On February 25th, a talk titled "The Role of Prayer in a Christian Journalist's Life" was held at a church in Shanghai.
During the talk, Yan Yiwei, a veteran journalist with 28 years of experience, shared some insightful advice on how to navigate the workplace. He talked about his personal experiences in dealing with unspoken rules, adjusting to changes, resolving labor disputes, and turning to prayer when facing challenges at work.
Yan Yiwei used to work as a sports reporter for Youth Daily before joining Titan Sports in 2000. He focuses mainly on covering local soccer games. Throughout his career, Yan has transitioned from traditional paper media to the Internet, mobile media, and data-driven multimedia. In addition to his work as a soccer commentator, he has also started podcasting in the last couple of years. Yan became a Christian and was baptized in 2013.
"I believe that my work should be a blessing to others," he said after receiving this calling during one of his prayers.
Yan is trying to change the way we think about work. He said that nowadays it does not have to be confined to a traditional office from 9 am to 5 pm (or even until 9 pm) six days a week. Many Christians have unique skills and talents that they may not get to use at their job, but could be helpful to others at home or in the community. "As Christians, our work can come in many different shapes and sizes."
Yan used to get stressed out at work trying to report exclusive stories, but now he is finding it challenging to deal with harsh listeners and readers. Compared to his previous job, his salary is much less now. However, during his prayers, Yan recalls the words of the Apostle Paul: "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." So, he believes that as long as God gives him the opportunity to work, he will keep going, no matter how tough it gets or how much he earns. Yan does not want to give up without putting in any effort.
In addition to working at his job, Yan also serves in the church. Like many other Christians, he struggles to balance his church duties with his work responsibilities. Before he can start writing an article, Yan has to complete much preparatory work. This includes reviewing a large amount of news and other materials, conducting interviews, and more. He has to constantly learning to stay current, and all these tasks take up much of his time and energy.
When work and church clash, many believers tend to put church first because they think spiritual matters should come before everything else. However, Yan has a different perspective. "If I'm at church, but I've got work waiting for me, I just can't relax. God wants us to be at peace, and if I'm not feeling it, then it's probably not what God wants. Paul even said that 'everything that does not come from faith is sin.' So, I think we should be wholehearted and happy when serving God. If my work is distracting me, maybe that work isn't something I should be doing, or I may need to reflect on why I still haven't finished it."
Once more, Yan stressed, "I do not despise my current secular job."
Yan makes it a priority to honor God in his work. "One of my main goals is to demonstrate my faith through my job," he explained. During a soccer game, Yan confidently shared his prediction of the results with someone, and it turned out he was spot on. Others were impressed by his accuracy. After praying, Yan modestly responded that it was not due to any special prediction abilities, but rather just an educated guess he had made. He made sure to mention that he is a Christian and firmly believes that everything is in God's hands.
Yani's career has evolved from traditional paper media to the Internet, then mobile media, and now data-driven multimedia.
He talked about how in the past, one had to go through a journalist if they wanted to share their thoughts. But now, with the rise of self-media, anyone can be a journalist. In an era of fragmented information like now, people do not have time for long articles anymore. Yan, who used to write detailed reviews and long articles, has lost his competitive edge. With technology advancing, even machines can write high-quality articles. Yan's friend even suggested that journalists could be out of work soon.
"But we need to embrace technology." Yan, on the other hand, has introduced a new perspective.
In the past, when writing soccer commentaries, the main way of gathering information was through searching on Baidu or conducting phone interviews. This approach often led to limited insights and bottlenecks in research. However, thanks to technological advancements, writers now have access to expert literature for their reviews. Even if they are not proficient in a foreign language, tools like DeepSeek allow for easy translation, enabling writers to gain valuable knowledge and insights.
- Edited by Karen Luo, translated by Joyce Leung
