IN OTHER
WORLD NEWS:
Professor emphasizes importance of Kevorkian sentencing

Poland's people march with Jews for memorial

Semester in Spain: time is running out

Worldview: International Sudents at Calvin College

On Thursday, April 15, Paul Szto gave a lecture in Hiemenga Hall about the relationship between the CRC and the Chinese people. Szto, father of sociology professor Peter Szto, told a story of his experiences as a Chinese boy who became a missionary. After his account of his experiences, he asked for questions.

One of the listeners, a Calvin student, asked how Szto felt the church had helped him during his ministry. His response sparked a discussion where people claimed that the CRC does not try to understand the culture of different ethnic groups. Szto recounted some problems he had with being ignored, misquoted and deferred from his ministry by some groups within the church.

“Why did God make so many Chinese? Are they all going to Hell?,” Szto asked the audience. His own answer was that God would not make so many Chinese if they were beyond redemption.

When he spoke of racism he had encountered, there was a noticeable uneasiness in the crowd. As he lectured, he asked professors in attendance whether he was right.They nodded in agreement. Szto’s anger made him pause periodically to calm himself down.

One story Szto told was about a church meeting he once led. When a member of the church asked if he could speak at the meeting, Szto said yes. When he looked at the minutes afterward, he was outraged to see that the secretary had recorded that he had asked the man to take over the meeting. Though Szto then felt he was not respected there, he did not quit. “I will not yield,” he said at the lecture. “I am just not that way.”

More questions followed and the discussion went past its scheduled time. The discussion was very controversial, and some believed that he expressed his anger inappropriately. One student stated that it was almost “bashing” the CRC.

Szto’s anger gave rise to some statements about Calvin’s curriculum involving the foreign Seminary students, and there was more uneasiness and whispering. As he finished and people left, some spoke to him, questioning some of the things he had said and defending other statements.

Those listening to the lecture got more than they had expected. While the talk was indeed about the relationship of the CRC and the Chinese, it explained not only the history and good parts of this relationship but also the painful things that the Chinese have experienced. Szto’s intensity on this subject did get people to think about their stances on different ethnic groups and their church.