SHERIDAN n Now back on American soil, Patrick Klein is still frustrated by Chinese officials' confiscation of 315 Bibles his missionary group intended to deliver last month in that country.

The fact that the Bibles were returned after four unnerving days and that the Sheridan-based Vision Beyond Borders was able to continue its work in other Asian countries still doesn't put Klein's mind at ease.

"They really treated us like we were criminals, like we were doing something incredibly wrong," said Klein, the Vision Beyond Borders founder.

Klein had performed the same mission in China many times without experiencing any problems.

"We didn't go there to cause problems," he said. "I don't understand the attitude change and the reason to treat us like criminals just for bringing Bibles in, especially when they say they have freedom of religion."

Turned away from China, the group instead handed out more than 300 Bibles in Laos, where it experienced no problems. The group also visited Burma, where Klein said Vision Beyond Borders continues to provide relief and aid to the people whose lives were torn apart by Cyclone Nargis. Klein said Vision Beyond Borders filled duffle bags with $1,000 worth of anti-diarrhea, malaria and other medications in Thailand, then took the products across the Burmese border.

"The good thing about Thailand is you don't need a prescription, and medicine is cheap," Klein said. "That medicine would have cost us $20,000 to $30,000 in the U.S."

With about 60,000 to 80,000 orphans left behind in Burma, Klein said sex slavery is a devastating reality for many of the children. Vision Beyond Borders helped construct an orphanage, and several more are either under construction or in the planning stages.

"It seems like some of the people are bouncing back, but we're concerned about the orphans," he said. "We'll do all that we can."

But there's that experience in China that keeps gnawing at Klein.

The mission started during last month's Olympic Games, when Klein and his crew arrived in the southwestern city of Kunming, China. Upon arrival, Chinese customs officials confiscated all 315 Bibles from Vision Beyond Borders' checked luggage. Klein was shocked.

"I really expected to go in there and hand out Bibles just like before," he said. "I just don't understand the attitude change in China."

Through a translator, customs officials cited a law forbidding the transporting of religious products into the Communist nation for more than personal use. Klein, who has distributed Bibles and Christian teaching materials around the world, said he, as well as the U.S. Embassy, was unaware of the law that he has since learned went into effect in June 2007.

The group decided it would not leave the airport until authorities returned its Bibles. The missionaries fasted and they waited. And Klein said Chinese officials seemed to grow nervous, taking pictures and videotaping the group.

"I kept asking, 'If you say you have freedom of religion, why would you take these Bibles away?'" Klein said.

The confiscated Bibles were printed in Chinese, he said. Religious practice is heavily regulated by the China Communist Party, with worship allowed only in party-controlled churches, temples and mosques, while those gathering outside risk harassment, arrest and terms in labor camps or prison. In China, Bibles are only printed at one plant, which is run by a government-backed Christian association for use in officially sanctioned churches.

"There's a waiting list of 400,000 pastors who need Bibles," Klein said. "The need is tremendous. If they were to buy one on the black market, it would cost six months' to a year's salary."

In a FAX Chinese officials sent to The Associated Press at the time of the incident, under Chinese law, foreigners are allowed to bring in one to three copies of religious products for personal use. For more than that, letters of proof must be obtained from the Chinese religious affairs office. This policy was explained to the Americans, the FAX said.

After a 26-hour standoff, Klein said it became clear that the customs officials would not release the Bibles.

"I really felt like they were going to physically remove us," he said. "We talked about what to do if they became physical and I told the group, 'I've always heard to just go limp.'"

But the situation never escalated to that point. The four Americans decided as a group to retreat to a hotel, in hopes that customs officials would reverse their decision and release the Bibles for distribution. Klein said the group was followed, videotaped and photographed the remainder of its stay.

"As I was going upstairs to my room, I saw a man coming out of our hotel room that was not an employee of the hotel," Klein said.

Klein said he even received phone calls asking who his contacts were in China n information he would not release.

"They'll go to prison or be beaten," Klein said. "We can leave, but they may suffer."

Klein is no stranger to China. He was an English teacher in the country about 19 years ago, in addition to his many missionary trips.

"The people are precious people," he said.

Fearful that the Bibles would be burned if left behind, Klein said he was told the group could pick up the Bibles on its way out of the country. After four days in China, the group returned to the airport to continue its mission.

"You could tell they were relieved that we were leaving," he said.