I had someone ask me this question and thought I would post the conversation here as it seems like an interesting topic.
I also have a question about churches-Do you guys go to a church and, if so, what is it like? I ask because a friend has been telling me about the church he has been going to in Beijing that is exclusively for foreigners. They check your ID to make sure you are a foreigner so that no native Chinese people can attend. Are the only legal churches for Chinese people those that are run by the state? Anyway, I was just wondering what it is like for you over there.


About your question. The government policy on church for foreigners here is that you can meet together as long as nationals do not attend. They will let a national who is married to a foreigner attend. Although this sounds restrictive I see it as a very good policy. What happens is that this opens a door for national leadership to actually lead their own fellowships. I work with a number of locals who lead their own groups. They are able to take on leadership and not depend on foreign help or control. I help to disciple the leadership, encourage them and if there are problems to help them think of solutions. If I leave the group will continue to go on without outside leadership. Now even the Chinese are using this model when they go to new places and start new groups.
Although there is a legal church here called the three self church there are also a lot of other groups and networks called house groups. As foreigners we are allowed to attend the three self church as long as we do not have a leadership role in the meeting times. We have done so when we lived in Kunming but there are no three self churches here. Every area varies as to what the religious affairs bureau will allow and how much pressure they might put on people who are in home groups. In our area a lot of pressure comes because this is a Buddhist area so the community will put pressure on people who are believers. This is always greater in rural areas. I have friends who are denied gov. help and we think it is because of their faith. I also know people who have been arrested. They are people who really trust the Lord and spend very little time thinking about what the government might do to them. With my work I am looking at ways to train these people in agriculture so they can be a greater service to their communities and share the love of Gd with people who might not otherwise listen to them.
We meet here with other ex-expatriates on Sundays. It is a small group of people and we all take turns hosting and sharing. It is more relaxed than what you might be used to. For us the focus in on encouraging each other in the Lord. With different people sharing and leading each week according to their own style. We have a large diversity of the body of Christ represented.
I hope this answers your question. If you have others let me know.
Karl