I put my arm around her and I
said, Jesus loves you.
And she was terrified.
She nearly fell into the sewer.
She went backwards.
And she said to me, Oh, she said,
dear, you've made a mistake.
She said, Nobody told you.
Nobody told you what I do.
Nobody told you who I am.
Nobody told you.
You see, I know you're one of those
nice Christians.
And Christians don't touch people like me.
And I realized that she had no idea
about Jesus.
She just knew Christians were nice.
Many of them said that.
You see, Christians can read.
Most of them couldn't.
Christians had Sunday off.
And those who worked would never get Sunday
off.
Never.
Once a year, maybe they get three days
off at Chinese New Year.
The rest?
Average work.
Twelve hours a day.
Seven days a week.
No weekend.
No Sunday.
How can they be Christians?
Of course they can't.
Because they can't go to that building you
go to on a Sunday.
How can they be Christians?
Of course they can't.
Because they can't read that book Christians carry.
How can they be Christians?
Of course they can't.
Because they don't have an extra pair of
shoes.
And people dress up to go to that
building on Sunday.
But they didn't know who Jesus was.
And I realised that the words Jesus loves
you mean nothing.
Nothing.
They don't.
Not if you don't know what love is.
Not if you don't know who Jesus is.
It wouldn't mean anything to you.
No wonder she was frightened.
I thought, I've done it wrong.
It's not just words.
It's deeds.
Words and deeds.
Because you see, I didn't have a place
like this.
I couldn't go up to her and say
Oh look, you know I know some people
and you know they're really quite normal and
you know you could meet them and you
could come along and we'd spend some time
and we could tell you about Jesus.
I didn't have anyone at all that I
could introduce her to.
Not a place to take her.
Not like this.
I didn't even have a neighbour with a
home where we could sit down and ask
her in even for a cup of tea.
I had nothing.
So I thought the only way she's going
to understand who Jesus is the only way
that these people are going to understand who
Jesus is is if I am Jesus to
them.
And I remembered those words that Jesus spoke
that he had come to release the captives
to proclaim freedom for the prisoners to give
sight to the blind.
So I thought that's how you do it.
You give them what they don't have.
So for the next year or so this
is what I did I opened a room
in the wall so it was very very
very small I mean I think your looms
are bigger practically I mean your toilets and
just big enough for a ping pong table
and I opened it up at night time
and especially to welcome the gangsters mainly from
one particular gang called the 14K and just
opened it up for them to come in
and God was really good because they didn't
like the Jesus bit at all I always
said I'm here because of Jesus and they
said you know of course she's cracked about
Jesus but apart from that she's alright and
I was really happy about that really happy
because of course they didn't understand about Jesus
every time we had hymn singing or prayers
or anything they used to go outside and
whistle and smoke their cigarettes and catcall and
when we finished they'd come in that's alright
because they said apart from Jesus she's alright
and they were beginning to understand who Jesus
was because when they didn't have any rice
to eat I shared my rice and when
friends passed through they shared their rice if
people didn't have schools we tried to find
them a school when they got beaten up
by other gangs we mocked up their blood
or sent them to hospital there was a
lady there that asked me to visit a
family and this family was called the Zhong
family and there was a mother that had
six children and upon the birth of the
sixth she had it and one hour later
walked back home because she had to take
care of the family her husband was an
addict they lived about six stories up inside
the walled city and it wasn't a home
at all it was just somebody's roof and
on the top of the roof they put
a kind of tarpaulin and when it rained
they used to have to empty that out
otherwise the whole room flooded and there was
nothing in it except a double bed and
the children were born on the bed they
slept on the bed they learned to read
on the bed they did their homework they
cooked on the bed that was all they
had a bed and I went to see
this lady she couldn't work anymore she used
to carry water this was no water in
the walled city 60,000 people living in
five acres if you can imagine that not
much more than five football fields and 60
,000 people no water, no toilets and this
is where she lived and she used to
get five cents well divide that by eight
and you get what their five cents is
for carrying two buckets of water up to
somebody's home that may be four or five
or six or seven stories high and in
the end her legs ached and her knees
were bent and she couldn't do it anymore
neither could she see a doctor because she
had no money to see a doctor so
she had no food and somebody had asked
me to visit her so I used to
go and sit on her bed and tell
her about Jesus it was lovely you know
it's really easy to preach the gospel to
people like that it's really easy they're longing
to hear so I said it's alright you
know there's a God up there who loves
you very much and he'll come and sit
on your bed he'll be here and he'll
talk with you and she smiled and she
said that's the one I want the one
who'll come and sit on my bed and
we used to talk to Jesus together and
I used to with my friends buy some
dried sausages for her we didn't want to
give her money because her husband was taking
heroin all the time and would take the
money he earned money but he never gave
the family anything and all they ever ate
before we came all they ever ate was
wet rice was rice diluted with a lot
of water so it turns into a kind
of soup that's all they ever had so
we used to take them sausages and eggs
and tins and things and the children were
very shy the five eldest ones had nowhere
to play you see so when I went
to see the mother they were very embarrassed
they couldn't go into another room and be
children so the only thing they could do
was to turn to the wall and all
five children used to turn to the wall
and pretend I wasn't there because they were
shy think of that think of your children
who maybe even have a bedroom between two
or three and maybe some of your children
have one each I asked the woman who
sent me to see that family why did
you send me?
because you see I didn't have very much
money myself I didn't have a church behind
me I didn't have a mission that sent
money to me all I could give that
lady was what I had and that wasn't
very much because I was already going to
other homes people kept sending me there was
one with eleven children whose husband was out
of work go and help the family they
said me?
how can I help someone with eleven children?
I've already got three people living in my
little room I can just barely pay the
rent myself how am I going to help
someone with eleven children whose husband's out of
work and someone else again who's been sent
to the mental hospital and I've got to
look after the husband and six children and
this family here sitting on the bed with
the children all face to the wall why?
I said to the lady why do you
send me?
why don't you find one of the agencies
in town there are missionary agencies there are
there are lots of people in Hong Kong
doing missionary work why don't you find one
of them?
they've got resources, I don't and she said
I'm sending you because I know you care
about them that's that's a terrible responsibility but
it's a great joy nobody ever got saved
by an organization was saved through Jesus and
that's what people want to know not is
there a church