New Journeys to the West
United Christian College ( Kowloon East ), Chang , Yan Lam - 13
Asmall town lied humbly across the idyllic landscape of China . An unadorned monastery can be seemed from the far western corner of the town centre . In the monastery there lived a group of missionaries of the same faith . Among the group were three young men , chatting quietly among themselves . They were Peter , John and Jacob . These three young missionaries were originally sent here by the Church Mission Society from the Church of England in the year 1850 . They were faithful Christians who committed themselves to the spreading of the gospel , but the people in the town think otherwise - most town folks were skeptic of foreign religions , especially the ‘ Boxers ’.
The conflicting belief between the town and the missionaries has caused quite a stir . The Boxers always say that foreign monasteries and missionaries were ‘ wolves in sheepskin ’. “ The Boxers said we are here to take their land .” said John . “ It ’ s not easy to build trust with the town folks , especially when they are all suspicious of what we preach .” replied Peter . The young men paused for a moment , then Jacob started to speak , “ Indeed , we must let everyone know of our belief clearly , we must help them to see this as a genuine religion , what the people need right now is proof , we must go to Israel and find evidences to prove our faith .”
Next day , the three young missionaries began their journey . They packed their belongings and travelled a long way across The Silk Road and many countries ’ borders to the west . They walked day by day , and night by night , they have even crossed the whole continent . A month has passed and they have finally arrived at their destination . Upon their arrival , the group decided to take a day of rest and learn about the culture and tradition here . As the night approached , they started gathering information from the local taverns for their search of evidences here . Among there many conversations they had with the locals a news has caught their attention . It was a news about the folklore of the Evidence Scrolls . “ We must find these scroll tomorrow .” said Jacob in a determined voice .
Early into the next day they embarked on a trip to a famous place in Israel called the Dead Sea . It was known as a traditional folklore that the Evidence Scrolls were hidden there . These Evidence Scrolls were written by prophets in the past who was inspired by God ’ s voice . There was a legendary talk even that the Evidence Scrolls is about Jesus himself , the miracles he performed , and every incredible thing he did when he had walked this Earth a long time ago . With the Evidence Scrolls , John , Peter and Jacob would be able to prove that Jesus existed to the people in the town .
The three young men drove their camels slowly towards the Dead Sea Mountain Range , even before the sun has risen , or the sky has awaken yet . After few hours of travelling , they finally arrived . They went into different Qumran Caves in search of the Scrolls , but there were too many caves and they were going to spend lots of time to search in each cave , so they prayed for directions and wisdom . Suddenly , there was a ram caught by its horns in a thicket and that got their attention . Peter said , “ Perhaps this is a sign from God . Let ’ s go there and see .” The others agreed and they climbed into the cave and started to excavate . Shortly after that , they dug something hard , it was a box ! They opened it immediately and what they found were a pile of parchments in local dialect .
The three of them were marveled in joy . But with the Evidence Scrolls in local dialect were not enough , since no one knows what it is talking about . So they planned to find the leaders of the Jewish Churches to help translate these parchments for them .
Meanwhile , a group of rebels in the mountain range heard from the taverns that Peter , John and Jacob came to Israel in search for the Evidence Scrolls . The rebels were worried that Peter , John and Jacob would find these Scrolls and take them away from the caves they occupied . This will surely make the rebels lose followers and possessions of wealth . So the rebels decided that they must obstructed Peter , John and Jacob from getting the Scrolls .