This chapter is an excerpt from David Joannes, The Mind of a Missionary: What Global Kingdom Workers Tell Us About Thriving on Mission Today (Within Reach Global, 2018).
Read the review by John Lathrop

The Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong is one of history’s great anomalies. It was, in fact, a world unto its own.[i] Two governments claimed jurisdiction, but neither actively administered it; anarchy reigned while secret societies presided over the no-man’s land. High-rise apartments situated atop a labyrinth of dark, filthy corridors. A mere six acres sheltered the estimated 33,000 people who resided within the Walled City, swelling the population density to 3.25 million people per square mile.[ii] It was the most densely populated spot in the world. (In contrast, Manhattan has the highest population density of any city in the United States at 27,000 people per square mile.)[iii] Crazy-angled apartment blocks obstructed water pipes; without proper sanitation, excrement had to be emptied into the stinking alleys below. At street level, two toilets served all 33,000 residents. The “toilets” consisted of two overflowing cesspools—one for men and one for women. Damp, narrow alleyways with open drains harbored drug peddlers, addicts, pimps, and prostitutes. Triad gangs operated openly in the favored secret hideout; criminal activity ran rampant. Newcomers were immediately recognized and suspiciously monitored; few outsiders dared venture into the heart of the city of anarchy.

The history of the Walled City traced its roots back to the Song dynasty (960-1279) when the Chinese established an outpost to manage the salt trade. For hundreds of years afterward, little took place at the lonely fort, until 1842, when China ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain by the Treaty of Nanjing. As a result, the Qing Dynasty authorities felt it necessary to bolster the fort, check British influence, and maintain a stronghold opposite the harbor. In 1847, the construction of a formidable defensive wall finalized.

The Qing-era Kowloon Walled City, circa 1868.
Image: Wikimedia Common

The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory of 1898 leased additional portions of Hong Kong (the New Territories) to Britain for ninety-nine years.[iv] The lease excluded the Walled City, which at the time had a population of roughly seven-hundred people. The British government allowed Chinese officials to continue there, given they did not interfere with the defense of British Hong Kong. The Qing dynasty ended its rule in 1912, leaving the Walled City to the British.

In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, refugees fled mainland China, seeking protection in the Chinese territory surrounded by British land. By 1947, two-thousand squatters occupied the Walled City. After a failed attempt to drive them out in 1948, the British adopted a “hands-off” policy in most matters concerning the Walled City. The city was left to its own devices, and to develop, as Governor Sir Alexander Grantham described it, into “a cesspool of iniquity, with heroin divans, brothels, and everything unsavoury.”[v] The Kowloon Walled City began its transformation into the squalid enclave of vice for which it later became notorious.

When: Saturday, June 2, 2018, 7 to 8:30 am.

Where: Ikthus Church Mangdalagan, Bacolod City, Philippines.

For more information about Jim Linzey’s itinerary, visit: www.JimLinzey.com

This issue, #124, examines the ancient “city movement” together with the modern one of today. Eleven articles and interviews, illustrated by accompanying images of art and architecture, explore how early Christians thought, worked, prayed, served, and talked to their neighbors in cities. During a 350 year period, starting some 2,000 years ago, a small group of Jesus’ disciples grew to be 56 percent of the population of the Roman Empire, transforming the western world.

Among six in-depth articles, the issue features a series of five interviews. Each tells the story of people who are, today, doing the same things as was done by early church city-dwellers.

Christian History has explored the early church in 11 past issues, but issue 124 is about early Christian life lived specifically in urban areas, where Christians had to negotiate how to live with pagan neighbors, mostly in cities that were crowded, noisy and hedonistic. In the midst of the empire’s wide-spread persecutions, Christians established institutions of education, developed professions, created art and built hospitals & churches, often replacing pagan temples.

The following articles can be accessed on-line at: What’s Inside?

Life in the earthly city – Christians advocated for “the Way” in the middle of urban distractions much like our own, by Joel C. Elowsky – professor of historical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, a Lutheran pastor, and editor of the Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, among others.

A bishop’s work is never done – During and after persecution new complexities challenged church leaders, by Helen Rhee – professor of church history at Westmont College and the author of several books on wealth, poverty, and early Christianity.

“An expanding circle of love and justice” – Interview of Katelyn Beaty, editor at large for Christianity Today, on how Christians today interact with their non-Christian neighbors.

Healing the city – How Christians helped the sick and poor in the Roman Empire’s cities, by Gary B. Ferngren is professor of history at Oregon State University and professor of the history of medicine in the I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University. He is the author of Medicine and Health Care in Early Christianity, among others.

“The only stumbling block is the cross” – Interview of Doug Banister, the pastor of All Souls Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, about how his church does urban ministry.

The things that are Caesar’s – How Christians behaved as citizens, soldiers, and public servants, by Rex D. Butler is professor of church history and patristics at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and the author of The New Prophecy and “New Visions”: Evidence of Montanism in the Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas.

Salt of the earth

When we season food with salt, the salt is invisible (I hope). Yet, invisible salt makes a noticeable difference in a dish. Similarly, as salt of the earth, Jesus’ followers influence and inspire the world, even when our presence is not visible. What difference are we making in the world?

Light of the world

City set on a hill

Jesus calls the community of faith; the universal Church; the Body of Christ to be a model city. When we truly rise to the call of Christ, we become a model city before the watching world – a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden.

The local congregation is called to be a city set on a hill – a city within the city wherein we are called.

Wow, are we really being a model city? Or, are we patterning after the city?

I am deeply moved by the Sermon on the Mount. I deeply desire to participate in what it means to be salt, light and a full participant of the city on a hill, as Jesus teaches. 

Image: Atharva Lele

Image: Gabriel Barletta

In a world where darkness encroaches, Christ calls us to bear witness in a very public way – unseen and seen.

The world desperately needs salt, light, and a city set on a hill. Jesus is calling for us to bear witness in this way.

Come Holy Spirit. Help us!

Blessings,

Dr. A