LUCKY SEVERSON: For centuries, Hong Kong has been the gateway to China, to the world's most populous marketplace. The city has always been about exploiting the riches of China, its financial cathedrals reaching to the heavens. But things are changing. Some of these edifices now house churches, and there are preachers from around the globe, including television evangelists, who have visions of Hong Kong as the golden gate to 1.3 billion potential converts.
These worshippers belong to the Revival Christian Church, and they are doing what Christians do everywhere on Sunday -- praise the Lord. Only here it is in Cantonese. It's a part of Hong Kong not often seen in the hustle-bustle of everyday business. The pastor is Dennis Balcombe. He is a legend in Hong Kong. Pastor Balcombe is originally from the U.S. and has been preaching and converting souls, mostly in Asia, for 35 years.Pastor Balcombe says religious freedom in Hong Kong has actually gotten better since the British handed the city over to Communist China in 1997. He says the British were more cautious in their approach to religious freedom and that, so far, the Chinese have kept their promise to govern Hong Kong with a less restrictive set of laws than on mainland China.
Pastor DENNIS BALCOMBE (Revival Christian Church): We feel actually that we have more freedoms and more opportunities for ministry as a Christian than we did under the British administration. And so the government actually encourages churches to go into the schools and go out on the street and basically get involved in society. They're saying to us, "Don't just keep your religion in the church, but go out where you can really help people," which is, of course, what we should be doing.
SEVERSON: There are approximately 300,000 Christians in Hong Kong out of a population of 7 million, but only rough estimates of the number in China overall, ranging from 60 to 100 million. Everyone agrees Christianity is growing fast in China and also in Hong Kong.
This is another church situated in a financial skyscraper. It's called the Vine Christian Fellowship, and it's open around the clock. Pastor John Snelgrove, also a businessman, and his co-pastor Tony Reed, also an engineer, operate the Fellowship for Christians in the inner city. Like all Hong Kong pastors, they are free to preach the gospel without government interference, but there are limits.
Pastor TONY REED (Fellowship for Christians): Certainly most of the preachers I know, most of the churches I know will try to stay clear of being political in their statements. You know, because we have the best message there is. It's the message from Jesus Christ, the message from God. So why would we want to mess that up with politics? And really, most people would try to avoid that, I think, if they could.SEVERSON: Here in Hong Kong, religious leaders say they are able to worship as they please, as long as they don't preach politics. But on the mainland, the situation is quite different. Only churches registered with the state are allowed to worship openly, and even then they are monitored very closely. Those not registered operate underground at their own peril. The day we visited Pastor Balcombe's church, there were several Christians from the mainland attending the service. They agreed to speak with us, providing we were careful not to disclose their identities. Our interpreter was Pastor Sharon Lau, Pastor Balcombe's daughter.
(To Pastor Sharon Lau): What would happen if the Chinese authorities knew that you were in church and that you were being interviewed about it on American television? Would you get in trouble?
Pastor SHARON LAU (Revival Christian Church)(Translating): There should be some problems if that happens.
SEVERSON: Do you know anyone who has been put in prison because of their religious practices?
Pastor LAU: Yes.
SEVERSON: But what were they doing that made the authorities so angry to put them in prison?
Pastor LAU: Basically, it's while they were preaching.
SEVERSON: In fact, most of those from the mainland we spoke with have spent time in prison. And so has Pastor Balcombe, although he didn't want to talk about it.
Pastor BALCOMBE: The persecution is something we don't like, but it's a fact. And we don't take it personally. It's part of the system.SEVERSON: The pastor has preached to underground churches throughout China for years. He's carried in thousands of Bibles, usually in the open, unlike these missionaries attempting to sneak them in. And he has baptized hundreds of converts.
Pastor BALCOMBE: This is an underground church.
SEVERSON: The pastor has an office full of tapes of underground services where believers risk everything to practice their faith.
SEVERSON: But now there's a missionary tool relatively new to Asia, one that may be more difficult for authorities to control -- cable and satellite TV. For the first time, Hong Kong cable now carries an international Christian channel. It's called God TV.
Pastor JOHN SNELGROVE (Fellowship for Christians): I love it. I mean, it gives me and the congregation an opportunity to look at some of the best speakers around the world, you know, and the fact that we can just switch on our TV screen, and we can see people of the ilk of Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn, and how they are teaching has been a real benefit to me as a pastor and a real benefit to our people as a congregation.
Pastor MANGUM: Frankly, I cringed a bit. I just don't know how effective that is, and especially when you're trying to sneak things into somewhere where it's not wanted. I feel that to tell folks to do that publicly is just not a good approach.
Pastor BALCOMBE: What is going to happen if this controversy is not really quieted? Then people are going to have a wrong impression of the church and Christianity, and so the next person that raises a lot of money and wants to go and start a television station and get time, they will say no, and they will not tell you why.
Pastor BALCOMBE: I love China. We live in Hong Kong, China. I obey the laws. We pray for the nation. But this is just a fact, and so I wouldn't put a lot of hope on China anytime in our lifetime [to be] open to Christian television, unless there is a major change in the government of China, which could happen. But we don't see any signs of that right now.
