The Church on the Top of Mountains

 

12-23-2006.  Back to the Hmong village at Sapushan, roughly 200 miles north of Kunming City.  It was my second trip to this small village located on the top of mountains (the first one took place in the summer of 2005).  The very first thing into our sight, when we drove up close to it, was the village church literally built on the tip of a mountain, lonely yet proud.  How many people still remember now, I wondered, that this simple-looking building was once erected on the ruin of old Sapushan church – the one founded by Pastor Samuel Pollard and his associates to serve as a milestone of Christian movement in southwestern China?  

Once planted by the Western missionaries, this tree has survived more than 100 years’ wind and storm.  The lone and tough branch of the tree has almost turned into a symbol of the place today.

The supply of life materials is limited inside the village.  People have to walk a long distance of moutain path to buy daily necessities from the nearby Wuding County.

The spiritual life here, however, is rather rich as the majority of the villagers are Christians.  This was a Saturday so the evening service would begin in a few hours.  The photo is my favorite as it reflects the mood and feel of the place.

The use of electricity had brought the modern touch to the villagers’ lives except sometimes it didn’t go smoothly.  The power went out during the evening service so the speaker lit the candles to continue his message.  For me, an outsider, this whole candle-lit Bible on the table thing really added a bit of mysterious, almost medieval feel of the event.

The bonfire is the only source of heat and warmth in the chilly December night, even though this was in Yunnan which is famous for it’s spring like weather throughout the year.

Presbyter Long, one of the village church leaders, is a soft-spoken gentleman and faithful Christian.  We stayed in his house for room and board the first couple of days.  He showed me a great concern when he learnt that I had fever the first night I was there.

12-24-2006.  The front view of Presbyter Long’s house, where he lives with his wife and grandchildren.   The doorsteps  leads to their living room.  The family of his younger brother lives in the  house adjacent to it.

The sign of harvest was seen from his house yard.

The grandson of Presbyter Long grew an instant bond with me and loved to strike a cute posture for my camera.

It was a Sunday so another church service was on the way.  Ready to welcome the believers, these wooden benches, I was told, had lasted almost a hundred years and witnessed the up and down of the local Christian movement.

Because of the season, many villagers were out visiting relatives or attending Christmas services at other locations.  Today’s church looked less crowded than before.  Still, the formality and sincerity shown by all devotees were very touching. 

A pretty girl at the service.

The children at Sunday school.

The teacher at Sunday school — he is Presbyter Long’s nephew, a soft-spoken, almost shy young man.  But you can just feel that he pours his whole heart into this job.

12-25-2006.  We walked through the village in the morning.  I took a photo of these houses which I thought reflected the general living standard in the area.

We were invited to visit this home of another church activist, who is relatively younger and more business-oriented.  His house is considered one of the best in the village.

After the breakfast I conducted a couple of on-camera interviews.  Then the host invited us to take a walk along the mountain path.  The wild flowers by the road had a splendid look.

Making money is the top priority now in this remote village, just like everywhere else on the earth.  The last stop of our casual walk was a stone pit contracted by Presbyter Long’s children and relatives.  Stone mining is a common practice now throughout Yunnan and usually run by families or individuals.

12/26/2006.  For the scheduled script reading we had to walk over to another brother’s house in the morning.  The destination was not too far but belonged to another village as well as another county.  They had all-day long supply of electricity so we had to go there to plug in my laptop for the reading.  But the trip turned out to be a memorable one as the scenery on our way was just magnificent!

With thick fog and piercing morning sunshine, the little forest we went through looked just like the labyrinth in one of those fairy tale moives.

(The site is under construction.)