Editor’s note: Many of today’s middle-aged Chinese Christians were introduced to Jesus on their college campus. For several decades, Chinese universities were fertile ground for the gospel. Many Chinese house churches actually grew out of campus fellowships as students graduated and moved into the workplace.
Today, it is much more difficult to share Christ on campus than in the past. But although there are obstacles, God is still moving, and there are still many students whose hearts are tender to the good news. As Chinese students prepare to return to their universities, we are sharing a peek into one campus minister’s experience. While he has experienced dramatic change over his years in college ministry, he is passionate about sowing seeds and growing faith in the young people in his congregation.
Called to Students
China Partnership: Tell us about yourself.
Pan Xihong: My wife and I have one child, and live in a large city. The members of our church are mostly college students and recent graduates, young people who were born in the 90s or the early 2000s.
CP: How long have you been serving this church?
Pan: It’s been awhile. I started to care for a student fellowship while I was in seminary. After graduating, my teachers asked me to stay and serve the fellowship. I was reluctant, thinking the gospel was already flourishing in my city. I wanted to go and do missionary work in Western China, maybe in China’s northwest or southwest.[1]
Universities are a frontier area, sensitive to changes in the political environment coming from above. They are like nerve endings on the body.
In seminary, I had participated for several years in a ministry focused on Western China. As I prayed for Western China, I was moved. I thought God was sending me to that area to do groundbreaking work [sharing the gospel] or working in places where ethnic minorities lived. But it turned out I was called to stay in my own city. I almost ran away like Jonah.
Student ministry organizations were flourishing when I started serving university groups. Groups were springing up all over China, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. We were actually a little late to the party.
Covid Campus Changes
CP: What has life been like for college students since Covid-19?
Pan: Actually, changes to student life started before the pandemic. Even before Covid, the situation was already quite gloomy. There is a line from an old Chinese poem that goes, “When the water warms in early spring, the ducks are the first to know.”[2] This means that, after the water warms up in the spring, the ducks are the first to go swimming in that water. But if river water becomes cold, the ducks are also first to get out.
Similarly, universities are a frontier area, sensitive to changes in the political environment coming from above. They are like nerve endings on the body. I have been in touch with the university environment for many years. To me, it is obvious that universities have changed dramatically over the years.
The situation was already bleak in the period from 2014 to 2018. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese universities resembled prisons, and “students” were treated like inmates. Campuses were sealed off from the outside world with barbed wire and electric fences, multiple layers of security systems, and surveillance cameras strictly controlling access. Health codes were also used to limit people’s movements. In the post-pandemic era, students are relatively free to enter and leave their campus, but most campuses still do not allow visitors.
CP: Are you yourself able to go into university campuses?
Pan: No, we cannot. Even a year after pandemic lock-down was lifted, almost none of China’s nearly 3,000 universities are open to outsiders.
During the pandemic, Chinese universities resembled prisons, and students were treated like inmates. Campuses were sealed off from the outside world with barbed wire and electric fences… Health codes were also used to limit people’s movements. In the post-pandemic era, students are relatively free to enter and leave their campus, but most campuses still do not allow visitors.
But during the pandemic, we experienced God’s marvelous preservation. It seemed that, if someone was willing to come out [from the university to participate in Sunday worship], nothing could stop them. People used many methods. Before Sunday, those who wanted to come had to pray urgently and ask God to make a way for them to get out and meet with us.
Prayer can move mountains! Through praying, the students experienced tremendous grace and great blessings from God. They prayed urgently, and some were able to go the entire time [of pandemic restrictions] without missing a single Sunday service.
Of course, we made online meetings so people could participate while staying on campus. But we also encouraged those who wanted to leave, praying for them to be able to do so smoothly.
Christian Background and True Faith
CP: Do most students in your church come from Christian families? Or do they only begin attending church once they are in college?
Pan: When students arrive at the university as freshmen, we prioritize evangelizing those who are part of the covenant community. Of course, this does not mean they are regenerated Christians. In my years of ministry, I haven’t met a single student who arrived at university truly born-again, despite having believed in the Lord from a young age. Sorry, that is the reality. The brothers and sisters we shepherd have gone through a process of repentance.
Even if they grew up with a religious background since they were young, many never attended Sunday worship services. They may have attended Sunday school a few times, or gone to three-day church camps during school vacations. If they did this, they were considered “Christians.” The definition is very broad. For instance, if someone’s mother is a Christian and brought them to church when they were a child, that person will be labeled as a Christian.
Because of this, we call these students “Jewish.” It is right that the gospel should reach them first, so first we find them and evangelize them. After that, we expand outreach to others
Even if they grew up with a religious background since they were young, many never attended Sunday worship services. They may have… gone to three-day church camps during school vacations. If they did this, they were considered ‘Christians.’
We think it is our duty to share the gospel with and lead these people, clearly telling them that even if they identify as believers, they might not truly be so. As one martyr said, there are two kinds of believers: those who really believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that he lived and died for them. The other type is those who think and feel as if they believe, but do not really.
CP: Are there many non-Christians in your church?
Pan: We come into contact with a lot of non-Christians, because unbelievers are everywhere. When we fervently evangelize and bear witness to the gospel around campus, God brings sends us people who are open to our message.
But these people are often quite transient. Some may come and hear the gospel, then leave. Later, they may come back and hear again, then leave again. We cannot control whether or not they believe in the future. Our role is to sow the seeds of the gospel. We hope they will stay, but it depends on God’s work in their hearts. They need to make their own choice.
[1] Most Christian activity is centered in eastern China. Western China has many more minority people groups, many of which are unreached with the gospel. Even within the Han Chinese population, gospel networks have traditionally not been as robust in that part of the country as in other places.
[2] In Chinese: “春江水暖鸭先知,” or, “Chun jiang shui nuan ya xian zhi.”
Pan Xihong is a pseudonym for a pastor working with university students in a large Chinese city. He and his wife have one child.
Pray for Christians who are trying to reach college students with the good news of Jesus in these challenging times. Pray for God to open the door of the gospel and bring more students into his kingdom.
