I recently unexpectedly received an old friend’s phone call. We had not contacted each other for many years. After a brief greeting, we recalled the years together.
Fifteen years ago, we met at my training class in Wenling, Zhejiang Province. Then, I taught them the history of Western philosophy. There were over twenty students who were were young people from various churches. The pace of the class was low because their foundation was not sound. I originally planned to progress up to the era of Hegel in a week, but by the end of the week, I could not even finish the era of ancient Greece.
These students studied hard and never escaped their lessons. Their curious eyes moved me as I was looking at them over the podium. Then the idea that God would use them to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth came to me. We did not even have a designated textbook for the course, nor did I print an outline in advance. A student caught my attention because he was almost always taking notes except occasionally looking up at PPT slides. By the end of the lesson, I saw that he had written down nearly twenty pages of A4-size notes. These notes were written thoroughly and neatly, which was touching.
Most of them were potential backbones of their churches. They knew their mission and calling, and they were willing to leave their jobs and families for a while and came to this town to study and equip themselves. Their inner goals were clear, so they did not lack the motivation to learn. Apart from their major courses, the history of philosophy was a minor, but they still showed interest in humanities the same as theology courses.
At that time, everyone was concerned about the spread of the gospel. The gospel was particularly attractive to well-educated people in cities. It was a time when urbanization was well advancing, so how the gospel attracted and established churches of different professional groups became everyone’s interest. It has always been believed that China is an important node for the gospel to spread to the ends of the earth since its birth.
In those past years, the urban trend of the gospel and the church was synchronized with the urbanization after China’s entry into WTO. There emerged the widely known white-collar churches in major cities. Everyone regarded the gospel as a key to China’s culture and history, hoping to open a new chapter with the gospel.
Ten years ago, my friends and I were in a city in northern Jiangsu. Together with the pastors of a local church, we sat around a big globe, imagining the history and future of the gospel’s westward journey from Jerusalem. At that time, everyone seemed to have no disagreement with firm confidence. China was an important site for the gospel’s westward journey, and this site would soon be established.
Later, after graduation, my students set apart and went on their own paths. Some went to Southeast Asia for further study, pursuing degrees in theology and pastoral studies. Those who remained in China were mostly in the service positions of their churches, except a few who left the church to start up a family. In that era, the shortage of trained pastors was still an obvious problem to be solved.
At that time, in addition to the numerous training courses, there was a large amount of megachurches, which developed gathering points in many cities, especially university towns, and campus evangelical fellowship became the norm. Moreover, Sunday schools and their systems in Wenzhou were well-developed and established. From junior high school to senior high school, there were plenty of courses and teachers. When I went to Wenzhou for training fifteen years ago, I attended several Sunday schools in middle schools and established an exam-oriented curriculum in full accordance with the system of public schools.
In those days, the pastors in Wenzhou were very popular and had a high social status. Local believers were proud of marrying their daughters to them. I remember the teacher who taught me the Old Testament. After only graduating from junior high school and becoming a pastor, he even married a local believer, who graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Then, we could still hear about many grand activities, which had a great influence. Brothers and sisters around us joined in, and at the activities, they often shared their experiences of preaching the gospel to their families. At that time, at church gatherings, pastors often encouraged everyone to bring their friends and families. After the gathering, many young people would stay to discuss the gospel. I was fortunate to be a member of the seekers’ group of the church youth fellowship and often discussed with seekers who had questions about the gospel after Sunday services. In those years, you could see many energetic and problematic young people and students entering the church to learn about the gospel.
When did these activities begin to fade away? I could not draw a clear line for them either. But by the time of the pandemic, these activities seemed to come to an abrupt end overnight. At that time, we still thought that this was just a temporary impact, and the enthusiasm within the church did not disappear but was accumulating strength instead. Soon, due to the limited space caused by the pandemic, online gatherings began to rise. Almost every church had an online gathering group. Everyone was in full swing in the group to discuss the gospel and spiritual issues.
The pandemic changed everything. The upsurge of network gathering brought not the revival of the church, but the loss of believers and the reduction of donations. With the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic, the pressure on the church began to increase. Everyone hoped for a rebound after the pandemic was over. However, it ended only to find that everything could not go back.
The church's urbanization development spanned twenty years following China's entry into the WTO. These were also the years when the church's great ideals became widely embraced. This was a defining characteristic of that era, and it reflected the aspirations of the time. Today, it is rare to hear talk of grand gospel plans, and believers with such lofty ideals are few and far between.
I do not know how the students who used to attend my course are now. We rarely contact each other, so I do not know what they are up to at the moment. I heard one of them is doing business, and another is working as a kind of ride-hailing driver (a Chinese service similar to Uber). Anyway, they all seem to be struggling hard, struggling for their very own lives.
- Translated by Charlie Li
