Holy New Martyrs of China

Although the story of the Orthodox Christian Martyrs of China is horribly tragic, it is also one that is close to my heart and I believe that it can be presented to children if done so carefully. I think it's important to show children that Orthodoxy is not just the religion of Russia or Greece, but that it can be found in countries throughout the world, even in an officially atheist country such as China. Since the Boxer Rebellion in the early 20th century, Orthodoxy has been greatly diminished, but has recently experienced some growth as has Christianity as a whole. What I find particularly astounding of the Chinese Martyrs' story is that a number of children are included among them who courageously professed their faith in Christ.

Here's my approach for retelling the story of the Martyrs of China which includes a simple activity that focuses on an aspect of Chinese art and culture.

First, have children look at a copy of the icon of the Martyrs of China. A larger, printable version can be found by clicking on the above image.

How many saints are in this icon? Can you count them or make a guess? There are 222 saints that we remembered on June 24/11. 
What else do you notice about this icon? Can you guess where these people are from? You might be able to guess from the Chinese-style church in the background and these people's faces that they are from China. (With the children, find China on a globe or world map).
What else do you see in this icon? There are several children depicted in this icon. Today we are going to learn about who these brave people were and why their story is important. 
What are the saints holding in their hands? When you see an icon of a saint holding a cross like this it means that they died for their Christian faith. These people are called martyrs. 

          In the front of the icon we see Father Mitrophan and his family including his wife Tatiana and his son, John. All of the saints in the icon lived in China during a time when it was very dangerous to be a Christian. About 100 years ago, there were people who hated the Christians and wanted to do them harm. These people started a rebellion where they did horrible things to Christians. What's so amazing though is that many Christians were very brave and didn't hide their faith. Father Mitrophan and his family were among the people who were killed. His youngest son, John, was only 8 years old when he died. Even when he was in great pain and other children taunted him, he did not complain.

          Although you and I are very lucky to have been born in a country where Christianity is accepted, we can still learn from the Chinese Christian Martyrs' example. There may be times when we may feel embarrassed to say that we are Christian. At the same time, we should remind ourselves of the great sacrifice of these Chinese Christian martyrs who were not afraid to say that they believed in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

What are some of the things we can be thankful for as Orthodox Christians in the U.S.? Some examples...

• Orthodox churches and monasteries can be found all over the country
• We don't have to hide our faith. We can openly go to church when we want.
• We can attend church services in English, Greek, Russian (Slavonic) and other languages. We also have lots of books and other resources in our native English language. In fact, there are very few Orthodox Christian books and stories of the saints in Chinese. We can pray that some day more will be made available so that the Chinese people who are interested can learn more about the Orthodox Church. 

Chinese Art & Culture Activities
Children may be interested to see their name written in Chinese. The Chinese use a writing system that is one of the oldest in the world and uses characters (kind of like pictures) with corresponding sounds and meanings. Children may enjoy painting with watercolors over a print-out of their English and Chinese name. The following link includes hundreds of names and their Chinese transliterations available for download.
http://chineseculture.about.com/od/thechineselanguage/a/Chinese-Name-And-English-Name.htm

Please click on the above image for examples of children's names in Chinese and English that can be printed out and painted over with watercolors.

Another activity that's a little more advanced is Chinese paper cutting. In China, these cut-outs are usually done using bright red paper and decorate doors and windows. This traditional art form has been around for approximately 2,000 years. Please click on the image at right for a design template and instructions for making St. Xenia's cross.