with Amity in church-run projects for the last 10 years. County level RAB (Religious Affairs Bureau) officials were on hand to encourage Amity to support the proposed project, which Amity Tour participants found fascinating and encouraging.
The encounter with abject poverty in cave homes jolted us into deeper reflection on what Christian faith and the gospel message meant. We were profoundly impressed to find "peace building" and a larger, encompassing ecumenism at work in the remote loess hills of Shaanxi - cooperation and mutual support between Muslims and Christians in meaningful community-based projects that gave hope and assurance to those in need. "I'm amazed that Christian leaders in mainland China are much more ecumenical and open to people of other faiths than many of those in Hong Kong!" remarked Cathy Kwok from Hong Kong. Representing the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF), Cathy felt that Chinese Christians were putting into practice what others can only preach about.
It also reminded us of the remarks of Professor Zhuo Xinping, who had received us at the Institute for World Religions of the renowned Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, "Social participation and social service is important to Christian identity in the Chinese context. It is encouraging multi-religious dialogue for a harmonious co-existence."
