Promise, a Chinese Christian journalist in Sydney for Access All Areas, talks to Sydneyanglicans.net about his reflections on the Sichuan earthquake.

What part of the affected area did you go to, and when?

Immediately after the earthquake hit Sichuan, ... we knew it would be a very great event for China. It happened on Monday May 12 and at that time I was writing a feature" and I was busy. But I finished that on Wednesday May 14 and after that I felt I should go to Sichuan. Then on the Thursday I went there to contact local newspapers and local house churches in Chengdu. I stayed there until Tuesday (May 20). And I travelled along with local newspaper journalists and local house churches to some of the hardest hit areas.

What did you see there?

In the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, the situation is good. There's no damage at all within the city of Chengdu and in the suburbs there was very little damage. But in areas which are about 80 or 100 km from the city of Chengdu the damage has been widespread across villages, towns and small cities.

Many houses just collapsed or had partly collapsed. But the relief effort has been very quick, especially in the city centre, So when I was there, many people had been put in shelters and tents and given drink, food and medicine. But in the villages one kilometre away from the main roads, things were not very good. When we were there, two villages said we were the first to bring aid to them. I hope now things will get better, but during that time, it was not very good.

I also witnessed an almost 10-hour rescue effort to pull a man from a collapsed building. In the end, the man was rescued but had to have both legs amputated. Two hours after he was pulled from the collapsed building, he died. His wife had died before him. When you saw what was happening with your own eyes, it was very striking.

How did you make sense of this at the time as a Christian?

I had been thinking about the meaning of this earthquake before I arrived in Chengdu. At the beginning I must acknowledge that I did not have any idea of what an earthquake looked like because never in my life had I seen such a natural disaster. The last earthquake was 32 years ago, when I was three or four months old.

But when I arrived there, especially after leaving Chengdu to go to the earthquake-hit areas, I began to think that it would have a big impact on me. I saw standing by the gate of the traditional Chinese hospital many people were waiting for the identification of bodies of their loved ones. When one of them heard that her mother had been pronounced dead in that hospital, she collapsed " she could not stand what she had heard. So it was very striking for me.

At that time I began to think that comfort is one of the important things for the survivors and as a Christian, I thought that the real comfort is through God, not from man. Fortunately I was on a team of a number of local house churches that went to a village to provide aid. When we were there, we were invited by local villagers to see the collapsed buildings. In quality, the houses were very poor, not good enough to withstand an eight-magnitude earthquake. At that time, I knew the important thing is not only to bring food and drink and medicine but to bring comfort to them and talk with them patiently.

Then we went to see eight houses that were very close together. They were farmers and they were just crying, so that moved me so much as a Christian that I have been thinking of how to bring comfort to them. The members of house churches were saying this is a good opportunity for local house churches and also other churches from abroad to plant churches there. They say it would take some years before a new church could be built there, so it would be a long process. Without the earthquake these villagers would have had no opportunity to hear about the gospel, Jesus Christ or even God. When we went to the village, we told them it’s not us who brings assistance, it was God. All of us felt very fortunate to be there.

In a social sense it is also the job a church should do because as the time goes by, government officials and international and national organisations and also the media will go eventually " they can't stay forever. In August, most of the spotlight will be on Beijing, on the Olympic Games. After three, four or five months, the relief effort will have ended. At that time I think the survivors will face a critical moment because they will feel alone, abandoned by the world again because they are at the centre of the world attention now but three, four or five months later, the centre of the world will move to other places. So there is the opportunity for mission, for other Christians to dedicate themselves to the survivors.

What do you think will be the significance of this earthquake for China in the long term?

This year, before the earthquake, you could see a very strong movement of nationalism in China, and other parts of the world where Chinese live. There were other events - the Tibet protest crackdown, the Olympic Torch relay and also the elections in Taiwan. These three things provided the world with an idea of the fire of nationalism.

It was a total surprise that the earthquake hit. I think for many people they couldn't believe this earthquake was so big in scale, and relief effort. It's the biggest earthquake in the last 30 years, even bigger than the earthquake in 1976, in Tangshan in the north, not far from Beijing.

That year was a milestone for China because at least three top Communist leaders died in that year and the 10-year Cultural Revolution ended that year, and in the generation of my parents, many people believed the earthquake was not accidental " it was very symbolic and after that, in the past 32 years, great changes have happened in China, perhaps unprecedented in Chinese history. I believe this could be another milestone in Chinese history.

In the coming years, what will happen in China? That is a question we should ponder. In 1989, there were the protests at Tiananmen Square at the corruption of the government. 19 years later, China's political system largely remains unchanged. But in many areas, I think people's hearts have changed. I think that if there are Christians in many important aspects of China including politics, the economy, education and culture, then I think China will have a very good chance to become even more open and free in the next 30 years. But for now, you can't draw any specific conclusions.

I think the general public opinion is for the further reform of China, even though we have some strong nationalism. But that is very natural for China because China has been through 100 years of humiliation, especially given the fact that so many strong Western powers came to China. In many ways I think the West still shows some arrogance to the Chinese people.

The earthquake for now has raised the awareness of many people across China that life is so weak; that for now, you are strong, rich and prosperous, but after only a few seconds, you are no more in the world. Some people are beginning to reflect on what the most important thing in life is, so rich people have sent money to earthquake-affected areas.

Also, you could see from the media that in dealing with the deadly earthquake, some people complained about the cruelty of their fate, some mentioned God, some mentioned heaven; God or heaven is unjust to Sichuan, for example many boys and girls died in a school building. But on the other hand, I think there are good opportunities for Christians to tell them the truth behind death and tragedy, to tell them the story of Jesus Christ, to tell them about the real God, not what they think God is. So I think there are lots of things for Christians to do in the coming years. In short, it is time to change the hearts and minds of China for the better for the truth.

I understand you are part of a house church there. What is the current situation of house churches in China?

Officially speaking, the church is underground, but in reality, it is open to the public " everyone could go there, but things are complicated. Especially if you are a white man or woman, if you go there it will bring some risks or dangers to the church. Because in China, there is a Cold War thinking that some foreigners have bad motives in doing things in China.

Some say this is a very negative situation, but on the other hand, the government in many cases just lets the church exist. Many churches have had their regular church services in past years but everything is uncertain. The authorities could come at any time, you never know. So for now, you could say the house churches in China are half open.

Why have you travelled all this way to be at Access All Areas?

Because I'm a Christian and I'm a journalist" I think it is also a good opportunity for me to meet brothers and sisters from other countries " Asia, America and Australia.

I need to learn more about the truth by meeting brothers and sisters I did not know before, especially in other cultures.

The first thing for me is to learn humbly.

Secondly it concerns the current earthquake in Sichuan. I felt that I have the responsibility to speak of what I've seen " my personal account of this earthquake disaster and why it is very important - to the outside world, even though the media in China is now very open. Because I just would like to appeal to more Christians in the world to do something for the quake-hit regions, to carry out their mission broadly in China and the affected regions also need help from fellow Christians in the world. They can not only bring material aid to them but also spiritual aid, so this is a good opportunity for me.