dom. I asked one man why the people of the mainland didn’t try to revolt. The Communists had murdered his wife and baby before his very eyes. He had no one else, and somehow, in some way, he had made the arduous trip to Hong Kong under a veil of secrecy. His answer, “It is impossible. The commune system has destroyed all families. Hus bands are separated from wives, and parents are taken from children. Unbelievable hours of toil are re quired, which prevents the tired work ers from any type of revolt or over throw. The people are kept hungry, drought is prevalent, and food is ex tremely low. The Communists have exported too much of their foodstuffs,
in Hong Kong: We have great confi- idence in the leadership ability of these men and women of Hong Kong; fine Christian businessmen and women of the area; people who are concerned about the struggle for freedom and the opportunities of gospel proclamation in these difficult hours. We must have prayer in unison that the abundant wisdom of the Lord will guide and mark out their path day by day. And what of the area of Hong Kong? Our ears were filled with reports of the poor refugees who have tried their best to find freedom. They are often called “squatters” for they put up their hovels and shacks, made of scrap lumber, metal or cardboard anywhere they can find a spot. It may be on a rocky hill side, in a doorway, or by the bank of a river. With no heat or sanitation, one wonders how they exist. Of course dis eases are prevalent and the mortality rate high. Few make more than $20.00 a month. And then when you hear their stories of life under communist oppres sion — the violence of it — you under stand that even in the worst conditions of poverty, they are much happier, for they have freedom. Stories poured out across the Bamboo Curtain — the imaginary term for the very real boundary of freedom which we saw— concerning the struggle just to keep alive. A large waterpipe had been constructed from Red China to Hong Kong — an effort of the Reds to propagandize the people of Hong Kong by giving them very much needed water. Before the first drop started to pour, it was discovered that refugees had crawled into the small pipe and sought freedom in this difficult way. Some died of suffocation along the way from Red China to Hong Kong, and others would have to crawl over the bodies, but the price of freedom was worth the attempt. We learned that one does not ask too many questions as to how escape was effected, for there are too many loved ones back home who could be harmed or tortured because of the price of free
“Life is so much better than at home."
leaving the workers to starve, the most horrible type of creeping death.” I tell you, there wasn’t a night that I didn’t go to bed thankful for our home, and for all of the provisions, no matter how poor they may seem in the sight of the possessions of others about us, how thankful I was for freedom, and for the privilege of Worshipping as we please here in America. How tragic it is that we take so much for granted. In Hong Kong, our missionaries Mr. and Mrs. Phillips took us to visit the huge resettlement areas. Because there are so many hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong, it’s not uncom mon to find a family or families, I should say, of ten or fifteen living, existing, in a room probably half the 25
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