In the past 20 years, central China has been growing cities at a record pace. In fact, 223 villages and towns in central China have reached a population of more than 1 million each, with an additional 250 topping 400,000. While the growth presents new opportunities for rural people who are moving to urban areas in record numbers, Christian witness in these areas is less than 0.01 percent, constituting a pocket of lostness — a constellation of lost cities.
“In addition to the cities, we try to work with the villages because many of [these people] will go to the cities,” explained Naomi, a Christian worker. “If we can reach the family, then they will send a believer’s influence to the city.”
The progress happening today is built on the past. When China closed its borders in the 1940s, prayers for believers there did not stop. Neither did God’s Spirit. When workers returned to survey the areas decades later, they found more believers than when the borders closed.
Southern Baptist work continued in the 1990s among the house churches there. In 2000, a worker used new evangelistic techniques that resulted in a revival.
“About 1,500 people made decisions for Christ in [one town],” Naomi said. “Their influence has spread to other areas.”
The Wongs and the Chos are two couples who found faith during that revival and moved to one of the provinces to work.
Mei Ling Wong said she was a tough case. Her older sister had moved to the city earlier, but each year she returned to their hometown to witness to her family.
“It took 10 years,” Mei Ling said. “At first I told her burning incense and worshiping our gods had been part of our culture for thousands of years. I would not believe in a foreign god. Then she said the offerings we give to our ancestors, to our gods, could not have been taken by the gods. Those gods did not have hands, did not have arms, so they could not take the offerings. I never thought about that.”
Mei Ling explained that traditionally Chinese are Buddhist, but they also worship their ancestors and the gods in nature. “I asked the name of this foreign god and my sister said He is the heavenly God of all things and Jesus. I knew then I had to believe in Him.”
Mei Ling’s husband, Samuel, took a little longer to accept Christ as Savior. He was baptized six months after his wife.
“Mei Ling is my second wife,” Samuel said. “My first marriage ended in divorce before I became a believer. If either of us had been a believer, then we would have known much more about how to make our marriage work.”
Samuel noticed similar needs in many couples, even believers. The Wongs felt working with those couples was important so they began counseling them on how to build Christian marriages.
“We counsel some privately, and we also have marriage enrichment seminars,” Samuel said. “I write for the newspaper each week to offer advice for believers who want to improve their marriages.”
While the Chos also agree that training is essential to what they do, their focus is on children.
“For us, counseling families about their children is important,” Dae Ling said. “When couples become believers, they don’t know how to raise their children. If they do nothing, the children won’t study and they won’t succeed in life. We try to give them scriptural principles to help.”
Dae Ling became a believer in Europe in 2002 when a friend shared her faith. After returning to China, she was introduced to Daniel. She shared her faith with him, and he also became a believer. They dated and eventually married. Today they minister to families.
“The work we do gives us ways to discuss our faith, but it also gives us opportunities to share with those who do not believe yet,” she said.
Both the Wongs and the Chos return to their rural hometown often to help with their house church and coordinate efforts for volunteer groups, allowing for Chinese co-workers to follow up.
“We’ve found it’s much more effective to train the Chinese and let them lead,” Naomi said. “They have ideas and move in directions we would never think about.”
No one really knows the number of believers in China. Official estimates stand at about 70 million, but some believers still don’t go on record with their faith.
“There is still so much to do,” Naomi said. “Volunteer groups coming in have helped, but we need more. We need others to come and see the needs.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Names changed for security reasons. (IMB)
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