This Is My Story: Missions Stories from the Frontlines

Families have kept these herds -- mostly goats, sheep, and horses -- for generations, and parents often bequeath hundreds of animals to their children. Through my study-abroad program, I found myself living and working with such families, experiencing their grueling lives for a few weeks at a time.

The Precarious Generation Au revoir job security. Election season in France this year has provided high drama. As the French head to the polls, they are not simply choosing their next president but choosing an identity. The country is facing deep schisms over economic and social policy, and each candidate represents a very different future for the Gallic nation of 61 million people.

Sounds of Hope How music is transforming society. At a time when fair and accurate news coverage is more essential than ever, marked one of the deadliest years on record for journalists. Surprisingly, despite the fierce fighting in Iraq, most of the slain journalists did not die in combat. They were deliberately targeted, hunted down, and murdered for investigating corruption, crime, or human rights abuses in countries around the world. His report focuses on the growing influence of Al Jazeera, and the controversy around the recent launch of Al Jazeera English, which U.

Barker also visits the "war room" of the State Department's Rapid Response Unit, which monitors Arab media 24 hours a day, and meets with U. Everyone's a Journalist The story of OhMynews. The Last Medicine Woman The secret life of plants. In this week's Rough Cut, producer Joe Rubin and Colombian reporter Paula Botero enter the world of the shamens, or medicine women, who comb the rich canopy of Panama's rain forests gathering plants with powerful healing properties.

Known simply as "Neles'' and members of Panama's Kuna Indians, the women have passed down their knowledge of hundreds of plants through generations. But as the modern world and modern science encroaches, their practices and traditions are fast disappearing.

A Reporter's Search for Al Qaeda. This week's Rough Cut recounts a war reporter's search for Islamist extremists harboring in Somalia and with links to Al Qaeda. On his intrepid journey into the south of Somalia, Dominique Christian Mollard, a veteran news reporter with the Associated Press, reveals a shadowy and dangerous country blighted by years of anarchy.

Moscow's version of Sex and the City explores what it means to be a young, single woman in modern-day Russia. The Cell Next Door The hidden face of suburban jihad. The Cell Next Door retraces events leading up to last year's arrests in Toronto of 18, mostly young, Muslim men - who are now standing trial -- and talks to the radical Muslim informant within their ranks who helped foil the attacks.

The Price of Sex Women caught in the sex trade. In the series debut, "The Price of Sex," documentary photographer Mimi Chakarova looks into the lives of young East European women trafficked into the sex trade. Law and Disorder On patrol with Kirkuk's police chief. To show what residents and the police must face in an increasingly violent city, Sherabayani goes on patrol with the city's police chief, a man he introduces as the most-wanted policeman in Kirkuk, because of the many insurgents who would like to kill him.

This Is Your Wife Invitation to an arranged marriage. In this week's "Rough Cut," we travel to Pakistan to celebrate a wedding. When family matriarch Robina Asghar told Perry that her eldest son Tabriz was about to marry in Pakistan to a woman he barely knew, she invited Perry along. What follows is an affectionate portrait of a young man caught between his parents' cultural expectations and his own sense of himself as a 21st century American.

Caught in the People's War A journey into an uncertain future.

He also wanted to know how journalists were able to report about the conflict after the government virtually shut down the media in Goodman follows Guna Raj Luitel, a Nepalese reporter, who has made it his mission to cover all sides of the conflict for his newspaper the Kantipur Daily. Hope on the Ballot Can historic elections bring peace? Since gaining independence in , the Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered through decades of dictatorship and war.

In July the country went to the polls in the first democratic vote in more than 40 years. Reporter George Lerner travels to Congo to find out how people are reaching beyond a legacy of violence and what these historic elections represent. State of Fear A regime at war with its own people. Williams, who was banned from the country for reporting on the democracy movement 10 years ago, meets secretly with the dissidents still pushing for change, and gathers evidence of the atrocities and slave labor that is helping keep the regime in power.

Little Mexico Legal son of an illegal mother. Elvira Arellano is an illegal Mexican immigrant living in Chicago with a deportation order -- and a 7-year-old American-born son. As a first-generation Polish immigrant who lived in Chicago for nearly 25 years, reporter Marian Marzynski brings a unique perspective to the story of migration to the United States, interweaving Arelleno's story with Chicago's history as an immigrant city.

Part 1 and Part 2 Life on the road in western China. When filmmaker Brent E. Huffman took a six-month assigment in remotest western China, he knew it would be no ordinary adventure. There with his Chinese-born producer wife, Xiaoli, to film endangered wildlife and minority cultures, Huffman kept a diary and captured images of the beauty of China's last untouched wilderness as well as some of the most polluted, decimated landscapes on the planet.

The Art Revolution Challenging Fidel's socialist system. Cuba has a long and rich heritage in the arts, but during the last two decades, the visual arts have become a cultural phenomenon. In this week's Rough Cut, filmmaker Natasha Del Toro travels to Cuba to meet two of its most acclaimed artists and find out why art is at the center of Cuban society. Divided We Stand Can we agree on a hero? In our latest Rough Cut from Bosnia, we recall the tragedy of the civil war in the s, but also focus on a new post-war generation of young people looking for ways to move on.

Traveling to the ancient Ottoman city of Mostar, a place still very much divided along ethnic lines, our reporter discovers the community has found an unlikely hero to bring them closer together. With insurgents targeting fuel supplies and Iraqi oil output down to a trickle, Sherabayani reports on the rising tension and violence over the country's most valuable asset. Out of the Shadow A solar eclipse in a country seeking acceptance.

Libya is not the first place that springs to mind as a hot-ticket destination. But much has changed in the country in recent years as Libya and its leader Colonel Gaddafi have returned to the diplomatic fold. Who better to explore the mysteries of present-day Libya than our roving world-music reporter Marco Werman? And what better way to get inside the country than to tag along with the 10, astronomy enthusiasts who descended on Libya earlier this year to watch the solar eclipse?

One-Way Ticket to Europe African migrants search for a better life. The story offers an unsettling glimpse of life for these new immigrants and exposes how complex and divided the issue of illegal immigration has become. A Pound of Flesh Selling kidneys to survive. Traveling between India's high-tech center of Bangalore and the slums to the south, Grant spoke to government officials, doctors, kidney brokers and donors to try to find out why so many people are still getting paid to give up their kidneys even though a law was passed 12 years ago to heavily regulate the practice.

Shadows and Lies Inside a state of fear. Posing as tourists, reporter Alexis Bloom and producer Cassandra Herrman find a population struggling with hunger and poverty, and living in fear of a government that has become a brutal dictatorship. Heart of Berlin The struggle to save an East German landmark. In this week's Rough Cut, "Heart of Berlin," a struggle to leave the past behind unfolds. Filmmaker Jason Spingarn-Koff, who lived in Berlin 10 years ago, travels back to the city to look at a movement to save the Palace of the Republic -- a landmark building that has alternately been called a national treasure and a national eyesore.

Find out why some want to raze and others want to redefine this Socialist icon. Karina's Story Buidling a life as a transgender woman. If you didn't know what you were watching, the opening scenes of this week's Rough Cut might look like the rushes from a film by Pedro Almodovar. Our stories come in a variety of styles; this time around, we present a cinema verite piece, a "day in the life," narrated by its main character, a transgender hairdresser living in Santiago, Chile. Inside Hamas After winning the vote, can they govern? Gaining access to Hamas's political leadership and to its secretive military wing, Seelye builds a portrait of an organization teetering between a political awakening and a familiar cycle of bloody resistance.

Chopin's Heart A nation's musical gift to the world. Eight hundred contestants, from 19 countries, sign up for the nail-biting musical marathon, which provides exquisite music and plenty of surprises. On the Road With Evo The making of an unlikely president. In this week's Rough Cut, we present an insightful, and very timely, portrait of Evo Morales as he campaigned for the presidency last December. Like any good campaign film, "On the Road With Evo" combines public performance with private moments and helps to explain Evo's popular appeal.

Opportunities for Mission Service:

All it took was a few sentences in a Japanese history textbook last year to spark the biggest protests China had seen since Why did a dispute over the history of a World War II era massacre trigger such outrage? In the wake of a stunning electoral victory by the militant Palestinian group Hamas and with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a deep coma, veteran producer Ofra Bikel travels to Israel on the eve of the March 28 elections to take the measure of Ehud Olmert, the man widely expected to succeed Sharon.

Soundtrack to a Riot A rap of protest from the ghetto. In this week's Rough Cut, producer Camille Servan-Schreiber and reporter Marco Werman go to Paris to talk to a multitude of rappers -- some successful, some rapping in their living rooms -- to find out what lay at the heart of last year's riots and how this anger has been expressed in today's rap rebellion.

Uneasy Peace A community learns to forgive. In a journey to Belfast, once infamous for riots and bombs, Niall McKay finds that the hardwork of forgiving has begun. His Rough Cut video introduces Catholics and Protestants who are trying to heal their communities and find ways to talk to each other across old divides. Cold Comfort A battle for hearts and minds in the quake zone.

Amid the already heated politics of the region, she finds a mix of medicine and religious ideology being dispensed. The Coca-Cola Controversy Soft drink company accused of complicity in murder of union leaders. Citing charges that the soft drink company was complicit in the violent repression of a union at several of its bottling plants in Colombia, the University of Michigan and New York University recently canceled their contracts with Coke.

Watch their video report. Saddam's Road to Hell A journey into the killing fields. As Saddam Hussein faces trial for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and the country he once ruled slides into potential civil war, veteran filmmaker Gwynne Roberts and a team of human rights investigators set off on a dangerous journey across Iraq to find out what exactly happened to 8, Kurdish men and boys who went missing in the early years of Saddam's rule. Jewel of the Amazon The conflict over Brazil's Diamonds. Who should control what may become the richest diamond mine in the world?

Calcutta Calling American girls explore their roots. What happens when three teenage girls living in Minnesota decide to visit the land of their birth? All three were adopted as infants from an orphanage in Calcutta, India. In this week's Rough Cut video, Sasha Khokha follows the girls back to South Asia, as they explore their roots, with curiosity and trepidation.

This Little Old Town War or no war, refugees return home. Decades of violence -- much of it tied to the drug trade -- have ravaged Colombia. Fighting between leftwing guerillas, right-wing paramilitaries, and government soldiers has forced many civilians to flee their villages. But in this week's Rough Cut video, reporter Deborah Correa joins a group of refugees determined to reclaim their hometown, war or no war. Reindeer Men Mythic nomads in a modern world. For those raised on visions of Santa Claus and his flying reindeer, this week's Rough Cut offers a bracing reality check as we journey into the fabled Arctic land of reindeer herders.

The modern world is closing in on these nomadic people with recreational snowmobilers, mining companies, even NATO military bases encroaching on their remote, centuries-old way of life. Cutting the Wire Witnessing a land occupation. Nearly half of Brazil's farmland is owned by 1 percent of the population -- a glaring inequality in a nation known for its stark division between rich and poor.

That Sinking Feeling Global warming, rising seas. There's trouble in paradise. A small island nation in the South Pacific, Tuvalu, is threatened by rising ocean levels believed to be caused by global warming. The Slow Life Tune in, drop out, grow rice. Tokyo's "bright lights, big city" energy is a beacon to Japanese and foreign tourists alike, but some young Japanese are choosing to slow down, drop out and grow rice. The Curse of Inca Gold The story behind the world's richest gold mine.

The Yanacocha gold mine in Peru is run by Newmont Mining Corporation of Denver, Colorado, the largest gold mining company in the world. The story provides, says Bergman, a case study of "how a multinational company does business in a developing country rife with corruption. A Murder in Kyiv An assassination haunts the country. Just a year ago, in November , Ukranians poured into Kyiv's Independence Square, demanding democratic change. The nonviolent Orange Revolution ousted the old regime. Now a young widow returns from exile, hoping the new government will dare to arrest those who ordered the killing of her journalist husband -- even if the trail leads to former President Kuchma himself.

The Play Pump Turning water into child's play. In rural villages across South Africa, some 5 million people don't have access to clean drinking water. In this week's Rough Cut, Africa correspondent Amy Costello brings us a surprisingly upbeat tale about Trevor Field, a canny entrepreneur who decided to tackle South Africa's water woes in his own novel and enterprising way.

Weight of the World Rebuilding Afghanistan in the gym. In newly opened gyms in downtown Kabul, young men are rebuilding Afghanistan one muscle at a time. They are pumping iron and dreaming of Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is not what you'd expect to find in Afghanistan, a country that is still one of the poorest in the world and remains an unsettled and perilous place after 25 years of war.

But some 35 gyms have sprouted in the capital city since U. Occupied Minds A Palestinian and Israeli on the road. Occupied Minds is the personal odyssey of two journalists -- Jamal Dajani, a Palestinian American, and David Michaelis, an Israeli citizen -- who travel together to Jerusalem, where they were both born, "to face the hard realities of our shared land. Samurai Surfers Eco-warriors in Puerto Rico. Angel Rodriguez, aka "El Doctor," is a former accountant turned full-time surfer and coach of Puerto Rico's surf team. He's also a tenacious defender of his marine environment.

Just ask the U. Army Corps of Engineers that made the mistake of dumping harbor dredge on El Doctor's favorite surf spot. This Land is Ours Who should own Namibia's farms? The conflict over land reform in Namibia is a continentwide debate in microcosm: Given Africa's history of colonialism, and its ongoing disparities in wealth between blacks and whites, how is it possible to redress those inequities fairly without causing economic collapse?

Petersburg Russian hate crimes on the rise. Petersburg" is the story of Nikolai Mikhailovich Girenko, a prominent defender of minority rights, who was gunned down in his home in the summer of His death was mourned by human rights defenders around the world. More than a year later, his murder remains unsolved. Seeds of Suicide India's desperate farmers. It's an epidemic in India, where farmers try to keep up with the latest pest-resistant seeds only to find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of pesticides that don't work, drought and debt.

Since , more than 25, farmers have committed suicide, many drinking the chemical that was supposed to make their crops more, not less, productive. The Women's Kingdom In China, how free can a woman be? Reporter Xiaoli Zhou, who comes from Shanghai, told us she had always wanted to visit the Mosuo region to see for herself how much freedom a woman might enjoy in China.

Dark Shadows The legacy of war in Serbia and Bosnia. The 10th anniversary of the worst massacre in Europe since World War II has focused the world's skittering attention on the unfinished business of the Balkan war. Thousands gathered this week in Bosnia to commemorate the Srebrenica massacre, when Bosnian Serb soldiers killed at least 7, Muslim men and boys. Cursed by the Gods Rebuilding lives after the tsunami. Return to Kirkuk A Kurdish exile's journey home. Karzan Sherabayani is a Kurdish exile living in Britain, an activist and an actor.

Twenty-five years ago, when he was 19, Sherabayani escaped from Iraq, where he had been imprisoned and tortured by Saddam Hussein's secret police. In January , he returned to his hometown, Kirkuk, to vote in the first national elections since the overthrow of Saddam's regime. His minute film, "Return to Kirkuk," has never been shown in the United States. Part 3 The Guru. The most elusive character in the case of the U. Khan has been indicted by the U.

Justice Department but he remains free in Pakistan, where he insists he is innocent. His South African collaborator, Asher Karni, has already pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing in a Brooklyn prison. Going Nuclear Legal power or illegal weapons? With exclusive access to a U. The Ballad of Juan Quezada A potter brings a village back to life.

As a young boy, 40 years ago, Juan Quezada discovered ancient painted pots in a cave in the rugged hills near his home. Quezada toiled to recreate the pottery methods of the Paquime Indians, a culture that died out centuries ago. After becoming an international pottery star, Quezada trained others in his village. Now, Mata Ortiz is home to several hundred master artisans, and Quezada is a local hero. The Earthquake An assassination sparks a revolution. Following the recent assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri -- and decades of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon -- hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Beirut, suspecting Syrian involvement in Hariri's murder and demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops.

It was an unprecedented display of Lebanese solidarity. No More War General Opande's last mission. United Nations peacekeepers moved into Liberia in to help implement a peace deal and make the country secure both for civilians and for the transitional government that was put in place after President Charles Taylor was exiled. Nuclear Underground -- Video Web Exclusive: Karni has pled guilty to violating U. Punk Rock in the Holy Land Israelis find freedom in a thriving punk scene. In Israel, a vibrant punk scene has emerged in a society torn apart by the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Nuclear Underground -- Special Report: Part 1 The Middleman. The importer was Humayun Khan, an Islamabad businessman with close ties to Pakistan's military. Reporting the War Trying to cover the world's most dangerous place. He travels with men and women whose quest for the story not only requires body armor as a tool of the trade, but also can lead to sudden death. The Quick and the Terrible Investigating charges of genocide. Costello takes a close-up look at the plight of the Darfuris and examines the consequences of continued civil war.

Silenced A reporter's nightmare. Her clandestine interview with a Uighur man turns into a reporter's nightmare when Chinese authorities arrest Fang and her source, confiscate her videotape, interrogate her for 24 hours, and take the Uighur man away to an unknown fate. In her story, Fang reveals the name of the man in an effort to bring attention to his plight. Dispatches From a Small Planet: Join young "backpack" journalists and veteran correspondents around the world as they report international perspectives on the U. And what issues are they dealing with in their own elections?

The Sex Workers A tale of two cities. In cities rife with sex trafficking, where as many as 60 percent of the people are infected with HIV, can their fight help keep the disease from exploding? Jesus christ is he who instucted us saying go to the whole Earth to proclaim the good news of the kingdom ,so i,m ready to be sent by him.

FRONTLINE/WORLD . Stories by Date | PBS

I was doing geneology on an ancestor and ran across 'Mission Sabbath School U. Does anyone know anything about this mission or where I can get further information? In , it is quite possible that a "Sabbath School" would be held on Sunday, since some of the missions from Great Britain called Sunday the "Sabbath.

The mission story for Oct 7 with ideas for presenting it may be found here: We do not know of any mission news other than the English ones. Perhaps some of our resondants can help. You've come to the right place. Click on the appropriate link in the page above. I suspect you may be thinking of the Mission Magazine. Does anybody know the person who was in charge of the mission spotlight during the seventies.

Mission Resources

I believe it was the person who started mission spotlight. I'm trying to find a mission spotlight from about where the German Seminar Marienhoehe was featured. I want to show it to my church since I was interviewed in that Mission Spotlight. Your email address will not be published. Don't subscribe All Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Americans would do well to listen to the insights of foreigners regarding the correlation of Christian values and successful business principles. David T Chengdu, China Enlightening and accurate!

I've been in China for several weeks and have attended both registered and house churches. I've inquired of Chinese Christians with great interest, their perceptions of their "religious freedoms". Interestingly enough most believe they have religious "freedom" - depending on how you define it. I believe your reporting captured the essence of Christianity in China, but it fell short by not mentioning the "rift" that has formed between the registered and unregistered house churches.

While there appears to be doctrinal unity, there is division in how each views as the appropriate church-state relationship. The registered church feels more "persecuted" by the house churches than by the state because of the house churches' criticism of their "duplicitous" loyalty to the state; the house church on-the-other-hand, feels the registered church is perhaps even hindering the spreading of the Gospel by falling under the state umbrella. Rancho C ucamonga, CA Great job!. It is very encouraging to hear that Christianity is spreading in China. I was distressed, however, that several items were factually incorrect.

As a Christian minister I have preached in several Chinese churches which are registered with the government. Certainly their freedoms do not compare with ours,but neither are their services conducted as you stated, under strict rules from the government.

• .
• .
• ?
• Wilms Tumour: Your Way Forward?
• How I Came To Be Coal!

I have, in fact, never been told of a single rule I had to follow when I have preached in those churches. I have also visited the national seminary in Nanjing and several regional seminaries, and have found pastors being trained by their respective educational institutions, not the government. Change is occurring rapidly in China, so rapidly that even many Chinese Christians do not know what is going on. There is much understandable mistrust and suspicion. No one knows if these changes are for real or if they will last, but if we wish to encourage religious freedom in China, and if we wish to encourage human understanding between our people, we must fairly report what is going on.

It seems that some are spinning it to show an economic benefit for embracing the 'western' religion. In fact, Christianity was embraced by the 'west' at the same time it was embrace by China through middle Eastern monks from Mesopotamia. Centuries before the west 'brought' Christianity to China, China had churches and monasteries worshiping Christianity.

I felt that the program neglected to mention the long history of Eastern Christianity in China. This is important to make sure that it is not interpreted as a western influence. Washington, DC How can someone look to the now floundering Western economy and find that Christian values can be attributed to its success and not realize that the success of China's economy and the East Asian Tigers are in fact due to Confucian values of hard work?

This article fails to realize many aspects of Chinese culture and fails to address the perspectives of the everyday Chinese that live in China by following a stereotypical and outdated view of the Chinese bureaucratic system and merely focusing on a government vs. Tulsa, Oaklahoma Jesus is irrelevant today.

There are far more important stories out there to report on: What does Jesus have to do with the real world problems we are facing today? How will Jesus help us? If he could've done anything, he would have done it already. What's he waiting for? Susan Chicago, IL Enlightening. Thank you for this report. It really sparked something in me. Thank you so much for this wonderful report, that was very well done! You did a beautiful job of presenting the Church of Jesus Christ in China! One of the comments here made a valid statement in that some of the pastors are not necessarily well-trained to become leaders of the church.

This IS one of the issues Chinese churches must resolve as it tries to free themselves from the rein of the Communist government. The fact that they are not well-educated does not disqualify them from being leaders of the church. I also want to comment that one of the house churches you visited would be considered a cult by many Christians, especially by those who are either working closely with the missionary workers in China or by other Christian ministries whose aim is to reach out to the mainland Chinese. Again, this is one of the typical issues that have been around places where the Christian faith is thriving and spreading.

Anonymous Atlanta, GA I was very pleased with this presentation. It documented well the divide between Christian house churches and the official patriotic church in China. It also indicated a recognition by many Chinese that trust of fellow citizens is needed. This trust was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and devastated their culture. I am involved with Chinese students attending a major U.

University who are interested in finding out about Christianity for the first time. They connect the prosperity of the West with the foundation of America on Judeo-Christian values. But their hunger goes beyond economic desire for the prosperity they see in the U. There is also a hunger for meaning and purpose in life which Christianity provides. Portland, OR Another excellent piece from Frontline. China is very much in a state of transformation and adaptation at the same time that its world influence is increasing. Only time will tell us just what kind of China will impact the world in the coming years.

Thank you for keeping us abreast of China's developments through timely, well-informed reports like this. Roman Catholicism and Protestanism are both denominations of the same religion of Christianity. I would have expected the doumentary to at least refer to the history of the two parts of the Catholic Church in China, the government sanctioned and the underground churches.

The Vatican is currently making efforts to reconcile these two parts in China. I have been in the House Church for over 20 years here in America. Still, I am deeply disturbed by the Westernization of the Chinese expression of Christ there. Western missionaries have always even if their intentions were pure brought their western practices and philosophies onto foreign soil and made "western-towns" like we have a "China Town" here in Boston.

How come we can't preach the gospel and let other cultures have their own expression of Christ in their own way? Even here in America, it is extremely difficult to find an "American" expression of Christ. And although the Little Flock was destroyed through internal conflicts and the egos of men, their expression was the most beautiful in China. The origins of the churches are clouded in history and unpleasant experiences with outsiders and barbarians.

The church brought missionaries and schools and hospitals in the best circumstances but it also came with the soldiers, the politicans and the overzealous who pushed people into paths that were interpreted not Chinese. A slow new understanding must be reached with these expressions of personal faith and belief. The government is trying to accomodate the new situation but doesn't want anything to disturb the balance of state and religion -- whatever the form.

But the changes are coming and the country is changing. This is a good indication of the willingness of the Communist state to allow religions to be practiced. There is a fear of the zealot and the uncontrolled power of the various religions in forms they can't imagine. Eventually, it comes back to social justice and the need of the government to help the poor through the economy, the health system and welfare system.

They will see that religions can work for them in these areas and that they shouldn't fear the spreading of religious freedoms.

• Mission Resources – Sabbath School Net!
• FRONTLINE/World Jesus in China Synopsis and Video | PBS.
• !
• .

Los Angeles, CA There were some encouraging and discouraging things in this report. It's good to see Christians being more open to confess who they are, but at times it seemed to require a bit of bravery due to the current conditions. There is definitely more work and pressure needed so that the gov't can actually become tolerant towards people of different religions.

One other thing that bothered me was how the government has attempted to fabricate it's own church, and how some seem to think that Christianity is a means to an end so that a country can be prosperous. Whenever I see people attempting to change Christianity for a culture and ideology, I get a sick feeling.

Christians can be of different backgrounds, but must still hold to certain crucial beliefs. Christianity has distinguished itself by its beliefs and creeds since antiquity. If Christians don't hold to a core of common beliefs, then what unites them? It seems that Christianity has slowly stopped being creedal in our times and become more of an experience.

My dismay for some of things reported does not mean I thought the reporting was bad. On the contrary, it was very informative, and I would love to hear some follow up reporting. Osnos and PBS for producing this timely documentary. I am glad that I help introduce Mr. Osnos some of the leaders he interviewed in this piece. Shelby, Montana I have been to China 5 times in the last few years.

Taking in Bibles and literature You are right on and I am proud of the progress the Christians have made. Praise be To Jesus. I am a Chinese Christian and communist. I like these reporters like Evan who explore the facts as much as he can and report without much political, national bias. Like your video, Evan.

Chapel Hill, NC This documentary was done with a wonderful mix of professional objective reporting while still allowing for matters of the heart and soul. Evan was bold to raise some tough questions re: My time in China was '' China, Gansu Province As a Christian living in China, I found this report fascinating as it confirmed what I have seen with my own eyes.

I have been to churches in several small towns and in big cities and they are overflowing. At every service people have been worshiping from outside. Back home in the UK congregations are dwindling but here in China the story is very different. I have been open about my faith and have received nothing other than respect for my beliefs, even from those who did not agree.

It is a very exciting to watch the growth of Christianity and I pray that soon the persecution and suspicion will end. I think your documentary fail to bring in the view of the Chinese people like me, whose view on this issue represents the large majority of people in China. However, we are concerned when the religious leaders are untrained and unqualified. From what I saw in your movie, the so called underground church leaders are mostly farmers. What gives them the qualification to lead a large group of people in their spiritual world?

Being a religious zealot is not a qualifier to me. Doctors, teachers, engineers, all professions are regulated by the government. If the government-sponsored church practice is "untrue" to the real Christianity, what makes the practice of the underground church "true" to God? If you interview any "regular" people in Chinese society, you'd find my view largely echoed. It wold have made your documentary more complete.

I'm encouraging all my friends to watch it. Thank you PBS for showing this great story. I will be watching your programming more often to see similar programs. It is not a surprise to me to watch the great Chinese economic boom coincide directly with the great Christian conversions going on in that country.

If the USA wants to stay an economic powerhouse, we need to stop with the moral relativism and secularism and bring God and Jesus Christ back into our schools and our homes. The further we push Christianity out of our lives, the more deprived we will become. Remember, Europe was also the center of the world's economy at one point but they too have far too often turned their backs to God. May the Gospel be preached. May many come to know Him and may his purpose be fulfilled. Clare Costa Mesa, CA I want to add my "thank you" to the long list of "thank yous", for such an honest and personal story.

It seems as if the primary time that Christianity makes national or world news, is either because of flagrant sin in the church, or true revival.

At the end of the story, the author gives his life to Christ. Evan, again, excellent work. I will be praying for you, that if you don't know Jesus, that you will choose Him soon. Brooklyn, NY Very encouraging piece! Let's keep on praying for China and the rest of the world. He is a brave and genuine servant to His Kingdom. Your story is power and truly illustrates the Christianity movement in China.

Watching this program and seeing their perseverance strengthen my own faith while I minister with others.

Jim Seattle, WA Although Christian belief is not new to China, I find the present context particularly interesting in light of what is taking place in Russia. What atheistic communism could never offer to these two great nations is the power to change an individual coupled with truth in its teachings to the society at large. This is a stunning contrast to the distintigration of the person that is taking place in Western society.

We seem to be receding quickly into the past. His purpose will be served! I have known for many years that there is an underground church in China; but until now, very little has been known publicly. It is still a secret in our media. America and Great Britain sent missionaries to China for years, beginning in the 's.

Many were killed during WWII and others were forced to leave in the late 40's. But there have been many stories of underground churches and groups smuggling bibles. I agree with the comments of Anonymous who compared the statements of Zhao Xiao and deTocqueville about America's strength coming the preaching in our churches. The problem now is that our liberal anti-Christian media makes every effort to keep our preaching a secret and bashes Evangelicals at every opportunity.

State College, PA Thanks so very much for this important series. And it seems that reporting on such things often would be fitting as it changes so fast. We no longer can live like we're in a bubble here in the USA. It's important that people everywhere have basic freedoms like worship. America is the largest buyer of goods from the largest producer of them-China. We must insist on or at least strongly encourage basic human rights and unless we know what's really going on today as your piece very well shows , we cannot intelligently defend those rights.

As a minister to Chinese scholars studying here, I have seen much of the hunger to know the truth of the existence of God which is not widely or freely shared in China.