Reasons Why the Chinese Rural Church Grows Slowly

Rural Church
Rural Church (photo: Pixabay)
By Jonah ZhangMarch 13th, 2017

The young Chinese Rural Church continues to lack in many ways, preventing it growing because missionaries have financial difficulty and leaders have outdated mind-set to educate and develop the church.

Though preachers are highly respected as their job is considered holy, some missionaries have left their mission because of their own financial difficulty in this fast-growing society, leaving many believers without a shepherd. To survive, some of them had to make a living by themselves in the world. Therefore, heresy finds the chance to enter into the church.

Concerning the missionaries' poor life, while many people view it wrongly or think "the poorer, the more spiritual", traditional church leaders lack the courage to try new things and avoid talking about it, they admit of the importance of the mission. When asked to share their own opinions, many missionaries revealed their dilemma. On one hand, they felt embarrassed to talk about their financial difficulty before church leaders. On the other hand, they also did not want to burden believers.

Missionaries are sometimes regarded by believers as monks begging for money. A preacher experienced it himself. When he went to visit a believer at an appointment schedule, the believer's wife told the preacher that her husband was not at home and asked her to give him some money. The preacher felt insulted by the money though he said donations were accepted.

Translated by Alvin Zhou

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