Chinese Baptists A deeper look

Few might be aware of the fact that this faith has been in existence since 1949 in TT.

According to Sterling Belgrove, co-founder of the Rose Foundation who worked closely with the Chinese Baptist community under the Patrick Manning-led administration, while the faith is conservative and even secretive members had no problem integrating with the wider TT community since they believed in the notion of, “every creed and race find an equal place.” In many ways the Chinese Baptist church had similar roots to those of the Spiritual Baptists in TT. In Journal, Baptist Identities, Studies in Baptist History and Thought: International Studies from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Centuries edited by Ian Randall, Tovio Pilli and Anthony Cross it said: “With the increasing Chinese participation in the Southern Baptist Missions, the nature of the missions began to change to become more and more a service for the Chinese.

Superficial adaptation was no longer enough. The increasing number of Chinese Baptists demanded qualitative transformation to make the Baptist faith and practice more fully a Chinese faith. Gradually, the Chinese Baptists took control of the leadership, finance, and the operation of Baptist work. As a result, a Chinese Baptist identity was established.” When the Chinese came to TT, this practice was brought with them, Belgrove said. In fact, there is a Chinese Baptist church on the Eastern Main Road, Curepe.

There are many similarities between the Spiritual Baptist faith and the Chinese Baptist faith in TT, he added.

Belgrove, who visited the worshipping spaces of the faith many times said, much like the Spiritual Baptist faith, the Chinese Baptists used gowns, water, joss sticks (incense), and members of the faith also speak in tongues and like the Orisha faith worship their ancestors. “Like how the Spiritual Baptists would use incense and different herbs, they use all those things,” he added.

In an interview with Newsday Belgrove said: “The Chinese first arrived here in 1806 as a response to the need for workers to work the sugar cane fields, post emancipation. Subsequently, the first democracy in Asia was established around 1911. That allowed an opportunity for higher levels of migration and the seeking of more opportunities in other parts of the world by Chinese nationals.” He said in 1949 when Mao Zedong began the Long March many Chinese Christian’s fled mainland China. “It is more around 1949 that the Chinese Baptist became domicile in other parts of the world namely Trinidad,” he said.

While the faith is Christian in the main and bases its belief is in Jesus Christ, there is an understanding of Jesus Christ that is very different from Western belief systems.

The faith, he said, believes, “That he [Jesus Christ] is indeed the Son of God and he is the saviour of mankind and no matter what journey you take there is only one way you can get to salvation that is through Jesus Christ.

“They believe in their culture that the principles of Jesus Christ is manifested through different deities and devotion…they believe in a more eclectic type of approach just like the Spiritual Baptists. Even the Spiritual Baptists embody Christianity, African traditions, Hindu traditions, Chinese traditions and ancient traditions from Syria and so on.

“So they understand the universality of God through his son Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ was not a person, in that sense, but a way of life, a principle, and a consciousness.

“It is not religious dogma but it is universality of all creation… the inter-relationship, the co-relation, the interdependence, that everything created by God and everything therefore is our brother and sister…..” He said there are about 200 Chinese Baptists in TT today.

Belgrove said the Rose Foundation got involved with the faith years ago when the organisation acted as advisers to the late prime minister Patrick Manning.

He said there was a large contingent of Chinese Baptist around the world. In a visit to a Chinese Baptist church in Hong Kong, in 1993 there were many services, during one day and there were at least 8,000 to 10,000 parishioners passing through the church on that one day, he said.

Since then, he said, the faith has grown.

“They would use their gowns, their joss sticks, use water, when they get into prayer and devotions there are manifestations and speaking in tongues. They believe in the spirit world and their souls can go to that spirit world. They believe in the worship of their ancestors,” he said.

He said the relationship between Afro-Trinidadians and Chinese has always been a very close one.

Not one that originated in TT but rather it started from an association with Africa.

“The Rose Foundation was very much in the interfaith dialogue and when we co-ordinated inter-faith events, we would have had them integrated in the events and have them participating.

Historically, we were the first ones to integrate them and have them involved in other aspects of faith expressions in TT .” He admitted that they were a conservative group of people and very confidential and almost secretive in what they do. He added that the group does not really like publicity but if called upon there was no objection to their participation.

Belgrove said the group wanted to contribute to a TT that lives up to its national anthem. The Chinese Baptists have participated in Emancipation celebrations, attended a Hindu mandir in St James and join the Spiritual Baptists in celebration, he said.

He recalled there was a Chinese choir that would go visiting different spiritual Baptist churches throughout the country. Many of the people have migrated to North America due to the country’s crime problem, he said. The group often regarded TT as a very special place.

“They consider [us] to be a very blessed place and a very special place. They consider that Trinidadians and Tobagonians do not understand how blessed they are with the country and that we should be more responsible with the way we take care of each other and the country,” Belgrove said.

“They consider that all the cosmic indicators show that TT has an opportunity to have a long and prosperous life as a nation. They believe that even the fact that the leatherback turtles nest here is a symbol of longevity.

If, as a people we understand these blessings that we have then we would adopt a higher value toward each other and the nation.” The Rose Foundation continues to do work with the Chinese Baptist community and in engaging with inter-religious dialogue with others.

He said there is a Chinese mutual support society in TT and the Government should engage in more dialogue with them which could be mutually beneficial to all citizens, he said, noting the China mutual support society was a way to start “Not only in a faith expression kind of view but also a technology skill set,” he said.

To go to one of the services, one has to be invited, he said. Once invited it is fine but simply walking off the street into the church was not allowed since many of its members were subjected to very brutal robberies. He said there was no reservation, however, to Trinbagonians being participating.

The Spiritual Baptist faith and Chinese Baptist faith were not religions but faiths, often misunderstood over so many years, he said. “Therefore, its resilience is very evident, they have been able to weather all the trials, all the tests of life and preserve. TT needs to sit back, get rid of our metaphorical prejudices and pay closer attention. It is very meaningful, very deep, it is very focused and it is not engaged on hocus pocus as some people think. It is based on very sound doctrine, doctrine that is universal and straddles all the various faith expressions based on different ethnicities all around the globe.”