Group Journal #4 (Wednesday, June 30, 2010)

We have had another great day in Nanjing China.

At breakfast the Shadyside missionaries made travel plans. They are to leave Thursday morning by China Air. They will see the site of the Shadyside Hospital, which was built in the 1930s and used during World War II as an internment camp for the confinement of “enemies of war” by the Japanese forces. The internees were primarily American civilians who worked in China at the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor (more about that later).

The morning matins were centered on faith. The scripture reading was Mark 5:24-34: “If I but touch his clothes I will be made well.”

The morning workshop centered on building relationships. We discussed how complex the simple things are. We take things for granted within our own culture, and this practice makes our life simple. But, when we move into another culture, the very things that we take for granted place roadblocks toward good relationships. This was discussed in small groups with our Chinese friends.

Lunch was served at the Nanjing Bible College. We had eel and several other delicacies.

After lunch we took a bus to the Nanjing war museum for the Nanjing Massacre, in which 300,000 Chinese civilians were murdered. It was pretty graphic, with the actual movies of the event that were taken by the Japanese war photographers, who spared no details. The penultimate part of the presentation was an actual mass grave of 10,000 people. The last part of the presentation was a flock of real live white doves. The most striking part of the museum was the theme: We forgive, but we do not forget. From the presentation, it appears that the Chinese really mean it. They really do forgive.

We had dinner back at the Bible college. As a special treat for the departing Shadyside missionaries, the Chinese hosts brought in McDonalds hamburgers.

The evening vespers centered on faith. This time the scripture reading was James 5:13-15: “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders to the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.”

As an aside, Anna Marie Melrose told us of her experience as the child of an American missionary in Hainan. The Japanese started the invasion in 1937 by bombing Hainan and Shanghai. Her father stayed behind, but she, her mother, and two sisters left for Hong Kong and then to the States. After the Nanjing Massacre, in 1937 her parents returned to China. The Japanese occupied the country but were not at war with the U.S. They worked in Hainan until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her parents were captured and put in the internment camp. President Roosevelt put the Japanese Americans into an internment camp and then arranged a prisoner exchange. Her parents were released.

Tomorrow our friends from Shadyside will go to see the site of the Japanese internment camp, formerly known as Shadyside Hospital.

Bless them on their journey.

Dan Ernsberger