Misguided: The Soundtrack To My Life

Chapter 13 – Pearls Of The OrientMusic featured in this chapter:China – Sammy HagarUndercover Agents – Enter ShikariAs a young teen I knew almost nothing about China, but I was intrigued by it. Many Chinese immigrants had come to our small mill town over the decades. The father of one of my Chinese-Canadian classmates was in the British air force based in Hong Kong during WW2. There was a photo of him in his uniform on their living room wall. My classmate was a second generation Canadian, so he and his siblings were well assimilated into Canadian culture, but a new immigrant family from Hong Kong moved across the alley from our house. I quickly made friends with their two children, the younger was my age and the other a couple years older. I especially liked visiting them in their home because it gave me a glimpse of a different culture. I went over one time while they were eating dinner, and was fascinated by their unfamiliar foods and ways of eating with chopsticks out of shared dishes and lots of slurping noises (acceptable when eating soup or noodles), which was quite a contrast to my own quiet family dinners.Perhaps the biggest Chinese influence on me was Steve, a classmate in junior high school. He was also a recent immigrant from Hong Kong, who longed to return there. He found small town Port Alberni boring after living in that bustling city. He told me stories of his life in Hong Kong that fed my wanderlust to see that city and the world. In this photo we are on a field trip with our grade 9 class. Notice the headband and flower in my hair.In mid 1983, Rachelle, Peter and I arrived in Penang, the Pearl of the Orient. That Malaysian tropical island shares the title with a few other places, including Hong Kong and Shanghai. We would soon live in the former and I would visit the latter, but Penang was the perfect place to start our foreign adventure, especially for Rachelle and Peter. Our life there was fairly laid-back, so they were able to slowly adapt to the culture shock of living outside Canada for the first time....... After nearly four months in Malaysia, we received a message from the top leader of the Asia-Pacific region. Keda had read our letter replying to the help wanted ad by a couple in Macau. She instructed us to go there as soon as possible to help them so they could work full time translating Berg’s writings into Chinese....... We arrived in Macau near the end of 1983. Situated on the west side of the Pearl River estuary across from Hong Kong, it was still a Portuguese colony at the time. Macau was the first European colony in 16th century China, and the last one remaining when China resumed its sovereignty over the territory in 1999. Parts of the city are frozen in time. Centuries-old forts, churches, temples and neoclassical buildings stand in sharp contrast to the gaudy bright lights of modern casinos....... American Danny and Taiwanese Becky lived with their three young boys in a three-bedroom apartment near Senado Square, the historic centre of Macau. We arrived in the middle of a meeting they were having with other Chinese translators based in Hong Kong. We were surprised to see Keda there too, who was overseeing their work. She explained she recruited us because unlike most Family couples, we only had one older child, so we were well-suited for this situation. Taking care of Danny and Becky’s children and running the home would enable them to focus full-time on translating Berg’s letters.…… I felt honoured she recruited us to help Danny and Becky’s important work. After being closed to the outside world for over 25 years, communist China was just beginning to open up, so I was excited to be part of that mission. Although we weren’t personally evangelizing, the literature Danny and Becky were translating would reach far more people than we ever could ourselves. By serving them, we served God.…China – Sammy HagarBut that China wind keeps callin' me It knows where I want to go You see, I really don't have the choices My life is torn between lovin you and them So I pretend to chart my courses But I listen to that China wind Oh China, I can hear you call You're a riddle wrapped up inside a mysteryWhile living in Macau, Peter and I were some of the first foreign solo travelers, that is we were not part of a tour group, allowed to enter China after it began to slowly open its doors to the world. The government office that issued our visitor visas insisted we hire a car and driver to cross the border, claiming it was for our safety, but it was really just a money grab. However, we felt like real VIPs when our Mercedes Benz was quickly waved through the border crossing, while tourists in buses had to get off their bus and be processed individually. We only spent the day in China, returning to Macau after meeting two of the undercover members living there and delivering them new cult publications and household items not yet available in the newly industrializing country. After about a year in Macau, Rachelle and I were recruited to work in a leadership home in Hong Kong.In September 1984, there was a fellowship conference for all members in Hong Kong and Macau, except for those living incognito in secret World Services units. About a hundred of us gathered for four days at a YMCA campground in rural Hong Kong that had cabins, a communal kitchen, and conference hall. On the last day, Mark, the leader in charge of all the regular homes pulled Rachelle and I aside and recruited us for his office home in Hong Kong.A suggestion or request from a leader was essentially an order. We were expected to respond with, “thy wish is my command!”....... Like in Macau, Rachelle helped care for the kids, while I cooked, did chores and ran errands. I also got to take another courier trip to China, this time alone by train, taking publications and products to Family missionaries disguised as English teachers in the southern cities of Guangzhou (formerly Canton), Hangzhou and Shanghai.I was extremely excited to once again participate directly in our undercover mission to the communist country, one of the last we still had to reach with our end-time gospel message before Jesus returned. I was also a bit nervous smuggling sensitive Family material, which I buried at the bottoms of my backpack and large suitcase, hidden under a pile of products I was bringing that weren’t yet available in those early years of China’s modernization. Almost everyone in the customs line had similar overloaded baggages, so fortunately, the agent only did a superficial inspection before waving me through.1984 Me and Rachelle at the Hong Kong fellowship conference where we were recruited to work in a leader’s home.Undercover Agents – Enter ShikariAnd I said, "Park your car and come on up to my house We'll plan a revolution" And I said, "Yeah, I think I'm ready to begin We'll destroy the disillusion" I am currently under construction Thank you for your patience We veneer and veil, we present a cold disguise We're all undercover agents It's only in our heads It's only in our headsLiving in Macau and Hong Kong for a couple years, with those two courier trips I made to mainland China, made me eager to become an undercover missionary there. However, in early 1985 all regular members were told to evacuate Hong Kong due to government persecution targeting the cult. Some of the cult’s super-secret cells that controlled the cult’s international finances were located there, so the evacuation was to protect them from being discovered. About 10 years after I left Japan, I returned there. China would have to wait, but not for long. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit perrybulwer344598.substack.com