The biggest of all the boss Christians is a man named Zheng Shengtao.
For him, finding riches was intertwined with finding God. His start in life was humble: delivering goods on a three-wheeled bike. Back then, private business was still banned, and in 1983 his attempts to make money landed him in jail.
"I stayed in prison for 69 days," Zheng says. "There was a charge of speculation and profiteering. I hadn't thought about Jesus much before. But I started to think about him all day long. It wasn't that I believed in him. I just prayed he would get me out as soon as possible."
The experience convinced him to become a devout Christian.
Despite his rocky start as an entrepreneur, Zheng flourished after private business became acceptable.
Now, he is a member of the provincial Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body to the government, and director of the Wenzhou General Chamber of Commerce. He has been ranked by Forbes magazine as the 395th richest man in China, with assets estimated at more than $400 million.
His consortium is called the Shenli Group, a name which translates literally as "God's power." It encompasses mining projects, real estate development and machinery.
Zheng believes that making money is literally doing God's work.
"We have to be the salt of the earth. We don't bribe officials to make money or make fake products or harm the customers' interests or evade tax. We don't think the wealth belongs to us. We're just like bank clerks. It's God who gives you the career and the wealth and asks you to manage them," he says.
Boss Christians like Zheng are literally invested in the current political system. So they are tolerated — welcomed even — in this part of China. But the fact that the economic elite are pouring resources into religious activism could be unsettling for China's atheist leaders.
Churches That Follow God, Not Government
One example is an unofficial church in an unmarked building in Wenzhou's suburbs where a steady stream of imported cars drops off worshipers for a prayer meeting on a weekday night.
"The state was trying to control us," says one worshiper, who asked not to be named, "so we set up our own church not to follow the government, but to follow the God of the Bible."
As the prayer meeting begins, a woman at the front of the room starts crying and praying into a microphone. Hundreds of people are kneeling on mats on the floor, wailing and rocking, tears dropping down their cheeks.
This is the new face of Christianity in China: the up-and-coming urban middle classes. Material needs met, they are now seeking spiritual comfort.
It's clearly a charismatic gathering, even though Christianity in China is supposed to be non-denominational. It's also technically illegal, since the prayer leader isn't approved by the state-sanctioned church and the church is unregistered.
Although leaders of some larger unofficial churches have been harassed and persecuted, the authorities largely turn a blind eye, unwilling — or perhaps unable — to deal with this explosion of faith.
Now, there is public discussion about whether these gatherings should be legitimized. Recently the state-run media has been running pieces featuring these "house churches," raising expectations they may be recognized.
Thomas Banchoff, director of Georgetown's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, has held discussions with officials from China's State Administration for Religious Affairs, or SARA.
"I understand there are quite a few different perspectives within China among the leadership about whether to accommodate these groups, whether to set strict limits and how to proceed," he says.
Officials from SARA refused repeated requests for interviews for this story.
Faithful Continue To Push Boundaries
Their powers to govern religion do, however, seem to be waning. That seems clear in a rural village in eastern China, where young people are openly trying to gain converts in defiance of the laws prohibiting proselytizing in public places.
They claim not to be aware of such laws. A crowd of villagers is listening, perched on tractors and low benches, their feet swimming in a sea of mud.
In a fiery sermon, one young missionary makes oblique references to rampant materialism, corruption and the immense wealth gap between rich and poor. It's a message that hits home in this hardscrabble part of China.
"In China, a lot of so-called atheists treat money as their God," storms the young man who is preaching to the gathered crowd. "But only in God's truth can you find real freedom."
China's Christians are pushing back the boundaries, and the authorities don't seem to know how to respond. Recent reports say some leaders of larger unofficial churches are harassed and persecuted and their congregations are prevented from meeting in their previous places of worship.
But in this rural part of China, these young missionaries are operating without hindrance.
After their performance, they climb into a trailer pulled by a tractor, which will take them to their next destination. They are intent on saving souls, one village at a time.
China's youth once trundled across the countryside spreading communism. Now, they're spreading God's word.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128546334
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